Guwahati: Standing in Nathunpur village in Assam’s Barak Valley, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched the ₹6,839-crore Vibrant Villages Programme–II (VVP–II), promising a new chapter of development for border villages across the country.

The programme, which will cover 1,954 villages in 334 blocks across 17 states, aims to bring infrastructure, welfare schemes and connectivity to villages located along India’s international borders. In Assam alone, 140 villages across nine districts and 26 blocks will be covered under the scheme.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Home Secretary and other senior officials were present at the launch event.Addressing villagers and officials, Shah said that the launch of VVP–II from the Barak Valley symbolised a shift in how India views its border areas. “There was a time when border villages were called the ‘last villages’ of the country because they lacked roads, electricity, employment and education. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we decided that every border village is not the last but the first village of India,” he said.
Shah said the programme, with an outlay of nearly ₹7,000 crore, would ensure that basic facilities available in any other village in India are extended to border villages as well. Apart from Assam, the scheme will cover villages in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.