States spending more on maintenance of old roads to get priority funds

This will ensure better maintenance of roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

States spending more on maintenance of old roads will get priority funding under the third phase of the rural road programme, according to government officials. This will ensure better maintenance of roads built under various phases of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), started in 2000.

These roads totaling 125,000 km will be conditioned (strengthened, widened or built afresh) under the newly approved PMGSY-3. For the first five years, the roads built under the PMGSY have to be maintained by the contractor, after which it is the responsibility of the states to maintain them.

According to official sources, over 600,000 km