India’s Border Line Efforts

Highlights * Border Area Development Programme being implemented in 17 states, and Rs 7,000 crore spent so far * Jammu and Kashmir has utilised the highest amount of Rs 306 crore in various sectors * 58% BADP funds spent on road construction in border districts

There is often criticism about India not investing enough to build infrastructure in the border areas, particularly in the north-east. It has also been pointed out that China has, for instance, spent much more on the other side.

IndiaSpend’s Bhumish Khudkhudia looks at how the Indian’ government’s Border Area Development Programme (BADP), started during the 7^th Five-Year Plan in 1987, has benefited sensitive border districts situated near the international borders. So far, Rs 7,000 crore has been released for socio-economic development of border areas under BADP. The programme is being implemented in 358 identified border blocks of 96 districts in 17 states that share international land border with neighbouring countries.  Table 1 shows the state-wise number of blocks and districts covered under BADP.

Table 1: BADP coverage

States	Number of Districts	Number of Blocks
Arunachal Pradesh	12	38
Jammu & Kashmir	11	44
West Bengal	9	65
Bihar	7	34
Assam	7	28
Uttar Pradesh	7	21
Mizoram	6	16
Meghalaya	5	10
Uttarakhand	5	9
Tripura	4	25
Punjab	4	19
Rajasthan	4	14
Nagaland	4	7
Sikkim	3	9
Gujarat	3	8
Manipur	3	8
Himachal Pradesh	2	3
Total	96	358

(Source: Rajya Sabha) Let us now look at the funds released and utilised by the states for the last three years. Table 2: BADP Funds Released And Utilised

States	2011-2012*		2010-2011		2009-2010
	Amount released/ utilised	% of amount utilised	Amount released/ Utilised	% of amount utilised	Amount released/ utilised	% of Amount utilised
Jammu & Kashmir	124.62/106.31	85.30	107.00/103.84	97.04	98.78/ 97.98	99.19
West Bengal	135.63/51.95	38.30	77.91/62.03	79.61	62.22/62.22	100
Rajasthan	115.09/NA	-	86.96/77.86	89.53	92.96/92.96	100
Arunachal Pradesh	154.33/26.61	17.24	66.90/58.26	87.08	66.47/66.47	100
Tripura	96.35/32.68	33.91	35.79/35.18	98.29	30.06/30.06	100
Uttar Pradesh	48.76/26.69	54.73	33.65/33.65	100	29.95/29.95	100
Bihar	55.77/20.36	36.50	31.96/31.96	100	36.60/36.60	100
Gujarat	36.17/19.65	54.32	28.40/28.40	100	32.69/27.22	83.26
Uttarakhand	32.98/18.65	56.54	24.61/21.82	88.66	21.78/21.78	100
Punjab	32.92/9.47	28.76	22.25/21.30	95.73	29.78/29.78	100
Mizoram	38.40	-	29.30/29.30	100	24.94/24.94	100
Assam	19.80/9.26	46.76	48.00/23.56	49.08	23.95/17.15	71.60
Nagaland	20.15	-	25.00/25.00	100	19.50/19.50	100
Meghalaya	31.40/5.59	17.80	22.02/22.02	100	16.47/16.47	100
Manipur	20.00/8.17	40.85	18.43/12.47	67.66	20.86/20.86	100
Sikkim	20.85/7.50	35.97	20.00/13.37	66.85	15.21/15.21	100
Himachal Pradesh	20.00	-	12.80/12.80	100	12.76/12.76	100
Total	1,003.22/342.89	34.17	690.98/612.82	88.69	634.98/621.91	97.94

(Amount in Rs crore;  * As on 31^st August, 2012) Jammu & Kashmir has utilised Rs 308 crore during the last three financial years. However, the percentage of funds utilised has declined every year. While West Bengal utilised Rs 176 crore, it is followed by Rajasthan with utilisation of Rs 171 crore. Rajasthan has not reported the utilisation of BADP funds in 2011-12. So, where is the money being spent in the border areas? The top five sectors are roads, social sector, education, agriculture and security.

Table 3: Roads Top Spending List

States	Total Utilisation	Roads	Social Sector	Education	Agriculture	Security
Arunachal Pradesh	264.46	131.75	24.80	52.46	42.59	12.86
West Bengal	261.23	195.95	10.83	22.38	11.54	20.53
Jammu & Kashmir	211.68	116.04	47.45	12.74	20.95	14.50
Rajasthan	205.4	69.43	44.97	39.21	23.81	27.98
Tripura	148.85	90.84	14.51	24.54	8.66	10.30
Bihar	117.71	79.02	17.06	8.46	1.94	11.23
Uttar Pradesh	100.82	75.86	11.94	3.44	5.25	4.33
Gujarat	89.65	35.12	12.44	10.55	23.02	8.52
Assam	89.89	59.88	10.20	8.46	1.94	11.23
Punjab	83.40	57.23	10.46	6.82	1.88	7.01
Uttarakhand	75.90	42.78	14.19	9.08	5.55	4.30
Mizoram	72.74	42.51	1.48	15.77	8.40	4.58
Meghalaya	67.51	44.84	8.73	8.34	2.51	3.09
Manipur	56.28	32.12	8.81	4.61	7.66	3.08
Sikkim	51.04	30.08	7.68	4.77	7.21	1.30
Nagaland	49.76	25.05	11.64	5.23	7.84	-
Himachal Pradesh	31.29	11.57	5.45	5.87	4.71	3.69
Total and percentages	1,978 (100)	1,140 (57.63)	262 (13.24)	243 (12.28)	185 (9.35)	149 (7.53)

(Amount in Rs crore) Construction and strengthening of roads, culverts and bridges in the border districts amounted to Rs 1,140 crore in the last three years. So, nearly 58% of BADP funds has been utilised in the roads sector. West Bengal spent the highest amount of Rs 196 crore followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir with Rs 131 crore and 116 crore, respectively. Jammu & Kashmir leads in terms of allocating funds (Rs. 47.45 crore) for developing the social sector followed by Rajasthan utilising Rs. 44.97 crore. In the North East, Arunachal Pradesh leads by utilising Rs. 24.80 crore. Projects taken up under the social sector are construction of community centres, anganwadis, rural sanitation blocks, community halls, skill upgradation of artisans and weavers and construction of common shelters for the elderly and/or physically challenged. Rajasthan, which shares its border with Pakistan, utilised the highest amount of Rs 27.98 crore for strengthening its security. West Bengal, which shares its border with Bangladesh, utilised Rs. 20.53 crore. Overall, Rs. 149 crore has been spent on strengthening security of the border areas. Given the difficult terrain and complex socio-economic situation along the borders, effective development of border areas is a challenging task.  Equally, there is much scope to improve the levels of education, boosting agriculture and augmenting the security of the border areas.