States and union territories have extended their full support to a new programme for focused development of border villages with participants at a webinar here laying stress on boosting amenities and infrastructure including all-weather road connectivity, digital connectivity and marketing avenues.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Wednesday morning addressed the webinar on the positive impact of the Union Budget on rural development and said that the Vibrant Village Programme "is very important for the border villages".
Officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs virtually interacted with officials and local representatives from the border states to elicit their suggestions during the webinar.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Nisith Pramanik addressed the session on Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) and emphasized its importance for comprehensive improvement in the quality of life of people living in border villages. He expressed his sincere hope that the programme will be a memorable milestone in the strengthening of the border infrastructure.
The session was moderated by Secretary (Border Management) Dr Dharmendra Singh Gangwar and attended by 122 participants, including officials from four states and a union territory. The participants also included Zilla Parishad chairman, panchayat representatives, hill council members, members of cooperative societies and entrepreneurs.
Dr Gangwar gave a presentation on the programme, highlighting its Objectives and Strategy, and its planning, implementation, and outcome frameworks. He invited suggestions from field officers of state governments and non-officials.
The programme envisages coverage of all villages in 46 blocks on the northern border.
The objective is to comprehensively develop villages on the northern border, with a view to improve the quality of life of people living in these villages. The meeting zeroed in on nine key areas for the 'Vibrant Village Programme'.
For 'Economic Growth and Livelihood Generation ', the meeting stressed on sustainable livelihood opportunities, income-generating activities, 'One village-One product programme', local procurement of ration, other daily needs by security forces, besides PM Poshan Programme.
The programme will also address road connectivity with emphasis on construction bridges, culverts, foot suspension bridges, retaining walls and ropeways.
In 'Housing and Village infrastructure', the meeting dwelt upon disaster-resilient housing, vibrant village multi-purpose centre, schools, health and wellness centres, drinking water and sanitation facilities.
The meeting noted that "assured energy" should be a key area to promote decentralized renewable energy, conventional and non-conventional sources of energy for 24x7 power supply and solar-power enabled lift irrigation scheme.
Television and telecom connectivity will be another focus area to provide 'direct to home (DTH)', mobile and internet connectivity. It was also agreed that scheme norms will be relaxed for maximum benefits in other programmes of Centre and states.
It was also discussed that the scheme should focus on regeneration of eco-system, including ecosystem restoration and management, conservation initiatives, regeneration of natural water springs, plantation of trees for mitigating risks and increasing soil and water holding capacities, conserving the biodiversity and landscape.
It was agreed in the meeting that the scheme should give a boost to tourism and culture, besides financial inclusion and empowerment of youth through skill development and entrepreneurship.
During the interaction, the states and UT supported the idea of a new programme for the focused development of the border villages.
The local representatives also gave suggestions to the Ministry of Home Affairs about the requirements for providing impetus to accelerate the economic growth of the border districts.
The recommendations broadly included the development of the tourism sector, all-weather road connectivity, digital connectivity, provisions for marketing avenues, 'One Village One Product', and many more.
After listening to the suggestions from officials and local representatives, Dr Gangwar assured that while planning the development programme, the recommendations will be given due significance.
The webinar was hosted by the Ministry of Rural Development with the theme 'Leaving No Citizen Behind'.
In his inaugural remarks, the Prime Minister also emphasised the need for participatory development with the involvement of SHGs, the convergence of various schemes, financial inclusion, and innovative thinking to improve the lives of people in the villages.
He noted that the focus should be more on the outcomes rather than the output. The Prime Minister gave many important suggestions about how the planning and implementation mechanism should be evolved for the theme.
In her budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to cover villages on the northern border under the new Vibrant Villages Programme.
"The activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralized renewable energy, direct to home access for Doordarshan and educational channels, and support for livelihood generation. Additional funding for these activities will be provided. Existing schemes will be converged," she had said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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