Himachal's Mandi tops implementation of Gram Sadak Yojana

Shimla, Oct 23 : Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh has bagged the first position among 30 districts of the country for the successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Among the states, Himachal Pradesh has secured second position for construction of roads under PMGSY.

 

Mandi district has received top position for constructing roads of maximum length in 2020-21. Himachal Pradesh has improved its performance under PMGSY programme by constructing 1104 Kilometres roads this year from April till date. Along with Mandi, 6 more districts of Himachal Pradesh have found place among top 30 best performing districts. 6 districts include – Una, Chamba, Kangra, Shimla, Sirmour, Hamirpur and Solan.

 

The PMGSY is a programme funded by the Union government to connect habitations having population of more than 250 among the state. It is a nationwide scheme that aims to provide all-weather road connectivity to the unconnected villages. The scheme was launched in 2000 by Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and is being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development.

 

The scheme is dominantly a Centre sponsored scheme but in 2015, as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, it was decided that both State and Centre should sponsor the scheme as 40 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. Specifically, the scheme aims to connect habitations having population of more than 250 in the hilly states and above 500 in the plains.