Inter-Ministerial panel recommends construction of 504 roads

An Inter-Ministerial committee has recommended for construction of 504 roads of length 1657.45 km and 145 bridges at a total estimated cost of Rs 1318.18 crore, Parliament was informed today.
Rural roads is a state subject and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a one-time special intervention of the government to provide rural connectivity, by way of single all-weather road to the eligible unconnected habitations in the core network.
"A proposal for 504 roads of length 1657.45 km and 145 bridges at a total estimated cost of Rs 1318.187 crore has been recommended by Inter-Ministerial Empowered Committee under the 15th phase of PMGSY, 2016-17..," Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

The proposals of the state are placed before this committee chaired by the Secretary Rural Development for its consideration. The proposals which meets the requirements prescribed in the programme guidelines are approved.
More than 4.81 lakh km of roads connecting 1.192 lakh habitations across the country were constructed under the PMGSY till June 30.
PMGSY envisages connecting all eligible unconnected habitations with a population of 500 persons and above as per 2001 census in plain areas and 250 persons and above as per 2001 census in special category states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

Besides this, the habitations having population of 100 and above, identified by Home Ministry as crucial are also covered under this scheme.
The government has also launched the second phase of PMGSY-II which envisages consolidation of the existing rural road network to improve its overall efficiency.