India: MFF - Rural Roads Sector II Investment Program (Facility Concept)

Transport - Road transport (non-urban)

Poor road infrastructure affects economic growth in rural areas. Poor road connectivity has a strong link to poverty. The Government is tring to redress this problem under PMGSY.

The theme of ADB?s Country Strategy and Program (CSP) is mainstreaming poverty reduction. In line with the Government?s priorities for the Tenth Five-Year Plan 2002-2007, this is to be addressed primarily by supporting economic growth, including both high growth and equitable, pro-poor growth. The CSP points to emerging consensus over the importance of infrastructure in poverty reduction, through both its indirect impact on growth leading to increased incomes and employment, and its direct contributions to incomes and employment and reducing human poverty by improving access to social services. The CSP highlights that strong connectivity to link poor rural families to social services and markets is the organizing theme for the transport sector. In line with these thrusts, ADB has been providing assistance to the national rural roads program called Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY, meaning ?Prime Minister?s rural roads program?). The first ADB assistance, the Rural Roads Sector I Project, was approved in November 2003 for $400 million to finance part of PMGSY investment in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Rural Roads Sector II Investment Program will continue ADB?s support to the sector.

Consulting services will assist the EAs and the SRRDAs to implement the Investment Program. Government-financed PICs will be engaged in accordance with PMGSY procedures found acceptable to ADB and will assist the PIUs of the SRRDAs in (i) preparing additional subprojects; (ii) supervising civil works; (iii) implementing the CPF to address social impacts, if any; and (iv) implementing the EAF and the relevant provisions of the ECOP.

NRRDA wil engage ADB loan-financed Technical Support Consultant (TSC) to provide technical support to the SRRDAs in social and environmental safeguards, and road safety. The TSC will comprise a team of domestic experts who will (i) conduct checking of detailed project reports and random checks of roads under construction to ensure that road safety measures are properly incorporated; (ii) provide support to the PIUs in implementing road safety awareness-raising schemes being developed under the RRSI; (iii) check compliance of subprojects with CPF and EAF/ECOP provisions during subproject preparation and implementation; and (iv) conduct impact monitoring. For each individual state, the TSC will require 12 person-months of inputs for the first batch, and 11 person-months of inputs for subsequent batches. All consultants financed by the loans under the MFF will be selected and engaged in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants and other arrangements for recruitment of domestic consultants acceptable to ADB. The domestic consultants will be selected and engaged in accordance with procedures acceptable to ADB and the selection and engagement of the consultants will be subject to ADB approval with regard to their competence and experience for carrying out the assignment.