Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday held a high-level meeting to review implementation of the “Vibrant Villages Programme” for all-round development of border villages and to prevent migration from there.
Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the ambitious scheme was launched on 14th February, 2023 with an allocation of Rs 4,800 crore. The Home Minister told the meeting the government is committed to all-round development of the border villages.
He said there is need to provide employment opportunities to local residents and to increase connectivity of the villages to prevent migration from there.
Mr Shah said that Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Army deployed around the border villages should purchase local agricultural and handicraft products through cooperatives.
Benefit of healthcare facilities of the Army and CAPFs should be regularly extended to residents of nearby villages, he said. The Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation stressed upon the maximum use of solar energy and other renewable sources of energy like windmills etc.
He said efforts should continue by senior ministers and officials to understand the issues of border villages under the Vibrant Villages Programme. So far, more than 6000 events have been organized in these border villages, which include about 4000 service delivery and awareness camps.
More than 600 projects have been sanctioned by the 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. These villages will get 4G connectivity by December 2024. 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 the Vibrant Villages and to promote tourism. In this endeavour, capacity building and tourism related infrastructure is being developed in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism.
The meeting was attended by senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs including Home Secretary A K Bhalla; Secretary, Border Management and the Director General, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).