PMGSY Enhances Rural Access and Employment: Impact Studies Highlight Benefits

The total length of roads sanctioned and constructed under various verticals of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the last five years, State-wise & year-wise is given below:

Details of road length sanctioned, completed under PMGSY in all States/UTs, year wise, during last five years

(Road length in Km)

The total central share allocated under PMGSY during current financial year is Rs.19,000 crore out of which Rs.1,975.15 crore has already been released to the States on the basis of the proposals received from the states.

Various impact assessment studies carried out by independent agencies have concluded that PMGSY has helped in better access to marketplace for the rural people and generated employments in various forms. It has also helped in improving socio- economic conditions of people living around the area. Thus, it has helped in removing poverty and unemployment. The scheme has impacted agriculture, health, education, urbanization and employment generation in a big way. The PMGSY has affected rural people of all the States including Karnataka in a very positive way by emerging as a facilitator and precursor to various developmental activities.

As per the PMGSY guidelines, ensuring the quality of the road works is responsibility of the respective State Governments which are implementing the Programme. There is a very well structured 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 the construction. Under the third tier, independent National Quality Monitors (NQMs) are deployed for random inspection of road works to monitor quality and also to provide guidance of senior professionals to the field functionaries. To fast track the compliance on NQM observations, provisions have been made to upload and monitor the action taken report for each work through web based programme Management Information System.