Lok Sabha Question No. 1594 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-09
Subject: Irregularities under PMGSY
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Rajesh Ranjan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1594 ANSWERED ON 09/12/2025

## IRREGULARITIES UNDER PMGSY

## 1594. Shri Rajesh Ranjan:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether serious irregularities have been found in the quality of roads  under  construction  and  constructed  under  the  Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) in the country, State-wise particularly  in  rural  areas  where  roads  at  many  places  get damaged within a few months;
- (b) whether  serious  lapses,  such  as  violation  of  norms,  use  of substandard materials and lack of monitoring by the concerned officials, officers and contractors have been observed in many States, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  constitute  a  special audit/investigation  team  to  comprehensively  investigate  the said irregularities and verify the quality, age and construction standards  of  roads  constructed  under  the  PMGSY,  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to strengthen the technical monitoring system to take strict action, against erring officials and contractors and increase transparency in the said scheme, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c): 'Rural Roads' is a State subject. As per the guidelines of Pradhan MantriGraminSadakYojana (PMGSY), the maintenance and repairs of roads  is the responsibility of the respective State Governments implementing the programme. The bidding process for selection  of  contractors  and  the  check  for  quality  of  material mobilised are under the purview of the State Governments.

However,  in  order  to  monitor  the  quality  of  roads  being constructed  under  the  programme,  a three  tiered  quality  control mechanism, i.e. the Project Implementation Units (PIUs) as the first tier, State Quality Monitors (SQMs) as the second tier and National Quality Monitors (NQMs) as the third tier, is in place under PMGSY to ensure quality in construction of road works and the durability of road assets. Guidelines/Instructions to regulate the quality control process have been issued to States/UTs from time to time.

Regular  inspections  of  PMGSY  works  are  being  conducted under  2nd  and  3rd  tier  of  quality  monitoring.  The  State  Quality Coordinators (SQCs) of the respective States/UTs have been designated as Nodal Officer for receipt and handling the complaints. If  a  work  is  found  unsatisfactory, on account of both structural or non-structural defects, the report is shared with the State Government highlighting the deficiencies and apprising the States to  remove  the  defects.  The  contractor  is  required  to  rectify  the defects  on  his/her  own  cost.  The  State  submits  the  Action  Taken Report (ATR) after rectification.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana, the works which are  ongoing,  completed  and are  having  structural  deficiencies  are graded as "Unsatisfactory" by the Quality Monitors during inspections. The  details  of  State-wise  inspections  conducted  by National Quality Monitors (NQMs) and unsatisfactory quality grading reported, from April, 2024 to November, 2025, is given at Annexure.

(d): To strengthen the quality check mechanism, the establishment of a geo-tagged field Lab has been made compulsory. Also, a new version of the Quality Monitoring System App has been developed to include e-forms and other initiatives that have strengthened  quality  monitoring  systems.  Consequent  upon  the introduction of e-MARG  i.e.  software  module  for  maintenance payments to the contractor during the defect liability period, such payments have been made commensurate with the quality of roads through  a  performance-based  contract  management  system.  To ensure  that  people  engaged  in  quality  checks  are  adequately proficient and well trained, National Rural Infrastructure Development  Agency  (NRIDA), a  technical  arm  of  the  Ministry  of Rural  Development,  has  been  conducting  mandatory  proficiency tests  of  NQMs  and  SQMs.  The  skills  of  NQMs,  SQMs  and  PIUs  are also being developed through training programmes, etc.

Further,  to  ensure  that  quality  monitoring  is  being  done properly  on  the  ground,  it  has  been  made  mandatory  to  set  up  a

Quality  Monitoring  Cell  under  each  State  Rural  Road  Development Agency (SRRDA) and State Quality Coordinators (SQCs) have been entrusted with the task of scrutinizing all reports of SQMs and give a  certificate  to  this  effect  to  the  Ministry.  Concerned  CEOs  have also been asked to scrutinize the quality control registers periodically  and  submit  a  certificate  to  this  effect  to  the  Ministry while submitting proposals for fund release. The ATRs on observations by the NQMs  are  reviewed  with  the States for compliance.  Performance  of  the  NQMs  as  well  as  SQMs  are  also reviewed and such NQMs/ SQMs are de-paneled whose performance is not found satisfactory or who give satisfactory inspection reports in majority of the cases without application of mind. The quality of PMGSY works is also reviewed regularly by the Ministry in various review meetings like the Performance Review Committee, Regional Review Meetings, and Empowered Committee. The Ministry has also strengthened  the  IT  module  for  monitoring  of  quality  of  PMGSY works. In brief, the Ministry has taken up steps for monitoring and regulating the quality of PMGSY roads.

Whenever NQMs report that a work is not meeting the quality standards  prescribed  in  the  guidelines,  the  PIU  ensures  that  the contractor  either  replaces  the  defective  material  or  rectifies  the workmanship, as the case requires. Thereafter, the ATR is verified on site by SQMs. The SQC then, examines the ATR and furnishes the compliance report. The monitoring of ATR is done by NRIDA, which is a technical arm of the Ministry of Rural Development.

As regards the action taken against the contractors and field officials  found  guilty,  it  is  done  as  per  the  policy  of  respective States. However, the conditions prescribed in this regard are provided by  National  Rural  Infrastructure  development  Agency (NRIDA) in the bid documents. To ensure transparency and accountability, and strengthening of the monitoring mechanism, the NQMs who are assigned the investigations/ inspections are directed to share their detailed plan of visit to Hon'ble MP/ MLA in order to enable them to be present during inspection.

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Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 1594 for answer on 09.12.2025

State/UT-wise  details  of  inspections  conducted  by  National  Quality  Monitors (NQMs) and unsatisfactory quality grading reported, from April, 2024 to November, 2025)

| Sr.               | State               | Completed Works    | Completed Works                 | Ongoing Works      | Ongoing Works                   | Bridge Works       | Bridge Works                    |
|-------------------|---------------------|--------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------|---------------------------------|
| No .              | State               | Total Inspection s | Works graded as Unsatisfactor y | Total Inspection s | Works graded as Unsatisfactor y | Total Inspection s | Works graded as Unsatisfactor y |
| 1                 | Andaman And Nicobar | 0                  | 0                               | 1                  | 0                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 2                 | Andhra Pradesh      | 64                 | 0                               | 75                 | 3                               | 18                 | 0                               |
| 3                 | Arunachal Pradesh   | 30                 | 16                              | 60                 | 14                              | 0                  | 0                               |
| 4                 | Assam               | 65                 | 20                              | 74                 | 9                               | 5                  | 0                               |
| 5                 | Bihar               | 113                | 16                              | 116                | 8                               | 114                | 30                              |
| 6                 | Chhattisgar h       | 54                 | 8                               | 98                 | 3                               | 99                 | 12                              |
| 7                 | Gujarat             | 8                  | 0                               | 4                  | 0                               | 39                 | 0                               |
| 8                 | Haryana             | 19                 | 8                               | 2                  | 0                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 9                 | Himachal Pradesh    | 55                 | 10                              | 102                | 19                              | 0                  | 0                               |
| 10 Jammu          | And Kashmir         | 42                 | 9                               | 48                 | 2                               | 7                  | 5                               |
| 11 Jharkhand      |                     | 70                 | 17                              | 174                | 10                              | 118                | 10                              |
| 12                | Karnataka           | 35                 | 7                               | 18                 | 3                               | 5                  | 1                               |
| 13 Kerala         |                     | 12                 | 1                               | 55                 | 7                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 14 Ladakh         | 0                   |                    | 0                               | 5                  | 0                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 15 Madhya Pradesh | 60                  |                    | 1                               | 93                 | 2                               | 134                | 24                              |
| 16 Maharashtr a   |                     | 76                 | 10                              | 266                | 14                              | 31                 | 0                               |
| 17 Manipur        |                     | 14                 | 5                               | 23                 | 7                               | 12                 | 2                               |
| 18 Meghalaya      |                     | 53                 | 13                              | 80                 | 15                              | 1                  | 0                               |
| 19 Mizoram        | 22                  |                    | 5                               | 17                 | 2                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 20 Nagaland       | 16                  |                    | 13                              | 22                 | 8                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 21 Odisha         |                     | 132                | 46                              | 124                | 21                              | 67                 | 22                              |
| 22 Punjab         | 39                  |                    | 5                               | 39                 | 4                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 23 Rajasthan      | 83                  |                    | 3                               | 53                 | 0                               | 32                 | 1                               |
| 24 Sikkim         |                     | 12                 | 2                               | 12                 | 0                               | 48                 | 11                              |
| 25 Tamil Nadu     |                     | 45                 | 2                               | 51                 | 0                               | 26                 | 22                              |
| 26 Telangana      |                     | 12                 | 1                               | 88                 | 8                               | 30                 | 5                               |
| 27 Tripura        |                     | 18                 | 3                               | 34                 | 1                               | 0                  | 0                               |
| 28 Uttar Pradesh  | 218                 |                    | 18                              | 127                | 12                              | 0                  | 0                               |
| 29 Uttarakhan d   |                     | 60                 | 16                              | 93                 | 10                              | 11                 | 0                               |
| 30 West Bengal    |                     | 57                 | 9                               | 120                | 5                               | 0                  | 0                               |
|                   | Total               | 1,484              | 264                             | 2,074              | 187                             | 797                | 145                             |

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