Rural roads head nowhere

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should use the good offices of the Gram Panchayats and local revenue functionaries to overcome this constraint. In fact, even the PIUs have found it difficult, particularly in densely populated areas of Assam , Bihar , Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, to obtain possession of private land required for the project.

To ensure that forest clearances are available by the time projects are ready for execution, states have been asked to initiate pro-active upfront action for seeking these clearances as soon as the survey for preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) commences.

The ministry has revamped the three-tiered quality control mechanism to make inspections more rigorous as well as transparent. The ministry claims that the incidence of ‘unsatisfactory’ works has declined by 10% in 2007-08.

State-level performance

A state-wise review of the PMGSY projects reveals that the programme has been implemented much better in non-Congress ruled states. BJP-run Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat , for instance, have achieved 95%, 85% and 74% of new connectivity projects in the state, respectively.

Congress-run Haryana has achieved nothing yet, while Jammu Kashmir has achieved only 4% of targets. While the Communist government in Kerala achieved 49% of targets, their comrades in West Bengal could only achieve 22% of targets.

In upgradation projects, the DMK-led DPA government in Tamil Nadu tops the charts achieving 99% of the target by March 2008. Surprisingly, West Bengal and Goa have achieved zero progress on this front, while Kerala, Jammu Kashmir have achieved a mere 10% of their targets.

On the other hand, nothing was achieved in the north eastern states of Assam , Mizoram and Tripura till March 2008. Meghalaya and Sikkim registered just 1% and 6% respectively while Arunachal Pradesh had no projects to be undertaken.

In states where the institutional capacity is weak and effective project implementation units cannot be set up, the ministry has sought the help of public sector undertakings. It is also supporting states in outsourcing project preparatory works and supervision of construction.