Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that efforts are on to develop border villages into strong tools of border and national security under the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP).
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that efforts are on to develop border villages into strong tools of border and national security under the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP).
He said all the benefits of the central and state government schemes would be provided to the citizens living in such villages.
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Shah, while addressing the inaugural session of the two-day VVP workshop, organised by the Border Management Division, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) here, said that the VVP is based on three key points—preventing migration from border villages, ensuring that every citizen of border villages receives cent per cent benefits of central and state government schemes, and developing the villages under VVP into strong tools to strengthen border and national security.
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When Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the idea of the VVP, it was decided that it would be implemented in a phased manner, he said.
“Not only would every border village be equipped with all facilities, but every citizen living in these border villages would be provided with all the schemes of the Government of India and state governments to improve the lives of the people living there,” an official release said.
PM Modi, by designating the last village of the country as the first village, has changed our perspective towards border villages, the Union Home Minister observed.
On the occasion, Shah also launched the logo of the Vibrant Villages Programme.
Shah said that the villages identified early under the VVP, in a few years, will prove to be very significant tools in the security of our country and its borders.
Through this programme, efforts have been made to promote infrastructure development, preserve and enhance culture, generate employment through tourism, and make village life vibrant in every way, with a vision of multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral development.
The Union Home Minister said that it is the responsibility of the Chief Secretaries of state governments, District Collectors of villages included in the VVP, and all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to not limit themselves to the VVP alone and to consider what additional steps can be taken beyond the programme to achieve its objectives.
He emphasised that to fulfil the goals of the VVP, all departments of the Government of India and state governments need to work together to transform these border villages into truly significant tools for security.
He also observed that to realise the vision of the Vibrant Villages Programme, it is necessary to achieve 100 per cent saturation of government schemes, promote essential public facilities for tourism, and encourage cooperative institutions to create employment opportunities.
He said that if initiatives like homestays are extended to border villages and state tourism departments make proper arrangements for bookings, every household in these border villages will have employment.
The Union Home Minister said that after implementing the Vibrant Villages Programme in Arunachal Pradesh, the population in many border villages has increased.
”This is a message for all our country’s border villages that this trend of reverse migration to these villages is moving in the right direction,” he added.
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