edited by Ali Aadil khan
New Delhi:Union Home Minister Amit Shah has once again linked demographic changes in border areas to the country’s security, raising concerns during the inaugural session of the two-day Vibrant Villages Programme workshop in New Delhi yesterday. While Shah painted the programme as a grand success of the Modi government — claiming it prevents migration, generates employment, and even boosts culture and tourism — the ground reality in many border regions still remains far from “vibrant.”
The Minister proudly cited Arunachal Pradesh, saying population in border villages has grown after the programme’s implementation. Yet, critics argue that such selective examples fail to reflect the larger picture of poor infrastructure, limited healthcare, and lack of basic livelihood in several other border areas.
Shah outlined three pillars of the scheme: preventing migration, ensuring 100% coverage of welfare schemes, and turning villages into “security assets.” However, skeptics note that instead of addressing deep-rooted developmental gaps, the government seems more focused on turning vulnerable communities into tools of national security rhetoric.
While the Home Minister expressed confidence that villages chosen under the programme will soon become “significant security tools,” many observers see this as yet another attempt to cloak socio-economic shortcomings with nationalist slogans.
