The Union Cabinet of India has approved the Vibrant Villages Programme, a centrally sponsored scheme for the financial years 2022-23 to 2025-26, with a financial allocation of Rs 4,800 crores, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated to the press.
The programme aims to develop infrastructure and provide livelihood opportunities in four states and one Union Territory along the northern borders.
The northern border of India is critical to the country's security and strategic interests. The region has a significant population of rural communities that often lack basic infrastructure and access to economic opportunities. The Vibrant Villages Programme seeks to address these issues by identifying and developing economic drivers based on local resources and promoting social entrepreneurship, youth and women empowerment through skill development and entrepreneurship.
The programme is expected to discourage out-migration from these villages and improve the security of the border. The development of infrastructure and economic opportunities will encourage people to stay in their native locations in border areas. This will help reverse the out-migration from these villages, thus adding to improved security of the border.
The programme will use a "Hub and Spoke Model" to promote the development of growth centers. These growth centers will act as hubs, and the surrounding villages will act as spokes. This model will help to create a network of growth centers that will provide economic opportunities and infrastructure development to the surrounding villages.
The Vibrant Villages Programme will help to identify and develop economic drivers based on local, natural, human and other resources of the villages on the northern border. The programme will promote social entrepreneurship, empowerment of youth and women through skill development and entrepreneurship.
The government also plans to establish two lakh multipurpose PACS, Dairy, Fishery Cooperatives in the next five years. Each uncovered Panchayat,Village will have a Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) and viable dairy cooperatives. This will help to strengthen India's cooperative sector and to deepen its reach up to the grassroots.
The establishment of cooperatives will enable farmer members to set up and modernize necessary infrastructure. The cooperatives will provide farmer members with requisite forward and backward linkages and enhance their income. Additionally, the scheme will generate employment opportunities in rural areas.
