To ensure transparency and for public information, Union Rural Development Ministry has instructed all the States to put up maintenance boards detailing various parameters on every rural road constructed/completed from the start of the 2014-15 fiscal year under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in their areas.
Presently, PMGSY logo Board and Citizen Information Boards are installed on the rural roads constructed under the Centrally sponsored programme launched in 2000 to provide all-weather road connectivity in rural areas of the country.However, now the third structure to be called as the ‘Maintenance Board’ is being made mandatory for all roads that have been started/completed during current fiscal and for subsequent years, a senior official from the Rural Development Ministry said.
In a recent letter to Principal Secretaries of all the States, Rajesh Bhushan, Joint Secretary, wrote that installation of the boards should be taken on priority basis as the progress in this regard would be monitored regularly by the National Rural Road Development Agency (NRDDA).
The boards will give detailed information on various parameters of first five years maintenance. “This sign board would provide information on various items of maintenance as well as their frequency in a year and year-wise fund earmarked for maintenance as per contract and actual year-wise expenditure on upkeep for the relevant road, said the official.
People will have knowledge on how much money has been spent on maintenance of the roads and keep the officials on their toe in case of discrepancies.He further added that the States have been asked to include the cost towards provision of the boards in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in case of proposals yet to be sanctioned or it would be borne out of administrative expenses fund of PMGSY.
According to the official, the objectives of PMGSY have been substantially fulfilled in several states and PMGSY-II is being implemented.
He said States like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan have completed construction of rural roads and now seeking allocation for upgradation of such roads. The PMGSY envisages connecting all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in the plain areas and 250 persons and above in hill States, the tribal and the desert areas.