Within a period of just several years, the state provided some social services
to Iraqi people unprecedented in other Middle Eastern countries. Saddam initiated and controlled the "National Campaign for
the Eradication of Illiteracy" and the campaign for "Compulsory Free Education in Iraq," and largely under his auspices, the
government established universal free schooling up to the highest education levels, supported families of soldiers, granted free hospitalization to everyone, and gave subsidies to farmers. The government also made great
progress in building roads, promoting mining, and development of other industries to diversify the oil-dependent economy.
Saddam effected a comprehensive revolution in energy industries as well as in public services such as transport and education,
which, like his land reform policies, was also especially popular in the countryside. Electricity was brought to nearly every city in Iraq, including many communities in the
countryside and far outlying areas.
