Parliament Question: Road connectivity to tribal areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1737 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/02/2026 ROAD CONNECTIVITY TO TRIBAL AREAS 1737 Shri Mallikarjun Kharge: Will the Minister of Rural Development be pleased to state: (a) number of road projects sanctioned, and total length of roads constructed in tribal dominated areas under various schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), during the last five years, year-wise and State-wise; (b) status of incomplete or ongoing road works in tribal regions, including reasons for delays, if any; (c) whether the Ministry has assessed quality and durability of such roads, particularly their ability to withstand monsoons, hilly terrain, and other challenging local conditions; and (d) if so, the details thereof and whether any steps have been taken to improve design standards, maintenance, or all-weather resilience of roads in tribal areas? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN) (a) & (b): Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is an area-development initiative providing all-weather connectivity to eligible habitations based on population criteria, which is relaxed to 250+ in Tribal Schedule-V areas and 100+ in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected blocks. Since its inception, 8,48,025 km of road length has been sanctioned, and 7,89,652 km has been completed. Specific interventions for tribal areas include the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA) under which 2,751 km road length has been sanctioned in FY 2025-26. Additionally, the PM-JANMAN vertical targets areas inhabited by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), with 7,324 km sanctioned and 1,675 km completed till date.The state-wise details of the number of road projects sanctioned and total length of roads constructed in tribal dominated areas under PMGSY may be seen at https://pmgsy.dord.gov.in=>ProgressMonitoring=>State MPR Abstract Report. Details of projects sanctioned and completed under PM-JANMAN during the last five years State-wise and year-wise may be seen at https://pmgsy.dord.gov.in=>Progress Monitoring=>Financial Year-wise Achievement. MGNREGS also facilitates construction of internal village roads, details of which are given in the Annexure. Delays in ongoing works in tribal regions are primarily due to difficult hilly terrain, forest clearance requirements, limited local availability of construction materials, and localised law and order challenges. Page 1 of 3(c) & (d): To ensure the quality and durability of these roads in challenging conditions, all projects are designed as per Indian Roads Congress (IRC) standards, including specific manuals for Rural and Hill Roads. The Ministry implements a rigorous three-tier Quality Assurance Mechanism comprising in-house control by Project Implementation Units, independent state- level monitoring and random central-level inspections by National Quality Monitors who upload geotagged reports to the OMMAS portal. Durability is further guaranteed by a mandatory five- year post-construction maintenance contract with the original contractor, followed by state- funded zonal maintenance. To enhance resilience and transparency, the Ministry has also institutionalized periodic joint field inspections involving Hon’ble Members of Parliament, MLAs and local Panchayat representatives. To optimize resources and ensure the durability of assets under MGNREGA, road construction must adhere to systematic technical norms covering site selection, design and execution. The scheme focuses exclusively on providing new connectivity to village roads and other district roads (ODR) in habitations with populations below 500 in plains and 250 in special category states, as identified via a "P-Net" map approved by the Gram Sabha and District Planning Committee. High priority is accorded to roads leading to Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages. Technical specifications are tailored to local conditions, with inter-habitation roads utilizing gravel or thin bituminous sealing based on subgrade strength (CBR values), while internal village roads utilize cement concrete or fly ash blocks with integrated drainage. Implementation is decentralized, with Gram Panchayats executing local farm-net roads and higher-level bodies managing inter-habitation links, all while adhering to PMGSY’s quality assurance protocols and Standard Operating Procedures. To prevent wasteful expenditure, the scheme strictly prohibits reconstruction on the same stretch for at least 10 years for concrete roads and 5 years for gravel roads, a condition that must be verified during the technical sanction process. Maintenance remains the responsibility of Gram Panchayats, utilizing Finance Commission funds to ensure the long-term productivity and reliability of the rural road network. ***** Page 2 of 3ANNEXURE Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) & (b) of Unstarred Question No. 1737 due for answer in the Rajya Sabha on 13.02.2026 State/UT-wise details of roads constructed and ongoing under the Rural Connectivity category during the last five years and the current year under MGNREGS (as on 10th February 2026) S Number of works completed State Ongoing No. 2025-2026 2024-2025 2023-2024 2022-2023 2021-2022 2020-2021 Arunachal 1 1,003 1,267 742 338 932 775 3,729 Pradesh 2 Assam 1,926 4,163 899 380 1,905 3,195 7,461 3 Bihar 12,185 41,690 40,993 20,843 41,905 36,586 91,105 4 Chhattisgarh 2,810 5,973 5,967 4,147 2,932 3,237 3,104 5 Goa 8 69 2 5 26 35 136 6 Gujarat 3,332 14,165 4,875 5,465 6,190 5,971 13,104 7 Haryana 1,359 3,865 1,333 1,353 5,618 4,673 7,148 Himachal 8 9,546 15,289 11,948 13,827 11,420 11,448 22,106 Pradesh Jammu & 9 3,798 16,452 10,520 16,596 22,358 19,334 1,40,628 Kashmir 10 Jharkhand 854 2,551 2,207 1,988 1,751 1,720 7,353 11 Karnataka 14,538 43,590 32,761 34,335 19,725 20,144 50,579 12 Kerala 4,121 13,999 15,762 13,406 11,102 9,396 15,297 13 Ladakh 744 1,643 706 916 390 152 534 14 Maharashtra 10,528 7,571 4,565 4,780 4,171 3,777 48,854 15 Manipur 2,289 2,431 2,094 386 2,280 2,999 9,796 16 Meghalaya 3,016 8,503 4,548 2,836 2,826 6,182 24,873 17 Mizoram 1,265 1,880 1,986 1,714 1,822 1,928 461 18 Nagaland 516 902 1,105 218 720 1,006 2,095 19 Odisha 8,510 14,711 15,226 27,382 16,253 8,931 49,291 20 Punjab 5,179 14,861 15,854 13,717 14,423 10,964 20,143 21 Rajasthan 9,932 43,107 19,792 13,144 16,171 12,873 86,094 22 Sikkim 170 285 208 234 247 233 438 23 Tamil Nadu 6,135 14,092 17,210 17,734 11,986 5,337 24,856 24 Telangana 15,179 19,338 17,423 18,175 26,403 11,999 91,345 25 Tripura 1,161 3,237 3,114 3,690 3,522 5,259 3,274 Uttar 26 54,314 78,645 67,376 86,313 46,527 50,121 1,67,146 Pradesh 27 Uttarakhand 3,367 5,888 6,476 9,652 4,321 6,450 10,529 28 West Bengal 1,850 117 469 6,913 40,144 35,690 23,079 Andaman & 29 15 29 32 2 29 26 76 Nicobar DN Haveli & 30 1 - - - - - DD 11 31 Lakshdweep - - - - - - 5 32 Puducherry 13 41 17 26 17 30 56 Total 1,79,664 3,80,354 3,06,210 3,20,515 3,18,116 2,80,471 9,24,706 ***** Page 3 of 3