Poonch | : District Development Commissioner (DDC) Poonch Ashok Kumar Sharma Monday chaired a meeting to review the implementation and progress of Vibrant Villages Programme Phase-II (VVP-II) in the border areas of the district.
The meeting focused on accelerating development initiatives and finalizing the Village Action Plans (VAPs) for 133 identified villages across eight blocks, including 18 border villages prioritized under the programme.
At the outset, Joint Director (Chief Planning Officer) Mohammad Iqbal Zarger delivered a detailed PowerPoint presentation outlining the programme’s objectives, key components and implementation roadmap.
DDC emphasized four priority sectors—Road Connectivity, Telecom Connectivity, Television Connectivity and Electrification—as immediate focus areas. He underlined the importance of inter-departmental convergence to ensure sustainable, inclusive and integrated development in these remote villages.
Additionally, the DDC directed departments to strengthen livelihood generation, education facilities, and rural tourism promotion. He called for extensive awareness and outreach campaigns to ensure saturation of government welfare schemes.
To ensure grassroots participation, the DDC instructed designated nodal officers to prepare Village Action Plans with well-defined timelines and community-driven development goals, to be formulated through Gram Sabhas in each selected village.
The finalised Village Action Plans will be scrutinized by a committee headed by the PO ICDS before submission to the government for approval.
Concluding the meeting, the District Development Commissioner reiterated the administration’s unwavering commitment to the holistic and inclusive development of border villages, driven by focused planning, time-bound execution and active community involvement.
