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He said that the Indo-China border is undemarcated, extremely cold with very difficult terrain and thus it is more important that impetus should be given to boost up infrastructure and peace in the border areas. The Home Minister praised the work of ITBP and said that the Centre was doing everything feasible for their smooth functioning in overcoming challenges. He stressed upon the development of model villages in the border areas and said that innovative and concrete proposals are welcome. Implementation of Border Areas Development Programme (BADP) projects and construction of border infrastructures are being taken up with high priority, he added.
The Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling said that the army, paramilitary and the Government of Sikkim have been implementing a number of schemes under the BADP which are designed to meet the special developmental needs of the people living in remote and inaccessible border areas. The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu also briefed the Union Minister on the issues related to development. Issues concerning border infrastructure including border roads, Border Out Posts, critical infrastructure and coordination between the concerned States and ITBP stationed in states were some of the main issues deliberated upon in the meeting. The states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh were represented by senior officers.
Rajnath Singh informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is focusing on modern villages, and stated that in the last financial year, 41 model villages were created for which a financial allocation of Rs. 92 Crore was made. He further urged the state governments to submit maximum proposals for model villages to the central government. He further added that the issues concerning border areas are to be jointly addressed by the state and the central government in a coordinated way. Minister also stated that any hindrances like land acquisitions, forest clearances and allocation of quarries should be sorted out diligently and in a time bound manner by the state government with support from the union government.