Minister of State for Planning and Development Ajay Nanda today informed the House, that the Centre has sanctioned Rs 716.85 crore under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) during the last five years, while the scheme is being implemented in 44 Blocks of 11 border districts of the state.Replying to a question of Surinder Kumar Choudhary, the Minister said the main objective of BADP is to address the problems of the people living in inaccessible, remote and border areas of the state. Intervening during the reply, Chairman LC, Haji Anayat Ali asked the government to include the leftover border areas of Leh and Kargil under BADP for their development.The Minister assured that the eligible left over border villages would be identified and included in the programme.
Meanwhile, the Minister said that the works to be done under the programme are recommended by a District Level Committee headed by the concerned Deputy Commissioner. “The respective Committees submit the reports to the State Level Screening Committee headed by Chief Secretary which are then sent to the Centre for approval,” he added.Replying to a supplementary question of Pradeep Sharma, the Minister asked the legislator to submit the list of eligible villages of Poonch and assured that the same would be included in the programme.