(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Vibrant Villages Programme

(NOVEMBER-2025)

Vibrant Villages Programme

Introduction:

In 2023 Government of India approved an ambitious programme for comprehensive and inclusive development of identified villages- Launched as ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ (VVP), it supported interventions in focused areas, such as road-connectivity, housing and village infrastructure, telecom-connectivity, conventional power supply and renewable energy, and livelihood generation through local resources. Promotion of village tourism is one of the key areas identified for development, improvement and advancement at local level.

Background:

At ground level, VVP specifically promoted community managed home-stays and supported local fairs and festivals to attract tourists. Based on unique geo-characteristics, concerted efforts were made to promote eco-tourism, agro-tourism, wellness and spiritual tourism, and wildlife and adventure tourism. Active participation of local artisans helped branding of art and craft products, and in some cases local cuisines as well.

Initiatives for Improvement

The Government of India launched VVP as a centrally sponsored scheme with financial outlay of Rs.4,800 crore for the fiscals 2022-23 to 2025-26. Perhaps, for the first time, funds were allocated specifically for the integrated development of villages located along the northern international borders. This aligns well with the transformational vision of ‘New India’, which calls the traditional last village of India as the first village of India. In the first phase, the VVP was implemented in the selected 663 villages across to 19 districts and 46 border blocks of four states and one union territory. State-wise breakup of villages are as follows: Arunachal Pradesh - 455, Himachal Pradesh - 75, Sikkim-46, Uttarakhand-51and Ladakh-35.
The District Administrations of these states prepared Vibrant Village Action Plans for each village in collaboration with respective Gram Panchayats. Centered around tourism potential of the village, the development strategy spearheaded skill and entrepreneurship development in border villages.
Active involvement of community institutions, such as cooperative societies, NGOs, SHGs etc., ensured participation of local youth and women in all these endeavours. Ecologically sound and economically rewarding agri-businesses were promoted based on the concept of ‘One Village One Product’.
Co-ordination with other stakeholder institutions ensured delivery of central and state government schemes to all eligible beneficiaries. Creation of physical and digital infrastructure catalysed livelihood generation for all age-groups.

In a noteworthy gesture, the Government of India invited distinguished guests from villages under the VVP to participate in Republic Day 2025 celebrations. While interacting with dignitaries and guests Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation has presented a brief update on the initiatives taken by the Government of India.
Based on the review of issues faced by 662 villages, 626 projects were formulated for holistic development, whereas, 901 employment- related projects were initiated. He said, along with these, schemes worth Rs.556 crore were developed for advancement in agriculture, education, health, energy, cooperatives, and Khadi and Village Industries at village level.
To improve land connectivity, Rs.2400 crore was spent on construction of 113 roads and eight low-suspension bridges, and 4G connectivity reached to 342 villages. Out of these 662 villages, 474 have been electrified on-grid and 127 off-grid, and 43 new power projects have been developed at a cost of Rs.238 crore. Specifically, to boost village tourism, 102 projects at a cost of Rs.48 crore developed local View Points, Adventure Tourism, Eco-Resorts and Tourist Centres in the identified villages.

Way ahead:

To accelerate, motivate and inspire village tourism, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has launched the ‘Best Tourism Village Competition’ (BTVC) at national level. In the inaugural edition of the BTVC (2023), a total of 795 villages filed applications from 315 districts across 31 states and UTs. After scrutiny on the pre-determined parameters, a total of 35 villages were recognised as the Best Tourism Villages of India.
The second edition of BTVC (2024) saw applications from 991 villages from 30 states and UTs. A total of 36 villages were recognised as winners across eight categories, namely Adventure Tourism, Agri-Tourism, Community Based Tourism, Craft, Heritage, Responsible Tourism, Spiritual and Wellness and Vibrant Village.
The BTVC winner 2023 demonstrated best practices to preserve and promote cultural and natural assets through community-based values and commitment to sustainability in all aspects. Best practices of the winner villages are shared with other villages for the replication of the existing models and the development of villages.

Conclusion:

Village tourism is the key driver of local economy and opens up a new gateway to promote a wide range of local products. This also helps preservation of heritage and culture along with local rituals, customs and social practices. The Vibrant Villages Programme is fostering and strengthening the commitment of the Government of India for the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047 for the ‘Safe, Secured and Vibrant Land Borders’. It also aligns well with the initiative towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.