To maintain the prioritised 24,246 km of rural black-topped roads in motorable condition, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) has come up with ‘Chief Minister Grameena Sumarga’ project. The ₹7,182-crore project to be taken up over five years in phases was approved by the State Cabinet on Friday.
This decision comes at a time when the Chief Minister is set to restart his village stay programme.
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, RDPR Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said under the project, over 20,000 km of roads would be reconstructed or re-asphalted, depending on their condition, in three phases over three years.
“The remaining 4,246 km of roads are considered to be in good condition and they may require only patching. This will be a guaranteed service delivery to the rural public and we will take this up in phases. In the first phase, ₹600 crore will be spent on the project,” he said.
Of the 56,325 km of rural black-topped roads in the State, 24,246 km have been identified as priority village roads. This selection is based on connectivity to agricultural markets, public health centres, educational institutions, and gram panchayats.
Explaining the project, the Minister said prioritisation of roads for reconstruction would be done based on the Road Condition Index (RCI), which will be taken up using technologies such as drones or by running trucks fitted with equipment on the roads. “While Karnataka has done well in extending rural road connectivity, we will also excel in giving greater priority for assured maintenance of priority rural roads. This will also ensure improvement of rural living conditions, investment in rural areas, and overall social economic development of rural Karnataka,” the Minister said.
Although the Centre has come up with Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for repairing rural roads and providing rural connectivity, Karnataka has not got any funds under this scheme as it had already provided rural connectivity using State funds. “The Centre announced PMGSY-3 last year but has not implemented it so far. Although we are not dependent on Central funds for the CM Grameena Sumarga project, if we get any Central funds, we will converge it with this scheme,” he added.
Other Cabinet decisions
The Cabinet approved amendments to the State’s startup policy by incorporating certain conditions from the Centre’s startup policy such as higher turnover limit and year of limit.
Higher pay scale for employees of temples run by the Muzrai Department based on the temple’s revenue. The Cabinet also approved modernisation of Tumakuru branch canal at a cost of ₹475 crore to ensure uninterrupted Hemavati water supply to people in Tumakuru. Establishment of a pipeline from the 70th km on Tumakuru branch canal to supply water to Kunigal at a cost of ₹614 crore. Approval for tenders for construction of a 750-bed and 250-bed hospitals, medical college, dental college, nursing college, hotels, quarters for teaching and non-teaching staff, and guest house at a cost of ₹483 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in Ramanagaram.
