On Roads “Better Than US” Question, Madhya Pradesh Minister’s “Impractical” Reply

Seven years after then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserted that the roads in Madhya Pradesh are better than those in the United States, a minister from his party has taken a more cautious approach. 

Ahead of a seminar to discuss ways to improve the quality of road and bridge construction, Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department Minister Rakesh Singh was asked about the various complaints being received about potholed roads as well as Mr Chouhan’s claim and he responded that his government does not want to talk in a way that is not practical. 

 “We don’t want to talk in a way which is impractical. Roads should be built well… we can’t say they should be better than America… but quality roads should be the focus. We follow the Indian Road Congress guidelines for road construction, and seminars are organised for such discussions,” Mr Singh said. 

Beginning on Saturday, a two-day brainstorming seminar will be held at the Ravindra Bhavan in Bhopal with the goal of improving the quality of road and bridge construction and ensuring the use of new technologies to build stronger infrastructure within deadlines. The seminar is being organised by the Indian Road Congress in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Public Works Department and it will also be attended by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.

In 2017, speaking at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Forum launch in Washington DC, Mr Chouhan, who was the longest-serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and is now the agriculture minister, had said, “When I landed at the airport in Washington and drove on the roads, I felt that Madhya Pradesh’s roads are better than the US… I am not saying this just for the sake of it.”

Mr Chouhan had also said that his government had constructed 1.75 lakh km of roads in Madhya Pradesh and connected all villages.