Gujarat Rural Roads (MMGSY)

Gujarat Rural Roads (MMGSY)

India

2017 - 2019

E&S-Category: B

Status: Approved

Timeline

March 13, 2017

CONCEPT REVIEW

May 17, 2017

FINAL REVIEW

July 4, 2017

FINANCING APPROVAL

January 2020

LATEST FIELD VISIT

June 30, 2019

LOAN CLOSURE

US$ 329 mln

AIIB

Total Project Costs

US$ 658 mln

US$ 329 mln

GoG

Safeguard Concerns:

• 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.

Further Information