Which one among the following statements about the objectives of Vibrant Village Programme is correct?
- (a)It is a Centrally sponsored scheme.
- (b)This programme was launched in 2021.
- (c)Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur are the states selected under this scheme.
- (d)Villages of Uttar Pradesh along the Nepal border are selected as flagship villages under this scheme.
Correct — A, It is a Centrally sponsored scheme. That is the programme's own official description: the Cabinet approval of 15 February 2023 was announced as approval of a 'Centrally Sponsored Scheme — Vibrant Villages Programme' for 2022-23 to 2025-26 with an outlay of ₹4,800 crore, of which ₹2,500 crore was earmarked for roads. The other three statements each fail on a checkable detail. The programme was announced in the Union Budget of February 2022 and approved in February 2023, so it was not launched in 2021. Its first phase covers select villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts abutting the northern border in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and the union territory of Ladakh — 662 villages taken up first — so a list naming Manipur is wrong, and villages on the Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh are outside it altogether.
- (b)This programme was launched in 2021. — The programme was announced in the Budget speech of February 2022 and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 15 February 2023, not launched in 2021.
- (c)Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur are the states selected under this scheme. — Manipur is not in the first phase. The states and union territory covered are Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Ladakh, all along the northern border; Manipur sits on the Myanmar frontier.
- (d)Villages of Uttar Pradesh along the Nepal border are selected as flagship villages under this scheme. — The programme is about the northern border, not the India-Nepal border. Villages of Uttar Pradesh are not flagship villages under it.
The Vibrant Villages Programme is a border-area development programme of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its purpose is to stop out-migration from remote border villages by giving them roads, round-the-clock electricity, mobile connectivity, drinking water, housing and livelihoods, and by developing them for tourism — the reasoning being that a populated border village is itself a security asset. Village action plans are prepared with the gram panchayats and delivered by the states with central funding.
The examiner has written one true statement about the machinery of the scheme and three that fail on a checkable detail — a date, a list of states and a border. That is the shape to exploit: do not try to recall the funding pattern first, knock out the three concrete claims. The 2021 date is a year too early; Manipur sits on the Myanmar border, not the northern one; and the Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh has never been part of this programme. One present-day line: a second phase, Vibrant Villages Programme-II, was approved for the financial years 2024-25 to 2028-29 and takes the approach to blocks along other land borders — so keep the first phase's northern-border coverage distinct from the wider second phase.
- The Vibrant Villages Programme is run by the Ministry of Home Affairs as a border-area development programme, approved as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
- It was announced in the Union Budget of February 2022 and approved on 15 February 2023, with ₹4,800 crore for 2022-23 to 2025-26, of which ₹2,500 crore was earmarked for roads.
- Its first phase covers select villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts abutting the northern border in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and the union territory of Ladakh; 662 villages were identified for priority development.
- Interventions include all-weather road connectivity, drinking water, round-the-clock electricity including solar and wind, mobile and internet connectivity, tourism and cultural centres and livelihood support.
- The stated objective is to improve the quality of life in these villages and thereby reverse out-migration from the border.
Eliminate on the checkable facts — a date, a state list and a border — and one option is left standing.
- Confusing the Budget announcement of February 2022 with the Cabinet approval of February 2023 — the question can be set on either.
- Adding north-eastern states that sit on the Myanmar border, such as Manipur or Nagaland, to a northern-border list.
- Mixing this up with the older Border Area Development Programme, which covers all land borders.
As a single-correct-statement item on a flagship scheme, where three options carry a wrong year, a wrong state list or a wrong border.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The first phase of the Vibrant Villages Programme covers villages along which one of the following borders of India?
- (a)The India-Nepal border
- (b)The India-Bangladesh border
- (c)The northern border
- (d)The India-Myanmar border
Answer(c) The northern border — in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Vibrant Villages Programme is implemented by which one of the following ministries?
- (a)Ministry of Defence
- (b)Ministry of Home Affairs
- (c)Ministry of Rural Development
- (d)Ministry of External Affairs
Answer(b) Ministry of Home Affairs — the ministry that handles border management and border-area development.