G.O. (Ms) No. 150, Rural Roads Maintenance Scheme 2014-15, 2014

What the government approved

The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (SGS.II) Department, through G.O. (Ms) No. 150, dated 10 December 2014, approved Rs.131 crore for the Rural Roads Maintenance Scheme during 2014-15. The money comes from State Finance Commission Grants and is to be deducted from the shares of Village Panchayats, Panchayat Unions and District Panchayats in the ratio 60:32:8.

The Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj is authorised to draw the money and distribute it to districts. The scheme is intended to extend the life of existing bituminous roads, keep them motorable and reduce vehicle wear, fuel use and premature road strengthening costs.

Roads covered and priorities

The Rural Roads Maintenance Scheme applies to damaged bituminous roads maintained by Village Panchayats and Panchayat Unions. Selection priorities are:

• Damaged bus and mini bus routes requiring periodic maintenance or renewal.
• Roads laid under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana after their five year maintenance period has ended.
• Other important links to habitations, marketing centres, industrial clusters and tourism locations.

Only worn or damaged roads needing pothole filling and relaying of the bituminous surface may be proposed. Roads needing one or more layers of water bound macadam plus bituminous surfacing must be handled under another appropriate scheme.

Land and ownership restrictions

The Rural Roads Maintenance Scheme does not allow proposals for:

• Roads passing through private land or requiring land acquisition.
• Roads controlled by the Forest Department, Public Works Department or another department.
• Roads passing through Public Works Department channels, water bodies, ooranies, kanmais or tank bunds.
• Roads affected by litigation or an ownership dispute.
• Roads already proposed under another scheme.

These restrictions matter to owners because the scheme does not provide authority to maintain a road across private or disputed property.

Technical and approval requirements

Roads must generally be at least one kilometre long, and an entire damaged stretch should be proposed rather than small sections. Maintenance must use waste plastic in accordance with the standard identified in the guidelines. Existing cross drainage works may be repaired or reconstructed, but new cross drainage works are not permitted.

Officials must jointly inspect, verify and test check proposed roads and estimates. District Collectors must ensure full super-check coverage, personally inspect at least 2 per cent of works, and approve administrative sanction. Estimates require field inspection and photographs showing damaged areas, with one photograph for every 200 metres. Mandatory quality tests and a separate quality control register are required for each work.