PM's rural road scheme not a permanent solution Archie D’Souza

A report in various newspapers on APR 11, 2012 quoting the Rural Development Minister, Mr. Jairam Ramesh stated that the PM’s rural road scheme the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yogna (PMGSY) is not a permanent solution.  “Building roads in rural areas,” he said “is the job of State Governments and PMGSY was not a long-term solution to the problem of lack of roads.  If the Central Government focused on construction of rural roads and their repairs and maintenance, then it will have no money to spend on creating other infrastructure.”   This was stated at a seminar on “Engendering Physical Infrastructure via PMGSY” at the University of Mumbai campus.  The minister was delivering the keynote address.
 Various scheme, he said, were devised at the national level and there was no scope of variation to fit local needs.  One such scheme the PMGSY was conceptualised 10 years ago, the actual implementation started only six years ago.  Under the yojana (plan) all villages with 500 people or more will be connected by all-weather roads, i.e. roads usable throughout the year.  Although it has been a resounding success in many places, it has not been able to address the problems of connectivity in most tribal areas as well as the desert regions of Rajasthan.

"This,” pointed the minister, “has affect service delivery, where it is most essential."   He added that some states like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, and recently Maharashtra have taken the initiative to connect smaller habitations left out of the PMGSY.  This would indeed lead to prosperity of these enclaves.  Construction of rural roads is the states’ primary responsibility, he pointed out.  However, as this did not happen, especially in states like West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, the centre had to introduce PMGSY.   “Now,” he said, “State Governments are asking for funds for repairs and maintenance of PMGSY roads, and at the same time they raise a cry about federal structure.”   This obviously was with reference to the States that have opposed the proposed counter-terrorism centre.

India is a country with great diversity and all nationally conceived programmes, which are subject to guidelines, suffer from inflexibility, he said.  So, what was the strategy?  50% of the rural development funds will be given to the State Governments by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan.  This will lead to spending as per the States' own priorities.  "The states can utilize these (50 per cent) funds to implement schemes as per their requirements, subject to broad guidelines, while the rest of the funds would be spent as per national guidelines prescribed for each such programme," Ramesh said.

PMGSY is for the villages which have a population of 500 or more.  The minister said that states such as Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra had launched similar schemes to connect habitations which have less population.  This indeed was a welcome step.

As part of innovations in the 12th Five Year Plan, the centre plans to introduce flexibility in implementing its flagship rural development programmes all over the country.  Under this, the centre plans to transfer 50 per cent of funds earmarked for rural development programmes to the states.  He said that though PMGSY was scheduled to be completed 2007, till date only 60 per cent of the work has been completed. The rest of the work is expected to be completed only by 2017.

[See also my previous blogpost on the same subject]

How better roads help in India’s rural development -ARCHIE D’SOUZA

How better roads help in India’s rural development

Archie d’souza

Better road transportation lead to greater opportunities for people living in areas connected.  In rural areas it leads to improvements in employment, education and healthcare.

We have seen in an earlier article how the Golden Quadrilateral has helped in movement of goods and in the development of areas en route.  Is this development restricted to areas close to the route?  Is there any way a hinterland can develop?  The central government has come up with just one such scheme.  It is the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).  Here are some of its highlights.

The PMGSY was launched on 25^th December 2000 as a fully funded Centrally Sponsored Scheme to provide all weather road connectivity in rural areas of the country.  The programme envisages connecting all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in the plain areas and 250 persons and above in hill States, the tribal and the desert areas.   A total of 59,564 habitations are proposed to be provided new connectivity under Bharat Nirman.  This would involve construction of 1,46,185 Kms of rural roads.    In addition to new connectivity, Bharat Nirman envisages upgradation/renewal of 1,94,130 km of existing rural roads.  This comprises 60% upgradation from Government of India and 40% renewal by the State Governments. 

MP and Chhattisgarh are two states where the poverty levels are among the highest in India.  In these states close to 75% of the population lives in rural areas.  While the GQ, North/South and East/West corridors are connecting several places, most villages in India, especially in these two states don't have any all-weather road connection.  Several sections of the country's rural population continue to be isolated from the mainstream.  They are thus deprived of the benefits of the country's economic growth.  Despite major road projects nearly half of the country's population continues to remain unconnected.  One of the main reasons for low or no growth in rural areas is improper road connectivity.

However, thanks to the PMGSY, things are looking up in these states.  Studies conducted by the Asian Development Bank indicate that, in villages provided connectivity under this plan, the figures from 2006 to 208 for the number of households living below the poverty line decreased by 5% in MP and 2% in Chhattisgarh.  This trend is bound to continue and the living conditions in connected villages are bound to continue improving.  This will further bring down the number of people living below the poverty line.  How has this connectivity impacted rural living conditions?  This, according to the report, has happened in the following two ways:

1.    The communities living in these areas got more reliable and quicker access to outside products, services and social linkages.

2.    It gave external service & product providers as well as social contacts better access to these rural communities.

In other words, connectivity has enabled these communities to fully access existing government services that aid rural areas.  Of the total investments under PMGSY these two state’s share has been 15%.  When completed, 9,574 km of rural roads will have been constructed.  This will significantly improve connectivity in these areas.  The number of beneficiaries of this scheme exceeds 11 million people spread over 3,207 habitations.  The socio-economic impacts can at the moment only be imagined. 

It has been mentioned time and again by several people, including yours truly, that prosperity and connectivity are irrevocably linked.  Therefore, building a nationwide network of all-weather roads in rural areas is bound to lead to a great deal of progress.  Rural connectivity is intrinsically linked to growth, employment, education and healthcare.  The plan has definitely had the desirable impact in the newly connected areas.

The ADB, which conducted this study, was the main finance provider for the plan.  However, the Bank didn't stop with just providing finance, as so often happens with financial institutions.  It sent its representatives to the places where the programme was implemented and asked them to take stock of the benefits the programme brought to the rural areas.  After a study which lasted all of three years, they came to the conclusion that the programme is quickly resulting in a socio-economic transformation in rural India.  The Bank found that the presence of all-weather roads has directly or indirectly contributed to improvements in the areas of connectivity, transportation, government services, livelihood, commerce, education, health, land value, infrastructure, social interactions and gender empowerment.  The entire report is available on the bank’s website.  Figures released by the Union Ministry of Rural Development indicate that 1.67 L unconnected habitations are eligible for coverage.  This will lead to the construction of approximately 3.71 L km of roads for new connectivity.

In 2005, the union government announced another major plan to rebuild rural India.  The following were its objectives:

·      Every village to be provided electricity: remaining 1,25,000 villages to be covered by 2009 as well as connect 2.3 crore households

·      Every habitation over 1000 population and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) to be provided an all-weather road: remaining 66,802 habitations to be covered by 2009

·      Every habitation to have a safe source of drinking water: 55,067 uncovered habitations to be covered by 2009. In addition all habitations which have slipped back from full coverage to partial coverage due to failure of source and habitations which have water quality problems to be addressed

·      Every village to be connected by telephone: remaining 66,822 villages to be covered by November 2007

·      10 million hectares (100 lakhs) of additional irrigation capacity to be created by 2009

·      60 lakh houses to be constructed for the rural poor by 2009

While the agenda, according to the ministry, is not new, the effort here is to impart a sense of urgency to these goals, make the programme time-bound, transparent and accountable. These investments in rural infrastructure will unlock the growth potential of rural India.

“Rural roads”, as one can see, is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman.  To repeat its objective it is to set a goal to provide connectivity to all habitations with a population of 1,000 persons and above (500 persons and above in the case of hilly or tribal areas) with an all-weather road.  A total of 59,564 habitations are to be provided new connectivity under the plan.  To achieve this 146,185 km of rural roads need to be constructed.  Besides new connectivity, under the project up-gradation/renewal of 194,130 km of existing rural roads will be taken up.  This comprises 60% up-gradation from the Union Government and 40% renewal by the State Governments.  79,938 habitations, almost 73 per cent of the sanctioned habitations, have been provided all-weather road connectivity till September 2011.

Road connectivity to rural areas needs to be speeded up if India needs to bring its rural folks into the mainstream.  A lot of private sector investment has come in for developing the country's highways.  The private sector could also play a role in connecting rural India through good road projects.  However, unlike highway projects, rural roads cannot become a revenue earner for the private sector as it will be impossible to either collect tolls or develop real-estate.  The only way for private-sector involvement here is for companies to make it as a part of Corporate Social Responsibility.  The union and state governments should give the necessary encouragement.

According to data revealed by the Planning Commission 8% of India has come above the poverty line in five years.  As per the report, the percentage of poor in India has declined from 37.2% in 2004-05 to 29.8% in 2009-10.  Rural poverty has declined from 41.8% to 33.8% and urban poverty 25.7% to 20.9%.  The new estimates are on the basis of poverty line that averages Rs 672.8 per month in rural areas and Rs 859.6 per month in urban areas.  Poverty alleviation and better transportation facilities definitely go hand-in-hand.