Uttarakhand’s Mana village, which was previously known as the 'last Indian village,' will now be known as the ‘first Indian village’. On Monday, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) placed a signboard at the threshold of the border village, proclaiming Mana's revamped status.

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.

Vibrant Village Programme

The Vibrant Villages Programme will assist in enhancing the standard of living for those residing in designated border communities. It aims to develop 2967 villages in 46 blocks in 19 districts bordering on the north, including Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the UT of Ladakh.