Economic impacts of rural roads: A case study of hoshiarpur district of Punjab

The establishment and existence of a well-functioning and efficient basic infrastructure is essential for economic development and growth. For any economy to grow and prosper, it is necessary that the factors and agents of growth with in the economy are facilitated by basic infrastructure like power, roads, schools, primary health facilities, storage, market yards etc. 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. 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 economic 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 “before and after” method and Percentage analysis, Arithmetic Mean, Paired t-test for testing the significance of difference between means has been used for analysis of data.