Situation Analysis of Rural Road Maintenance Management System in Madhya Pradesh- A Case Study in Jabalpur District based on Interview and Questionnaires

Abstract

Construction of rural roads brings multifaceted benefits to the rural areas by way of increase in agricultural production and the size of market, better prices for agriculture produce, reduction in transport cost and the creation of off-farm employment opportunities. They also provide access to medical and educational facilities. Provision of rural roads is an effective element of a poverty alleviation strategy. Rural roads form a large share of the total road network in India. If these roads are not maintained, the benefits envisaged disappear. Keeping them in a serviceable condition is crucial to the agricultural growth and affording means of access to millions of rural people to social facilities such as health and education. Subsequent to a series of regional level workshops organized by the Ministry of Rural Development, and a series of overview studies supported by the World Bank on rural road maintenance in a few states, several areas for improvements in the delivery of maintenance have been identified. These include resource mobilization, maintenance planning, technology, implementation, monitoring and capacity building of local workers. Accordingly to understand the present status, a detailed situation analysis of rural road maintenance in Madhya Pradesh by field work has been carried out in 28 Roads, four roads in each seven blocks of Jabalpur districts based on interview and Questionnaires’ in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The finding of this study will be highly useful to preserve the benefits of huge rural road assets created recently in India