States spending more on maintenance of old roads will get priority funding under the third phase of the rural road programme, according to government officials. This will ensure better maintenance of roads built under various phases of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), started in 2000.
These roads totaling 125,000 km will be conditioned (strengthened, widened or built afresh) under the newly approved PMGSY-3. For the first five years, the roads built under the PMGSY have to be maintained by the contractor, after which it is the responsibility of the states to maintain them.
According to official sources, over 600,000 km of roads, almost half of those built under various phases of the PMGSY, fall in this category and have completed five years of construction.
