CONTENTS List of Tables xvi List of Boxes and Figures xviii List of Abbreviations xxi 1. THE INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR IN INDIA 2006 1 Anupam Rastogi Roads 1 o Ports 3 o Railways 3 o Airports 6 o Power 8 o Telecom 14 o Urban Infrastructure 16 o Rural Infrastructure 18 o Conclusion 25 References 27 2. RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE, PANCHAYATI RAJ, AND GOVERNANCE 28 T.R. Raghunandan Introduction 28 o The Constitution and the Panchayats 28 o Roadblocks in Effective Functional Transfer to Panchayats 30 o Recent Developments in Panchayati Raj 32 o Generic Features of a well designed Panchayati Raj 33 o Capacity Building 40 o Role of Parallel Bodies of Central and State Governments 40 o CBO, SHGs, and User Groups 42 o Way Forward 43 References 46 3. FINANCING OF RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE 47 Vijay Mahajan, Preeti Sahai, and Sandeep Pasrija Introduction 47 o Attributes of Rural Infrastructure and Interlinkages with Funding Issues 47 o Demand-Supply Gap in Rural Infrastructure 49 o Rural Infrastructure Financing 51 o Workable Infrastructure Financing Models for Rural India 61 o The Way Forward 66 o Conclusion 73 References 74 4. RURAL TELECOM PART I: RURAL TELECOM AND IT 44 Pradip Baijal and Rekha Jain Introduction 44 o Status of Rural Telephony 76 o Evolution of the Telecom Sector: Lessons for Telecom 76 o Review of Rural Telecom Policies 80 o Barriers to Penetration of Telecom in Rural Areas 83 o IT Application in Rural Areas: Some Initiatives 86 o Rural BPOs 92 o Agenda for Action 94 Annexe 99 References 101 PART II: ACCELERATING RURAL TELECOM PENETRATION: A STATE LEVEL ANALYSIS 102 Rekha Jain and G. Raghuram Introduction 102 o Fixed Line Telecom Density in States 102 o Linking Consumption Patterns to Target Policies 104 o Price Regulation and its Effect on Demand 105 o Implications and Recommendations 106 Appendix 107 References 108 5. RURAL ROADS 109 J.K. Mohapatra and B.P. Chandrasekhar Introduction 109 o Status of Rural Roads in India 109 o Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana 111 o Alternatives to Reduce Cost of Rural Road Construction 119 o Maintenance of Rural Roads 119 o Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions 123 o Way Forward 129 Annexe 131 References 137 6. ELECTRIFICATION AND BIO-ENERGY OPTIONS IN RURAL INDIA PART I: RURAL ELECTRIFICATION 138 Prem K. Kalra, Rajiv Shekhar, and Vinod K. Shrivastava Introduction 138 o Role of Electricity in Rural Development 138 o Current Status 139 o Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana 141 o Rural Electrification Models 142 o Alternatives in Power Distribution in Rural India 148 o Rural Electrification and Panchayats 155 o Critical Issues in Rural Electrification 157 o Way Forward 161 Annexe 162 References 164 PART II BIO-ENERGY OPTIONS AND RURAL INDIA 165 Avinash Kumar Agarwal Global Energy Scenario 165 o Renewable Energy in India 165 o Monetary Value of Biomass 169 o Electricity from Biomass Technologies 170 o Biofuels 171 o Bio-Ethanol Programme 175 o Way Forward 175 References 177 7. IRRIGATION AND WATER RESOURCES PART I: IRRIGATION: ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES 178 Apoorva Oza What is Irrigation? 178 o Status of Irrigation 179 o The Importance of Irrigation in the Indian Economy 182 o Who Loses out to the Prevailing Irrigation Policy Imperatives? 183 o Financing of the irrigation sector 184 o Irrigation-Power Nexus 185 o Surface irrigation: Is More Money the Answer? 189 o Community-based Watershed Programme 190 o The Rain Water Harvesting Movement 191 o Micro-irrigation 192 o Way Forward 193 References 196 PART II: INTER-BASIN WATER TRANSFER 197 N.K. Bhandari and N.S.R.K. Reddy Introduction 197 o Need for Inter-Basin Water Transfer 197 o National Perspective Plan 198 o National Water Development Agency 199 o Benefits of Interlinking of Rivers Programme: Rural Perspective 200 o Roadblocks in ILR 204 o Monitoring of the ILR Programme 205 o Conclusions 205 Annexe 206 References 209 8. RURAL DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION 210 Jyotsna Bapat, P. Amudha, Alok Kumar, S. V. Mapuskar, N.S. Moorthy, Vibhu Nayar, T.R. Raghunandan, and Sumita Ganguly Introduction 208 o Drinking Water Sector 208 o Sanitation 218 o Way Forward 223 References 225 9. RURAL ENVIRONMENT . 226 Runa Sarkar and Bhaskar Chakrabarti Introduction 226 o Status of the Rural Environment 226 o Causes of Degradation 229 o Managing the Environment 232 o Rejuvenating the Rural Environment 238 o Way Forward 241 Annexe 242 References 246 10. RURAL HOUSING 247 Piyush Tiwari Introduction 247 o Demographic Trends and Housing Needs 247 o Household Asset and Liability Structure 250 o Government Housing Initiatives 257 o Appraisal of Rural Housing Initiatives 259 o Rural Institutional Framework 261 o Way Forward 262 References 264 11. HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE IN RURAL INDIA 265 Laveesh Bhandari and Siddhartha Dutta Introduction 265 o Public Infrastructure 265 o The Expanding Role of Private Healthcare Services: Issues of Access to Quality Care 267 o Finding Quality Healthcare Solutions: Public, Private or Partnerships 271 o Financing Health Care: The Individual and the State 273 o Way Forward 275 Annexe Tables 277 Annexe Figures 283 References 285 12. RURAL EDUCATION 286 Michael Ward Introduction 286 o Brief Overview of the Education System in India 287 o Infrastructure Needs for Providing Effective Rural Education 288 o Status of Rural Education Infrastructure in India 290 o Comparing the Roles of the Public and Private Sectors in Rural Education 303 o Regulating the Education Sector in India: Interstate Comparisons of Education Outcomes 305 o Issues Affecting the Costs and Financing of Rural Education Infrastructure 307 o Closing the gaps: An agenda for the future 308 o Concluding Remarks 312 Annexe Tables 313 References 317