Jammu, April 2 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on Thursday, thanked Union Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for extending the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-I) timeline for the union territory till March 2027.

The office of Omar Abdullah’s office said on its X handle, “Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the Hon’ble Union Minister @ChouhanShivraj for acceding to the J&K Government’s proposal to extend the timeline of PMGSY-I till March, 2027. This extension will significantly support the completion of critical rural road projects across Jammu & Kashmir.”

The Centre had sanctioned a Rs 4,224.23 crore package for 316 road projects in Jammu and Kashmir under PMGSY for the fiscal 2025-2026, which was the biggest ever package for the union territory since the national flagship rural road development programme was started.

Under the PMGSY-IV programme, a rural habitation with a population of even 250 people will get road connectivity through a total length of 1,781.33 km.

The PMGSY was launched by the Government of India to provide connectivity to unconnected habitations as part of a poverty reduction strategy.

The Government of India is endeavouring to set high and uniform technical and management standards and facilitate policy development and planning at the state level in order to ensure sustainable management of the rural roads network.

According to the latest figures made available by the state governments under a survey to identify Core Network as part of the PMGSY programme, about 1.67 lakh unconnected habitations are eligible for coverage under the programme.

This involves the construction of about 3.71 lakh km of roads for new connectivity and 3.68 lakh km under upgradation.

The objective of this national flagship programme is to plan, fund, construct and maintain rural roads in the country. It provides an All-weather Road with necessary culverts and other cross-drainage structures, which is operable throughout the year to eligible unconnected habitations as per PMGSY guidelines in the rural areas.

–IANS

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