Parliament Question: Repair of Rural Roads

O.I.H. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5101 ANSWERED ON 24/03/2026 REPAIR OF RURAL ROADS 5101. Shri Naresh Chandra Uttam Patel: Shri Jitendra Kumar Dohare: Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether there has been any delay in the repair of rural roads damaged during the last year; (b) if so, the details thereof particularly in respect of the Fatehpur and Etawah Lok Sabha Constituencies; (c) whether any complaints have been received from the affected rural communities in this regard; (d) if so, the details of the complaints received and the action taken thereon so far; and (e) the manner in which the Government examines the quality of rural road repair works and ensures proper and transparent utilisation of the funds allocated for the purpose? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN) (a) & (b): PMGSY roads are constructed by the State Governments with a design life for at least 10 years. As per PMGSY guidelines, maintenance of roads constructed under the programme is the responsibility of the State Governments, and all road works are covered by initial five-year maintenance contracts to be entered into along with the construction contract, with the same contractor, as per the Standard Bidding Document. Maintenance funds to service the contract are required to be budgeted by the State Governments and placed at the disposal of the State Rural Roads Development Agencies (SRRDAs) in a separate maintenance account. On expiry of this 5 year post construction maintenance, PMGSY roads are required to be placed under Zonal maintenance contracts consisting of 5 year maintenance, including renewal as per cycle, from time to time. Page 1 of 3Regional Review Meetings (RRMs) are conducted with the nodal departments of the State governments, at regular intervals as a measure to monitor the progress & for effective implementation of the PMGSY scheme in the States. Also, Area Officer visits are organised by the Ministry for physical inspection and verification of all the programmes run by Department of Rural Development, including PMGSY. As reported by the State, there is no delay in the repair of works under PMGSY. (c) & (d): As per Para 15.1 of the Programme Guidelines, ensuring the quality of road works is the responsibility of the State Governments who are implementing the programme. However, as reported by the State government of Uttar Pradesh, no complaints have been received from rural communities pertaining to the quality of PMGSY works with respect to Fatehpur and Etawah Lok Sabha Constituencies during the last year. (e): PMGSY envisages a three-tier Quality Assurance Mechanism to ensure the quality of road works during construction. The first tier of this mechanism is in-house quality control at the Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) level. Second-tier is structured as an independent quality monitoring at the State level through State Quality Monitors (SQMs), in which provision of regular inspection of PMGSY works has been envisaged. The third-tier is an independent monitoring mechanism at the Central level. Under this tier, independent National Quality Monitors (NQMs) are engaged for inspections of PMGSY roads, selected at random. Action Taken Reports of the road works graded as Satisfactory Requiring Improvement (SRI) and Unsatisfactory (U) by the State Quality Monitors are monitored by the respective State Governments. Similarly, for works graded as Satisfactory Requiring Improvement (SRI) and Unsatisfactory (U) on the basis of observations of National Quality Monitors, Action Taken Reports are monitored and processed by the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA). Further, the digital governance & efficiency protocol used in PMGSY helps the Ministry in monitoring the roads sanctioned under PMGSY. Details are as follows: OMMAS & PMIS: Online Management, Monitoring, and Accounting System ensures transparency (OMMAS), and Project Monitoring and Page 2 of 3Information System(PMIS) ensure real time tracking of project progress. SNA SPARSH: The transition to the SNA SPARSH fund flow mechanism ensures "Just-in-Time" release of funds to the states. e-MARG: Routine maintenance is processed through eMARG, where payments are contingent upon Performance-Based Maintenance Contracts (PBMC). GPS Tracking: Deployment of GPS-enabled Vehicle Tracking Systems (VTS) on machinery monitors on-site construction activity. ***** Page 3 of 3