VILLAGE
DEFENCE COMMITTEE
News:
What are Village Defence
Committees, which J&K locals want revived amid militant attacks
What's
in the news?
●
After militants killed six people in two
days in the Upper Dangri village of Jammu and Kashmir, the locals have demanded
that they be provided weapons to take on attackers. Responding to the demands,
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on January 2 assured the people that they would get a
Village Defence Committee (VDC) on the lines of those in Doda district.
Village
Defence Committee:
●
The VDCs were first formed in the
erstwhile Doda district (now
Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts) in mid
1990s as a force multiplier against
militant attacks.
●
The then Jammu and Kashmir administration
decided to provide residents of remote hilly villages with weapons and give
them arms training to defend themselves.
Village
Defence Guards:
●
The VDCs have now been renamed as Village
Defence Guards (VDG).
●
The new scheme to set up VDGs in
vulnerable areas of J&K was approved by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in March last year.
●
Like a VDC member, each VDG will be provided a gun and 100 rounds of ammunition.
Features:
●
Under the new scheme, the persons leading
the VDGs will be paid Rs 4,500 per month
by the government, while others will get Rs 4,000 each.
●
In the VDCs, only the Special Police
Officers (SPOs) leading them were provided a remuneration of Rs 1,500 monthly.
●
The
SPOs, the lowest rank in the J&K Police, used to be retired army, para
military or police personnel.
Who
will have control over the VDGs?
●
The VDGs will function under the direction
of the SP/SSP of the district concerned.
What
was the composition of VDCs?
●
A minimum of 10-15 ex-servicemen,
ex-policemen and able-bodied local youth were enrolled in each VDC on a
voluntary basis.
●
On an average, at least five of them were
provided .303 rifles and 100 rounds each, through the district Superintendent
of Police.
●
The allotment of weapons could go up
depending on the credentials of the volunteers, total population of a village
and its security requirements, as assessed by the district magistrate and SSP
concerned.
Need
for VDC and VDG:
●
Protect the civilians from the militancy.
●
Reduce the fear factor among civilians.
●
Make civilians themselves protective.
●
Both VDG and VDC is a group of civilians
provided guns and ammunition to tackle militants in case of attack until the
arrival of security forces.