Rajasthan’s Baran Gets Benefit of Centre’s Road Scheme

• 18 Jan 2024

Why in News?

The tribal-dominated Baran district in Rajasthan will get the benefit of the Centre’s scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) with the construction of 16 all-weather roads in the region.

• 38 habitations of the indigenous Saharia tribals will be connected with the road network after the completion of the work.

Key Points

• According to Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, there are seven approved categories of construction, which will pave the way for execution of public works worth ₹5,000 crore for constructing roads across the State.
• The new roads will include the national highways, Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana, and the roads of the Rajasthan State Highways Authority and the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CIRF).
• The 23.24-km-long roads will be constructed at a cost of ₹18.23 crore in Baran district’s Kishanganj and Shahbad panchayat samitis.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi had interacted virtually with the beneficiaries of the scheme and released the first installment of financial assistance for constructing houses.
• The Public Works Department (PWD) is instructed to start the construction work in the seven approved categories, which would include the roads and buildings covered in the Centrally funded schemes.
• The partial advance has been deposited for the roads around Pachpadra oil refinery in Barmer district and Cairn Oil and Gas Vedanta Limited in western Rajasthan.

Saharia tribe

• The Sahar, Sehariya, or Sahariya is an ethnic group in the state of Madhya Pradesh and some districts of Rajasthan.
  • They are classified as PVTGs.
• The Sahariya community considers every adult member part of a governing council which is headed by a patel.
  • They are expert woodsmen and forest product gatherers.
  • They are particularly skilled in making catechu (extract of acacia trees used variously as a food additive, dye, etc) from Khair trees.

Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF)

• The CRIF (earlier known as Central Road Fund) was established under Central Road Fund Act, 2000.
• The fund comprises a cess imposed along with excise duty on petrol and diesel.
• The administrative control of the CRIF falls under the Ministry of Finance.
  • Earlier it was under the domain of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.