Chowna Mein | File photo

Arunachal Pradesh government will construct three ‘model’ villages along the international border on a pilot basis to help elevate the livelihood of the people in the border areas.

Deputy chief minister Chowna Mein announced the pilot project in the state assembly on March 3.

“I am happy to announce a major initiative to develop three model villages on a pilot basis in the Indo-Tibet (China) border areas – one each in the eastern, central and western part of the state,” Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein said in his speech while presenting the budget estimates for the year 2021-22 on March 3.

Mein, who is also the minister in-charge of finance, has proposed to earmark Rs 30 crore for the project. “These model villages would serve as pilot projects which will be further expanded to cover many more such villages. The scheme would encompass innovative ways to dovetail social-economic-cultural needs of village life while establishing these villages,” he said.

The deputy CM said the government will rope in border guarding forces in designing and implementing the scheme.

“These model villages will be built in such a way that we will feel proud of them. We will rope in our border guarding forces in designing and implementing this scheme,” he said.

Mein also proposed to allocate Rs 5 crore for repair of foot suspension bridges in border areas used by the border guarding forces for patrolling.

He also proposed to launch ‘border village illumination programme’ for establishing small and micro hydels in remote border areas which can be used in local grid or off grid mode.

“I propose to allocate initial money of Rs 40 crore to this project which we would implement by converging resources from Government of India,” he said.

On Arunachal Frontier Highway, the DyCM informed that the preparation of detailed project report (DPR) for the long-cherished highway would commence soon. “This will usher in a new era in Arunachal Pradesh and would have positive economic and social impact,” he said.

The 2,000 km highway will connect the border areas from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang district to Vijaynagar in Changlang district.

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