Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the implementation of the Vibrant Villages Programme at a high-level meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. During the meeting, Mr Shah said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government is committed to the all-round development of the border villages. Mr Shah stressed on the need to provide employment opportunities to local residents and increase connectivity with villages to prevent migration from these border villages.
The Minister said that Central Armed Police Forces and Army deployed around the border villages should encourage purchase of local agricultural and handicraft products through cooperatives. He said that the healthcare facilities of the Army and CAPFs should be regularly made available to benefit the residents of nearby villages. He said, more than six hundred projects have been sanctioned by the Central government for employment generation in these villages.
Under the Vibrant Villages Programme scheme, 136 border villages are being provided connectivity through 113 all-weather road projects at a cost of two thousand 420 crore rupees. Appropriate steps are also being taken to ensure financial inclusion in all these villages and India Post-Payment Banks are also being facilitated there.
The meeting was attended by senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs including the Union Home Secretary, Secretary, Border Management and Director General, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
