Itanagar, Apr 30 (PTI) The Arunachal Pradesh government has taken up three villages along the India-China border as a pilot initiative for developing them as model villages, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said here on Saturday.The three villages --Kaho, Kibithoo, and Meshai -- have been taken up with a focus on 3Cs - Cluster-Convergence-Community, Mein said. The deputy chief minister was addressing a panel discussion here on the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence.The state government had earmarked Rs 30 crore for the development of these villages in the 2021-22 budget, he said. “We will continue to work for comprehensive development of border villages by providing them good road connectivity, power, water supply, health, and education,” Mein said.It is extremely important that government takes up comprehensive development of the border areas by not only filling the infrastructural gaps but also by improving public service delivery in the remotest corners, the deputy chief minister said.“We need to focus on income-generating activities for the people residing in the tough border areas and ensure that all government programmes reach the last man,” he said.Mein, who also holds the power and hydropower portfolios, said that the state government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 16 crore for providing 6,000 street lights in 700 border villages. “Recently, the state government also took up solar electrification of eight remote villages at Tali circle in Kra Daadi district in partnership with Sri Sri Rural Development Trust,” he said. To meet the power requirements of the people and armed forces residing in border areas, the government has launched the ‘Golden Jubilee Border Village Illumination Programme’ with a mission to construct 50 micro-hydel projects in remote border villages.In the first phase, the government has sanctioned Rs 50 crore for 17 projects covering 218 villages. Pointing out that the state witnessed a rapid pace of development, Mein said it is prudent to see that the pace of development should not lead to the loss of culture and cultural identities. “The main challenge about tribal welfare has been maintaining a robust pace of development in the modern sense while preserving its distinctive rich tribal cultural heritage. While the pace of development should not be at the cost of loss of culture, we just cannot ignore the desire for development,” he said. PTI UPL SBN MM MM MM