Keeping in view the change in the approach of looking at such villages, the government had in February 2023 launched Vibrant Villages Programme-I (VVP-I) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, and selected villages in 46 blocks abutting the northern border in 19 districts in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and the Union Territory of Ladakh.

This meant that in the first phase, the government’s focus was on India’s borders with China and initially, 662 border villages were identified for comprehensive development on priority under the programme, with Arunachal Pradesh having 455 villages, Himachal Pradesh (75), Sikkim (46), Uttarakhand (51), and the Union Territory of Ladakh (35).

Policy Shift

Before the NDA government came to power in 2014, the previous UPA regime had a policy to keep the border areas underdeveloped with very little infrastructure, as part of a defence strategy to make the movement of enemy forces difficult by creating natural barriers. But the policy had a flip side to it, as most of the people living in such settlements migrated to other parts of the country, leaving India's defence architecture bereft of human shields.    

The government then envisaged the programme with a focus on intervening in the select border villages for creation of opportunities for livelihood generation through the promotion of tourism & cultural heritage, skill development & entrepreneurship and the development of cooperative societies, including agriculture/horticulture, cultivation of medicinal plants/herbs and a few others, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in an official statement.

The interventions also include providing road connectivity to unconnected villages, village infrastructures, health facilities, education infrastructure, energy, including renewable energy, television & telecom connectivity, it further said, adding that the objective of the programme was to create sufficient incentives for people to stay on in the selected villages and ensure reverse migration.

With getting reasonable success in implementation of the schemes, the government in April 2025 launched the second phase of the programme with a total outlay of ₹6,839 crore till FY2028-29 for comprehensive development of select strategic villages located in blocks abutting International Land Borders (ILB), other than the Northern border already covered in the first phase, which mostly covered parts of areas along India-Pakistan borders.

Extensive Administrative Push

In line with the policy envisaged, the Jammu & Kashmir government has recently made an extensive administrative push under the programme by assigning 35 IAS and as many JKAS officers to oversee development in villages along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

According to the order, the Union Territory administration formalised the assignments to the officers on April 27, 2026, and they have been tasked to monitor and implement the programme for the next two months.

The officers are tasked to strengthen grassroots governance, improve infrastructure and service delivery and enhance socio-economic conditions in remote border villages and they are required to make field visits, assess ground realities and engage with local residents, civil society organisations, and the border guarding forces, including the Army and the Border Security Force (BSF).

The assigned officers are also tasked to ensure convergence of Central and Union Territory schemes and prepare Village Action Plans based on gap analysis, as Deputy Commissioners have been directed to facilitate field visits, provide logistical and administrative support.

IAS Officers Assigned Villages

IAS officers, who have been assigned villages, include Piyush Singla from the IT department, who has been assigned Silikote & Tulwari in Uri block of Baramulla district, Shaleen Kabra from the Jal Shakti department, who will look after Garkhri & RakhKhanor in Akhnoor block of Jammu district, Ashwani Kumar from the power development department will oversee activities in Jabowal Khurd & Kaku Da Kotha in Arnia block of Jammu, and Ashish Chandra from the tourism department has been assigned Kanachak & Beli Bakavan in Marh block of Jammu district

Other IAS officers include Shailendra Kumar (Finance department) – Bhalwal Bharat & Maljodha, Paragwal block of Jammu district, Anil Kumar Singh (PWD R&B department) – Chakrali & Golpattan, Marh block of Jammu district, and Chandrakar Bharti (Home department) – Kot Maira of Khour block in Jammu district.

Similarly, Brij Mohan (Culture Department) – Mangu Chak & Regal, Rajaura block of Samba district, Saurabh Bhagat (FCS&CA Department) – Machil & Har During, Machil block of Kupwara district, Mandeep Kour (H&UDD) – Abdulian & Badyal Brahmana, R.S. Pura block of Jammu district, R Alice Vaz (Planning Department) – Bobiya & Gajnal, Marheen block of Kathua district, Sheetal Nanda (Forest Department) – Chakdulma & Chaklala, Rajpura block of Samba district, Yasha Mudgal (Cooperative Department) – Bulechak & Flora, Suchetgarh block of Jammu district and Shahid Iqbal Choudhary (Youth Services Department) – Sariah & Sher, Nowsera block of Rajouri district.

The list of other IAS officers includes:

• Sarmad Hafeez (Social Welfare) – Posh Pora & Kunaan, Tregham block, Kumpwara district

• Prasanna Ramaswamy G (Tribal Affairs) – Teetwal & Amroohi, Teetwal block, Kupwara district

• Vikramjit Singh (Industries) – Loharkote & Chappardhara, Sunderbani block, Rajouri

• Kumar Rajeev Ranjan (Labour) – Silauniyan & Chakatroo, Sathra block, Poonch district

• Ram Niwas Sharma (Education) – Salasan & Maidanan, Boniyar block, Baramulla district

• Talat Parvez Roohilla (Public Enterprises) – Kamal Kote & ChoolanKalsan, Paraneela block, Baramulla district

• Rehana Batool (IMPARD) – Dug Channi & Kandral, Ramgarh block, Samba district

• Mir Tariq Ali (WCD) – Trehgam, Trehgam block, Kupwara district

• Mohammad Ajaz (RDD) – Shahpur & Nangali, Nangli Sahib block, Poonch district

• S.L. Naveen (Civil Aviation) – Bedar Balnai & Chhamber Kanari, Mandi block, Poonch district

• Avny Lavasa (Transport) – Kushalpur & Nai Basti Gulabgarh, Suchetgarh block, Jammu district

• Anjali Sehrawat (JJM) – Dhailan & Dehrian, Khour block, Jammu district

• Vikas Kundal (JKSSB) – Gund Gajra & Jabdi, Teetwal block, Kupwara district

• Nazim Zai Khan (FCS&CA Kashmir) – Nawa Gabra, Tangdhar block, Kupwara district

• Narinder Singh Bali (Dairy) – Dardpora, Sogam block, Kupwara district

• Ajaz Ahmad Bhat (Sericulture) – Alachi Zab, Quadirabad block, Kupwara district

• Majid Khalil Drabu (Enquiries) – Rawathpora, Roddichkibal block, Kupwara district

• Owais Ahmad (Skill Development) – Purana Tulail & Neeru, Tulail block, Bandipora district

• Akriti Sagar (NHM) – Rangoor & SM Pur, Ramgarh block, Samba district

• Shreya Singhal (JKTDC) – Suchetgarh, Suchetgarh block, Jammu district

• Ananth Dwivedi (State Health Agency) – Nanga & Nathwal, Ramgarh block, Samba district

Vibrant Village Programme

Similarly, 35 officers belonging to the J&K Administrative Service have been assigned villages to assist the IAS officers to ensure that the schemes undertaken under the Vibrant Village Programme are adequately implemented.   

The J&K administration’s intent to deploy nearly three dozen each of the IAS and the JKAS officers is to ensure a focused push by the administration to ensure last-mile delivery of development in strategically important border regions.

With structured monitoring, field engagement and convergence of schemes, the programme aims to bring measurable transformation to some of the most remote villages in Jammu & Kashmir.