• Investments in rural infrastructure are more effective than safety nets which reduce the vigour of rural poverty but may not remove it.
• Rural infrastructure programmes have a lasting impact on rural development, creating both on-farm and off-farm employment.
• Properly supplemented by policies enabling the rural poor to take advantage of new opportunities, investments in creation of rural infrastructure help in poverty alleviation.
• Hence the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Programme – PMGSY in India.