The BJP government published an infographic on the 48-months portal that makes four claims about the Rural Road construction or the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). This article is a fact check of those claims. The BJP government published an infographic on the 48-months portal that makes four claims about the Rural Road construction or the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). This article is a fact check of those claims. What is the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana? According to an answer provided in Lok Sabha, ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a one-time special intervention to provide rural connectivity, by way of a single all weather road, to the eligible unconnected habitations in the core network though rural roads is a State subject.’ As per the annual report of the Ministry of Rural Development (2017-18) , ‘a major thrust to the development of rural roads was accorded at the beginning of the fifth five year plan in 1974, when it was made a part of the minimum needs programme. In 1996, this was merged with the basic minimum services (BMS) programmes. The PMGSY was launched in the year 2000 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.’ What length of rural roads have been built in the last 4 years? The first claim is that almost 1.69 lakh kms of rural roads were built in the last 4 years. According to the annual report of the Ministry of Rural Development (2017-18), a total of 3,38,024 kms of roads have been constructed to connect 1,30,974 habitations that were previously unconnected by all-weather roads since the inception of the PMGSY. Further, upgradation work of 1,75,903 kms and 12,984 kms has been taken up in phase I and phase II of PMGSY respectively. Physical targets under this scheme were laid down since the year 2005-06. As per data provided in the annual report of the Ministry of Rural Development (2017-18), a total of 1,47,237 kms of rural roads were constructed during the last four years of UPA-1 (2005-06 to 2008-09). During UPA-2, a total of 1,85,698 kms of roads were constructed under PMGSY in the five-year period between 2009-10 to 2013-14. On the other hand, during the first four-year period of the current government, a total of 1,68,975 kms was constructed between 2014-15 & 2017-18. Claim: 1.69 lakh kms of rural roads built in the last 4 years. Fact: During the first four-year period of the current government, a total of 1,68,975 kms was constructed between 2014-15 & 2017-18. Hence the claim is TRUE. However, this is in line with the achievement of rural roads construction during the UPA. A total of 1,47,237 kms of rural roads were constructed during the last four years of UPA-1 (2005-06 to 2008-09) and during UPA-2, a total of 1,85,698 kms of roads were constructed under PMGSY in the five-year period between 2009-10 to 2013-14. Has the speed of rural road construction increased? The second claim is that average speed of rural road construction increased from 69km/day in 2013-14 to 134 km/day in 2017-18. The website of the Ministry of Rural Development shows that the average road length constructed per day was 69 km in 2013-14 and has increased to 130 km in 2016-17. But this presents only half the picture. Data from the annual reports of the ministry, the PMGSY briefing book and the answer to a question in the Lok Sabha reveals that the highest ever average speed of rural road construction was achieved in 2009-10 followed by 2008-09, both during the UPA. It is quite clear that average speed of construction was higher than 134 km/day in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. Hence this is not the first time that such speed was achieved. Claim: Average speed of rural road construction increased from 69kms/day in 2013-14 to 134kms/day in 2017-18. Fact: The average road length constructed per day was 69km in 2013-14 and has increased to 134 km in 2017-18. Hence, the claim is TRUE. However, this is not a record high in the speed of rural road construction and a greater speed was achieved by the UPA government in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. Has rural road connectivity increased and by how much? The third claim is that rural road connectivity increased from 56% in 2014 to 82% villages. The impact assessment report of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) states that ‘PMGSY was launched in December 2000 as a special intervention of the Government of India with the broad objective of ensuring sustainable poverty reduction. The scheme aims to provide good quality all-weather single connectivity road to every eligible habitation. Rural roads are a state subject under the Constitution and as such are the basic responsibility of the states. However, under the PMGSY, the construction of good quality and well-engineered roads are fully funded by the Government of India.