Lakhimpur

Kheri, 15 March (HS): As many as 47 villages in Lakhimpur Kheri district that

share borders with Nepal would be built as the first border villages under the

Centre-sponsored Vibrant Village Programme II (VVP II), complete with all-weather

roads and telecommunications connection. According to Kheri District Magistrate

Durga Shakti Nagpal, border security and border development must go hand in

hand. We are enhancing the infrastructure and livelihood possibilities in these

47 villages through the VVP II in order to raise their living conditions and

make our border communities stronger, more prosperous, and securely anchored.

The

programme aims to develop infrastructure, conduct border-specific outreach

activities, and create better livelihood opportunities through the promotion of

tourism, cultural heritage, and skill development, as well as strengthen local

self-help groups, cooperative societies, youth, and women, she said.

According

to District Statistics Officers (DSTO) Arvind Verma, the 47 border villages comprised

18 villages from the Pallia tehsil and 29 from the Nighasan tehsil. The

planning department in Uttar Pradesh will manage the execution of the VVP II,

which encompasses all border villages with Nepal, including Balrampur,

Shrawasti, Maharajganj, Pilibhit, Bahraich, and Kheri. Verma stated that a

district-level committee led by the Kheri district magistrate had been

constituted to guarantee that the plan was properly implemented. Meanwhile, the

UP planning department had a video conference meeting with the district

authorities involved a few days ago to discuss the projects for the state's VVP

II execution, according to officials.

According

to the Ministry of Home Affairs, strengthening its commitment to the goal of

Viksit Bharat@2047, on April 2, 2025, the government authorized VVP-II as a central

sector scheme to provide safe, secure, and vibrant land borders, with an

investment of Rs 6,839 crore until FY 2028-29 for the full development of

villages located in blocks facing international land borders, with the

exception of the northern border covered by VVP-I.

The plan

would be implemented in important villages in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,

Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir (UT), Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,

Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and

West Bengal. The initiative also intends to include all villages in such blocks

in four thematic areas: all-weather road connection, telecom connectivity,

television connectivity, and electrification through convergence under current

scheme regulations, according to the ministry.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi