Latest news with #NRIDA
Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Why the Centre wants QR codes on roads built under PM Gram Sadak Yojana
Earlier this month, the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) asked states to attach QR codes on all maintenance information display boards for roads built under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The first phase of the PMGSY was launched on December 25, 2000, by the then NDA government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to improve rural infrastructure through road construction. The second phase was launched in 2013. Another component, called the Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA), was launched in 2016 for the construction of rural roads in LWE-affected areas. The third phase was launched in 2019. On September 11, 2024, the Central government approved phase IV to provide all-weather road connectivity to 25,000 unconnected habitations of population size 500+ in plains, 250+ in northeastern and hill states/UTs, special category areas (Tribal Schedule V, Aspirational Districts/Blocks, Desert areas) and 100+ in LWE-affected areas (notified by the Ministry of Home Affairs in nine states), as per Census 2011. Starting as a totally Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the funding pattern was modified from 2015-16 to 60:40 between the Centre and states (except for northeastern and Himalayan states). A total of 62,500 km of road length is proposed to be constructed for Rs 70,125 crore from 2024-25 to 2028-29. Since the scheme was launched, a total road length of 8,36,850 km has been sanctioned, of which 7,81,209 km has been completed, as per information available on the scheme dashboard. What has the government planned now? The National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA), which comes under the MoRD and provides technical support for implementing the PMGSY, has written to all states about QR codes. The aim is to get public feedback about the quality and maintenance of roads. Under the PMGSY, all roads after the completion of construction are maintained by the contractor for five years. This is done using a mobile-cum-web-based e-MARG (electronic Maintenance of Rural Roads) system. It is an e-governance solution for managing and monitoring rural road maintenance. The contractor carries out the routine maintenance and submits bills on eMARG. The field engineering staff carry out Routine Inspection (RI) to verify the maintenance by the contractor, and based on geo-tagged photographs captured during RI, the Performance Evaluation (PE) is done based on 12 parameters of Routine Maintenance activities, according to the NRIDA. As a whole, maintenance comes under the ambit of state governments, with rural roads being a state subject. The NRIDA also deploys its National Level Monitors (NLMs) to check the construction quality of roads. The NLMs reports have flagged substandard works under the PMGSY in the past. However, there was no existing mechanism to capture people's feedback about the quality of maintenance. How will the new system work? To enable easy sharing of feedback, a utility has been created in eMARG. A QR code can be generated for each road, to be displayed on the maintenance information display board on the road. The board can contain instructions for registering feedback in English and the local language. 'Any road user/public can scan the QR code using a mobile phone and will get all details of the road. Users can click photographs on the road and can flag any maintenance related issue in the feedback window,' according to the NRIDA. The citizens' feedback photos will be integrated with the relevant Routine Inspection. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will be employed to analyse these photographs to advise on Performance Evaluation (PE) marks. All programs implementing units, while giving PE marks, shall be responsible for checking these photos. 'This way not only will the public participate in ensuring maintenance on the roads but, the photographs clicked by the users will also help the engineering staff to do a realistic performance evaluation. Thus, eMARG will be a more transparent system for ensuring Routine Maintenance for 5 years,' states the NRIDA letter sent to all additional chief secretaries/principal secretaries/secretaries in-charge of the PMGSY of all states and Union Territories on June 2. According to officials, trials were carried out in various states, including a pilot project in Himachal Pradesh. After this, the new facility was made fully functional.
The Hindu
01-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Priyanka urges Minister to fast-track approvals under PMGSY-IV
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Wayanad MP, has urged Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Rural Development, Agriculture, and Farmers' Welfare, to direct the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA) to fast-track approvals under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-IV (PMGSY-IV) in the district. In a letter to Mr. Chouhan, Ms. Vadra said that 331 unconnected habitations had been identified in Wayanad and approved by the Kerala State Rural Roads Development Agency. Among them, only 64 habitations in Kalpetta had been approved by the NRIDA and 267 others were yet to get the green signal on the Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting System (OMMAS). No habitation across Sulthan Bathery, Mananthavady or Panamaram blocks, with a significant tribal population, had been approved as yet though the PMGSY-IV guidelines stipulate that tribal villages in aspirational blocks would be prioritised. Meanwhile, 25 unconnected habitations had been incorrectly categorised as connected on the OMMAS as well. Ms. Vadra requested Mr. Chouhan to ensure that the NRIDA expedited approval for the pending habitations. She also urged him to allow the authorities in Wayanad to make necessary changes on the OMMAS software about the status of the habitations so that they remain up to date and accurate.
