The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah inaugurated a workshop on the 'Vibrant Villages Programme' in New Delhi today. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai, Shri Ajay Kumar Mishra and Shri Nishith Pramanik, Union Home Secretary, DG, ITBP, District Collectors and District Development officers of the border districts under VVP and senior officers from M/o Home Affairs and several other Central ministries attended the workshop.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has conceptualized ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ with a lot of devotion and in spirit of the Constitution that every border village should get all facilities, similar to any other village in mainland. He said that since 2014, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi made a lot of efforts to improve the border infrastructure, followed by introducing several public welfare schemes for border villages and now launching the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ to stop migration from border villages.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the District Collectors in border districts under VVP should take at least 5 initiatives every year in every border village to give impetus to the Vibrant Villages Programme. These include--

1. 5 initiatives related to tourism
2. 5 initiatives related to generation of employment opportunities
3. 5 initiatives related to agriculture, handicrafts and cooperatives
4. 5 initiatives related to increasing basic facilities, and,
5. 5 initiatives to achieve 100% saturation of Central and State schemes.

Shri Shah said that VVP can truly be promoted and encouraged by giving emphasis on home stay facilities.

Shri Amit Shah said that there is ample scope for employment generation through Cooperatives in villages under VVP. He said that at least 30% of the daily expenditure of ITBP should be linked with rural employment opportunities. He said regular reviews at all levels regarding this should be held. Shri Shah said that special efforts should be made to establish connectivity with 168 unconnected border villages in 4 states and UTs.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the Government of India has spent more than Rs 25,000 crore on border infrastructure in the last 9 years. He said that 1134 kilometer long border road has been constructed and almost all check-posts have been completed. The Union Home Minister said that there are 3 main ways to develop the border villages, like, ensuring 100% saturation of public welfare schemes of the Government of India in villages, promoting financial inclusion and encouraging digital and sentimental connectivity of the villages with the rest of the country. He said that priority should be given to Vibrant Villages in mapping of schemes, both at Central and State level.

Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always maintained that the border villages are not the last villages of the country but the first villages. He said that security of our borders is the priority of the Modi government and it is linked with the national security and, without keeping the villages secured, we cannot keep our borders safe. Shri Shah said that developing Vibrant Villages will add an extra layer to the border security of the country. He said that the concept of VVP came into being with focus on 2 main aspects-

1. To stop migration from border villages situated at far-flung areas and with tough climatic conditions with a view at security, and, developing these villages and adding an extra layer of security.
2. According to the spirit of the Constitution of India, every village has equal right on resources of the country and no village should be deprived of such resources.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that an ‘I’ should be added to VVP, an acronym for ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’, to make it ‘VVIP’, which stands for ‘Very Very Important Programme’. He said that for decades after Independence, the citizens in border villages were left behind in the developmental process.

Shri Amit Shah said that now, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, time has come to provide all-inclusive development to all citizens of the country by providing them basic facilities like drinking water, electricity, healthcare facilities etc.

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