The Hindu : Norms revised for rural road scheme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 04, 2003

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Norms revised for rural road scheme

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 3. The Ministry of Rural Development has revised the procedures for execution of works under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) by formulating a standard bidding document and making it mandatory for all States.

The need for drafting uniform bidding document was felt after it was observed that different States used different types of bidding regulations and the guidelines of the PMGSY were not fully enforced.

The original draft of the Standard Bidding Document was given to experts in the field, who studied the process followed by the States and recommended a uniform set of guidelines.

According to the new rules, funds for construction of roads will be provided through the PMGSY, but their maintenance will be financed by the State Government for five years, instead of the Centre giving funds to the States to implement the scheme. The estimates of each work under the PMGSY will be made in two parts, the first part containing estimates for construction of the road and related works and the second part the estimate of year-wise routine maintenance for five years.

The clearance of the estimates for construction of roads and related works will be provided by the Union Rural Development Ministry, but the funds and clearance for the estimates of routine maintenance will be provided by the State Government.

Before submitting the proposals for construction of roads and related works for clearance to the Empowered Committee of the Rural Development Ministry, the State Government will be required to give sanction for routine maintenance of every work in the proposal. The State Government will now also be required to furnish a certificate to ensure that the provision of funds for maintenance has been made in the State Budget separately for the PMGSY roads.

Tenders will be invited for construction as well as maintenance of roads for five years, including the liability of defects during this time. The tenders will be invited through the two envelope system. The technical qualification of the contractor in terms of bidding capacity, experience in civil engineering works and in the relevant field, possession of the requisite machinery and equipments and financial capacity will be evaluated before opening the financial offer. The responsibility of establishment of quality control laboratory and mandatory testing will be that of the contractor, who will also be required to employ the necessary engineering and technical staff. A more effective and less time-consuming process of dispute redressal system has been provided in place of the normal arbitration provisions.

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is a centrally funded programme, which aims to provide connectivity to all habitations with a population of 1,000 and more by 2003 and with a population of 500 and more by 2007.

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