New Delhi — Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Arunachal Pradesh on April 10 and 11 where he will launch the 'Vibrant Villages Programme' in Kibithoo, a village along the India-China border.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government of India has approved the 'Vibrant Villages Programme' (VVP) with central components of INR 4,800 crore, including INR 2,500 crore exclusively for road connectivity for the financial years 2022-23 to 2025-26, a home ministry statement said on Saturday.
The VVP is a centrally sponsored scheme under which 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts abutting the northern border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Ladakh have been identified for comprehensive development.
In the first phase, 662 villages, including 455 in Andhra Pradesh, have been identified for priority coverage.
The VVP will help in improving the quality of life of people living in identified border villages and encourage people to stay at their native locations, thereby reversing the outmigration from these villages and adding to the security of the border, the statement said.
The district administration, with the help of appropriate mechanisms at block and panchayat levels, will prepare action plans for the identified villages to ensure 100 per cent saturation of central and state schemes. The focus areas of interventions identified for the development of villages include road connectivity, drinking water, electricity including solar and wind energy, mobile and internet connectivity, tourist centres, multi-purpose centres and healthcare infrastructure and wellness centres.
Shah, in his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh as home minister, will on April 10 inaugurate nine micro hydel projects of the state government constructed under the "Golden Jubilee Border Illumination Programme" in Kibithoo. These electricity projects will empower people living in border villages, the statement said.
He will also inaugurate Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) projects to augment infrastructure at Likabali (Arunachal Pradesh), Chapra (Bihar), Nooranad (Kerala) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), it said.
The home minister will also interact with ITBP personnel at Kibithoo in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.
An exhibition of products made by members of women self-help groups of border districts will also be held. Shah will visit the exhibition stalls, the statement said.
On April 11, he will visit Namti field and pay homage at the Walong war memorial, it said.