(a) the details of States which have been issued directives to provide relaxation in prescribed criteria under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) dominated villages during the last three years and the current year;
(b) whether the Government proposes to suggest to the State Governments for assessment of such villages which do not fulfill the prescribed criteria under the said scheme; and
(c) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV)
(a) to (c): Rural Roads’ is a State subject and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a one-time special intervention to provide rural connectivity, by way of a single all-weather road, to the eligible unconnected habitations in the core network with a population of 500 persons and above (Census 2001) in plain areas. In respect of “Special Category States” (i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand), the Desert Areas (as identified in the Desert Development Programme), the Tribal (Schedule V) areas and Selected Tribal and Backward Districts (as identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Planning Commission), the objective is to connect eligible unconnected habitations with a population of 250 persons and above (Census 2001). In the critical Left Wing Extremism affected blocks (as identified by MHA), additional relaxation has been given to connect habitations with population 100 persons and above (2001 census).
As per the PMGSY Guidelines, unit of implementation is a Habitation. As PMGSY is an Area Development Programme, all habitants, who are part of the target habitations are benefitting in the programme.
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