Union Rural Development (RD) Ministry has identified 13 states lagging behind the schedule under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The states are Nagaland Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, according to a PIB release.The Union RD ministry said in all these States, performance so far was a cause of concern.
The states are lagging behind in submission of the Detailed Project Reports of the roads required to be built for ensuring achievement of Bharat Nirman targets. All the villages of 1000-plus population (500-plus population in case of hilly & tribal areas) are required to be provided all whether connectivity by the year 2009.
Union Rural Development Minister Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has asked all the states/UT to ensure that Bharat Nirman targets affixed for them are achieved BY 2009.
Presiding over a meeting of the Secretaries of Rural Development Departments for review of the rural roads, component of Bharat Nirman convened recently, Singh also asked them to accelerate the pace of implementation for ensuring maximum achievement of targets of PMGSY component of Bharat Nirman.
On quality front, all states have been directed to ensure that for every work site, laboratory must be established by the contractors to ensure first tier check. States have been asked to employ retired, reputed engineers as State Quality Monitors for second quality monitoring. About 150 National Quality Monitors have also been inducted for random check of quality of roads.
Emphasis has also been laid on the maintenance of roads. The minister also instructed the secretaries of states/UTs Rural Development Departments to submit DPRs of all these habitations by December 2008 positively. State-wise target dates have also been fixed.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026