siliconindia | | September 20189strategies of development are pur-sued. It goes without saying that rural roads increase mobility of men and materials, thus facilitating economic growth of the country. It is for this reason, since past few years, Govern-ment of India is increasingly focusing on rural India as one of the key driv-ers for the economy. If we talk about the Union Budget 2017-2018, special emphasis was laid on boosting rural road development. Initiatives of Government for Rural Road DevelopmentHere, we discuss some of the import-ant steps taken by the government to boost rural development activity in India: · Government of India has allocat-ed Rs.107,758 crore for Ministry of Rural Development in the FY 2017-2018.· An allocation of Rs.19,000 crore has been made towards the Prad-han Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to connect far flung habi-tats in the Union Budget 2017-2018. The target is to complete PMGSY by 2019. In all, Rs.27,000 crore is there after state contribution.· The 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) has proposed spending of Rs.126,491 crore on rural roads which is on par with the total sanctioned amount for PMGSY, since inception. The invest-ment is expected to result-in the con-struction of 158,000 km of new roads and upgrades for 84,181 km of exist-ing roads in rural areas.· As many as 1.9 lakh habitations across the country have been con-nected through roads from April 2000 to January 2017 under PMGSY incepted in 2000 (the central govern-ment's plan to provide good roads to isolated villages). Between FY 2000-2001 and January 2017, 1.54 lakh new projects have been approved and 4.87 lakh kilometres of roads have been newly constructed or upgrad-ed under the scheme. This amounts to an average of 80 km constructed per day. · The pace of road construction un-der PMGSY has been increased and it was 133 km per day in 2016-17 as compared to 73 km during 2011-14. Further, the total length of roads, in-cluding those under PMGSY, built from 2014-15 till the current year is about 140,000 km which is sig-nificantly higher than the previous three years.These investments in rural roads are not only expected to have an impact on the rural economy, but the country's economy to a very large extent.A Look at the Economic Analysis of the Govern-ment's Investment in Roads1. Improvement in Transportation Services: Government knows this well that improved transportation services through rural roads can lead to improved access to market centres for the rural producers, better avail-ability of inputs and raw materials at reduced prices and improved mo-bility. In fact, a well-developed rural road network can provide mobility and connectivity to more than 800 million people living in rural areas. Hence, it is increasingly investing in rural roads.2. Boosts Agricultural Activities: Better network of rural roads can also provide a boost to the agricultural ac-tivities by making water, seeds and other raw materials needed for farm-ing reach in time to the farmer. 3. Diversification of Agricultur-al Activities: Rural road networks can lead to improved market access, favour growth of cash crops and commercialisation of agricultur-al activities for the better future of the farmers. 4. Diversification of Livelihood Opportunities: Better connectivity through better roads in the rural areas can enhance employment opportuni-ties too in the non-agricultural sector as masses can move freely from one place to another. 5. Improved Services: Improved road connectivity can enhance access of rural masses to education, health and financial services.6. Increase in the Outreach of the State: Improved rural roads can also ensure that the rural areas are served with better public services and all the benefits offered by the state reach the far-flung areas easily. 7. Alleviation of Poverty: Last but not the least, one of the major impact of government's investment in rural roads is that it can help in eradicating poverty in rural areas as it provides better livelihood to people, better access to state, education and health services and other basic services. The above factors clearly state that the rural roads have all the Manish Arora
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