Opinion | Border Villages as the First Line of Development under the Vibrant Villages Programme

For decades, India’s border villages were often viewed primarily through the lens of distance and security. They were settlements at the edge of the map, frequently facing difficult terrain, weak connectivity and limited economic opportunities. In Jammu and Kashmir, this reality has been particularly significant because many villages close to the Line of Control and international border have lived with geographical isolation as part of everyday life. That approach is changing. The idea behind the Vibrant Villages Programme is not simply to construct roads or buildings in frontier settlements. It is to make border villages economically active, socially vibrant and better connected so that people can live there with dignity and opportunity. In this sense, development itself becomes an important component of national security.

The original Vibrant Villages Programme-I, approved in February 2023, focused on selected villages along India’s northern border, including Ladakh. The programme concentrated on infrastructure, connectivity, livelihood generation, tourism, cultural heritage, skill development and entrepreneurship, with the broader objective of creating sufficient incentives for people to remain in their villages. The second phase is particularly relevant for Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Cabinet approved Vibrant Villages Programme-II in April 2025 as a fully centrally funded Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of ₹6,839 crore up to the financial year 2028–29. It covers selected strategic villages in blocks adjoining international land borders, including Jammu and Kashmir. Across the participating States and Union Territories, 1,954 villages have been identified under VVP-II.The importance of the programme lies in its comprehensive design. Its focus includes livelihood generation, road connectivity, electrification, village infrastructure, health facilities, financial inclusion, youth empowerment and skill development, cooperatives, self-help groups and farmer producer organisations, tourism, culture, education and telecommunications.

For Jammu and Kashmir, this approach can have an impact far beyond physical infrastructure. A road connecting a remote village to a nearby town is not merely a road. It can reduce the cost of transporting agricultural produce, make tourism easier, improve access to schools and hospitals and give local businesses a larger market. Reliable telecom connectivity is similarly not just a communication facility. It can allow a student to attend an online course, a farmer to obtain market information and a homestay owner to receive bookings from visitors. Tourism could become one of the most important economic components of this transformation. Border areas of Jammu and Kashmir possess landscapes, traditions and histories that remain comparatively less explored. Places such as Karnah, Keran, Gurez and other frontier areas have already attracted growing attention as tourism destinations. But tourism cannot be reduced to bringing visitors for a few hours. The objective should be to build a local tourism economy in which residents become the primary beneficiaries.

Homestays, local guides, transport services, handicrafts, traditional cuisine, adventure activities and cultural experiences can create a chain of employment around tourism. A visitor staying in a village can generate income for a family, a driver, a local guide, a shopkeeper, an artisan and a food producer. This is how tourism becomes development rather than simply sightseeing. The programme’s emphasis on entrepreneurship and skill development is therefore especially important. Border youth should not be treated merely as beneficiaries of government schemes. They should be treated as economic participants. A young person in a frontier village can become a tourism entrepreneur, a digital service provider, an artisan, a horticulture entrepreneur or a skilled professional if the necessary infrastructure and training are available. There is another dimension that deserves equal attention: culture. Border villages are repositories of local traditions, languages, architecture, food and collective memory. Development should strengthen these identities rather than replace them. Tourism that ignores local culture eventually becomes generic. Tourism that respects local culture can turn heritage into an economic asset while keeping it alive for the next generation.

The experience of VVP-I demonstrates that the concept is already moving beyond paper. By early 2026, more than 8,500 activities had reportedly been undertaken under the programme, including service-delivery camps, training and capacity-building activities, health and veterinary camps, fairs, festivals and tourism promotion. For Jammu and Kashmir, however, implementation must be sensitive to local geography. A one-size-fits-all development model will not work equally well in every border village. The needs of a high-altitude settlement are different from those of a village in the plains. A village dependent on horticulture requires different economic infrastructure from one with strong tourism potential. Development plans therefore need to be prepared around actual local strengths and constraints. The concept of Village Action Plans under VVP-II is important in this regard. The programme envisages interventions that are state- and village-specific and prepared through a collaborative approach. This should translate into genuine participation of panchayats, residents, youth, women and local entrepreneurs in deciding priorities.

There is also a need to measure success differently. The number of roads constructed or buildings completed is important, but it cannot be the final measure. The stronger indicators will be whether household incomes rise, whether young people find local opportunities, whether tourism benefits residents, whether children have better access to education, whether healthcare becomes more accessible and whether migration pressures decline. The phrase “first line” should therefore not be understood only in a security sense. Border villagers are the first line of India’s development story as well. Their presence, prosperity and confidence give meaning to the idea of a living frontier. For Jammu and Kashmir, the opportunity is substantial. If infrastructure is combined with entrepreneurship, tourism with local ownership, technology with skills and development with community participation, border villages can evolve from isolated settlements into centres of economic activity.

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