National Rural Development in India

In India, roads have come to occupy a dominant position in the transportation system of the country. It is considered an infrastructure critical to economic growth and social development. The total road network in India today stands at 3.4 million km of which 2.8 million km comprise low volume rural roads (including roads constructed and upgraded under the PMGSY programme). Rural roads comprise over 80 per cent of the road network and their being kept in serviceable condition is crucial to the agricultural growth on the one hand and affording means of access on a sustainable basis to millions of our rural people to social facilities such as schools, health centres as also to markets on the other hand. There are several challenges being faced by the country in regard to ensuring sustained maintenance of rural roads. The project development objective of the World Bank supported initiative is to enhance the systems and policies of the national PMGSY rural roads program; and improve and expand the provision and maintenance of PMGSY (Prime Minister's Rural Roads Scheme), all-season access roads to beneficiary communities resulting in enhanced economic opportunities and social services for residents in Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab over a period of five years. The project is structured around two components: (i) Component A – PMGSY program financing contributes to the finance of civil works expenditures in the seven participating states associated with providing new all weather access to unconnected habitations and upgrading key through routes in rural areas. The project will strengthen implementation efficiency and the sustainability of program roads through improved maintenance; and (ii) Component B – Institutional strengthening will support a technical assistance program designed to strengthen the capacity of relevant agencies to implement the program. As such the project has two priority objectives: . Enhancing operations and improved service delivery of the PMGSY to provide more cost effective, efficient and transparent delivery of infrastructure. · Sustainable maintenance and preservation of PMGSY infrastructure assets through improved policies, institutions, systems and implementation mechanisms

Project symbol

IND/12/01/IBR

Admin unit

DWT/CO-New Delhi

Start date

01/10/2012

End date

30/09/2016

Total allocation

2774879

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

2742115

Development Partners

World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Country/Countries

India

Outcomes

Decent work in the rural economy