Parliament Question: Review of Eligibility Criteria under PMGSY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1432 ANSWERED ON 09/12/2025 REVIEW OF ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA UNDER PMGSY

1432. MsIqraChoudhary:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) originally prioritised providing all-weather connectivity to single, unconnected habitations and was later expanded to include link roads connecting clusters of villages, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Ministry has now shifted the policy to prioritise only single-habitation connectivity and discontinue multi- village link road projects, if so, the reasons therefor;

(c) whether any surveys, field assessments or stakeholder consultations were undertaken before this change, if so, the key observations thereof;

(d) the details and number of habitations earlier eligible under the multi-village model that stand affected including the details of projects deferred or cancelled, State and district-wise including Uttar Pradesh; and

(e) whether the Ministry proposes to review the eligibility criteria, if so, the timeline thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN)

(a)to (e): The Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY), launched in December 2000, was designed as a single, all-weather road intervention to provide connectivity to eligible unconnected Habitations in rural areas. The basic unit for the programme has always been the Habitation (cluster of population), not a revenue village or Panchayat. PMGSY-I was implemented based on the Core Network (CN) concept. The CN consists of:

Page 1 of 2a. Through Routes: Roads that collect traffic from several link roads/habitations and lead to Market Centres/Higher Category Roads. b. Link Routes: Roads that connect a single Habitation or a group of Habitations to the Through Routes or District Roads leading to Market Centres.

Therefore, from inception, the scheme has included the construction of Link Routes, which, by definition, connect a single or a cluster (group) of unconnected habitations to the existing network. However, the objective was always to achieve single road connectivity to the unconnected habitation.

The government has launched Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana- phase IV, called PMGSY-IV, in September 2024. The primary focus of the new vertical, PMGSY-IV, remains strictly on providing New Connectivity to eligible unconnected Habitations, particularly those that have become eligible based on the Census 2011 population data (500+ in plain areas and 250+ in special areas). The Ministry has not discontinued the concept of roads serving multiple habitations. The programme guidelines for all PMGSY phases consistently emphasise that while maintaining the objective of connecting the target unconnected habitations, preference should be given to those roads that incidentally serve other habitations or a larger population cluster. The overall principle remains that the road must lead to a designated unconnected habitation, but if its alignment also happens to connect or serve other habitations along the way as a Link Route within the Core Network, it is encouraged, provided the main objective is met.

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