How Quality Rural Roads are Important for Development of India?
Connectivity:
Quality rural roads are necessary to ensure that even the rural parts of the country have access to basic products and services that a country’s citizens are entitled to. Quality roads ensure that the rural parts of the country have faster access to outside products, information, services and social linkages. It also opens up new markets for existing business due to easy connectivity and reduced costs of entering new markets. Connectivity enables communities to access existing government services and aids created especially for them.
Increased connectivity ensures that newer markets are opened up and are serviced at the best possible prices for existing businesses. Connectivity serves as an opportunity for local communities to spread the reach of their businesses further outside to nearby villages and cities and eventually the rest of the country. Connectivity ensures that the once ignored rural areas are actively considered for new industrial set ups, there by generating employment and increasing the standard of living of the local communities. Connectivity directly impacts the development of infrastructure and incorporation of local cash run businesses into the main stream economy of the country.
Employment
With an unchecked growth of population over the past few decades, there are too many people and not enough jobs to assimilate the aspirational young population. Lack of connectivity implies that larger businesses shy away from getting into such markets or setting up new industrial plants in such disconnected ares due to increased costs and time to run the operations and reach the market. Also, the traditional source of income have always been agriculture. Lack of connectivity means that the perishable goods take too long to reach the market and farmers not making enough money.
Increased connectivity with quality rural roads would ensure that agriculture becomes profitable for local communities by ensuring reach to larger markets in time. Connectivity would ensure that agriculture becomes a profitable enterprise for the communities there by creating various new employment opportunities and expansion of the businesses. Expanded markets mean more job creation and increased job creations translate to increased standard of living in the local communities.
Education
India has a population of 1.2 million people and 60-70% of them live in rural parts of the country. Give the lack of quality connectivity, the villages and cities located at sizeable distances, access to education becomes restricted. Given the lack of connectivity even the quality of education suffers since the disconnect also translates to lack incentive for educators to go and work in rural areas. At a time when India has the necessary young population to lead the country into becoming a super power, the potential of such a huge youth remains untapped due to lack access to quality education.
Increased connectivity would ensure that commute time to education centres is reduced whist reducing the cost of transit too. Increase in the quality of education and the number of adequately educated youth will eventually result into a more capable work force that can contribute to the development of the country and the economy.
Healthcare
Lack of connectivity takes a toll on the general healthcare necessities for the rural communities. Hospitals are few, numbered, located at vast distances and very poorly connected to the nearby villages that are dependent on the hospitals and clinics. Lack of connectivity also translates to fewer doctors wanting to go serve in the rural parts of the country there by taking a toll on the health of the communities. There have been too many casualties across the country because either people could not reach health care facilities or health care services couldnt reach people in time due to too long commute routes or unavailability of necessary medicines, equipment etc.
Connectivity ensures that people can access the health care facilities created especially for them. It also reduces on the turn around time for healthcare to be reached in case of emergencies leading to fewer casualties. A healthy population is a necessary requisite for a country’s development.
Business opportunities
Business opportunities depend on availability of basic infrastructure, connectivity and access to markets. Lack of quality roads eventually translate to lack of infrastructure, basic amities, lack of skilled labour all requisites for a flourishing business centre. Connectivity through quality rural roads are the stepping stone for growing business opportunities, job creation and industrialisation.
Migration:
Lack of connectivity restricts the opportunities available to people living in the rural areas. Lack of good opportunities leads to people migrating out of rural areas to cities both near by and far off in search of better opportunities and livelihood. A huge number of people from across the country are migrating to big cities, stressing out the existing infrastructure of the city. The migration eventually leading to inflated prices, lack of housing, electricity, gas, sanitation, healthcare and education to name a few to begin with. Low income, high competition, high cost of living adds to the poverty and difficulties of migrants.
Availability of quality rural roads would ensure that people living in rural parts of the country find adequate livelihood and opportunities within reasonable distance from their home towns. Restricting the need for migration to other parts of the country and creating an imbalance. Availability of quality road also ensures that people do not have to be uprooted from their homes, family and community for search of a decent livelihood. Additionally, people having opportunities closer to home ensures that the rural parts of the country are incorporated into the main stream economy of the country there by adding to the development of the country.
Economy building
Most rural areas have local cash run economies that are disconnected from the main stream economy of the country. Disconnected locations mean that even banks arent that accessible for integration. When opportunities are limited, local economies can’t grow to its full potential and cant contribute to the country’s development. Growing economies require adequate infrastructure and adequate infrastructure requires quality roads for connectivity. Lack of the basic necessity keep a huge chunk of the country’s money out side the mainstream economy.
Rural road connectivity is a basic requisite that once met will ensure that the roads are opened up for expansion of existing business and new businesses opening up whilst supported with a growing infrastructure and industrialisation.
