Delay in Rural Road Construction: Evidence from Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in Shimoga District, Karnataka, India

Rural roads are the basic infrastructure required for the improvements of rural areas. Rural roads had been planned and constructed under various rural development programs by the Government of India. However, serious efforts through these programs could not make road connectivity for more than 50% of rural areas in India. Hence, the Government of India had launched a major programme known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) on December 25, 2000. The PMGSY programme emphasizes on time and quality of construction. This paper reports an investigation on the delay in the construction of PMGSY roads in Shimoga district, Karnataka, India. Using the real-time data of PMGSY roads available on the Online Management Monitoring and Accounting System, an analysis was made to find the delay occurrence in the construction projects of the study area and the effect of various parameters with respect to delay. The study reveals that 95% of the PMGSY road projects have not been completed within the stipulated time and the road length, construction type, and seasons do not affect delay in construction. The present study helps the policy makers to implement reliable polices on rural road programs in the future.