<b>Indicus Analytics:</b> Joining the rural dots

Despite a decade of work on rural road connectivity, India’s track record is uneven

Connectivity is the most basic infrastructure need for development. Studies have shown that government expenditure on roads has the largest impact on reducing rural poverty in India; it has a significant impact on productivity growth and a rupee invested in rural roads has the potential to generate more than Rs 5 in returns from agricultural production. Rural road development is the state governments’ responsibility and the importance of connectivity has been well understood in the past, with village connectivity as one of the goals of successive five-year plans.

Yet, when the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched in 2000, it was estimated that 330,000 habitations out of a total of 825,000 habitations remained without any all-weather road access. The task at hand was huge since more than 50 per cent of the habitations were unconnected in 11 states — Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Uttarakand and Jharkhand. Though the southern and western states were already fairly well connected a decade ago, the problem was severe in the northern and eastern states, especially in hilly and forested areas. (See chart)

The PMGSY is a centrally-sponsored scheme with some differences from earlier programmes: it takes up habitations, as against villages, as the unit for connectivity, and for the first time a dedicated fund for rural roads was put in, using a special cess on high-speed diesel. The main aim is to ensure connectivity to eligible unconnected habitations in the rural areas through an all-weather road, along with the necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures that ensure access throughout the year. Almost a decade after the scheme was launched, 30 per cent of the eligible habitations remain unconnected. Over the period 2000-2010, the states that have shown maximum progress in expanding connectivity under the PMGSY are Rajasthan, down 26 percentage points with 22 per cent of the habitations left to be connected, Chhattisgarh, down 23 percentage points with 49 per cent of the habitations still to be connected and Tripura, down 20 percentage points with 27 per cent of the habitations left to be connected.

According to the Planning Commission, the reasons for slow progress in many states are difficult terrain, seasonal limitations on work schedules, need for statutory clearances from the forest department, limitations of qualified manpower and contractors, and non-availability of dedicated personnel with streamlined institutional arrangements. States that have done well are those that got their act together on institutional mechanisms, ensuring the funds allotted were utilised as effectively as possible. Rajasthan is one of the star performers here.

In 2010, more than 55 per cent of the habitations remain unconnected in five states — Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. However, the state that stands out with the highest share of unconnected habitations is Bihar. It has managed to work its way very slowly from around 69 per cent unconnected habitations to around 66 per cent over the decade — clearly, despite the dramatic change in governance, lacunae in implementation are not being filled fast enough.

Indian States Development Scorecard is a weekly feature by Indicus Analytics that focuses on the progress in India and the states across various socio-economic parameters.
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