Uttarkashi: The Uttarakhand government and district administration Uttarkashi have written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to exclude residents Nelang and Jadung villages, which are included under the Vibrant Villages Programme, from the inner line permit (ILP) system. According to the district administration, the Ministry of Home Affairs will take a decision on this in consultation with the Ministry of Defense in view of security on the international border.
The villagers of Bagori, who were displaced from these villages, had written a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard, demanding the abolition of online submission of the application forms. Nelang-Jadung villages have been included along with eight villages of Harshil Valley under the Vibrant Villages Programme.
The scheme envisages improving the standard of living of the designated border villages and motivating villagers to stay in the villages to prevent emigration to enhance border security. The residents of Nelang and Jadung villages said that once the war between India and China broke out in 1962, they had moved to the low-lying areas with their sheep and goats.
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In view of the war situation, the then Uttar Pradesh government had sent a contingent of PSC on Indo-China (Tibet) border. The troops converted the houses in Nelang-Jadhung village into a cantonment. In 1962, there were about 36 families living in Nelang village and 16 in Jajung village. The villagers said that when the war subsided and they moved back to their home, they were not allowed to do so for security reasons.
Since then, the villagers are allowed once in a year by the district administration to worship their family deity Lal Devta. Bhawan Singh Rana, former Pradhan of Bagori village, said that even today the villagers have their land in the twin villages in the revenue records. Now when the Centre has proposed to facilitate the border residents to stay in their villages under the Vibrant Villages Programme, the residents of Nelang and Jadung are ironically finding it difficult to settle in their ancestral villages due to the cumbersome inner line permit system, they said.
The locals appealed the Centre to simplify the procedure so that they are able to return to their native villages. District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela said that the Chief Secretary has put this demand of the villagers in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs at a recent meeting held in Delhi. Further decision will be taken on the matter as per the directions of the Defense Ministry, he said.
