Gujarat Rural Roads (MMGSY)

Status: Approved

E&S-Category: B

2017 - 2019

India

Gujarat Rural Roads (MMGSY)

CONCEPT REVIEW

LOAN CLOSURE

June 30, 2019

March 13, 2017

FINANCING APPROVAL

July 4, 2017

FINAL REVIEW

May 17, 2017

LATEST FIELD VISIT

January 2020

Timeline

GoG

US$ 329 mln

AIIB

US$ 329 mln

Total Project Costs

US$ 658 mln

• Women did not get any new employment opportunities, and the project has not promoted women's livelihoods or asset building.
• Work sites did not have gender-safe bathrooms or housing facilities for women workers.
• Neither AIIB nor R&BD and LASA have a gender expert; AIIB does not have a gender policy.
• Women face sexual harassment.
• Women are being hired only at the lowest unskilled levels in AIIB-funded projects, and there is no provision for skill upgradation or to create a befitting match between the educational background of the women and the kind/quality of work they are asked to handle

Safeguard Concerns:

• MMGSY fails to provide equal, safe, decent jobs, and there are no records of any kind to show they have been hired, are working, or are being paid.

• The project reinforced gender inequalities and violated labour and human rights, especially those of tribal peoples.

• Field research found that labor conditions at visited work sites esembled forced labor.

Safeguard Concerns:

• Construction workers, a majority of whom were of tribal origin and lower caste, systematically had their rightsviolated.

• Project documents fail to explicitly mention social, historical, cultural, and tribally relevant processes which could be utilized to identify and address local barriers to gender inclusivity.

• Although the training LASA led touched upon tribal and gender issues, they were offered too late to benefit women during project implementation.

Safeguard Concerns:

Further Information