Nathanpur (Assam), Dec 20: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched the second phase of Vibrant Villages Programme across the country from Assam’s Cachar district, and asserted that the project would help stop migration from border areas and prevent infiltration.
Addressing the programme at Nathanpur village, Shah also accused the Congress of leaving the country’s borders open, which led to infiltration in Assam, and claimed that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government in Assam has effectively dealt with the problem.
He alleged that the Congress did not initiate any development programme during its rule in the state, but “now 14 kms of road are being constructed daily, which is the highest in the country”.
Asserting that the development of border villages of the country is a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah said the second phase of Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) will cover 1,954 villages under the 334 blocks of 17 states bordering Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The second phase of VVP will cover villages in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, he said.
“The programme has been launched to stop migration from the border villages and prevent infiltration through these international boundaries,” Shah said.
Earlier, the border areas were considered the last villages, he said, adding that these were “not only the last in terms of locations but also the backwards in development, employment, education, electricity connection, road and telephone connectivity”.
“It was the PM who decided that all border villages must be developed and the people residing in the border areas must be provided with all facilities to boost their livelihoods,” the home minister said.
He said that the Rs 6,900 crore nationwide programme (VVP-II) will also cover 140 villages under the 26 blocks in nine districts of Assam.
”All 140 villages in Assam will enjoy the same facilities as those in the rest of the country”, he added.
Modi decided that every village on the border is ”not the last but the first village of India, and from today, this village in Assam will also become the first village of the country,” he said.
This village, too, will not only lead in terms of development but also in areas of employment, education, roads and telecommunications
There are several plans related to security, scheme saturation and connectivity, which have been included in the programme, Shah said.
He said that the BJP government has initiated a lucrative industrial policy for Assam, and the VVP-II is an important component of it.
The VVP-II focuses on improving essential infrastructure, enhancing access to basic services, and creating sustainable livelihood opportunities, thereby fostering secure, resilient and prosperous border communities in alignment with the vision of the ‘Viksit Bharat’ 2047.
By strengthening these villages, the programme also enables residents to act as the eyes and ears of the nation, thereby contributing significantly to border security, the prevention of cross-border crimes and the strengthening of internal security, an official statement said.
“The Congress left the country’s borders open, which led to infiltration in Assam. The party did not initiate any development programme during its rule in the state,” Shah said, claiming that the “BJP government, headed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has “effectively dealt with the infiltration problem”.
He claimed that the Assam government has stopped infiltration, violence and insurgency in the state.
The BJP government has already started the process of making the state free from floods, Shah said.
“The Congress had given only Rs 1.28 lakh crore for Assam from 2004-2014, but the PM has extended Rs 15 lakh crore in the last 10 years for the development of the state,” he said.
Shah said that over 24,000 kilometres of roads have been upgraded, hundreds to thousands of bridges have been constructed, and four major new bridges have been dedicated to the people of Assam in the past decade by the ‘double-engine’ government.
”It is the PM who has also allocated Rs 30,000 crore for roads, Rs 95,000 crore for railways, Rs 10,000 crore for airports for the development of the state”, he said.
When the BJP came to power in Assam, its multidimensional poverty stood at 37 per cent, which was reduced to 14 per cent in 2023, he said.
Assam’s per capita income, which was Rs 49,000 in 2013–14, has nearly tripled to Rs 1,54,000 in 2024–25, and this transformation has been possible due to increased self-confidence among the people.
Shah claimed that the development in Assam has taken place due to peace and good governance, and in the next few years, it will be considered a developed state.
During the last 10 years, the state has become the hub of healthcare facilities, and a Rs 27,000 crore semiconductor industry has also come up in Assam, he added.
”The BJP has made Assam secure and developed in the last 10 years, and in the next five years, it will make the state flood-free”, he added.
Before the launch of the programme, the home minister went around the various stalls set up at the venue by Self Help Groups (SHG) at an exhibition organised by the Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM). (PTI)
