Lok Sabha Question No. 269 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-19
Subject: Objectives of PMGSY
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Kalaben Mohanbhai Delkar

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 269

ANSWERED ON 19/07/2022

## OBJECTIVES OF PMGSY

## 269. SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT:

## SHRIMATI DELKAR KALABEN MOHANBHAI:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  been  successful  in  achieving  the  objective  for  which Pradhan Mantri  Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  achievements  made  under  PMGSY  as  well  as  the  challenges  faced  by  the Government while implementing PMGSY since the inception of the said yojana;
- (c) whether the Government is concerned about poor implementation of PMGSY in many States due to inadequate allocation of funds and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether inadequacies have been noticed despite the existence of mechanism to ensure quality  and  durability  of  roads  constructed  under  PMGSY  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b)      Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-I (PMGSY-I) was launched as a one-time special intervention with an objective to provide rural connectivity, by way of a single allweather road, to the  eligible  unconnected habitations  of  designated population size (as  per 2001  census)  in  the  core  network  for  uplifting  the  socio-economic  condition  of  the  rural population.

Against  1,78,184  eligible  habitations  of  designated  population  size  identified  for  coverage under  the  scheme,  16,086  habitations  have  been  provided  connectivity  by  the  States  and 4,776 habitations have either been dropped or have not been found feasible due to various reasons like non availability of  forest clearance, unavailability of public or donated land for the  alignment,  litigation,  difficult  topography  etc.  Out  of  the  balance  1,57,322  habitations, 1,56,065 have been provided connectivity till 14.07.2022, Hence, 99.27% habitations have been provided connectivity under PMGSY-I.

Further, under 100-249 population category (LWE  areas), out of sanctioned 6,260 habitations, 5,954 habitations have been saturated till 14th July, 2022.

Timeline for completion of balance habitations under PMGSY-I is September, 2022.

As the  programme  unfolded,  a  need  was  felt  for  consolidation  of  the  existing  Rural  Road Network to improve its efficiency not only as a provider of transportation services, but also as a vehicle of social and economic development. Accordingly, PMGSY-II was launched in the year 2013, with a target for consolidation and upgradation of 50,000 Km of the existing rural road  network  to  improve  its  overall  efficiency  as  a  provider  of  transportation  services  for people, goods and services.

Subsequently, Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Areas (RCPLWEA) was launched in the year 2016 with an aim to improve the road connectivity in 44 districts in  9 States.

PMGSY-III was launched in the year 2019 for consolidation and upgradation of 1,25,000 Km Through  Routes  and  Major  Rural  Links  connecting  habitations,  inter-alia,  to  Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals.

The vertical-wise physical achievement under PMGSY since inception till 14.07.2022 is as under:

| Vertical   | Target road length   | Sanctioned   | Sanctioned          | Sanctioned     | Completed    | Completed           | Completed      |
|------------|----------------------|--------------|---------------------|----------------|--------------|---------------------|----------------|
| Vertical   | (km)                 | No. of Roads | Road Length (in km) | No. of bridges | No. of Roads | Road Length (in km) | No. of bridges |
| PMGSY-I    | -                    | 1,64,770     | 6,45,590            | 7,515          | 1,60,619     | 6,16,708            | 6,152          |
| PMGSY-II   | 50,000               | 6,700        | 49,885              | 765            | 6,005        | 47,462              | 626            |
| RCPLWEA    | -                    | 1,246        | 11,467              | 606            | 441          | 6,087               | 194            |
| PMGSY-III  | 1,25,000             | 10,973       | 83,867              | 1,051          | 3,162        | 39,320              | 161            |
| Total      | Total                | 1,83,689     | 7,90,809            | 9,937          | 1,70,227     | 7,09,577            | 7,133          |

While implementing the scheme, challenges like issues of land acquisition, forest clearances, poor contracting capacity of states, lack of response to tenders, law and order issues, financial capability of states to release funds, execution capacity of states/ SRRDAs came in the way which  impacted  the  overall  progress  of  the  scheme  in  general.  For  North-Eastern  and  hill states, some additional issues like adverse climatic conditions, tough terrain, short working season etc. also came in the way which compounded the challenges. Despite that, the scheme has performed satisfactorily.

(c)       There  is  unbroken  chain  of  funds  release  under  PMGSY.   Funds  are  released  to  the States for implementation of PMGSY keeping in mind the works in hand, execution capacity of the State and unspent balance of previous year(s) available with the State. Adequate funds are available with the States for execution of the schemes. Implementation of PMGSY has generally  not  been  impacted  due  to  unavailability  of  adequate  funds  with  the  states. However, some states have delayed the release of central as well as the state share from state treasury to the account of State Nodal Agency which has impacted the flow of funds in these states.

(d)       There is a three-tiered Quality Control mechanism for ensuring construction of quality road works and durability  of  road assets  under PMGSY. Under the first tier ,  the  quality standards  are  enforced  through  in-house  mechanism  by  establishing  field  laboratories  and carrying  out  mandatory  tests.  A  site  quality  control  laboratory  has  to  be  set  up  by  the contractor for each package. Payments are not made to the contractors unless quality control laboratory has been set up. The second tier is a structured independent quality monitoring at the State level through State Quality Monitors (SQMs) to ensure that every work is inspected at  initial  stage,  middle  stage  and  final  stage  of  construction. Under  the  third  tier , independent  National  Quality  Monitors  (NQMs)  are  deployed  by  NRIDA  for  random inspection of road and bridge works to monitor quality and also to provide guidance to the field functionaries.

The quality of construction of works sanctioned under PMGSY is being monitored through inspections by National Quality Monitors (NQMs).  In the last three years (June 2019- June 2022), 7.73% completed works, 6.06% ongoing works and 22.19% maintenance works have been graded as Unsatisfactory by NQMs, whereas during the period of June 2021- June 2022, the  unsatisfactory  grading  has  decreased  to  7.36%  for   completed  works  and  4.79%  for ongoing works and 22.09% for maintenance works. Thus, it can be seen that proportion of unsatisfactory  works  has  decreased.   The  quality  monitoring  mechanism  is  further  being strengthened  by  adding  more  NQMs  and  SQMs  and  enhancing  the  intensity  of  NQM  and SQM inspections.  In addition, the quality issues are also reviewed in detail with the states in various  Regional  Review  Meetings  and  Pre-Empowered/  Empowered  Committee/  regular review meetings by the Ministry. If any works are found of poor quality, states are asked to take action to rectify the shortcoming found in the inspection report of NQMs.

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