Central government’s ambitious plan to connect all rural habitations by the end of year 2012 seems unlikely to materialize. The rural development ministry admitted in the parliament on Monday that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadaj Yojna (PMGSY), the flagships programme to connect rural India through motorable roads, is running behind schedule.

In the first three years of eleventh five year plan (2007-12), it has connected only 49% of the net eligible habitations.  The remaining 51% of the habitations have to be connected in two years, a highly unlikely scenario.

The ministry has largely blamed the states for the delay caused. Among various reasons cited some are: inadequate institutional capacity in some of the states; limited contracting capacity in some states; non-availability of construction materials in the locality; law and order problems in some parts of the country; limited working seasons and adverse climatic conditions; unfavourable weather conditions and limited availability of resources.

The eleventh five year plan has set a target to construct 230447km of road length and provide all weather connectivity to 60638 habitations. Against these targets 29000 habitations have been provided connectivity and 134887 km of roads have been constructed till January 2010.