AUG 26: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the two-day Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) workshop in New Delhi today. Organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Border Management Division, the event was attended by key officials including Union Minister of State for Home Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Home Secretary, DGs of security forces, and District Collectors from border regions.
Shri Shah emphasized that VVP is rooted in three core objectives: stopping migration from border villages, ensuring 100% saturation of government schemes, and strengthening national security through empowered villages. He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of transforming the “last village” into the “first village” has reshaped the country’s approach to border development.
The Home Minister highlighted the program’s success in increasing population in Arunachal Pradesh’s border villages and stressed the need to expand employment through initiatives like homestays, tourism infrastructure, and dairy cooperatives supplying CAPFs and the Army.
Shri Shah called upon District Collectors and CAPFs to go beyond routine implementation by coordinating efforts across departments, tackling illegal encroachments within a 30 km radius of borders, and removing deliberate demographic threats. He emphasized that border villages must not remain neglected but should thrive with connectivity, healthcare, education, and livelihoods.
He also urged states to replicate successful experiments, such as the ITBP’s procurement of local produce, and to integrate CAPFs in education, health, and sports promotion.
Concluding, Shri Shah said VVP must not just be a government scheme, but a mission embedded in governance, requiring active leadership from local administrators and security forces.
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