India's Border Area Development Programme (BADP) not only provides comprehensive approach to Border Management, but also focuses on socio-economic development of the people living in border areas. Critically discuss the success and failures of this programme with respect to India's borders on eastern and western front.

The Border Area Development Programme (BADP) was introduced in the 1993-94 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. In the initial years, the programme was implemented in the Western Border States. Later the ambit of the programme was extended to the Eastern States that shared a border with Bangladesh. Recently, a study was conducted to see the impact of the programme. It is believed that 80% inhabitant of the States were not satisfied with the impact of BADP. In most of the North-Eastern States, a large proportion of the local people faced inadequate stock of infrastructure facilities. With respect to participation of women in BADP programme, Himachal Pradesh has achieved maximum success. However, convergence of BADP with other schemes is not very successful. It is noted that until and unless an agency is established to monitor and regulate the flow of funds, the convergence of BADP with other schemes is not feasible. The failures of the scheme are due inadequate deployment of staff, lack of awareness of the programme, allocation of inadequate funds and also inadequate involvement of panchayat samitis.

Topics: GS-III: Security Challenges and Their Management in Border Areas