Lok Sabha Question No. 278 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Pending works under PMGSY-III in Kerala
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Kodikunnil Suresh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 278 ANSWERED ON 22/07/2025

## PENDING WORKS UNDER PMGSY-III IN KERALA

## 278.  SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  a  significant  number  of  works  sanctioned  under Pradhan  MantriGraminSadakYojana-III  (PMGSY-III)  in  Kerala are still pending due to delayed payments or package locking issues in the eMARG system;
- (b) if  so,  the  total  number  of  such  pending  packages,  and  the reasons for the delay, including technical limitations such as the  absence  of  a  "miscellaneous  addition"  feature  in  eMARG and prolonged delays in unlocking packages sent to OMMS for data correction;
- (c) whether  the  new  phase  of  PMGSY,  commonly  referred  to  as PMGSY-IV, has been initiated in Kerala, and whether there is any  scope  for  inclusion  of  new  road  proposals  under  this phase;
- (d) if not, the current status of implementation of PMGSY-IV in the State, including the number of works identified, approved and those pending for administrative sanction; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  extend  timelines  for projects under both PMGSY-III and PMGSY-IV, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a) & (b): Under  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Gram  SadakYojana  (PMGSY)III,  the  State  of  Kerala  has  been  sanctioned  1421.06  kms  out  of which  732.45  kms  have  been  completed,  as  on  18.07.2025.  The timeline for completion of ongoing PMGSY III works is March, 2026.

Whenever  a  road  work  is  completed  and  the  details  entered in PMGSY  MIS  i.e.  OMMAS  (Online  Monitoring,  Maintenance  and Accounting System), routine maintenance starts from the next date. The completed road work packages are pushed to an IT application viz.  electronic  Maintenance of Rural Roads (eMARG) from  OMMAS. After  confirming  all  package  details,  the  package  is  locked  in eMARG  by  State  Rural  Roads  Development  Agency  (SRRDA).  Any manual  expenditure  incurred  before  pushing  the  road  work  to eMARG is  entered  by  SRRDA.  Only  after  completing  this  process, the  road  inspection  can  be  carried  out  by  field  engineers  for verifying bills raised by the contractor.

As on 14th July, 2025, 78 roads of 351.64 km have been locked in eMARG by the State of Kerala. These roads are eligible for routine inspection.  The  pushing  of  packages,  locking,  manual  expenditure etc.  is  done  by  the  SRRDA  officials  using  eMarg  and  OMMAS.  The State  has  informed  that  as  on  17th  July,  2025  there  is  no  road pending for locking.

The  State  has  further  informed  that  due  to  reasons  such  as delay in pushing the package to eMARG and delay in submission of bills by contractors some bills could not be paid. Bills are generated bimonthly i.e. 6 bills in a year. Any bill submission by a Contractor is to  be  followed  up  by  Routine  Inspection  by  field  Engineer  within prescribed  timeline.  The  State  of  Kerala  has  been  requested  to instruct  the  field  engineers  to  attend  to  Routine  Inspections  and consequential performance evaluation within the stipulated time.

The "miscellaneous addition" facility was for minor adjustments in maintenance payments due to valid reasons; however it was observed that it was used for substantial payments deviating  from  the  maintenance  bills  and  hence  withdrawn.  This does  not  affect  the  regular  submission  of  maintenance  bills  and timely validation process on eMARG.

No PMGSY road is pending for OMMAS data correction as on date.

(c) & (d): The  Government  has  approved  phase  IV  of  PMGSY  on 11th  September  2024  to  provide  all-weather  road  connectivity  to 25,000  unconnected  habitations  of  population  size  500+  in  plains, 250+  in NE  &  Hill States/UTs,  special  category  areas  (Tribal Schedule V, Aspirational Districts/Blocks, Desert areas) and 100+ in LWE  affected  areas  (notified  by  MHA  in  9  States),  as  per  Census 2011.  A  total  of  62,500  km  of  road  length  is  proposed  to  be constructed at a cost of ₹ 70,125 crore during the period from 202425 to 2028-29.

Under  PMGSY-IV,  States/UTs  including  Kerala  are  identifying eligible  habitations  as  per  the  programme  guidelines.  The  Central Government is working closely with the State to facilitate submission of proposals under the programme.

(e): The original timeline for the completion of PMGSY-III was set for March 2025. However, based on requests received from various States  and  Union  Territories,  the  Government  has  approved  an extension of the timeline to March 2026 for completion of ongoing projects.  Further,  PMGSY-IV,  which  was  approved  in  September 2024,  is  scheduled  to  be  implemented  during  the  period  from Financial Year 2024-25 to 2028-29.

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