HM reviews Vibrant Villages Programme
*Connectivity to ensure dwellers don’t migrate
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 13: Union Home Minister Amit Shah today called for providing employment opportunities to local people and increased connectivity to prevent migration from the border villages. He said the villages should get the benefit of healthcare facilities available for Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
Reviewing the implementation of the `Vibrant Villages Programme’ at a high-level meeting in New Delhi today, Shah said the people living in the border areas should be provided employment opportunities and increased connectivity so that the people don’t migrate from the border villages.
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The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have large number of border villages including those located on Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) with Pakistan.
The Central Government has been focusing on development of the border villages along with infrastructure required for movement of troops right up to the last post. The infrastructure development is aimed at ensuring that the border villagers get best possible facilities and don’t migrate as their presence in the forward areas is of great help to the troops.
Shah stressed that the CAPFs and Army deployed around the border villages should encourage the purchase of local agricultural and handicraft products through cooperatives, a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) after the meeting stated.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary Border Management and Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) attended the meeting among others.
“The benefit of healthcare facilities should be available for the border dwellers like the Army and CAPFs,” the Union Home Minister said.
He also emphasized on maximum use of renewable energy sources like solar energy and windmills in vibrant villages.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government is committed to the all-round development of the border villages of the country,” Shah said and directed to “continue the efforts being made by senior Ministers and officials to better understand the issues of border villages under the Vibrant Villages Programme.”
So far, more than 6,000 events have been organized in these border villages, which include about 4,000 service delivery and awareness camps. More than 600 projects have been sanctioned by the Central Government for employment generation in these villages.
During the meeting, the Home Minister laid special emphasis on “review at the highest level at regular intervals to dispose of pending issues.”
Under the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ scheme, 136 border villages are being provided connectivity through 113 all-weather road projects at a cost of Rs 2,420 crore.
As per the MHA, 4G connectivity is being worked on rapidly in these areas and by December 2024, all villages under the Vibrant Villages Programme will be covered by the 4G network. “Appropriate steps are being taken to ensure financial inclusion in all these villages and India Post-Payment Banks (IPPB) are also being facilitated there.”
“Work is being done to develop tourist circuits to bring vibrancy to these Vibrant Villages and promote tourism. In this endeavour, capacity building and tourism-related infrastructure is being developed in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism,” said the MHA.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this important and ambitious scheme was launched on February 14, 2023, with an allocation of Rs 4,800 crore.
The Central Government approved the Vibrant Villages Programme as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on February 15, 2023, for the comprehensive development of the select villages in 46 blocks in 19 districts abutting the northern border in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.
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