Uttarakhand’s Mana is now first Indian village not last, BRO replaces signboard
Till date, it was labeled last village of India due to border with China, but not anymore.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Monday placed a signboard at the border village of “Mana” in Uttarakhand, declaring it to be the “First Indian Village.” Located in the Himalayas, Mana shares a border with China and was previously referred to as the “last village”.
This comes months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in October last year, visited Mana and showed support for Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s remark that it was the first village of the country and every border village should be the first village. “The areas which were earlier ignored as the end of the country’s borders, we started considering them as the beginning of the country’s prosperity,” PM Modi had said.
Mana is situated near Badrinath and devotees going to the Himalayan temple go up to the village for sightseeing.
CM Dhami said the border areas of the country were becoming more vibrant under PM Modi’s governance. “For this, the Vibrant Village programme was initiated,” Dhami said.
The “Vibrant Village” scheme, which was mentioned in finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech in Parliament, focuses on developing villages in 46 border blocks across 19 districts, 4 states, and one Union Territory – Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Ladakh (UT) – located on the northern border.
The initiative aims to enhance the overall living conditions in these areas and promote the economic growth of the region.
