2nd phase of Vibrant Villages scheme with outlay of Rs 7,000 crore gets govt’s nod | India News

NEW DELHI: Cabinet has approved the second phase of Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) for next five years with an outlay of around Rs 7,000 crore, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Friday. This will cover 1,954 villages in border areas falling under 334 blocks, close to the borders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan — the coverage being three times of the first phase.
The first phase of VVP covered 663 identified villages close to the China border.
In an official release on the second phase of VVP, the govt said, “The programme shall be implemented in select strategic villages in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, J&K (UT), Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal till the FY 2028-29.”
Phase-II will cover villages along 4,000 km of Indo-Bangladesh, 3,000 km of Indo-Pakistan, 1,700 km of Indo-Nepal, 1,600 km of Indo-Myanmar and 700 km of Indo-Bhutan border.
The scheme piloted by the home ministry focuses on improving infrastructure and creating the livelihood of the locals. “The objective of the programme is to create better living conditions and adequate livelihood opportunities to ensure prosperous and safe borders, control trans-border crime and assimilate the border population with the nation and inculcate them ‘as eyes and ears of the border guarding forces’, crucial for internal security,” govt said.
The programme will provide funds for infrastructure development within the village or a cluster of villages, value chain development (through cooperatives and self help groups), border specific outreach activity, education infrastructure like smart classes, development of tourism circuits and works/ projects to create diverse and sustainable livelihood opportunities in the border areas.
In a post on X, home minister Amit Shah said, “Vibrant Villages Program has been a game-changing medium to transform our border villages into the nerve centers of growth and development….The program will transform the villages along the International Land Borders into comprehensive development models with adequate amenities for sustainable livelihoods, higher living standards and further bolstered security.”
As per the decision, all-weather road connectivity for these villages will be undertaken under the already approved PM Gramin Sadak Yojna and a high-powered committee chaired by the cabinet secretary will consider suitable relaxations in schematic guidelines for effective implementation of schemes in the border areas. It aims to achieve saturation in existing individual and household level welfare schemes in the identified villages under convergence as per scheme norms. The programme also aims to saturate all villages in such blocks in four thematic areas, namely all-weather road connectivity, telecom connectivity, television connectivity and electrification through convergence under existing scheme norms.