An assessment of development impact of rural roads

Large-scale investment in the infrastructure sector helps to break the constraints in the development of the developing economies. Infrastructure investments contribute to economic growth and improvement in quality of life. The role of infrastructure is crucial for agricultural, industrial and overall economic development. Among the infrastructure investments in various sub-sectors, roads have a distinct role to play in establishing connectivity among people and places. Roads have generally been viewed as the most important economic infrastructural development. Economic benefits such as increased income, employment, productivity gain, better income distribution and opportunity for diversification can be generated through rural roads. In rural areas it has wide ranging impact on individuals, households and communities; both in terms of income as well as other indicators of quality of life. The present study aimed at assessing the impacts of investment in rural roads, constructed under RIDF in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. Multi-stage sampling has been done for the purpose of collection of data. Primary data has been collected through survey in the project area and by conducting direct interviews of the beneficiaries in the project area, with the help of pre-designed questionnaire. To evaluate the impact of roads, this study used Arithmetic Mean and S.D. One sample t-test has also been applied to test the perception of respondents about the benefits of rural roads