47 villages in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri along Nepal border to be developed under VVP II

As many as 47 villages in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, which share borders with Nepal, will be developed as the first villages on the border under the Centre-sponsored Vibrant Village Programme II (VVP II). The initiative aims to provide all-weather road access and telecommunication connectivity in these areas.

Kheri district magistrate Durga Shakti Nagpal told PTI, “Border security and border development must go hand in hand. Through the VVP II, we are strengthening the infrastructure and livelihood opportunities in these 47 villages, so as to elevate their living standards and to make our frontier communities strong, prosperous, and firmly rooted.”

The programme focuses on infrastructure development, border-specific outreach activities and improving livelihood opportunities. This will include promotion of tourism, cultural heritage and skill development, along with strengthening local self-help groups, co-operative societies, youth and women, Nagpal said.

District Statistics Officer (DSTO) Arvind Verma told PTI that the villages selected under the programme include 18 villages in Pallia tehsil and 29 villages in Nighasan tehsil.

“The planning department in UP would coordinate the implementation of the VVP II, which covers all border villages of Balrampur, Shrawasti, Maharajganj, Pilibhit, Bahraich and Kheri adjoining Nepal. A district-level committee headed by the Kheri district magistrate had been formed to ensure proper implementation of the programme,” Verma said.

Officials said the UP planning department recently held a video conference with district authorities to discuss projects related to the implementation of the programme in the state.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government approved the Vibrant Village Programme II on April 2, 2025 as a Central Sector Scheme, with an outlay of Rs 6,839 crore till FY 2028-29. The programme is aimed at the comprehensive development of villages located in blocks along international land borders, other than the northern border areas covered under VVP I.

The scheme will be implemented in selected strategic villages across several states and Union territories including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, J&K (UT), Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said the programme will focus on four thematic areas for villages in these blocks — all-weather road connectivity, telecom connectivity, television connectivity and electrification — through convergence under existing scheme norms.

(With inputs from agencies)