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Defence & Security
Mahesh

11/01/23 08:29 AM IST

Village Defence Guards

In News
  • The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will provide arms training to village defence guards or VDGs in Jammu and Kashmir to counter any terror attack in their areas.
About VDGs
  • The Village Defence Committees (VDCs) were first set up in 1995.
  • The idea to set up VDCs was rooted in the arming of ex-service personnel in 1965 and 1971 wars to check Pakistani infiltration and espionage.
  • The VDCs were formed in Jammu region of J&K to offer self-defence capabilities to villagers in the face of looming terrorist threats.
  • Under the scheme, each VDC used to have a Special Police Officer (SPO) as its in-charge and there were 10-15 other volunteer members, mostly ex-service personnel.
  • They were given .303 rifles and ammunition. The SPO in charge of the VDC was paid whereas the rest were volunteers.
  • One key reason for the formation of VDC in the 1990s was to resolve the insecurity among the minority Hindus in J&K, who had already faced forced displacement earlier in 1990 from the Kashmir Valley due to terrorism.
  • In 2020, the policy of Village Defence Committees was revamped and Village Defence Groups were introduced, members of whom are called Village Defence Guards (VDGs).
  • Unlike VDCs where only SPOs were paid, all VDGs are paid.
  • In more vulnerable areas, the order stated that persons (VI category) who shall be leading/ coordinating the VDG would be paid ₹4,500 per month and other persons (V2 category) who are members of these VDGs on a voluntary basis will be paid a uniform rate of ₹4,000 per month.
Source- Indian Express

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