Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a flagship rural development scheme launched by the Government of India on 25 December 2000, administered by the Ministry of Rural Development as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).

Primary objective: to provide single all-weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected rural habitations, so that villagers can access markets, schools, hospitals, and other public services throughout the year, including during the monsoon.

Key features of the scheme include:

• Eligibility based on population — habitations with a population of 500 or more in the plains, and 250 or more in special category areas such as hill states, the North-East, deserts, and tribal (Schedule V) areas, are targeted for connectivity.
• Besides new road construction, the scheme also covers upgradation of existing rural roads to improve riding quality and load-bearing capacity.
• Funding is shared between the Centre and the States (with a different sharing pattern for special category states), and progress is tracked through an online monitoring system.
• Later phases — PMGSY-II and PMGSY-III — extended coverage to through-routes and to roads connecting rural growth centres, agricultural markets, and educational or health institutions.

Since its inception, PMGSY has led to the construction and upgradation of several lakh kilometres of rural roads, significantly improving rural connectivity, economic activity, and access to essential services across India.

The scheme is specifically about rural road connectivity, not about telecommunication services in cities, renewable energy adoption, or general urban infrastructure — those objectives fall under separate government initiatives and are unrelated to PMGSY's mandate.