Publication: How Does India's Rural Roads Program Affect the Grassroots? Findings from a Survey in Orissa
Date
2012-08
ISSN
Published
2012-08
Author(s)
Bell, Clive
van Dillen, Susanne
Abstract
This paper analyzes the effects of
all-weather rural roads on households' net output
prices, education and health in a poor, drought-prone region
of India. Of 30 villages originally surveyed in 2001-02,
when two had such roads, a further nine received them
between January 2007 and December 2009 under the program
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Cross-section comparisons
involving all villages and 'before and after'
comparisons in the nine yielded these findings: (i) net
output prices were 5 per cent or more higher; (ii)
substantially fewer days of schooling were lost due to bad
weather, largely because teachers had fewer absences; (iii)
the acutely sick received more timely treatment and were
more likely to be treated in a hospital than in the nearest
primary health clinic; and (iv) the respondents ranked the
resulting benefits in the domains of health and education at
least as highly as the 'commercial' ones.
Citation
“Bell, Clive; van Dillen, Susanne. 2012. How Does India's Rural Roads Program Affect the Grassroots? Findings from a Survey in Orissa. Policy Research Working Paper;6167. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/cae565d4-e330-5c4a-8f67-fe2be5c54228 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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