These guidelines describe the process of creating and contracting Road Maintenance Groups (RMGs) for the maintenance of the District Road Core Network (DRCN) in Nepal. The DRCN is the set of main rural roads providing access to all Village Development Committees (VDCs), and its maintenance is the responsibility of the District Development Committee (DDC). There are currently approximately 22,000 km of DRCN roads, with a further 5,159krn planned to link VDCs that currently lack road access. The RMGs form an efficient and effective means of carrying out routine, recurrent and minor specific maintenance of the DRCN, ensuring that the DRCN roads stay open year round and that road deterioration is halted or slowed down. This document serves as a practical guide to the nationwide implementation of the RMG approach in the DRCN, both under government funding and within rural road projects and programmes.
