New Delhi, June 18 (IANS). The Central Government has taken a big step to further strengthen rural road connectivity in the financial year 2026-27. The government has set a target of constructing 26,474 km of rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and other rural connectivity projects. A budget of Rs 18,907 crore has been allocated for this. The objective of this initiative is to connect remote and hitherto unconnected areas of the country with all-weather road facilities.
The Rural Development Ministry held a high-level meeting to review the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLYEA), an official statement said on Thursday. The meeting was presided over by Rohit Kansal, Secretary, Rural Development Department. Senior officials from many states including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Telangana participated in it.
In the meeting, the targets for the financial year 2026-27 and the ongoing work in the states were reviewed. Special focus was given to those villages and hamlets which are not yet fully connected by road connectivity. The Central Government directed the states to complete the work of connecting all the remaining unconnected habitations under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and PM-Janman Yojana as soon as possible.
Emphasis was also laid on ensuring road access, especially to settlements of Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). States were instructed to speed up the process of preparing Detailed Project Report (DPR), remove obstacles in construction work and complete pending projects on time.
According to the statement, the ongoing road connectivity projects for Left Wing Extremism affected areas were also reviewed in detail in the meeting. The Government believes that the development of road infrastructure in these areas is of utmost importance for security, development and administrative accessibility. States were instructed to complete the approved projects on time by maintaining better coordination with the concerned agencies.
The states assured the ministry that the pending projects and annual targets would be completed within the stipulated time frame.
The quality and long-term sustainability of rural road projects was also a major topic of the meeting, the statement said. Secretary Rohit Kansal said that ensuring strength and better maintenance of rural roads is as important as their construction. He asked the states to strictly adhere to the quality standards, increase field inspections and strengthen the monitoring system.
The meeting also emphasized on widespread use of e-Marg (Electronic Maintenance of Rural Roads under PMGSY) platform. This digital platform facilitates real-time monitoring of rural road maintenance, performance evaluation and payments. The government believes that its widespread use will improve transparency, accountability and efficiency.
–IANS
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