GUWAHATI: Addressing a gathering from near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday, Union home minister Amit Shah said nobody can encroach upon the land of India.
“Today the entire country can sleep peacefully because of the bravery and sacrifices of our ITBP and Army jawans. It is because of them that nobody can cast an evil eye on us or encroach upon even a needle or nail-tip of our land,” he said.
Villagers living near the LAC are considered the first line of defence and the Centre is trying to prevent their outmigration through the implementation of the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP), said Shah.
He launched the programme at Kibithoo, the first village of India, in Arunachal Pradesh. This connectivity and infrastructure development-oriented programme is expected to improve the quality of life of people living in villages near the LAC and strengthen border security.
The VVP would be implemented in the four states of Arunachal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and in the Union territory of Ladakh. Altogether, 2,967 villages will be covered under it.
“Ten years ago, there was a concern that the border villages were getting empty but Prime Minister Narendra Modiji ensured their development,” said Shah after launching the programme.
He felt that people would not stop deserting the villages unless they were “developed”.
“The Arunachal government and the Centre will take care of the well-being of the villagers. We will fulfil all their basic needs. We will take the banks there, help the people open bank accounts, provide electricity, LPG, drinking water, employment and build toilets. These villages will be connected digitally and physically with the rest of Arunachal and the country,” the Union home minister declared.
Stating that the Centre will complete all of these within the next three years, he said environmental and energy security would also be ensured while tourism would be promoted and local culture and language preserved.
“(Arunachal’s) Deputy Chief Minister (Chowna Mein) said due to development of connectivity, the declining populations of villages are now increasing. I will personally monitor the affected villages. We will develop infrastructure. We want to ensure that the villages have access to facilities that we have in the cities,” Shah said.
He said the VVP had been prepared in an integrated and coordinated manner and it would be implemented on a mission mode.
Two years ago, the MLAs in Arunachal, representing constituencies bordering China, had formed a forum to thwart the outmigration of villagers. The lack of livelihood opportunities is one of the main reasons behind outmigration. The state has some villages on the border completely abandoned by the villagers.