In a significant development for India’s rural infrastructure, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a vital rural development scheme, has achieved a remarkable turnaround in road construction for the first time in eight years. The program overshot its target by an impressive 106 percent during the first quarter of this financial year, marking a positive change in a scheme that had previously struggled to meet its objectives.
A Remarkable Resurgence
Under the PMGSY, a total of 6,403 kilometers of roads were successfully constructed during the April-June period, surpassing the set target of 6,000 kilometers. This achievement, reported by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in its latest Twenty Point Programme (TPP) progress report, is a significant milestone. It harkens back to the scheme’s previous success in the same quarter of 2015 when it achieved a remarkable 206 percent of its target by completing 10,726 kilometers of roads against a set goal of 5,200 kilometers.
For the past eight years, the PMGSY had faced challenges in meeting its targets during the April-June period, frequently falling short. In the first quarter of FY19, it achieved only 9 percent of its target by constructing 1,235 kilometers of roads against a set goal of 13,123 kilometers, marking one of the scheme’s lowest points.
A Bright Spot in the Twenty Point Programme
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) monitors various aspects of the TPP, with 17 parameters reported on a quarterly basis. The NSO classifies a program’s performance as “poor” if it achieves less than 80 percent of its targets and as “very good” if it surpasses 90 percent. In addition to rural road construction, other parameters, such as electricity supply, functional anganwadis, food security under the National Food Security Act, and operational Integrated Child Development blocks, performed very well.
However, some areas, like rural housing, self-help group promotion, and seedlings planted, were deemed to have a “poor” performance during the period.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana: A Crucial Program
PMGSY, now in its third phase, is a centrally-sponsored scheme launched in 2000 to provide all-weather road connectivity to previously unconnected areas in India. This initiative plays a crucial role in poverty reduction by improving infrastructure in remote regions. During the FY24 budget, the government allocated nearly Rs 19,000 crore to the program, maintaining the funding at the previous year’s level.
Despite these recent successes, a written reply from Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, indicated that only 18,983 kilometers of the sanctioned 99,319 kilometers had been constructed during the third phase of PMGSY, which spans from FY20 to FY25. This phase focuses on consolidating the rural road network, enhancing connectivity to and from gramin agricultural markets, higher secondary schools, and hospitals, with the goal of impacting agriculture, health, education, urbanization, and employment generation.
