PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA (PMGSY)

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched on 25th December, 2000 as a fully funded Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The primary objective of the PMGSY is to provide all-weather road connectivity to all eligible unconnected habitations in the rural areas having population of 500 persons and above. In respect of Hill States (North-East, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand), Desert Areas (as identified in the Desert Development Programme) and Tribal (Schedule V) areas, habitations of population of 250 persons and above were considered eligible for providing all weather connectivity. It was estimated that about 1.68 lakh were eligible for coverage under the programme. It has been reported by State Governments that 31,804 eligible habitations have been connected under their own schemes or not feasible. Thus net eligible habitations required to be covered under the program are 1.36 lakh. The programme also provides for the upgradation of the existing Through Routes and important Link Routes to prescribed standards to ensure full farm-to-market connectivity.
Bharat Nirman
The President of India, in his address to Parliament on 25th February, 2005, announced a major business plan for rebuilding rural India called ‘Bharat Nirman’. Rural Roads have been identified as one of the six components of Bharat Nirman and a goal to provide connectivity to all the habitations of population of 1000 or more in the plain areas and of 500 or more in hilly or tribal areas in a time bound manner by 2012. The systematic upgradation of the existing rural road networks is also an integral part of the rural road component of the Bharat Nirman. Based on ground verification by States, 54,648 habitations were targeted to be connected under Bharat Nirman with a length of 1,46,185 km. It is also targeted to upgrade/renew 1,94,130 km roads in the rural areas.
Programme Objectives
The primary objective of the PMGSY is to provide Connectivity, by way of an All-weather Road (with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures, which is operable throughout the year), to the eligible unconnected Habitations in the rural areas, in such a way that all Unconnected Habitations with a population of 1000 persons and above are covered in three years (2000-2003) and all Unconnected Habitations with a population of 500 persons and above by the end of the Tenth Plan Period (2007). In respect of the Hill States (North-East, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttaranchal) and the Desert Areas (as identified in the Desert Development Programme) as well as the Tribal (Schedule V) areas, the objective would be to connect Habitations with a population of 250 persons and above.

The PMGSY will permit the Upgradation (to prescribed standards) of the existing roads in those Districts where all the eligible Habitations of the designated population size  have been provided all-weather road connectivity. However, it must be noted that Upgradation is not central to the Programme and cannot exceed 20% of the State’s allocation as long as eligible Unconnected Habitations in the State still exist. In Upgradation works, priority should be given to Through Routes of the Rural Core Network, which carry more traffic.
Guiding Principles of PMGSY and Definitions
The spirit and the objective of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected Habitations. A habitation which was earlier provided all-weather connectivity would not be eligible even if the present condition of the road is bad. The unit for this Programme is a Habitation and not a Revenue village or a Panchayat. A Habitation is a cluster of population, living in an area, the location of which does not change over time. Desam, Dhanis, Tolas, Majras, Hamlets etc. are commonly used terminology to describe the Habitations. An Unconnected Habitation is one with a population of designated size located at a distance of at least 500 metres or more (1.5 km of path distance in case of Hills) from an Allweather road or a connected Habitation.

The population, as recorded in the Census 2001, shall be the basis for determining the population size of the Habitation. The population of all Habitations within a radius of 500 metres (1.5 km. of path distance in case of Hills) may be clubbed together for the purpose of determining the population size. This cluster approach would enable provision of connectivity to a larger number of Habitations, particularly in the Hill / mountainous areas. The eligible Unconnected Habitations are to be connected to nearby Habitations already connected by an All-weather road or to another existing All-weather road so that services (educational, health, marketing facilities etc.), which are not available in the unconnected Habitation, become available to the residents. A Core Network is that minimal Network of roads (routes)that is essential to provide Basic access to essential social and economic services to all eligible habitations in the selected areas through at least a single all-weather road connectivity. A Core Network comprises of Through Routes and Link Routes. Through routes are the ones which collect traffic from several link roads or a long chain of Habitations and lead it to Marketing centres either directly or through the higher category roads i.e., the District Roads or the State or National Highway. Link Routes are the roads connecting a single Habitation or a group of Habitations to Through Routes or District Roads leading to Market Centres. Link routes generally have dead ends terminating on a Habitation, while Through Routes arise from the confluence of two or more Link Routes and emerge on to a major Road or to a Market Centre. It should be ensured that each road work that is taken up under the PMGSY is part of the Core Network. While keeping the objective of Connectivity in view, preference should be given to those roads which also incidentally serve other Habitations. In other words, without compromising the basic objective (covering 1000+ Habitations first and 500+ Habitations next and 250+ Habitations where eligible, last), preference should be given to those roads which serve a larger population. For this purpose, while Habitations within a distance of 500 metres from the road is considered as connected in case of plain areas, this distance should be 1.5 km (of path length) in respect of Hills.

The PMGSY shall cover only the rural areas. Urban roads are excluded from the purview of this Programme. Even in the rural areas, PMGSY covers only the Rural Roads i.e., Roads that were formerly classified as ‘Other District Roads’ (ODR) and ‘Village Roads’ (VR). Other District Roads (ODR) are roads serving rural areas of production and providing them with outlet to market centres, taluka (tehsil) headquarters, Block headquarters or other main roads. Village Roads (VR) are roads connecting villages / Habitation or groups of
Habitation with each other and to the nearest road of a higher category. Major District Roads, State Highways and National Highways cannot be covered under the PMGSY, even if they happen to be in rural areas. This applies to New Connectivity roads as well as Upgradation works.

The PMGSY envisages only single road Connectivity to be provided. If a Habitation is already connected by way of an All-weather road, then no new work can be taken up under the PMGSY for that habitation. Provision of connectivity to unconnected Habitations would be termed as New Connectivity. Since the purpose of PMGSY inter alia is to provide farm to market access, new connectivity may involve ‘new construction’ where the link to the habitation is missing and additionally, if required, ‘upgradation’ where an intermediate link in its present condition cannot function as an all-weather road. Upgradation, when permitted would typically involve building the base and surface courses of an existing road to desired technical specifications and / or improving the geometrics of the road, as required in accordance with traffic condition. The primary focus of the PMGSY is to provide All-weather road connectivity to the eligible unconnected Habitations. An All-weather road is one which is negotiable in all seasons of the year. This implies that the road-bed is drained effectively (by adequate cross-drainage structures such as culverts, minor bridges and causeways), but this does not necessarily imply that it should be paved or surfaced or black-topped. Interruptions to traffic as per permitted frequency and duration may be allowed.

There may be roads which are Fair-weather roads. In other words, they are fordable only during the dry season, because of lack of Cross Drainage (CD) works. Conversion of such roads to All-weather roads through provision of CD works would be treated as upgradation. It must be noted that on all the road works of the PMGSY, provision of necessary CD works is considered an essential element PMGSY does not permit repairs to Black-topped or Cement Roads, even if the surface condition is bad. The Rural Roads constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana will be in accordance with the provision of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) as given in the Rural Roads Manual. In case of Hill Roads, for matters not covered by the Rural Roads Manual, provisions of Hills Roads Manual may apply.