Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged the Centre’s ongoing efforts to develop villages along the China border in Arunachal Pradesh while inaugurating the frontier state’s first greenfield airport and largest hydropower project.
During his visit to Hollongi, about 25km from capital Itanagar, to inaugurate the Donyi Polo Airport and the 600MW Kameng hydropower station, Modi said: “We are working on mission mode to carry the development forward to every house and village in the state.
“It is our endeavour to strengthen the villages in border areas. The government is making efforts to develop all the border villages under the Vibrant Border Village Programme which will boost tourism and reduce migration.”
The Prime Minister flagging the development of border villages is seen as a response to China’s massive infrastructure push along its border with India, fuelling concern owing to the strained ties between the two nations following the face-off in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in 2020.
Chinese forces had entered about 100km into Arunachal during the 1962 India-China War.
Modi said a “special programme” was being implemented in the state to connect the youth with the National Cadet Corps (NCC), which will “instil a feeling to serve the nation apart from providing defence training to the youth”.
Arunachal Pradesh shares its boundary with China, Bhutan and Myanmar. The longest border — 1,126km — is with China, which claims the frontier state as an extension of South Tibet.
Twelve of the state’s 26 districts are located along the China border. The Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) was announced in the Union budget this year for developing border villages with sparse populations and infrastructure and limited connectivity.
The Union home ministry has given its nod to develop 100 villages into model villages along the border with China under the VPP.
These are referred to as “ghost” villages because they are virtually abandoned for want of basic facilities.
The BJP-led Arunachal government had submitted a Rs 4,000-crore proposal to the Union home ministry in 2021 seeking help to develop border villages, saying it would not only help check migration but also facilitate the movement of troops to the border.
The state government last year also announced a pilot project to develop three model villages in the India-Tibet-China border areas at a cost of Rs 30 crore.
The greenfield Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar, will take the airport count in the Northeast to 16. Between 1947 and 2014, only nine airports were built, Modi said.
“This rapid development of airports (during his tenure) in the region reflects our special emphasis on enhancing connectivity in the Northeast. The Donyi Polo Airport is becoming a witness to the history and culture of Arunachal Pradesh,” Modi said.
The name of the airport reflects the age-old indigenous reverence for the sun (Donyi) and moon (Polo). The foundation stone for the airport was laid by Modi in February 2019.