APRIL 10: In a significant move to strengthen rural infrastructure, the Union Territory Level Standing Committee (UTLSC) meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to review and approve key proposals under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-IV (PMGSY-IV).
The meeting witnessed participation from Principal Secretary, Home; Secretary, Public Works (R&B); Secretary, Transport; Secretary, Revenue; Director General, Budget; Engineer-in-Chief, along with other senior officials from relevant departments.
Emphasizing the importance of all-weather connectivity for rural areas, the Chief Secretary directed the concerned departments to ensure rapid approval and implementation of surveyed road projects. He highlighted that the PMGSY-IV should be effectively used to extend road networks to underserved and remote regions across the Union Territory.
Dulloo stressed that priority must be given to proposals aligned with the Comprehensive New Connectivity Priority List (CNCPL) to secure timely approval from the central government. He particularly underlined the need to focus on providing last-mile connectivity in far-flung and border areas under this flagship scheme.
The PMGSY-IV, recently launched by the Ministry of Rural Development, is scheduled to be implemented during 2024-25 to 2028-29. It targets rural habitations that have become eligible due to population increases recorded in the 2011 Census. The scheme aims to bridge gaps in access to essential services such as education, healthcare, markets, and government institutions by constructing durable all-weather roads.
Providing a detailed overview, Secretary PWD Bhupinder Kumar informed that the connectivity criteria include habitations with populations of 500+ in plain areas, 250+ in hilly and Union Territories, and 100+ in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas. He added that the “cluster approach” will be adopted—grouping habitations within a 500-meter radius (1.5 km in hilly areas) to form a single connectivity unit.
For strategic and developmental purposes, habitations located within 10 km of the border will also be prioritized. Roads constructed under the scheme must meet performance benchmarks, ensuring service disruption of no more than 24 hours at a time and limited to six instances annually.
It was also decided that roads left incomplete under PMGSY-I, especially those with only Stage-I formation, will be upgraded and completed under the current phase.
The funding pattern will follow a 90:10 model, with the Centre contributing 90% and the UT providing 10%. Post-construction, the UT Government will be responsible for road maintenance for a period of ten years.
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