States with pending work will no longer be eligible under rural road scheme
States having pending rural road works more than three times the value of their execution capacity will no more be eligible for new rural road projects under the Central flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), unless they complete the sanctioned ones.
The Union Rural Development Ministry’s move follows concern that many States are seeking clearance for new projects without ensuring timely execution of the old sanctioned projects. “This is causing undue delay as well as financial burden on their exchequer due to cost escalation,” said sources in the Ministry.
“In view of the new guidelines, the Ministry has decided not to clear new Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya and West Bengal in this current fiscal year,” they said.
These states have huge pendency of PMGSY works exceeding their execution capacity which is based on the index on expenditure, maintenance and quality inspection.
For instance, Jammu & Kashmir Government has failed to ensure timely completion of sanctioned projects worth Rs 2,715 crores while Haryana which has capacity to execute projects worth Rs 140 crore is sitting on the projects worth Rs 810 crore. (See Box) The PMGSY which is a time-bound programme aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to all eligible unconnected habitations as per the core network in the rural areas.
The Ministry has shot off a letter to all the States pointing out that those failing to ensure timely completion of the sanctioned projects will not be eligible for new projects. It has made them clear to focus on expeditious completion of pending road works and enhancement of their execution capacity in 2014-15.
The letter says that “an analysis of balance projects in hands vis-a-vis three times higher than their execution capacity indicate that seven States have failed to complete the their pending works in hand. These are Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal”.
It reminds them that as per the programme guidelines of PMGSY, the clearance of the projects is being accorded on the submission of DPRs, which are prepared based on approved Schedule of Rate (SoR) of concerned State in the current financial year. “However, it has been observed that higher project clearance vis-à-vis the execution capacity of state results not only in delayed completion of the sanctioned projects but also creates additional financial burden on the State exchequer due to cost escalation”.
The Ministry has prepared an Indicative Project Clearance, three times higher than execution capacity, for 2014-15 which would facilitate submission of DPRs in accordance with the execution capacity of the States, said the sources. In all, the capacity of all the States for executing projects is Rs 3,1071 crore against which they have projects worth Rs 63,114 crore in hand.
The States in the line of fire have blamed constraints in execution of PMGSY scheme to inadequate institutional capacity, limited contracting capacity, non-availability of land and sufficient qualified technical personnel, limited working season, adverse climatic conditions, non-availability of land, non clearance in respect of the land falling in forest areas and law and order problems among others.
Since 2000 under the PMGSY, projects for 1,09,010 habitations have been sanctioned by clearing the proposals for 5,01,406 km of roads worth Rs 1,56,288 crore. Up to June 2013, Rs 1,05,091 crore has been released while 3,81,197 km roads works have been completed across the country.