 the national idghw ays bill, 1956(as introduced in lok saliha)  the national highways biilic)s6 (as introwc!:ddi lok· sasha)a bii,l  ' :" r' to provide for the declaration oj certain hig1!-wa,ys  tq be national highway, au for matters connected tlh~rew,ith be it enacted by parliament in the 'seventh year of the republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the national highways act, 1956 short title, extent and commencement (2) it extends to the whole of india 5 (3) it shan come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint t (1) each of the hiahways specified in the schedule except such declaration parts thereof as are situated within any municipal area is hereby ~ih;'; to declared to be a national highway be national highways 10 (2) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, declare any other highway to be a national highway and or the publication of such notification such highway shall be deemed to b~ specified in the schedule (3) the central government may, by like notification, omit any i, highway from the schedule and on the publication of such noti· fication, the highway so omitted shall cease to be a national highway 3 in this act, "municipal area" means any municipal area with d' 'fin' •• e ilion, a population of twenty thousand or more the control or m«nagement i of which is entrusted to a municipal committee, a town area committee, a town committee or any other authority t all national highways shall vest in the union, and for the purposes of this act "highway:>" inc1ude-naticoal hip,")" to wltld the udiod (i) all lands appurtenant thereto whether demarcated or not; 5 (ii) all bridges, culverts, tunnels, causeways, carriageways and other itructures constructed on or -across such highways; anctl om all fences trees, posts and boundary, furlong and mile stones of such highways or any land appurtenant to such 10 highways relponsibility for developmentand maidten-  ii1\cc of di-tional hishways 5 it siaall be tiae~ponsl~wty  of the central government to deveidp ud maidtatn in proper repair all nattoulldgll1'ays; but the cea1nl govern  -yt '" aoti8e  tile 08lelal gazette, direet tiiat any fimctiod in relation to the development or malnte- is dadee of ady national hll'bway -1, subject to' such condwons, it any, as may be speelfted in the nowlcatlon, also be exercisable by the govenunent of the state within w1tkta tbe national idpway is situated or by illy oftieer or aatherhy, to the central go  t  file &a&e ~t 20 powwto i  directiou 6 the central government may give directions to the government of any state as to the carrying out in the state of any of the provisions of this act or of any rule, notification or order made thereunder 7 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official ~, gazette, levy fees at such rates as may be iaid down by rules made in this behalf for services or benefits rendered in relation to the use of ferries, temporary bridges and tunnels on national highways fees for aervicea or bedcfit rendue4'-utioul hjpwayi (2) such fees when so levied shall be co11eat~ in accordance with the rules made under this act 30 (3) any fee leviable immediately before, the commencement of this act or services or benefits rendered in' relation to the use of ferries, temporary bridges and tunnels on any highway specified in the schedule shall continue to be leviable under this act unless and until it is altered in exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (1) 55 ~meata wsth state goverllmenu or municipaliica, - i notwithstanding anything contained in this act, the central government may ~ter into all agree~ent with the government of any state or with any authority entr;usted with the control or management of any municipal area in relation to the development or maintenance of the whole or any part of a national highway situated within the state or, as the case may be, in relation to the development or maintenance of any such part of a highway situated within a municipal area as is referred to in sub-section (1) of sectioll 5 2 and any such agreement may provide for the sharing of expenditure by the respective parties thereto 9 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official !:~ t~  era  gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act (2) in parlcular and without prejudice to the generality of the 10 foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:,· (a) the manner inwhich~ and the conditiolls sub~ to which, any function in relation to the development or maintenance of a national highway or any part thereof may be j, exercised by the state government or any oftlcer or authority subordinate to the central government or the state government; 20 (b) the rates at which fees for services rendered in relation to t he use of ferries temporary bridges and tunnels on any national highway may be levied and the manner in which such fees shall be collected; (c) the periodical inspection of national highwan and the submission of inspection reports to the central government; (d) the re-purts on works carried out on national highways; 2, (e) any other matter for which provision should be made under this act 10 all notifications or agreements issued or entered into under layiq of this act shall be laid before both houses of parliament as soon as ilotific:at · i_  10i111, ru_ l,ilay be after they are issued or entered into and all rules made etc before under section 9 shall be laid for not less than thirty days before parliament, 30 both houses of parliament as soon as may be after they are made, and shall be subject to such modifications as parliament may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following national highways -------------------- _-----__ sorial no description of national highways i the highway connecting delhi, ambala, jullul\dur, and amritsar snd proceeding to the border between india and puiltlll 2 the highway connecting jullundur, madhopur, jammu, banlhal' srinagar, baramuta rnd uri 3 the highway connecting delhi, m(:thura, agra, kanpur, alljbabad banaras, mohania, barhi and calcutta 4 the highway connecting agra, gwalior, shivpuri, indore, dhulia nasik, thana and bombay s the highway starting from its junction neer thana with the highway sp!cified in ser:al no 4 and connecting poona, belcaum, hubli, bangalore, ranipet ~nd madl1's 6 the highway starting from its junction ncar bahan,ora with the highway specified in serial no7 and connecting cuttick, bhubaneshwar, visakhapatnam, vijayavada and madras 7 the highway starting from ita ju14ction near dhulia with the highway specified in serial no4 and coiulectin, n6,pur, raipur, sambalpur, bahamgora and calcutta 8 the highway starting from its juqction qear baneras with the highway specified in serial no3 and connecting mangawan,rewa, jabalpur lakhnadon, nagpur, hyderabad, kumool, bangalore, krislmagiri salem, dindi,ul, madurai and cape comorid 9 the highway connecting delhi, jaipur ajmer udaipur ahmedabad, baroda and bombay  10 the highway connecting ahmedabad, limbdi morvi and kandla ii the highway starting from its junction near bamanbhore with the highway specified in serial no 10 and coonecting riljltot and porbandar 12 the highway connectins poooa sho18pur, hydcrabad and vijaya\'ada 13 the highway connecting delhi and fazilka and proceedins to the border between india and pakistan serial no description of national highways 14 the highway connecting ambala~ kalka~ simla, narkanda, rampur and chini and proceeding to the border between india and  tibet near shipki-lll is the highway connecting delhi, bareilly and lucknow 16 the highway connecting lucknow, kanpur, jhansi and shivpuri 17 the highway connocting jhansi and lakhnadod 18 the highway connecting allahabad with the highway specified in serial no8 near mangawai' 19 the highway starting from its junction near barauni with the highway specified in serial no 23 and connecting muzaffarpur, pipra, gorakhpur and lucknow 20 the highway starting from its junction near pipra with the highway specifi~ in !,ierialno i9andconl\ectinb sagauli and raxaul and proceeding to the border between :inditl and nepal, '  21 the highway connecting gorakhpur, ga8zipur and banaras: 22 the hi&hway starting from its j~ion near mohania with th~ highway specified in serial no 3 and connecting patna and bakhtiyarpur 23 the highway starting from its junctiofl near barhi with the highway specified in serial no3 and connecting bakhtiyarpur, mokameh, pumea, dalkhclila, siliguri, sivok, and cooch b :har and proceeding to its jul\ction with the highway specified in seripl no 28 near goalpara 24 the highway connecting sivok and gangtok 2s the highway starting from its junction near barhi with the highway specified ill serial no3 and connecting ranchi al\d tatanagar and proceeding to its junction with the highway specified in serial no·7 near baharagora 26 the highway starting from its junction near dalkhola with the highway specified in serial no 23 and connecting berhampore, barasat and calcutta 27 the highway connecting barasat and bangaon and proceeding to the border between india and pakistan 28 the highwlly starting from its junction near goalpara with the higbway specified in serial no 23 and connecting gauhati, jorahat kamqaon, makum and saikh09 ghat 2~ ttc high\\ay codnecting makum, udo and lekhapan; 30 the hi~hway contjecting kamargaon, imphal, and palel and proceeding to the border between india and burma 1022 ls | description    ||----------------|| serial         || no            |31 the highway connecting jorabat and shillong and proceeding to the border between india lind pakistan near dawki 32 the highway surting from its junction near sambalpur with the highw9y specified in serial no7 and proceeding via angul to its junction with the highway specified in serial no 6 near cut tack 33 the highway connecting raipur and vizianagan'm and proceeding to its junction with the highway s~ed in serial no6 near vizianagaram 34 the highway connecting madras, tiruchirappalli and dindigul 3s the highway connecting krishn'lgiri and ranipet 36 the highway connecting salem, c'oimbatore, trichur, emakulam, trivandrum and cape comorin 37 the highway starting from its junction near trichur with the highway specified in serial no 36 and connecting with the west coast road near chalisseri 38 the highway connecting madurai and dhanushkodi 39 the highway connecting nasik with the highway specified in serial no ~ near poona  statement of objects and reasonsunder an agreement entered into with the then existing provinces, the government of india provisionally accepted entire ftnancial liability, with effect from the 1st april, 1947, for the construction, development and maintenance of certain highways in the provinces which were considered suitable for inclusion in a system of national highways upon the creation of the part b states and the new part c states under the constitution, the national highways scheme was extended to those states also 2 under entry 23 of the union list, parliament has exclusive power of legislation with respect to highways which are declared to be national highways by or under law made by parliament it is, therefore, proposed that the highways comprised in the schedule annexed to this bill should be dealared to be national highways such a declaration would help the central government in exercising its powers with respect to the development and maintenance of these highways more effectively power is also sought to be vested in the  central government to declare by notification other highways to be national highways power should also be given to the central government to enter into agreements with the state governments or municipal authorities with respect to the development or maintenance of any portion of any national highway and fees may have to be levied in respect of certain types of services rendered on national highways 3 the present bill is designed to achieve the objects set forth above new delhi; lal bahadur the 30th july 1956 clause 2 of the bill provides for the declaration of certain highways in states to be national hoighways under clause 4, all highways so declared will vest in the central government and, under clause 5·, the central government will be respon&ible for their development and maintenance 2 the highways comprised in the schedule to the bill, which would be declared as nauonal highways, were provisionally approved by the government of india as suitable for inclusion in a system of national highways and they accepted complete financial liability for their development and maintenance, after consultation with states, with efjlect from the 1st april, 1947, in respect of most of the highways the expenditure so far incurred by the government of india on these highways is covered by article 282 of the constitution 3 the total mleage of the highways proposed to be declared 83 national highways is 13,800, including missing links of a total length of about'9oo miles under construction, but excluding road links within towns having a population of 20,000 or more in respect of which any liability that the government of india may accept will be governed by an agreement entered into with the state concerned under clause 8 strictly speaking, the financial liability that will fall on the central government under the proposed legislation will not be a fresh liability because they have already accepted liability for the construction and maintenance of the highways in question 4 up to the end of 1950-51, ie, before the commencement of the first five-year plan, a total expenditure of rs 6:23 crores was incurred by the central government on the development of the provisional national highways under the first five-year plan, a further expenditure, estimated at rs 27'7 crol'es, has been incurred on the development of these highways the second five-year plan provides for an expenditure of rs 55 crores for this purpose, the budget provision for the current financial year being rs 9 crores 5 the budget provision for the maintenance of national highways during the current year is rs 4'65 crores this provision is intended for expenditure on the normal maintenance of the existing national highways and on alternative road routes maintained for the convenience of traf'fic in place of missing road links in the national highway system and expenditlp'e on flood damage repairs, etc  - 6 taking into consideration· the missing links still remaining to be constructed, new bypasses in congested areas or other diversions that may be built in the national highway 3ystem, and the liability the central government may accept in respect of maintenance of road links to national highways within towns having a population of 20,000 or more under clause 8 of the bill, the total average annual expenditure on the maintenance of national highways in the second five-year plan period is expected to be roughly rs 5 crores per annum the broad features envisaged in the bill, namely, the declaration of certain highways to be national highways, responsibility for the develop~ent and maintenance of national highway;;, the delegation of functions in relation to such development or maintenance to the state governments and to subordinate officers and authorities, the levy of fees for services and benefits rendered on national highways and agreements with state governments or municipal authorities in relation to the development or maintenance of any part of a highway situated with:n a municipal area are laid down in the bill it;elf 2 su'b-clause (1) of clause 9 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes contemplated in the bill the particular matters in relation to which such rules may be made have been enumerated in sub-clause (2) of that clause and relate inter alia to the manner in which and the conditions subject to which functions in relation to the development or maintenance of a national highway may be delegated to a state government or to any subordinate officer or authority, the rates at which fees for services and benefits rendered on national highways may be levied and the periodical inspection of national highways and so on these are matters of detail and it is unnece3sary as well as cumbersome to include them in the bill itself   3 the delegation of legislative power is thus of the normal type a bill te provide for the declaration of certain highways to be nationa 1 highways and for matters connected therewith the president has, in pursuance of clause (3) of article 117 of the constitution of india, recommended to lok sabha the consideration of the bill m n kaul, secretary (shri lal bahadur, minister of transport) 