Which of the following statements about the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana are correct? 1. It is part of Government of India's poverty reduction strategy. 2. It is a centrally sponsored scheme for rural development. 3. It provides connectivity in rural areas. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1, 2 and 3
- (b)1 and 3 only
- (c)2 and 3 only
- (d)1 and 2 only
Correct — A, 1, 2 and 3. All three statements come straight out of the programme's own guidelines. On the first, the guidelines open by saying that rural road connectivity is not only a key component of rural development in India but is also recognised as an effective poverty reduction programme, and the ministry's later restatement puts it even more plainly — the Government launched the yojana as part of the poverty reduction strategy. On the second, the Prime Minister announced it on 15 August 2000 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, and from 2001-02 it ran as a wholly centrally sponsored one; the programme is administered by the Ministry of Rural Development. On the third, its object is road connectivity through good all-weather roads to rural habitations — originally those above 1,000 persons, then above 500 in the plains and not less than 250 in hilly and desert tracts. No statement can be dropped, so the all-of-them option is the answer.
- (b)1 and 3 only — Drops the true statement 2. The scheme is explicitly a Centrally Sponsored Scheme run for rural development, funded initially from the cess on high speed diesel and put on a wholly central footing from 2001-02.
- (c)2 and 3 only — Drops statement 1, which the guidelines themselves assert. Rural road connectivity is presented in the founding document as an effective poverty reduction programme, not merely as an infrastructure target.
- (d)1 and 2 only — Drops the most obvious of the three. Connectivity is the whole content of the programme — the construction of new all-weather roads to unconnected habitations, with upgradation of existing roads permitted where that is what achieves connectivity.
The case for rural roads is not made on transport grounds alone. An all-weather road is one usable through the year in every season, and where it exists, produce reaches markets, teachers and health workers reach posts, and wage work becomes accessible outside the village — which is why the programme is framed as poverty reduction. The scheme was designed around a core network, with population thresholds fixed to the census, and it built a system of quality control and independent inspection unusual for Indian public works.
An all-three item is answered by testing each statement for a reason to fail, not by looking for the one that is right. Here the only statement a candidate is likely to doubt is the first, because it sounds like commentary rather than a fact about the scheme; the guidelines settle it. Two dates deserve care because they are often confused: the announcement came on 15 August 2000 and the launch on 25 December 2000. Anchoring to the present, the programme has moved through phases — PMGSY-II for upgrading existing routes, a road connectivity project for Left Wing Extremism affected areas where the threshold falls to 100 persons, and a further phase approved since to reach habitations still left out.
- The guidelines state that rural road connectivity is a key component of rural development and is recognised as an effective poverty reduction programme.
- Announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2000 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme; launched on 25 December 2000 and run as a wholly centrally sponsored scheme from 2001-02.
- It is administered by the Ministry of Rural Development, with the National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency as the implementing body.
- The objective is connectivity by a single all-weather road to eligible unconnected habitations — above 500 persons in the plains and not less than 250 in hilly and desert tracts.
- An all-weather road is one that is usable in all seasons of the year.
- Initial funding came from earmarking 50 per cent of the cess on high speed diesel, Rs 2,500 crore in 2000-01.
- Rejecting statement 1 because poverty reduction sounds like interpretation; the guidelines make the claim themselves.
- Confusing the announcement date of 15 August 2000 with the launch date of 25 December 2000.
- Assuming the population threshold is uniform; it falls to 250 in hilly and desert areas and to 100 in the worst Left Wing Extremism affected blocks.
As a statements item on the design of the scheme, or as a single-line question on its launch year, its ministry or its population norms.
In rural road construction, the use of which of the following is preferred for ensuring environmental sustainability or to reduce carbon footprint? 1. Copper slag 2. Cold mix asphalt technology 3. Geotextiles 4. Hot mix asphalt technology 5. Portland cement Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (b) 2, 3 and 4 only
- (c) 4 and 5 only
- (d) 1 and 5 only
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
The same programme examined on how the roads are built rather than on why. Copper slag, cold mix and geotextiles are the materials rural road construction has turned to, and this scheme is where they are used at scale.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the population threshold for eligible unconnected habitations in hilly and desert areas is
- (a)100 persons
- (b)250 persons
- (c)500 persons
- (d)1,000 persons
Answer(b) 250 persons — the plains threshold is 500, and the norm is relaxed to 250 in hilly and desert tracts, with a still lower figure in the worst Left Wing Extremism affected blocks.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The initial dedicated source of funding for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was
- (a)a share of the cess on high speed diesel
- (b)a surcharge on income tax
- (c)external assistance from the Asian Development Bank alone
- (d)a levy on rural land revenue collected by states
Answer(a) a share of the cess on high speed diesel — half of that cess was earmarked for the programme, providing Rs 2,500 crore in its first year.