New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) Maintenance of rural roads built under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, or PMGSY, is a state subject, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan said on Friday.

He was replying to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Indu Bala Goswami from BJP, who asked whether the government had received complaints about a lack of maintenance of roads in rural areas, asked.

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"Rural road is a state subject," as per PMGSY guidelines, Paswan said in his reply.

"All road works sanctioned under the scheme are covered by initial five-year maintenance contracts to be entered into along with the construction contract, with the same contractor, as per the Standard Bidding Document. Maintenance funds are to be provided by the States/UTs. Even after 5 years, the roads are to be maintained by the States/UTs," he said.

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He said states and Union Territories are required to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Rural Development before the launch of the scheme to provide adequate funds for the maintenance of roads under PMGSY for the first five years, as well as for periodic renewal.

"... release of required maintenance funds is required to be certified by the State while submitting fund release proposals to the Central Government," he added.

The Minister said Electronic Maintenance of PMGSY Roads, or eMARG, an online platform, has been implemented in all the states to monitor the maintenance of PMGSY works for five years from the date of completion.

"Complaints about various irregularities including violation of norms and sub-standard works under PMGSY are received in the Ministry from time to time," he said.

In case, an adequate response is not received, the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) deputes National Quality Monitors (NQM) and further decisions are taken based on NQM reports.

"Under PMGSY, citizens can get their complaints/suggestions redressed through the 'Meri Sadak' application and Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAM)," he said.

According to the MoS, by March 18, a total of 70,770 suggestions and complaints related to PMGSY have been received through the 'Meri Sadak' application, out of which final replies have been sent to 63,844 and interim replies to the remaining 6,871 complaints.

In addition, 22,895 public grievances have been received on CPGRAM as of date, out of which, 22,735 public grievances have been resolved, Paswan added.

The remaining complaints have been forwarded to the states for submission of an Action Taken Report, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)