New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced in her Budget speech that the villages on the country's northern border will be covered under a new Vibrant Villages Programme.
India shares a 1,751-km border with Nepal along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Bihar with Nepal. Out of these states, Assembly elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
"Border villages with sparse population with limited connectivity and infrastructure often left out in the gains. Such villages on the northern border will be covered under a new Vibrant Villages Programme," she said.
The Finance Minister also said that the new Vibrant Villages Programme will include the setting up of new village infrastructure, road connectivity, housing and road connectivity.
It will also include direct to home(DTH) for Doordarshan and educational challenges, and support for earning a livelihood.
"The activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralised renewable energy, direct to home(DTH) for Doordarshan and educational challenges, and support for livelihood generation. Additional funding for these activities will be provided. Existing schemes will be converged," she said.
Sitharaman said that the GOvernment will continuously monitor the scheme.
"We will define their outcomes and monitor them on a constant basis," she said.
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