By Sujit Chakraborty, IANS
Agartala : A flagship programme of the central government for providing road connectivity to far-flung areas — The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) — has come a cropper in the northeast, according to official reports.
“All the eight states of the region are lagging behind in meeting the targets set under this programme,” said a status report made available to IANS.
According to plans, an estimated 10,786 human settlement areas in the northeast were to be connected by all weather roads by 2009.
However, the status report, circulated among all eight state governments, presents a dismal picture with the achievement target pegged at below 20 percent on an average.
Going by the tardy pace of work, the target is unlikely to be achieved by 2009. The primary objective of the project is to provide connectivity, by way of an all-weather road, to unconnected habitations in rural areas with a minimum population of 1,000 people.
All such villages located at a distance of 500 metres or more from an all-weather road or a connected habitation are covered under the PMGSY. In case of villages on hills, the parameter is a 1.5 km path distance.
An estimated 9,132 remote habitations would be connected by roads in Assam under the project, followed by 810 in Tripura, 238 in Arunachal Pradesh, 181 in Manipur, 133 in Mizoram, 128 in Meghalaya, 114 in Nagaland and 50 in Sikkim.
The report expressed concern over slow progress in implementation of this programme, despite availability of sufficient funds and proper and effective support by the central government.
The report said: “The states have been asked to get additional project implementation units dedicated to implement PMGSY and increase the absorption capacity to at least four times the present capacity.
“Submission of detailed project reports of all remaining habitations would have to be made within the next six months. States have also been advised to increase contractual capacity and also to take steps for ensuring availability of construction materials.”
The report has asked the states to ensure proper quality of construction by putting in place first and second tier quality monitoring effectively.