Lok Sabha Question No. 547 (STARRED), answered on 2018-04-05
Subject: Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: SUSHMITA DEV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 547

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.04.2018

## PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA

## *547.   KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the Pradhan  Mantri  Gram  Sadak  Yojana  (PMGSY),  if  so,  the  details  and  the  outcome thereof including the targets fixed and the achievements under the scheme during the last three years;
- (b) whether the Government has fixed any time frame to speed up the execution of rural roads  so  as  to  achieve  full  rural  connectivity  by  March,  2019  and  if  so,  the  details thereof  along  with  the  number  of  habitations  covered  by  all  weather  roads  under PMGSY so far and the number of habitations yet to be covered along with the steps taken by the Government to cover those habitations;
- (c) whether some of the States are facing problems in implementing the scheme, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps proposed to be taken by the Government to help those States to overcome the problems, State-wise;
- (d) whether deficiencies in the construction of roads under the scheme have come to the notice of the Government during the last three years, if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to remove those deficiencies; and
- (e) whether the Government has launched Geographic Information System (GIS) based mapping of all rural roads, if so, the details  thereof  and  the  time  by  which  the  said mapping is likely to be completed?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

## Statement referred to in reply to Parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.547 for answer on 05.4.2018

(a): The status of progress made in implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is  regularly reviewed in the  Regional Review Meetings (RRMs), Performance Review Meeting (PRC), Pre-Empowered Committee and Empowered Committee Meetings with the States. Also, at District level, the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha) headed  by a Member  of  Parliament  monitors  the implementation  of various schemes  of Government of India including PMGSY.  In addition to this, special review meetings are also held by  Secretary/Additional  Secretary,  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  with  Chief  Secretaries  of  the States.  Review meetings were also held by the Minister of Rural Development on 15 th December, 2017 and 28 th February, 2018.

The target fixed and achievements under the scheme during the last three years are as follows:-

| Year    | Length (in Km)   | Length (in Km)   |
|---------|------------------|------------------|
|         | Target           | Achievement      |
| 2014-15 | 21,775           | 36,337           |
|         | 33,649           | 2015-16 36,449   |
| 2016-17 | 48,812           | 47,447           |

- (b):  The Government of India has taken a decision to accelerate execution of PMGSY-I to provide connectivity  to  eligible  habitations  as  per  the  Core  Network  of  PMGSY  by  March,  2019.    The number  of  eligible  unconnected  habitations  as  per  the  Core  Network  is  1,78,184,  out  of  which 1,63,429  habitations  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  Ministry  (till  February,2018). The  States  have reported that 1,30,415 habitations have  been  connected till February, 2018. The  State Governments  have  been  requested  to  get  approval  for  sanction  of  balance  works  of  New Connectivity and upgradation under PMGSY-I as per mandate of the scheme and complete them latest by March, 2019 so as to provide connectivity to all eligible unconnected habitations.
- (c): The problems being faced by some of  States as reported by them , inter-alia, include:
- (i) Difficult terrain particularly in Hill States and North-Eastern States; shorter working season;
- (ii) Scarcity of the construction materials

The Ministry of Rural Development has taken a number of initiatives to meet the above challenges faced  by  the  States.  The  Ministry  has  engaged  Central  Public  Sector  Undertakings  (CPSUs)  in some of the States to augment execution capacity of the States. The Ministry has also conducted number  of  Contractor's  Outreach  Programmes  in  the  States  to  attract  the  Contractors  in  the implementation of the Programme. Further, in order to encourage locally available materials and use of green technologies,  guidelines were issued by the Ministry, wherein the State  Governments are required to propose minimum 15% of total length of annual proposals under New technologies such  as  Cement  stabilization,  Lime  stabilization,  Cold  mix,  Waste  plastics,  Cell  filled  concrete, Paneled cement concrete pavement, Fly  ash etc.  The  Ministry  is  also  in  constant  touch  with  the State Governments  and  other stake holders to address the security concerns for  smooth implementation of PMGSY.

(d): No specific  deficiency  in  the  construction  of  roads  has  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  the Ministry  by  the  States.    However,  the  Ministry  of  Rural  Development/  National  Rural  Roads Development Agency (NRRDA) have been regularly making efforts to overcome and improve road construction with the latest design and specification with the help of World Bank and Indian Roads Congress  (IRC).  The  PMGSY  is  a  well-structured  programme.  A  three-tier  Quality  Control mechanism viz. Project Inspection Unit (PIU), State Quality Monitors (SQM) and National Quality Monitors (NQM) is envisaged under the PMGSY for ensuring construction of quality road works and durability of road assets under PMGSY. This system also detects deficiencies in material and workmanship of PMGSY roads and such deficiencies  are  promptly  brought  to  the  notice  of  the State Government for rectification.

(e)  :      The  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  had  entered  into  a  Memorandum  of  Understanding (MoU), through  the  National  Rural  Roads  Development  Agency  (NRRDA),  with  the  Centre  for Development of Advance Computing (CDAC), Pune on 27.10.2015 through which all rural roads including roads under PMGSY in the country are mapped on Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. The work of GIS has been commenced in all the Districts in the 28 States and GIS has been completed in 19 States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan,  Sikkim,  Tamil  Nadu,  Telangana,  Tripura  and  Uttarakhand.  The  National  level  Web based  GIS  for  PMGSY  is  available  on  public  domain  from  29 th January,  2018  which  can  be accessed via url: www.pmgsy-grris.nic.in .