India has come a long way when it comes to road network infrastructure, having covered more than 63 lakh km, including 1.45 lakh km of national highway. Dozens of expressways too have been developed over the years. This is significant considering the vital role it plays in the economic growth of a nation or a place. A closer look at regional inequalities will tell that it is directly or indirectly connected with road development. The Northeast India is a case in point. Besides making intrastate and interstate travels easier and easing transportation of goods and commodities, a good road also lowers air pollution, encourages weekend travel and reduces traffic jams. Sadly, India has lots of ground to cover despite its positive outlook towards road development over the years. While most villages in northeastern states are still deprived of metalled roads, many don’t even have motorable roads. This is despite schemes being introduced by the government of India to improve road connectivity in the country.
One such scheme is the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) which was launched in 2000 with the primary objective of providing all-weather roads to eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas with a population of 500 persons and above in plain areas and 250 persons and above in hill states, including the Northeast. This centrally-sponsored scheme, if implemented well, has the potential to reduce poverty and catapult rural areas into production hubs, but it has failed to make inroads into many remote areas. On top of that, many completed ones can’t be called all-weather roads due to the failure to meet prescribed specifications. The safety of commuters must be of upmost priority in the construction of roads. So, the Centre should come up with a mechanism to ensure that contractors, state governments and officials do not siphon off funds out of such schemes by constructing sub-standard roads. The huge gap in state’s targeted and completed length under PMGSY needs to be looked into as well.
The yearning of the people of Nagaland for good roads is obvious. No political party contesting in the state assembly election will miss the chance to include road development in its election manifesto. In fact, political parties have been rallying around Naga political issue and road network problem for years during election campaigns but successive governments have failed to address these issues. There is no denying the fact that the state government has been making efforts in improving road networks of late but much needs to be done to penetrate into remote areas and interior parts of the state. Connecting district headquarters is not enough. The state government should not rest till all villages are connected by all-weather roads. Failing to do so will render its aspiration of promoting agricultural activities and making basic services such as healthcare and education available in rural areas, useless. The citizens, on their part, should not stand in the way of projects that will benefit them; they should instead assist and monitor development works to ensure that quality is not compromised. The road to growth is good roads.