UNION HOME Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said demographic changes are taking place in border areas as part of a “deliberate design” and they are directly impacting the security of the country and its borders.
Shah asked collectors of border districts to take appropriate action to remove illegal religious structures, saying these encroachments are part of the “design”. He said illegal encroachments within at least a 30-km radius from the borders should be removed, and lauded the Gujarat government for doing commendable work in clearing encroachments along both maritime and land borders.
Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) workshop in New Delhi, Shah said VPP is based on three key points — preventing migration from border villages, ensuring every citizen of border villages receives 100% benefits of Central and state government schemes, and developing the villages under the programme into strong tools to strengthen border and national security.
Shah asked the district magistrates to ensure that despite challenging geographical conditions, citizens do not abandon their villages, migration is prevented, and village population also increases.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address had said “demographic changes” are a matter of concern, Shah said. “The collectors of districts included in the VVP need to address this issue with seriousness. Demographic changes in border areas directly impact the security of the country and its borders.” Shah further said it should not be assumed this is happening due to geographical conditions — rather “it is occurring as part of a deliberate design”.
Shah also asked the chief secretaries of states and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to pay attention to this issue. “The Modi government launched this VPP to prevent outward migration from the border villages and 100% saturation of schemes, instructed officials to evict encroachments within 30 kms from the border and ensure daily supplies of CAPFs and Army are sourced locally.”
Shah, who unveiled a VVP logo at the event, said after implementing the programme in Arunachal Pradesh, the population in many border villages has increased. “This is a message for all our border villages that this trend of reverse migration to these villages is moving in the right direction.”
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Shah said in Arunachal, the ITBP successfully experimented with purchasing daily essentials such as milk, vegetables, eggs and grains from vibrant villages. “The Army deployed at borders should take responsibility for generating employment in vibrant villages in coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.”
He said when PM Modi presented the idea of VVP, it was decided it would be implemented in a phased manner. “Not only would every border village be equipped with all the facilities, but every citizen living in these border villages would also be provided with all the schemes of the government of India and state governments to improve the lives of the people living there,” he said.
