The government has informed Parliament that a total of 2,882 road works spanning 10,577.70 km have been sanctioned so far under Phase IV of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched in 2000 to provide all-weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected habitations, with PMGSY-IV approved to connect 25,000 such habitations of population size 500 and above in plains, 250 and above in North Eastern and hill states, special category areas, desert regions and aspirational districts, and 100 and above in Left Wing Extremism-affected districts based on the 2011 Census.
“So far under PMGSY-IV, 2,882 road works covering the length of 10,577.70 km have been sanctioned,” the minister noted.
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Across states and Union Territories, the sanctioned works include 774 roads covering 2,426.875 km in Chhattisgarh, 294 roads spanning 1,538.058 km in Himachal Pradesh, 316 roads covering 1,781.334 km in Jammu and Kashmir, and 1,216 roads along with one bridge extending 3,218.971 km in Rajasthan.
Additionally, 96 roads covering 384.267 km have been sanctioned in Sikkim, while Uttarakhand accounts for 184 roads totalling 1,228.198 km, taking the overall sanctioned length under PMGSY-IV to 10,577.70 km.
According to the minister, independent evaluation studies by institutions including IIM Ahmedabad, the World Bank, the International Labour Organization and BITS Pilani have concluded that the scheme has improved access to education and healthcare, facilitated employment generation in farm and non-farm sectors, and enhanced participation in financial decision-making.
Under the programme, road access has been provided to about 6,96,620 facilities, of which 1,38,637 are agricultural markets, 1,46,784 are educational centres, 82,806 are medical centres and 3,28,393 are connected to transportation hubs.
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