New Delhi, August 26(HS): Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Tuesday inaugurated the two-day Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) workshop in the national capital, stressing that the initiative is crucial not only for halting migration from border regions but also for strengthening India’s national security.

Addressing senior officials, district collectors of border areas, and chiefs of security forces, Shah said the programme is focused on three goals — preventing migration, ensuring full coverage of government schemes, and transforming villages into strategic assets along India’s borders. He also unveiled the official logo of VVP at the event organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Border Management Division.

“Prime Minister Modi has changed the country’s outlook by declaring the last village of our borders as the first village of India,” Shah remarked, underlining efforts to make remote hamlets prosperous, self-reliant, and integral to national security.

The Home Minister cited examples from Arunachal Pradesh, where the VVP has already reversed migration trends and increased village populations. Seeing this as an encouraging “model of reverse migration,” Shah urged state governments and collectors to replicate such success stories in other regions.

Calling for inter-departmental coordination, Shah told collectors and state officials that “demographic changes in border areas are a matter of serious concern and must be addressed with urgency.” He cautioned that demographic shifts were often part of a deliberate design rather than natural trends and stressed the removal of illegal religious encroachments within a 30-kilometre radius of the borders.

The Minister emphasized employment-driven initiatives, including the creation of dairy cooperatives to supply milk directly to CAPFs and the Indian Army, homestay tourism projects, and procurement of essentials like vegetables and grains from border villages. Such measures, he said, would ensure livelihoods and discourage migration.

“VVP should not remain confined as a government programme but must become the very spirit of administration,” he added, urging districts to expand infrastructure, promote local culture, boost tourism, and build permanent assets under schemes like MGNREGA.

Senior dignitaries including Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the Home Secretary, Intelligence Bureau chief, chief secretaries of border states, and heads of paramilitary forces were among those present at the workshop.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar