Home Affairs Ministry approves 187 projects worth 104 crore under Vibrant Village Programme (VVP)

Our Correspondent

Itanagar: The Home Affairs Ministry has recently approved 187 projects for 156 villages in Arunachal Pradesh under the Centre's ambitious Vibrant Village Programme (VVP), with an estimated cost of Rs 104.99 crores, the assembly was informed on Friday.

Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, while participating in the motion of thanks to the Governor's Address, informed that the total approved projects include 67 tourism projects worth Rs 30.60 crore, 114 village infrastructure schemes worth Rs 74.15 crore, and six eco-regeneration schemes worth Rs 24 lakh.

In addition, 105 roads, covering 1,022 km and connecting 125 habitations, with an estimated cost of Rs 2,205 crore, have also been sanctioned under VVP. This will be implemented by the Rural Works Department (RWD), Mein disclosed.

Various activities are being conducted in all pilot VVP villages in a planned manner with the collaboration of Border Guarding Forces (BGFs) and other agencies, he said.

Some of the activities include the celebration of Republic and Statehood Day in befitting manner, the celebration of local festivals, cultural programmes, Seema Darshan, visits by senior officers, weapon displays by the armed forces, seminars on career options, sanitation drives, medical and veterinary camps, football and volleyball tournaments, the distribution of water campers, solar lights, and sports items, the deputy chief minister said.

The Vibrant Villages Programme was announced in the Union Budget 2022-2023 and launched in April last year by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Kibithoo village in Anjaw district of the state, bordering China.

Mein added that as many as 1451 villages in 11 districts of the state with an Indo-Tibet international border have been mapped under the programme. Initially, five pilot villages were identified for Arunachal Pradesh in November 2022, which include Zemithang (Tawang), Chayangtajo (East Kameng) Taksing (Upper Subansiri) Tuting (Upper Siang) and Kibithoo (Anjaw).

455 priority villages, in 28 blocks in 11 districts of the state identified to be covered under VVP in the first phase (February 2023). 3,467 project proposals identified by the respective deputy commissioners for the VVP villages were submitted to the home ministry in July last year for consideration, he said.

The extension of the Vibrant Village Programme to Indo-Myanmar and Indo-Bhutan is also under consideration, the deputy chief minister said, adding that it would be pursued by the next government.

Mein, who is also the state's power minister, informed us that the state, which had only produced 405 MW of power until 2014, now has the capacity to generate 1200 MW of power from various commissioned projects.

"Out of 29 stalled projects in the state, we inked a memorandum of understanding with four central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) last year for undertaking works on 13 projects," Mein said, adding that with an estimated 30,000 crore investment in these projects, the per capita income of the state would drastically improve after commissioning of the projects.

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