Govt releases Rs 113 crore to six border states

• The home ministry recently released Rs 113.36 crore to Assam, Nagaland, Sikkim, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP).
• With this, the home ministry has released a total of Rs 637.98 crore so far during 2018-19 to states having International Border.

About Border Area Development Programme (BADP):

• The major issues with which India’s borders are plagued with include – poor accessibility, economic backwardness, sense of insecurity among people living in border areas etc.
• Thus, development of the border areas was envisaged as an important element of the border management policy of the government.
• In this direction, the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) was started as early as 1987 along with India-Pakistan border.

Objectives

• Border Area Development Programme was launched to meet the special development needs of the people living in remote and inaccessible areas near the international border. Its primary objectives were to:
• Create infrastructure in border areas
• Provide economic opportunities to people living in the vicinity of the border
• instil a sense of security among the people living in border areas.

Implementation

• The BADP programme was introduced as a “Centrally Sponsored Scheme” and is implemented by state governments under the monitoring of Department of Border Management under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Its implementation includes development of community-based infrastructure like forestry, pasture land, fishery ponds, floriculture parks, community centres, mobile dispensaries, mini marketing yards, etc. in border areas.
• Currently, this programme is being implemented in all the 17 states which share international borders of India. These include: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

By: Vishal