Lok Sabha Question No. 2175 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-14
Subject: Construction of Roads in Various Phases of PMGSY
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ajay Kumar Mandal, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Locket Chatterjee, Navneet Ravi Rana, Geeta Kora, Mahabali Singh, Sunil Kumar Pintu, Ramesh Chander Kaushik

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

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2175 ANSWERED ON 14/03/2023

## CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS IN VARIOUS PHASES OF PMGSY

2175.   SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA: MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE: SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA: SHRIMATI GEETA KORA: SHRI MAHABALI SINGH: SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU: SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the total length of roads approved  and constructed in Phase - 1, 2 and 3 under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir, Hooghly district of West Bengal, Amravati district of Maharashtra, Kolhan district of Jharkhand, Aurangabad, Sitamarhi and Bhagalpur districts of Bihar and Sonipat district of Haryana;
- (b) whether several proposals for above said areas are still pending under Phase-2 and 3 of PMGSY;
- (c) if so, the reasons therefor and the time by which the said proposals are likely to be approved;
- (d) the measures taken by the Government to ensure the maintenance of roads constructed under PMGSY along with roads whose maintenance period contracts have been completed;
- (e) whether the Fifteenth Finance Commission has earmarked/recommended funds for the maintenance of the said roads;
- (f) if so, the number of the said roads in above said areas; and
- (g) the amount of funds released for the maintenance of the said roads during the last years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a)  to  (c)           The  details  of  road  length  (in  km)  sanctioned  and  constructed  in  Jammu district  of  Jammu  and  Kashmir,  Hooghly  district  of  West  Bengal,  Amravati  district  of Maharashtra, Kolhan district of Jharkhand, Aurangabad, Sitamarhi and Bhagalpur districts of Bihar and Sonipat district of Haryana under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-I, II, III are as under:

| State           | District       | PMGSY-I    | PMGSY-I   | PMGSY-II   | PMGSY-II   | PMGSY-III   | PMGSY-III   |
|-----------------|----------------|------------|-----------|------------|------------|-------------|-------------|
|                 |                | Sanctioned | Completed | Sanctioned | Completed  | Sanctioned  | Completed   |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Jammu          | 669.79     | 647.40    | 57.05      | 57.00      | 85.94       | 0           |
| West Bengal     | Hooghly        | 1,509.53   | 1,460.62  | 96.43      | 96.42      | 14.27       | 0           |
| Maharashtra     | Amravati       | 591.53     | 578.33    | 66.60      | 65.90      | 180.13      | 25.71       |
| Jharkhand*      | East Singhbhum | 1,952.66   | 1,875.25  | 86.18      | 85.45      | 178.09      | 15.34       |

|         | Saraikela Kharsawan   | 675.93   | 616.67   |   52.16 |   52.05 |   159.88 |      0 |
|---------|-----------------------|----------|----------|---------|---------|----------|--------|
|         | West Singhbhum        | 2,203.99 | 2,152.33 |  106.88 |  104.12 |   287.74 |   0    |
| Bihar   | Aurangabad            | 2,552.93 | 2,506.85 |   24.73 |   24.73 |   158.56 |  14.17 |
|         | Sitamarhi             | 1,755.15 | 1,697.01 |   35.31 |   35.26 |   173.81 |  53.46 |
|         | Bhagalpur             | 1,375.38 | 1,295.50 |   33.35 |   27.64 |    60.81 |   0    |
| Haryana | Sonipat               | 209.63   | 210.29   |  151.59 |  145.98 |   130.85 | 119.1  |

* Kolhan division in the state of Jharkhand consists of three districts, viz, East Singhbhum, Saraikela Kharsawan and West Singhbhum.

All the works have been sanctioned to the States/UTs under PMGSY-II. No proposals under PMGSY-III are pending with the Ministry for sanction in the above said areas.

(d)    As per PMGSY guidelines, maintenance of roads constructed under the programme is the  responsibility  of  the  State  Governments.   However,  in  order  to  ensure  that  the  roads constructed under PMGSY are maintained properly, following initiatives have been taken:

(i)   All  road  works  sanctioned  under  PMGSY are covered by initial  five-year maintenance contracts to be entered into along with the construction contract, with the same contractor, as per the Standard Bidding Document.

(ii)      Maintenance  funds  to  service  the  contract  are  required  to  be  budgeted  by  the  State Governments  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  State  Rural  Roads  Development  Agencies (SRRDAs)  in  a  separate  maintenance  account.  On  expiry  of  this  5-year  post  construction maintenance,  PMGSY  roads  are  required  to  be  placed  under  Zonal  maintenance  contracts consisting of 5-year maintenance including renewal as per maintenance cycle, from time to time, to be funded by the State governments.

(iii)     Further,  a  provision  has  been  added  in  the  programme  guidelines  under  which  the States  have  to  enter  into  a  Memorandum  of  Understanding  with  the  Ministry  of  Rural Development, Government of India before launching of the scheme for providing adequate funds for maintenance of roads constructed/ upgraded under PMGSY during initial five years for  routine  maintenance,  and  for  further  five-year  routine  maintenance  including  periodic renewal as per requirement.

(iv)   As per para 19.3 (vi) of the programme guidelines, a certificate from Chief Executive Officer of SRRDA is taken at the time of release of second installment of the Programme Fund to the effect that Maintenance funds required as per maintenance contracts in force had been spent during the previous financial year.

(v)   As a measure of enhancing the focus on maintenance of roads during the defect liability period  (five  years  from  the  date  of  completion  of  road)  and  streamlining  the  delivery  of routine maintenance of PMGSY roads, Electronic Maintenance of PMGSY roads (eMARG) has  been  implemented  in  all  the  states.  eMARG  is  an  online  platform  that  monitors maintenance of PMGSY works for five years from the date of completion (i.e. under Defect Liability Period-DLP).

(vi)   National  Rural  Infrastructure  Development  Agency  (NRIDA),  a  technical  arm  of  the Ministry  of  Rural  Development  has  prepared  a  Policy  Framework  for  the  development  of maintenance policy of rural roads. The Policy Framework along with a Guidance Note was shared with the States who have framed their own rural roads maintenance policies based on this policy framework.

(vii)   The  implementation  of  all  sanctioned  works  including  its  maintenance  is  regularly monitored through Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting System (OMMAS) on real  time  basis. In  addition,  the  progress  in  implementation  of  PMGSY  works  is  also regularly  reviewed  by  the  Ministry  by  way  of  Regional  Review  Meetings  (RRMs),

Performance Review Committee (PRC) Meetings, Pre-Empowered/ Empowered Committee Meetings with the States. Besides above, special review meetings/monthly review meetings are also held by Secretary/ Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development with Chief Secretaries/Principal Secretaries of the States to take stock of the progress of the scheme including maintenance aspects.

(e) to (g)          Maintenance of roads under PMGSY is although a responsibility of states, the states have been requesting the Ministry to provide funds for maintenance of PMGSY roads. Considering the fact that PMGSY roads have been built with huge capital investment and its proper  maintenance  is  required  so  that  they  could  serve  the  public  for  a  longer  period,  a request was made to 15 th Finance Commission to consider the request and provide grants to the states for maintenance of PMGSY roads. The same is available at Vol. III of the report of XV Finance Commission for the period 2021-26. The report of XV finance commission can be seen at the website of Ministry of Finance at fincomindia.nic.in .

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