Bomja is a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh. It is located 5 kilometres to the southwest of Tawang and is almost the same distance from Bhutan border as the crow flies. The village is in the news for a very interesting reason – its crorepatis.
It appears that the village has suddenly become one of the richest villages in India with every household having an average of Rs 1.29 crore with them.
But how did this tiny village become so fabulously rich? The simple answer is payment for land acquisition by the government.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu distributed cheques worth a total of Rs 40,80,38,400 to 31 landowners for acquiring 200.056 acres of land.
The land has been acquired by the Indian Army for the construction of buildings to house Key Location Plan Units of the Tawang Garrison. Tawang is one of the most strategically significant areas for the Indian Armed Forces in the northeast due to its proximity to China.
According to reports, the highest compensation was of Rs 6,73,29,925, followed by Rs 2,44,97,886. The other 29 beneficiaries were each handed with cheque of Rs 1,09,03,813.
On Thursday, 8 February, Khandu posted a tweet saying that since the village has only 31 households, the amount disbursed to them against the land must have put Bomja in the list of richest villages in India.
“Bomja village under Tawang district is having only 31 households. Now it must be one of the richest village in India,” he wrote.
He also took used the occasion to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Two villages in Gujarat Baladia and Madhapar – both in Kutch – are believed to be the richest in India thanks to the bank deposits of the NRIs from the villages.