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Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday said that the Centre has released funds worth Rs 146.42 crore under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) to the West Bengal government since 2019-20.
The remaining central share of committed liability in respect of all concerned states or union territories for the ongoing workers under BADP has been worked out to be Rs 53.34 crore, including Rs 1.933 crore in respect of West Bengal, Rai told Lok Sabha in a written reply. "Under BADP, the fund is released for the approved works/projects to the concerned State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. Allocation to the respective district administrations is done by State Governments/UT Administrations," he said. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs has said that the BADP was being implemented through the state governments as part of a comprehensive approach to border management and to meet the development needs of people residing in remote locations, near international borders. This programme also aims to drown border areas with essential infrastructure with the help of a scheme introduced by central, state and local government bodies. BADP was initiated during the Seventh five-year plan period to ensure the balanced development of border areas and also to provide a sense of security among the border population, especially in the border areas of the western region. "Presently, the Programme covers 457 Blocks of 117 border Districts in 16 States and 2 Union Territories abutting the International Boundary viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (UT), Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Under this programme priority is given to the areas closer to the border," MHA said. A major chunk of the fund released (Centre Share) in 2024-25 was for Sikkim, as per the MHA. "In Assam State, BADP covers 28 border blocks of 8 districts (viz, Dhubri, Cachar, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Baska, Chirang, Udalguri, South Salmara-Mankachar). The State Government has utilized funds under BADP mainly on construction of School buildings, Public Health Centers (PHCs), Community Centers, roads, paths, culverts and bridges, social infrastructure, drinking water facilities etc.," it said. (ANI)
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