Corruption major cause for road erosion: PM

New Delhi, May 23 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today lamented that corruption in road construction projects has spread like cancer in every part of the country resulting in losses of crores of rupees.

Inaugurating a two-day 'National Conference on Rural Roads' here, Dr Singh said a major chunk of the roads get washed away after every monsoon and crores of rupees spent on them and their maintenance is wasted due to corruption which has spread to every corner of the country.

The Prime Minister emphasised the need for quality benchmarks and quality assurance for rural roads, as established for the national highways.

Dr Singh said the Government has prepared a time-bound plan under the Bharat Nirman to provide rural road connectivity to 66,000 villages in the country at an estimated cost of Rs 48,000 crore.

''To ensure full funding of the programme, we have not only expanded the funds available under the Prime Minister's Gram Sarak Yojna (PMGSY), but also created a special window under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to be looked after by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),'' he said.

He said while the Central Government has been supportive in funding these programmes, the state governments have to make commensurate efforts to ensure that timely completion of projects and cost-effective and good quality work is undertaken.

Dr Singh, however, complimented X X X picking up from para 6 of DI 8 ''PM-RURAL ROADS''.

UNI