MHA clears ` 1,100cr for border villages

Decision to give major push to development

In a major push to development activities along international borders, the Centre has decided to allocate ` 1,100 crore for all round improvement of villages located along the border across 17 states.

In the first phase, the Union home ministry will develop 61 model villages, with facilities like health centre, school, drinking water, along the borders and ` 126 crore has been released for this purpose.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high level meeting of the Border Area Development Programme ( BADP) which was attended by district magistrate of 25 districts of 17 states apart from other senior officials. The total outlay under this BADP has been increased to ` 1,100 crore for the year 2017- 18 as compared to ` 990 crore in the previous year.

For developing 61 model villages, the home ministry has released ` 126 crores and if required additional funds will also be made available to the respective states. These model villages will have facilities like primary health centre, primary education, community centre, connectivity, drainage and drinking water in order to ensure sustainable living in border areas.

During meetings, states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, gave the presentations showing major achievements under the BADP scheme and steps initiated by them to improve living quality in villages along the border.

As of now, the BADP scheme covers 111 border districts in 17 states to deal with development activities of people living in border areas, especially within 50 kilometres of the international border.

Since the start of the scheme in 1986- 87, the Centre has released nearly ` 13,400 crore for development work in border areas.

While describing the border population as “strategic asset” for the country, the home minister said they were an important element to maintain border security.