The state panchayat department has decided to increase the liability period for the agencies constructing roads in rural areas to five years from three years.

The move, senior government officials have said, assumes significance as it is clear that the state government is facing trouble in maintaining the rural roads. After the Centre stopped the release of funds under the rural roads scheme, the state government stepped in to construct new roads in villages.

Sources said the increase in the liability period showed that the state government had almost accepted that it would not get central funds for rural roads in the near future.

“It is a fact that roads that are being constructed in rural areas are getting damaged within a few years. It is difficult for a cash-strapped state government to spend huge amounts every year to maintain rural roads without central funds. This is why the liability period of the agencies will be increased to five years from three years,” said a senior government official in the panchayat department.

Roads in rural areas are a key electoral issue in Bengal. That was why the state government spent more than ₹12,000 crore under a scheme called Pathasree last year to construct new roads and repair old roads in rural areas after the chief minister received complaints about the condition of rural roads.

“TMC leaders had visited rural areas under a programme called Didir Doot about a year ago. The leaders had received complaints about the poor state of roads in the rural areas. This has made the ruling establishment worried. The chief minister had announced the Pathasree scheme and allotted ₹12,000 crore from the state exchequer last year to repair and construct rural roads,” said an official.

The effort by the chief minister has apparently given dividends to the ruling party as it bagged 29 seats in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

“The ruling party has put up a great show in the rural areas of East Burdwan, Jhargram, West Midnapore, Birbhum and Hooghly. The road condition in these areas contributes to the success of the ruling party, along with welfare schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar,” said a source.

Now, the chief minister has focused on the rural roads ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls and that’s why she has asked the departments to ensure that agencies are made liable in case the roads get damaged soon after they are constructed.

“The chief minister would definitely spend more on welfare schemes ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls as these schemes have given dividends to the ruling party. If the state is forced to spend a handsome amount on repairing roads, it would be tough to spend on welfare schemes,” said a source.

A senior official said agencies that construct roads maintained by the PWD mandatorily maintain roads for five years. The same clause will be incorporated in the clause for rural roads.

A section of the officials said that the liability period was kept at three years in the rural areas as the state did not have enough interested agencies to build rural roads.

“Now, it remains to be seen how the agencies will react if the liability period is increased to five years and made at par with the PWD roads,” said an official.