OUR CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh Government has taken up three villages in the Indo-Tibet-China border areas, to be develop as model villages, a pilot initiative for integrated development of border villages in the State, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said here on Saturday.
The three villages - Kaho, Kibithoo and Meshai - have been taken up with a focus on 3Cs - Cluster, Convergence and Community - Mein said while addressing a panel discussion organized here on the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, commemorating 75 years of India's Independence.
The State Government in the Budget 2021-22 had earmarked an amount of Rs 30 crore for development of these villages.
"We will continue to work for comprehensive development of border villages by providing them good road connectivity, power, water supply, health, and education," Mein said, adding that it is extremely important that Government takes up comprehensive development of the border areas by not only filling the infrastructural gaps, but also by improving public service delivery in the remotest corners.
"We would need to focus on income-generating activities for the people residing in the tough border areas and ensure that all Government programmes reach the last man," the Deputy Chief Minister said.
Mein, who also holds the Power and Hydropower portfolios, further informed that the State Government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 16 crore for providing 6,000 streetlights in 700 border villages in the State.
"Recently, the State Government also took up solar electrification of eight remote villages at Tali circle in the Kra Daadi district in partnership with Sri Sri Rural Development Trust," he said, adding that to meet the power requirements of the people and armed forces residing in border areas, the Government has launched the 'Golden Jubilee Border Village Illumination Programme' with a mission to construct 50 micro-hydel projects in remote border villages.
"In the first phase the Government sanctioned Rs 50 crore for 17 projects covering 218 villages. This will minimize cost of transmission, through off-grid captive mode and localized grid, in tune with the Prime Minister's commitment at COP26 Summit, to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2070," he added.
Stating that the State witnessed a rapid pace of development, Mein added that it is prudent to see that the pace of development should not lead to loss of culture and cultural identities.
"The main challenge with regard to tribal welfare has been maintaining a robust pace of development in the modern sense while preserving its distinctive rich tribal cultural heritage. While the pace of development should not be at the cost of loss of culture, we just cannot ignore the desire for development," he said.
"To balance these two goals and convert them from conflicting goals to complementing goals, we have adopted a policy 'acceptance of modernity while adhering to the traditions.' We are dovetailing our policies to ensure that both development and rich traditional culture complement each other," the Deputy Chief Minister said.
"We shall be taking new initiatives for documenting our rich cultural heritage and promotion of tribal languages and scripts. Our tribal culture is very closely linked to our identity and we will continue to make efforts towards its preservation," he added.
Mein said that the panel discussion organised during the day was a golden opportunity amongst all key stakeholders to consult with each other and figure out ways of supplementing the State Government's efforts via various developmental interventions in critical sectors through specifically tailored schemes focusing on economic, educational and social development taking into account the welfare of tribals and border management.
"I look forward to hear inputs for the path ahead from all concerned members and stakeholders regarding Government assistance to fill critical gaps within institutions and programmes for augmenting effective border management and welfare of our tribal population in the North-East region," he added.
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