PM Modi asks officials to stay overnight at border villages for comprehensive development

With a view to comprehensively develop villages on Indian borders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all the Ministries to depute senior officers for at least one night stay for a ground assessment of challenges and socio-economic conditions faced by people living in villages facing China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar.

On April 2, PM Modi in his physical interaction with all secretaries to Government of India had unveiled the Vibrant Villages Programme and emphasized on the necessity of concerted and coordinated action by all the ministries for the comprehensive development of border villages.

In a letter written to all the concerned secretaries on April 7, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has asked the ministries to depute officers for visit and night stay uib the border villages covered under Border Area Development Programme (BADP). These officers will give a practical prescription for all round development and main streaming of villages. Based on their report, the Ministry should incorporate in all their schemes focused activities for infrastructure development, economic activities promotion, and creating linkages for marketing of village products in the border villages.

The PM has also directed for expanding the coverage of NCC schools of the border areas to inculcate values of nation building.

Home Secretary Bhalla has directed that a monthly consolidated report based on the assessment of deputed senior officers should be submitted to Department of Border Management by 10th day of every month. Instructions have also been shared with Defence Ministry and Department of School Education for immediate action forf covering schools in border areas under NCC.

While the development of border villages may be seen by many as a routine idea but the inherent plan is to strengthen the border villages by making them more economically strong and adding more muscle to the first line of defence.

The decision to develop border villages comes at a time when China has also decided to develop border villages along the 3488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India as part of its Sinicization of Tibet campaign.