Benefits of highways are optimised and reach villages’ doorsteps only when the rural roads which provide the last mile connectivity are properly built, maintained and integrated into the highway network. The primary objective of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is to provide all-weather connectivity to unconnected rural habitations. For a state like Assam, which receives heavy monsoon rains, all-weather connectivity plays a crucial role in keeping the roads passable and safe throughout the year. Yet, questions being raised over the quality of 18% of PMGSY roads in Assam, which was highlighted in Wednesday’s edition of this newspaper, reveal glaring shortcomings in construction and monitoring of rural roads in the state. The report brought to light that National Quality Monitors (NQM) have found, during inspection of 442 completed road works from 2012 to the last part of August, 2026, that construction quality of 70 roads is “unsatisfactory” and 24 roads met basic, minimum standards but require improvement. It also found 67 ongoing works “unsatisfactory” and 37 works requiring improvement. The PMGSY has a three-tiered quality control mechanism to ensure that the construction quality of roadworks meets the basic standards of durability, making them truly all-weather. In the first tier, the Programme Implementation Units (PIUs) are required to ensure process control through mandatory tests on materials and workmanship at the field laboratory. The second tier is a structured independent quality monitoring at the state level through State Quality Monitors (SQMs) to ensure that every work is inspected at the initial stage, middle stage and final stage of construction. Under the third tier, independent NQMs are deployed by the central government for random inspections of road and bridge works to monitor quality and also to provide guidance to the field functionaries. The central government informed the Lok Sabha that as per Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) guidelines, maintenance of roads constructed under the programme is the responsibility of the state or union territory governments. The PMGSY Guidelines also mandate that the programme functions under fixed timeline frameworks, and there is no provision for the enhancement of the sanctioned cost or the payment of cost escalation due to time overruns. Any cost escalation arising from project delays, execution overruns, or tenders invited above the sanctioned cost must be entirely borne by the respective state government from its own budgetary resources. While this requirement is helpful in the timely construction of rural roads, rushing construction work to avoid cost escalation due to time overrun carries the risk of compromising quality in construction work, especially when monitoring is slackened. The Ministry of Rural Development accords clearance and sanctions project cost based on estimates presented in the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) formulated by the respective State Governments. This calls for meticulous DPR preparation so that construction quality is embedded into the project from the very first design stage until the completion of the construction. If such checks and balances fail to ensure quality, then it signals a persistent systemic gap that has been overlooked. Without all-weather connectivity to the rural habitations, an agrarian state like Assam cannot be expected to derive optimal benefits for expansion of existing highways and construction of new highways as economic corridors. When villages are well-connected with quality roads, then farmers transport their produce from farms, fields and granaries to the nearest commercial hub, which gives them remunerative and competitive prices. When farmers lack direct and easy access to large markets, they become reliant on traders who aggregate farm produce, which often results in farmers receiving lower prices due to their limited ability to negotiate. A quality PMGSY road, therefore, frees farmers from this dependency. Farmers getting remunerative prices for agricultural produce and allied farming, such as dairy farming and livestock rearing, is fundamental to improving the rural economy and preventing distress selling or withdrawal from farming. Agricultural labour remaining remunerative is critical to curbing the outmigration of rural youth in search of alternative livelihoods. Besides, when the rural economy improves, industries also move closer to agricultural clusters, taking advantage of better highway and road connectivity. Viewed from this perspective, PMGSY is not simply a central government scheme to support the construction of rural roads but a strategic lever for rural economic transformation through the transition from subsistence agriculture to commercial farming. A stronger rural economy augments the income of farm households to spare more for the quality education of their children and access to better healthcare. Once a road is built, the isolation ends, and a window is opened for villagers to access markets, services, and vast opportunities that previously remained out of reach. They start looking at the same farm activities with a renewed sense of hope, opportunity and entrepreneurial approach. Maintaining quality of rural roads in Assam, therefore, is not a choice but an essential obligation for long-term economic gain.