Union Home Minister Amit Shah
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said demographic changes are taking place in the border areas of the country as part of a "deliberate design" directly impacting security of the country and asked district collectors, state chief secretaries and paramilitary to take appropriate actions.
Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) workshop here, he said that all illegal encroachments within at least a 30-kilometre radius from the borders should be removed while highlighting the "commendable" work done by the Gujarat government by clearing numerous encroachments along both maritime and land borders.
He said the VVP is based on preventing migration from border villages, ensuring that every citizen of border villages receives 100 per cent benefits of central and state government schemes and developing the villages under the scheme into strong tools to strengthen border and national security.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech where he raised concerns about demographic changes, Shah said collectors of districts included in the Vibrant Villages Program need to address this issue with seriousness and attention to detail.
"Demographic changes in border areas directly impact the security of the country and its borders. It should not be assumed that this is happening due to geographical conditions, rather, it is occurring as part of a deliberate design. The chief secretaries of states and the paramilitary forces also need to pay attention to this issue," he said.
He said young district collectors should ensure that despite challenging geographical conditions, citizens do not abandon their villages, migration is prevented and the village population also increases while referring to the population increase in many border villages in Arunachal Pradesh after the implementation of the programme.
"This is a message for all our country's border villages that this trend of reverse migration to these villages is moving in the right direction," he said.
Through the VVP programme, he said efforts have been made to promote infrastructure development, preserve and enhance culture, generate employment through tourism, and make village life vibrant in every way, with a vision of multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral development.
"It is the responsibility of the chief secretaries of state governments, district collectors of villages included in the VVP, and all paramilitary forces to not limit themselves to the VVP alone and to consider what additional steps can be taken beyond the programme to achieve its objectives," Shah said.