Guwahati: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a new program to support Assam to improve connectivity for over 1.8 million people living in rural areas.
The World Bank found that the marginal farmer communities and tribal settlements in Assam are not well connected to all-weather bridges and roads, and it affects their lives and livelihoods.
The $452 million Assam Resilient Rural Bridges Program, which is being funded by the World Bank, aims to strengthen the resilience and management of roads and bridges.
The World Bank fund will help people living in 1,739 villages in Assam to gain round-the-year access to wholesale markets, schools, hospitals, and places of work.
As a result of better connectivity, savings of more than $82 million within the next six years are expected against the earlier costs for people to journey to these places, a statement by the World Bank read.
The Program will also connect almost 633,000 women-led textile and handicraft producers living within 2 km of roads or collection points.
“The Program will support the Assam Government to attract private investment for quality jobs, increase farmers’ incomes and enhance value chains thus promoting inclusive and diversified growth in the rural sector,” Auguste Tano Kouame, the World Bank’s Country Director for India, said.
The Program will help to strengthen the Assam Public Works Roads Department’s financial and procurement processes using the state’s own systems and provide training to improve disaster risk management, Kouame said.
The Task Team Leaders for the Program said it will help increase women’s participation by almost 20 percent in jobs related to bridge design, construction and maintenance, as well as operating digital platforms at rural transportation hubs.
The $452 million Program loan from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will mature in 19 years, with a grace period of 4.5 years.
