The Union Cabinet on September 11 approved the proposal to implement the fourth phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to be implemented from 2024-25 to 2028-29 at a cost of Rs 70,125 crore.
As part of the scheme, the government will provide financial assistance for the construction of 62,500 kms road for providing new connectivity to 25,000 unconnected habitations and construction/upgradation of bridges on the new connectivity roads, according to a press release.
The fourth phase of the scheme will generate 40 crore human days of employment, Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the fourth phase of PMGSY as part of the speech while presenting the Union budget 2024. The initiative focuses on enhancing connectivity and supporting economic development in rural areas.
As per National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) so far a total of 765,472 km of road length has been constructed under various interventions of PMGSY.
The PMGSY was first launched on 25 December 2000, by the National Democratic Alliance government under the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The initiative aimed to provide all-weather access to unconnected habitations with populations of up to 500 in plain areas and 250 and above in special category states (North East, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand), Desert Areas identified by the Desert Development Programme, and 88 selected backward districts identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs/Planning Commission as part of a poverty alleviation strategy.
Phase 2 of PMGSY began in 2013, followed by the introduction of the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA) in 2016, focusing on constructing rural roads in regions affected by left-wing extremism. The third phase of PMGSY was launched in 2019, reports Financial Express.
The primary objective of PMGSY is to build robust, all-weather roads in rural habitations, with Panchayati Raj and elected local representatives deciding which habitations to prioritise.
The scheme was centrally funded only up to 2015-16. Since then, funding has been shared between the Centre and the states.
Earlier on September 11, the Rural Development Ministry sanctioned the construction of new roads across three states. The approval came on Wednesday from Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
This development involves 60 roads totaling 152.44 km in Madhya Pradesh, 117 roads spanning 745.286 km in Maharashtra, and 11 bridges in Kerala. These state-specific projects are backed by central schemes and funded accordingly.
In Madhya Pradesh, the roads will be part of the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN), costing Rs 113.58 crore, while in Maharashtra and Kerala, the roads will fall under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), costing Rs 655.66 crore and Rs 55.28 crore, respectively.
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