NQMs term 22.7% of roads ‘unsatisfactory’
Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Is the quality of rural roads constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the state being ensured?
The question has arisen because the National Quality Monitors (NQMs) inspecting the roads constructed under PMGSY graded the quality of 22.7% of the roads as ‘unsatisfactory’ during 365 inspections. Construction of roads under PMGSY is done in the state by Assam PWD, and the funds are provided by the Ministry of Rural Development. However, the state government has a matching share in the funding.
PMGSY is an ambitious scheme of the central government for the improvement of rural connectivity in the country, and the unsatisfactory quality of PMGSY roads in the state raises concerns about the proper implementation of the scheme.
To ensure the quality and durability of PMGSY roads, especially in flood-prone, remote and tribal areas, a three-tier quality management mechanism has been established under PMGSY: The 1st tier of the quality management mechanism is the in-house quality control system of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU); the 2nd tier of the quality management mechanism is through periodical inspections of all works by the State Quality Monitors (SQMs), independent of PIUs; and under the 3rd tier, the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency deploys NQMs for inspection of road works selected at random to assess the general quality in the district/state concerned.
As per information available with The Sentinel, during the period from April 2024 to January 28, 2026, the SQMs carried out 2,775 inspections of roads in the state, of which the quality of 4.8% of roads inspected was found to be ‘unsatisfactory’. During the same period, NQMs carried out 365 inspections, during which they found 22.7% of roads to be of ‘unsatisfactory’ quality.
Often, allegations of poor quality road construction are raised by local people. The Assam PWD should, therefore, ensure that good quality is maintained during the construction of PMGSY roads, as these roads are built with taxpayers’ money.
It needs to be mentioned that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched as a one-time special intervention to provide rural connectivity, by way of a single all-weather road, to the eligible unconnected habitations of designated population size (500+ in plain areas and 250+ in Northeastern States, Himalayan States, Desert and Tribal Areas as per the 2001 census) in the core network for uplifting the socio-economic condition of the rural population. In the year 2013, PMGSY-II was launched with a target to upgrade 50,000 km in various states and union territories. Again, in the year 2019, the government launched PMGSY-III for the consolidation of 1,25,000 km of Through Routes and Major Rural Links connecting Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAMs), higher secondary schools and hospitals.
Finally, in the year 2024, the central government launched PMGSY-IV to provide all-weather connectivity to 25,000 unconnected rural habitations of population size 500+ in plains; 250+ in NE & Hill Sates/UTs, special category areas (Tribal Schedule V, Aspirational Districts/Blocks, and Desert areas); and 100+ in LWE-affected districts, as per Census 2011. The timeline for completion of PMGSY-IV is March 2029.
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