BHUBANESWAR: The state government has completed construction of 20,722 km road under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the last five years at an expenditure of Rs 11,417.86 crore. The state has created a record by constructing 8,101 km road in 2018-19 with an expenditure of Rs 3,289.38 crore followed by 5,294 km involving an expenditure of Rs 12,489.91 crore in 2019-20. In 2020-21 when Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, 1,840 km length of rural road was constructed at an expenditure of Rs 1,754.13 crore. In the last two financial years, 2,819 km and 2,668 km of roads were constructed at an expenditure of Rs 1,795.50 crore and Rs 2,088.94 crore respectively.
Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday while responding to queries from BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi. The minister said that the MoRD released its share of Rs 5,670.28 crore under the road connectivity project including road projects in the Left Wing Extremism affected areas (RCPLWEA). The balance amount of Rs 5,747.58 crore was the share of the state government and unspent balance from the central share.Under PMGSY, habitations with a population (census 2001) of over 500 in plain areas and more than 250 in 88 selected tribal and backward districts (as identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), were eligible.
This apart, additional relaxation has been given to connect habitations in most remote and tribal areas with a population of 100 to 249 people in Left Wing Extremism-hit blocks as identified by the MHA. Under 250 plus population category, MoRD had sanctioned 15,313 habitations out of which 15,302 habitations have got all-weather road connectivity. Under the 100-249 population category in LWE areas, 1,688 habitations were sanctioned out of which 1,678 habitations have been connected. The timeline for the completion of PMGSY-I is March 2024. Jyoti said PMGSY-III was launched in 2019 for consolidation of 1,25,000 km through routes and major rural links connecting habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs).