The Hindu Business Line : `85% of rural road projects up to the mark'

New Delhi June 10 Contrary to the perception that construction of rural roads is a shoddy job steeped in corruption, about 85 per cent of the completed rural road projects under a Central Government sponsored programme are of a `satisfactory quality level,' according to the data compiled by the monitoring system of the Rural Development Ministry.

The monitoring is done by the National Rural Road Development Agency (NRRDA) and the gradation is based on standardised parameters set by it to avoid subjectivity in judgment. The data is according to the quality inspection on a sample of over 16,000 completed rural road construction works taken up (from a total 39,937) under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for the 2000-07 (till February) time period.

The NRRDA is an agency set up under the Rural Development Ministry to provide technical and management support to the programme.

ONGOING WORKS

In case of ongoing construction, however, only 67 per cent of almost 25,000 inspected works were categorised as `satisfactory' by the quality monitoring teams during the same period.

The NRRDA Director (Projects) and Chief Quality Coordinator, Mr P.K. Katare, said that unsatisfactory gradings at the construction stage allow for remedial steps to be taken so that the project can earn a satisfactory grade by the time it is completed.

State-wise performance

On a State-wise basis, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Orissa appear to be implementing the programme in the best possible manner with over 90 per cent of the completed roads being graded "satisfactory." Other States where over 85 per cent of rural roads satisfy the quality norms set by NRRDA are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

On the other side of the spectrum are States such as Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh where over 60 per cent of the completed projects are graded "unsatisfactory."

Monitoring process

The Rural Development Ministry has a standard bidding document (with some scope for flexibility) and has set a maximum time limit for each road building activity. Once the work starts, it is subjected to a three-tier inspection - from in-house quality control by the contractor, to State-level independent quality monitors and national level quality monitors.

The first monitoring is in-house wherein the contractor is expected to establish field laboratories at the site of work to carry out tests for materials used and maintain a record book, which is open for inspection of monitoring agencies. Then, the State Government also sends independent quality monitors to check the work at various stages. Finally, a team of 100 national quality monitors, selected by the Central Road Research Institute, also grade the construction work.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Rural Development | Standards & Benchmarks | Roadways

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