ROLE OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISION

IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

SUBMITTED BY
APOORVA MEENA
(SPA/NS/RP/1540)

Second semester
SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE, DELHI
 CONTENT
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION:..............................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................10

Figure 1 - Status of rural infrastructure in india.............................................................5

ABSTRACT

Infrastructure is the basic requirement for development of any business or any city or country. The
development of any civilization takes place when the infrastructure develops. This report discussed
about the role of infrastructure provision helps in rural development. Rural infrastructure is crucial
for agriculture, agro-industries and overall economic development of rural areas. It also, incidentally,
provides basic amenities that improve the quality of life.
INTRODUCTION

The importance of infrastructure for economic growth and development in rural area can hardly be
overemphasized in a developing economy like India. With poor rural infrastructure, even a marginal
improvement in its quantity and quality could significantly improve economic development and
human well-being. Improving basic infrastructure, such as roads, transport, electricity,
telecommunications, housing, health, water and sanitation, is essential for development and well-
being of the rural population. The development of rural infrastructure could promote economic
growth, improve the standard of living of the population and reduce the incidence of poverty by
generating both farm and non-farm employment and earning opportunities, increasing productivity,
providing access to basic goods and services and improving the health and physical condition of
people (NCAER, 2007)

LITERATURE REVIEW

Infrastructure is the backbone of any country. The World Development Report of 1994 included the
following in its definition of infrastructure
▪ Public utilities - power, telecommunications, piped water supply, sanitation and sewerage, solid
waste collection and disposal and piped gas.
▪ Public works - roads, major dam and canal works for irrigation and drainage.
▪ Other transport sectors-urban and inter-urban railways, urban transport, ports and waterways,
and airports. (WorldBank, 1994)
Infrastructure plays a very important role in supporting a nation’s economic growth. When rural
infrastructure has deteriorated or is non-existent, the cost of marketing farm produce can be
prohibitive for poor farmers. Poor rural infrastructure also limits the ability of the traders to travel to
and communicate with remote farming areas, limiting market access from these areas and
eliminating competition for their produce. Construction of rural roads almost inevitably leads to
increases in agricultural production and productivity by bringing in new land into cultivation or by
intensifying existing land use to take advantage of expanded market opportunities.
Adequate infrastructure raises productivity and lowers production costs, but it has to expand fast
enough to accommodate growth. While the precise linkages between infrastructure and development
are yet to be firmly established, it is estimated that infrastructure capacity grows step for step with
economic output - a 1 per cent increase in the stock of infrastructure is associated with a 1 per cent
increase in gross domestic product (GDP) across all countries (Summers and Heston, 1991). In his

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theory of ‘Stages of Growth’, Rostow considered social overhead capital, especially in transport and
communication as one of the main pre-conditions for take-off (Rostow, 1960). The role of social
overhead capital in accelerating economic growth and in enhancing public welfare is more
pronounced in developing economies as the indivisibility in the social overhead capital has been
identified as one of the main obstacles of the development of under-developed countries (Rosenstein-
Rodan, 1943)
 A wide range of manuals and technical guidelines have been developed over these years. The
strategies and methods for the effective and sustainable provision of infrastructure in rural areas (in
particular rural roads) using local resource-based approaches have now been adopted by a large
number of governments and international development agencies. 

Figure 1 - Status of rural infrastructure in india

ROADS
▪ Roads in rural parts of the country are a very important and critical component of rural
development. It is the key to the success of the rural economy; rural health; education; and better
road connectivity with the rest of the world.
▪ Though rural roads had been constructed under various different schemes till the year 2000,
there was not a single national policy to construct only rural roads especially the all-weather
roads for the unconnected habitations. In December 2000, the Government of India had launched
the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) with the aim to provide all-weather
access to eligible unconnected habitations. It is a 100 percent centrally sponsored scheme.

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▪ Under PMGSY-I, the aim of the scheme was to provide access to the eligible unconnected
habitations in the rural areas with a population of 500 persons and above (census 2001) in plain
areas. In respect of Special Category States i.e. hilly and desert areas; the tribal areas, the
objective is to connect eligible unconnected habitations with a population of 250 persons and
above.
▪ Under PMGSV-II the focus will be to consolidate the entire rural roads network by up-gradation
of selected routes and some major rural links would be also developed.
ELECTRICITY
▪ The Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) was launched in 2015 with two
components.
▪ To separate agriculture and non-agriculture feeders facilitating judicious rostering of supply to
agricultural and non-agricultural consumers in rural areas.
▪ Strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural
areas, including metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumers.
▪ Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) aims to provide free electricity
connections to all households (both APL and poor families) in rural areas and poor families in
urban areas.
▪ The PM-KUSUM scheme has the objective of increasing farmers’ income, providing a reliable
source for irrigation and de-dieselise the farm sector by enabling farmers to set up solar power
generation capacity on their fallow/barren lands and to sell it to the grid.
LPG CONNECTIONS
▪ The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to provide clean cooking fuel to poor
households, especially in rural areas.
▪ It aims to provide deposit free LPG connections to the women of poor households. The scope of
PMUY has now been expanded to cover all the poor families in the country subject to fulfilling
the terms and conditions.
▪ The scheme increased the usage of LPG and helped in reducing health disorders, air pollution
and deforestation. The use of fossil fuels and conventional fuel like cow-dung, firewood, etc. has
serious implications on the health of rural women and children.
HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE:
▪ Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin) aims to provide pucca houses to all rural homeless and
those households living in kutcha and dilapidated houses and providing basic amenities such as
improved sanitation, piped drinking water, electricity & gas connection, etc.

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▪ Considerable reduction in open defection post-PMAY-G, usage of the toilet have led to clean
and hygienic conditions which led to the improved health status of the PMAY-G household
members.
▪ Owning a pucca house had a positive impact on the beneficiary’s perception about living their
lives with dignity and safety, and the majority of the beneficiaries felt a significant improvement
in terms of social inclusion as well.
▪ Income and employment opportunities have also improved.
▪ The mean expenditure also rose in post-PMAY-G in both food and non-food items as compared
to the pre-PMAY-G households indicating an improved living standard.
WATER AND SANITATION:
▪ Water is an essential commodity and the whole world is focussing on the scarcity of potable
drinking water. Water stress-related issues are now a serious concern across the country. A very
focused safe water (Jal Jeevan Mission) and comprehensive sanitation program (Swachch Bharat
Mission) have been launched to support the health vision.
▪ Jal Jeevan Mission is aiming to provide piped water supply to all households. It envisions
providing safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by
2024 to all households in rural India. The programme also implements source sustainability
measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through greywater management,
water conservation, rainwater harvesting.
▪ Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramm): Under the mission (SBMG), all villages, Gram Panchayats,
Districts, States and Union Territories in India declared themselves “open-defecation free”
(ODF) by 2nd October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by constructing
over 100 million toilets in rural India. To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are
sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are
accessible, the Mission is moving towards the Phase-II of SBMG i.e ODF-Plus. ODF Plus
activities under Phase-II of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) will reinforce ODF behaviours
and focus on providing interventions for the safe management of solid and liquid waste in
villages.
COMMUNICATION:
▪ The government’s vision is that all “public institutions” at the Gram Panchayat level such as
Anganwadis, health and wellness centres, government schools, PDS outlets, post offices and
police stations will be provided with digital connectivity.
▪ BharatNet is the world’s largest rural broadband network project which aims to provide
broadband connectivity to all the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats (GPs) across India.

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INITIATIVES AND EXPENDITURE ON RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE
There is no denying the fact that there is an urgent need to re-energise India’s rural economy,
including the farm and non-farm sectors. This is needed because of the importance of the rural
sector, as 68.84 per cent of the population lives in the rural area (as per the 2011 Census), and more
than 50 per cent of the workforce is engaged in agriculture for its livelihood. Under these conditions,
the importance of rural infrastructure in increasing agricultural productivity and farm and non-farm
employment and in reducing rural poverty, and raising rural living standards hardly needs emphasis.
Since infrastructure is regarded as a public good and the private sector may not be interested in
investment in it, public investment is needed to build basic rural infrastructure. Several government
initiatives have been taken to augment and improve rural infrastructure, some of which are the:
▪ Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)
▪ Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme,
▪ Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana,
▪ Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
2005.
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)
The RIDF, set up in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 1995–
96, presently covers 36 activities under three broad categories:
▪ Agriculture and related sectors
▪ Rural connectivity and
▪ Social sector.
The assistance under the RIDF constitutes about 20 per cent of the investments by the various state
governments in the rural infrastructure sector. As on 31 March 2016 since its inception, around 0.582
million projects and a cumulative RIDF (RIDF-I–XXI) assistance of ₹2,601,585.5 million (including
Bharat Nirman) were sanctioned. Rural connectivity (roads and bridges) cumulatively accounted for
the highest share (42 per cent) followed by agriculture and related sectors (40 per cent) and social
sector projects (15 per cent) (NABARD, 2016).
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched in December 2000 to provide all-
weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected habitations. A total amount of ₹1,193,770.7
million was released during 2006/07–2015/16, and a total amount of ₹1,160,006 million was spent
on road works during 2007/08–2015/16. As on 31 January 2012, 220,612 km of road length was
constructed during 2007–12, and 222,035.49 km of road length was completed, connecting 46,221

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habitations during 2009/10–2014/15. Moreover, as on 10 March 2016, 190,413.9 km of road length
was completed and 258,189.88 km of road was upgraded under the rural road component of the
Bharat Nirman programme.
Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
Under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), which was launched to
▪ Electrify all the villages,
▪ Provide electricity to all rural households and
▪ Provide electricity connection to all the households below poverty line (BPL) free of charge.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA)

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA), later renamed Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), was brought into force on 2 February
2006 in order to legally guarantee 100 days of unskilled jobs per rural household, thereby protecting
the households against economic insecurity. It is a self-targeting and demand-driven poverty
alleviation scheme, providing the rural poor the right to 100 days of employment at the minimum
wages prevailing in the states. Most of the rural infrastructure services (roads, water supply including
drinking water, minor irrigation, water management and watershed development, health and
sanitation and housing) are under the control of state governments, while the central government
manages rural electricity and telecommunications. Nevertheless, the central government has been
contributing significantly to the development of rural infrastructure. Its spending on rural
infrastructure has increased tremendously since 2000–01, particularly after 2005, when the rural
infrastructure programme, Bharat Nirman, was launched to improve roads, electricity, irrigation,
drinking water, telecommunications and housing in rural areas. 

CONCLUSION:

The infrastructure schemes for rural areas have improved the lives of rural people in different ways
and helped in reducing poverty. People are connected to the nearest city centres and the district
headquarters by road and also connected by electronic communication. By providing tap water to the
households, rural road connectivity and housing, there is a visible improvement in the health
indicators and school enrolment. Infrastructure has brought social and economic change among rural
households and empowered them to live their lives with dignity and safety with improved living
standards.

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The estimates of infrastructure elasticity of rural development, indicating the relative importance of
various infrastructure indicators in rural development, suggest that the government should prioritise
additional investments in infrastructure towards electricity, roads, irrigation, housing and
telecommunications for achieving growth in agricultural productivity and output, improvements in
literacy and life expectancy and reductions in poverty and infant mortality. In view of the prevailing
inadequacy of various infrastructure facilities, in spite of their proven importance in rural
development, this study advocates appropriate policies and programmes with effective
implementation to ensure universal coverage and access to basic infrastructure facilities for all
villages and households in rural India. Needless to say, the developmental outcomes of various
infrastructures depend on their quality, maintenance and management, apart from their levels.
Appropriate steps should be taken for improving governance, delivery mechanisms and efficiency of
local level institutions to ensure various infrastructure services to the rural people.

REFERENCES

NABARD. (2016).
NCAER. (2007). India rural infrastructure report. New Delhi. SAGE Publications and National
Council of Applied Economic Research.
Rosenstein-Rodan, P. N. (1943). Problems of Industrialisation of Eastern and South Eastern Europe.
The Economic Journal.
Rostow, W. (1960). The Stages of Economic Growth. Cambridge University Press.
WorldBank, W. (1994). World Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.