In order to keep the villages of Uttarakhand bordering China alive, special attention should be paid to livelihood development there. In this regard, the Rural Development and Migration Prevention Commission has emphasized on making provision of 200 days of employment per year under MNREGA instead of 100 for the families living in border villages. The Commission has suggested to the state government to request the central government in this regard. Deliberation has started at the government level regarding this. Uttarakhand shares a 375-km border with China. Considering the villages bordering the international border as the first villages, the central government has started the Vibrant Village program to develop them. 51 out of 136 villages of three districts of Uttarakhand bordering China are included in this program in the first phase. For their development, a blueprint of various schemes has been drawn at a cost of Rs 758 crore. Meanwhile, the state government got a survey done by the Migration Prevention Commission with a view to the development of villages bordering China. The commission surveyed 136 villages falling within 10 km air radius of the international border and submitted the report to the government. Now the government has started taking steps in view of the recommendations of the commission.
In this sequence, in the recent high-level meeting, various suggestions were put forward by the commission regarding the border villages. The commission made it clear that special steps will have to be taken for livelihood development so that the border villages remain fully populated.
It also suggested that 200 days of employment should be provided in MNREGA in these villages. Since this subject is of the central level, the state government will have to request the central government in this regard. On the other hand, Additional Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan said that the suggestions given by the commission are being deliberated upon.
