Lok Sabha Question No. 2123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-15
Subject: Implementation of PMGSY
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Manjulata Mandal, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, C.N. Annadurai, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Dhanush M Kumar, Ganesan Selvam, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2123

ANSWERED ON 15/03/2022

## IMPLEMENTATION OF PMGSY

2123.   SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH alias

PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has been able to achieve the objective for which Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched and if so, the details thereof and if not, the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (b) the challenges faced by the Government while implementing PMGSY along with the achievement of PMGSY since its inception;
- (c) whether the Government is concerned about the poor implementation of the PMGSY in several States due to inadequate fund allocation and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether deficiencies have been observed despite mechanism in place to ensure quality and durability of roads constructed under the PMGSY, if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken in this regard;
- (e) whether any criteria has been laid down for selection of agencies for undertaking contract and preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) under the PMGSY and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the other steps taken by the Government to monitor the implementation of PMGSY in States to achieve the target to provide all weather connectivity to all the habitations under the said scheme?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)         Pradhan  Mantri  Gram  Sadak  Yojana-I  (PMGSY-I)  was  launched  as  a  one-time special intervention to provide rural connectivity, by way of a single all-weather road, to the eligible unconnected habitations of designated population size  as per Census 2001.

Since inception, till 10.03.2022, in 250+ population category, 1,57,377 habitations have been sanctioned and 1,55,719 habitations have been provided connectivity in various states/ UTs. Under 100-249 population category in LWE areas, 6,260 habitations have been sanctioned and 5,856 habitations have been provided connectivity. Thus, 99 % of targeted habitations have been provided all weather road connectivity as on 10.3.2021. A total of 6,45,605 Km road length has been sanctioned under new connectivity and upgradation components under PMGSY-I, out of which 6,13,030 Km road length has been completed since inception till 10 th March, 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,  in  the  year  2013,  PMGSY-II was launched for upgradation of selected Through Routes and Major Rural  Links (MRLs) with a target to upgrade 50,000 Km in various States and Union Territories. Since inception, till  10.03.2022, 49,885 km road length has been sanctioned and 46,468 km road length has been completed under PMGSY-II.

Subsequently, in 2016, Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA) for construction/upgradation of strategically important roads was launched as a separate vertical under PMGSY. Since inception, till 10.03.2022, 10,231 km road length has been sanctioned and 5,310 km road length has been completed under RCPLWEA.

In  the  year  2019,  Government  launched  PMGSY-III  for  consolidation  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. Since inception, till 10.03.2022, 77,129 km road length has been sanctioned and 29,773 km road length has been completed under PMGSY-III.

(b)         While  implementing  the  scheme,   challenges  like  issues  of   land  acquisition,  forest clearance,  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 NorthEastern 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 the challenges faced, the progress under PMGSY has been satisfactory. The verticalwise details of achievement under PMGSY (overall) are as follows:

| Vertical   | Sanctioned   | Sanctioned          | Sanctioned     | Completed    | Completed           | Completed      |
|------------|--------------|---------------------|----------------|--------------|---------------------|----------------|
|            | No. of Roads | Road Length (in km) | No. of bridges | No. of Roads | Road Length (in km) | No. of bridges |
| PMGSY-I    | 164806       | 645605              | 7516           | 159783       | 613030              | 5864           |
| PMGSY-II   | 6700         | 49885               | 765            | 5755         | 46468               | 562            |
| RCPLWEA    | 1030         | 10231               | 463            | 363          | 5310                | 135            |
| PMGSY-III  | 9972         | 77129               | 708            | 1984         | 29773               | 96             |
| Total      | 182508       | 782850              | 9452           | 167885       | 694581              | 6657           |

On the request of various states/ UTs,  especially North-Eastern and Hill states, the timeline for completion PMGSY-I & II has been extended till September 2022 and for RCPLWEA the timeline has been extended till March  2023. Timeline for completion of PMGSY-III is till March, 2025.

(c)        Allocation and release of funds to the states for execution of works sanctioned under PMGSY is made by the Ministry on time. However, due to weak finances of some states, delays  do  take  place  in  transfer  of  funds  from  state  treasury  to  the  account  of  State  Rural Roads  Development  Agencies  (SRRDAs).  This  has  impacted  the  overall  progress  of  the scheme in only a few states. Most of the states' SRRDAs have had sufficient funds available with them. This can be assessed  from the fact that despite COVID-19, the expenditure has been on increasing trend during the last two years and current year. Details are as under:-

| Year                       | Expenditure including state share (Rs. in crore)   |
|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2019-20                    | 21723.92                                           |
| 2020-21                    | 23935.01*                                          |
| 2021-22 (as on 09.03.2022) | 24239.66                                           |

* Highest expenditure since inception of the scheme.

(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 Programme Implementation Units (PIUs) are required to ensure process control through mandatory tests on material and workmanship at field laboratory.  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  National Rural  Infrastructure  Development  Agency  (NRIDA) for  random  inspection  of  road  and bridge works to monitor quality and also to provide guidance to the field functionaries.

The quality of constructions of works sanctioned under PMGSY are being monitored through inspections by National Quality Monitors(NQMs). In the last three years (March 2019-March 2022), 7.23% completed works and 6.18% ongoing works were graded as unsatisfactory by NQMs,whereas during March 2021 - March 2022, the  unsatisfactory grading has decreased to  6.38%  for   completed  works  and  4.55%  for  ongoing  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 enhancing the intensity of inspection. 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.

(e)       For  empanellment  and  engagement  of  consultants  for  preparation  of  DPRs  under PMGSY,  the  detailed  guidelines   has  been  circulated   by  National  Rural  Infrastructure Development Agency(NRIDA), a technical arm of the Ministry on  04.12.2012 to all states which  may  be  seen  at  www.pmgsy.nic.in>  Advertisements/  Circulars>  Archive.   The consultants for preparation of DPRs are empaneled by the States implementing PMGSY.

- (f)      The programme is monitored at regular intervals by  way of Regional Review Meetings (RRMs), Performance Review Committee (PRC) Meetings and Pre-Empowered/ Empowered Committee Meetings with the States. In addition to this, special review meetings/ monthly review  meetings  were  also  held  at  the  level  of   Secretary/  Additional  Secretary/Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development with Chief Secretaries/Additional Chief Secretaries/Principal  Secretaries/  Chief  Executive  Officer-SRRDAs  of  the  States.   Reviews are also held by the Minister with counterpart State Ministers for expediting decision making and  quality  control  of  the  construction.Necessary  hand-  holding  of  the  state  in  this  regard were   done  wherever  required  by  means  of  Inter-departmental  meetings  etc.  Further, implementation  of  all  sanctioned  works  is  also monitored  through  Online  Management, Monitoring  and  Accounting  System  (OMMAS)  on  a  real  time  basis  to  ensure  that  the physical and financial progress are in sync with the overall targets given to states.

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