PANJIM: Under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the Union Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned Rs 239 crore to Goa for improving road connectivity in the State.
The project aims at constructing new roads and upgradation of existing village roads, connecting them with national highways, State highways and district roads. The work will be tendered in January next year.
The model villages adopted by the Members of Parliament under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) will now get rural roads under PMGSY.
Speaking to Herald, PWD Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar said that post upgradation of the scheme by the Narendra Modi government, the State has been sanctioned Rs 239 crore for development of internal village roads. “Many villages in the remote parts of the State lack proper roads or you can say there is no road connectivity,” he said.
“Also there are many identified internal village roads in bad shape and are not connected to the NH or state highway or even district roads,” he added.
As per the amended guidelines, the State is bound to give priority to all roads leading to the panchayats identified under SAGY irrespective of Comprehensive New Connectivity Priority List (CNCPL) to include all eligible unconnected habitations in selected panchayats.
BJP South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar has adopted Khola village in Canacona, while Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik has adopted Rachol village in Salcete under SAGY.
PMGSY is a centrally-funded scheme, introduced in 2000 by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The aim of the scheme was to provide roads to all villages.
