Central government in the year 2000.Over the years,crores of rupees were released under the scheme for the implementation of the rural road projects in Assam.Of late,the state’s Central share of funds under the Yojana has been enhanced from the existing 75% to 90%,evidently to boost the rural connectivity in Assam after the state was included in the Special Category State(SCSs).This is a truly welcomed development because in the era of globalization,connectivity is a sine qua non for sustainable economic growth in rural areas.

But the question that is now uppermost in the minds of many people is–Will this increased Central fund the state is now privileged to receive under the flagship programme after its being included in the Special Category States be able to bring about any significant change in rural connectivity?From the recent media reports,the impression one gets is that the performance of the state government in the realm of rural road network has not been as touching as to inspire any hope of a better tomorrow for rural Assam.It was reported that the state government’s lapses to put in place a strong quality management mechanism and to utilize the funds under the PMGSY in a transparent and responsible manner has led to large–scale corruption which in turn is resulting in the poor quality of the rural roads constructed under the scheme.

There will be deterioration in the quality of construction as has been in the state,the percentage of unsatisfactory roads recording a sharp increase from 28% last year (2011–12) to 37% this year (2012–13).

The impression was further reinforced a couple of days before when the Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh took potshots at the state government for slow implementation of rural road projects under PMGSY.Ramesh warned the government of slow sanction of funds if urgent measures are not taken to improve the quality construction of roads in Assam under PMGSY.Ramesh also threatened to recover the released Central funds if there is poor construction from the state government.Of late,he has also written a letter to the chief minister of the state Tarun Gogoi informing about the quality of the road network in rural Assam.Ramesh,in his letter,pointed out that the recent unsatisfactory report by National Quality Monitors(NQMs) and the State Quality Monitors(SQMs) indicates that there is urgent need to improve the quality of the assets being constructed.

The roads constructed under PMGSY have been of such a poor quality that the villagers find it difficult to have faster access to markets,banks,government offices and so on.

This observation by the union minister vis–a vis the quality of construction of roads in rural Assam lays bare how the Centrally–sponsored rural connectivity project has become a source of income for the unholy nexus of politicians–bureaucrats and contractors.When it becomes so,what happens to such an ambitious poverty–alleviation programme is anybody’s guess.There will be deterioration in the quality of construction as has been in the state,the percentage of unsatisfactory roads recording a sharp increase from 28% last year(2011–12) to 37% this year(2012–13).

There can be no contradiction over the fact that rural connectivity is a must not just for rural development but for faster access to the service sectors,be it the commercial establishments or government offices.So,when the Centre or the Asian Development Bank(ADB) or both are liberally releasing adequate funds for the rural road projects so as to increase accessibility to these service providers and to boost the rural economy,it is natural that we would expect the state government to utilize these funds in such a manner that the poor villagers are the beneficiaries of the rural road network.However,regrettably,it is a story unfolding contrary facts to our hopes.Despite the huge fund allocation and repeated reminders by the Centre,the infrastructure development of rural Assam is still something far from amusing and this is unfortunate.

For the development of irrigation system for agriculture,rural connectivity is all the more important.However,for want of all–weather roads,in a number of rural areas,this is being constrained.This apart,the roads constructed under PMGSY have been of such a poor quality that the villagers find it difficult to have faster access to markets,banks,government offices and so on.This reflects that the projects are being implemented without caring to follow required norms and guidelines.The absence of an effective or proper monitoring system is what is largely attributable to this sorry state of affairs.

Indeed,putting a strong quality management mechanism in place alone will hardly help improve the situation.During construction,emphasis also has to be given on ensuring that the best of the latest technology is used by the agencies assigned the job of executing the projects.

A few months ago,the ADB granted a loan of 250 million dollars under the Rural Conectivity Investment Programme(RCIP) to develop the rural road network in Assam,Chhattisgarh,Madhya Pradesh,Odisha and West Bengal.The purpose of the loan is to help construct 3,461 kms of all weather–rural roads in these five states and improve the capacity of implementing agencies through rural connectivity,research centres and rural road network management units.Earlier also,funds from international agencies including the ADB came in for adequate road connectivity in the North East.However,due to the absence of a common quality control mechanism to ensure that the required norms and guidelines of road construction are followed,the work on many road projects has been far from satisfactory as all this work is continuing at a snail’s pace.

However,coming to the important issue of rural connectivity in Assam,there is no doubt that the state has three wings aimed at monitoring the quality of road construction work to ensure that the work done under the programme as per the guidelines and that the effective quality management remains in place.However,the ramshackle condition of the roads which are supposed to be all–weather roads constructed under the PMGSY brings into sharp focus the lack of proper monitoring by the three quality management wings.That is why Assam needs to engage a third party in the entire process of quality control.Also,it will bode well to set up a separate wing to speed up the implementation of the PMGSY which Meghalaya is likely to create for this purpose.

It will be,however,no hyperbole to say that due to poor management,road projects in rural Assam suffer from inordinate delays.However,this is,of course,not true in the case of all rural areas in the state.In other words,there are some villages which have seen encouraging rural connectivity with militancy on the decline and rural road projects under PMGSY being implemented.Take for instance the case of Betbari,a non–descript hamlet in Assam’s Baksa district inhabited mostly by Bodos.Now easily accessible,thanks to a network of good roads built under the scheme,it is also well connected with other rural towns and districts.

In the final analysis,it can be contended that the success of the rural connectivity project largely depends on the state government.If it keeps a vigilant eye on the implementing agencies and take punitive action against those who are found deliberately delaying the execution of the road projects causing huge cost escalation or compromising on the quality during construction.Only then can one hope that the state will have an improved road infrastructure in its rural areas, that too, before the deadlines.

Dwaipayan