Key Features of PMGSY

• Launched: on December 25, 2000, as a flagship centrally sponsored scheme under the Ministry of Rural Development.
• Objective: to alleviate poverty by providing all-weather road connectivity to previously unconnected rural habitations with a population of
  • 500 or more in plain areas, 
  • 250 or more in special category regions, such as the North-Eastern states, Himalayan states, desert areas, and select backward districts. 
• Key Phases:
  • Phase I (2000): focused on providing initial all-weather connections to eligible unconnected habitations.
  • Phase II (2013): Shifted focus to upgrading 50,000 km of the existing rural road network to improve transportation efficiency and support economic hubs.
    • For Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (2016): targeted 44 severely affected districts across nine states to improve both socio-economic development and the mobility of security forces.
  • Phase III (2019): Aimed at upgrading 1,25,000 km of Through Routes and Major Rural Links to connect villages directly to Gramin Agricultural Markets, higher secondary schools, and hospitals.
    • This phase has now been extended beyond March 2025 up to March 2028.
  • Phase IV (2024–25 to 2028–29): Set to construct an additional 62,500 km of roads to connect 25,000 previously unconnected habitations.