New Delhi, Aug 26 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that villages identified early under the Vibrant Villages Programme will prove to be very significant tools to protect the country and its borders.

Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) workshop, HM Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by designating the last village of the country as the first village, has changed our perspective towards border villages.

He said not only would every border village be equipped with all facilities, but every citizen living in these border villages would be provided with all the schemes of the Government of India and state governments to improve the lives of the people living there.

Additionally, these villages would be developed as strong tools for the security of the country and its borders, he said.

The workshop is being organised by the Border Management Division, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi. HM Shah also launched the logo of the Vibrant Villages Programme.

Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Home Secretary, Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Border Management Secretary, Chief Secretaries of border states included in the first and second phase of VVP, Directors General of security forces deployed for border protection, and District Magistrates of the concerned districts, along with many other dignitaries, were also present.

HM Shah said that the Vibrant Villages Programme is based on three key points: Preventing migration from border villages, ensuring that every citizen of border villages receives cent per cent benefits of central and state government schemes, and developing the villages under VVP into strong tools to strengthen border and national security.

He stated that through this programme, efforts have been made to promote infrastructure development, preserve and enhance culture, generate employment through tourism, and make village life vibrant in every way, with a vision of multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral development.

He said that in Vibrant Villages Programme-1, efforts were limited to the programme itself, but in Vibrant Villages Programme-2, there is a need to change the administrative approach.

He urged collectors of border districts to take appropriate action to remove illegal religious encroachments, stating that these encroachments are part of a deliberate design.

He stressed that all illegal encroachments within at least a 30-kilometre radius from the border should be removed.

HM Shah highlighted that Gujarat has done commendable work in this regard, having cleared numerous encroachments along both maritime and land borders.

/IANS