Staff Reporter:
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) is likely to approve Tk 2,082.12 crore government-funded projects to maintain rural roads across the country while creating employment opportunities for thousands of poor rural women.
According to the project summary prepared by the Planning Commission, the proposed “Rural Road Maintenance and Employment Project” will be implemented by the Local Government Engineering De-partment (LGED) under the Local Government Division by December 2029 at a total estimated cost of Tk 2,082.12 crore, entirely financed by the government.
ECNEC Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will preside over the ECNEC meeting to be held today.
The roads under the LGED earlier went through a wider scale maintenance in 1983 and 1984 and then during the 2003-2007 period.
After that, there were no such large-scale maintenance work and considering the matter, the draft project has been prepared to cover the 495 upazilas of the 64 districts.
The project aims to keep 91,560 kilometers of rural roads suitable for communication throughout the year through regular maintenance and generate employment for 45,780 poor women who are heads of households, improving the socio-economic condition of an equal number of disadvantaged families.
The proposal builds on the success of earlier rural road maintenance programs. The initiative began in 1983 as a pilot project in seven unions with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through CARE Bangladesh.
The Local Government Division has proposed the new project to sustain rural connectivity, facilitate marketing of agricultural and non-agricultural products, reduce poverty through women’s employment and improve the overall quality of life in rural areas.
Under the project, LGED will undertake regular maintenance of 91,560 kilometers of rural roads across 495 upazilas in all 64 districts under the country’s eight divisions.
Project areas have been selected based on indicators such as the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI), Pov-erty Index and Environmental Hazard Index, with priority given to improving rural connectivity and expanding social protection through women’s employment.
The proposed annual expenditure includes Tk 522.89 crore in FY2026-27, Tk 519.31 crore in FY2027-28, Tk 518.65 crore in FY2028-29 and Tk 520.75 crore in FY2029-30, with a nominal allocation in FY2025-26.
The Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), at its meeting on March 1, 2026, recommended the
project for approval after revising the implementation schedule, rationalizing procurement and opera-tional costs, ensuring compliance with public procurement rules, preparing an exit plan for post-project maintenance and preventing duplication with other ongoing development programs.
The Commission has recommended the project for ECNEC approval for implementation by December 2029 at an estimated cost of Tk 2,082.12 crore, fully financed by the government.
