Village Defence Committees

January 6, 2023

After militants killed six people in two days in the Upper Dangri village of Jammu and Kashmir this Sunday and Monday, 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. The same was echoed by Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh, who visited the village, on the outskirts of Rajouri town, after the twin attacks.

What is a VDC?

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.

How are Village Defence Guards (VDG) different from VDCs?

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. Both VDG and VDC are groups of civilians provided guns and ammunition to tackle militants in case of attack until the arrival of security forces.

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, paramilitary, or police personnel. The VDGs, officials said, 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 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, the total population of a village, and its security requirements, as assessed by the district magistrate and SSP concerned.

Why was the need to set up VDCs felt?

The militancy that began in Kashmir in the early 1990s had spread to the adjoining Doda district by mid 1990s. The demand for arming the civilian population first arose after the massacre of 13 people in Kishtwar in 1993. As the killings increased, prompting the migration of Hindus from villages to nearby towns, the Home Ministry in 1995 decided to set up the VDCs to stop this exodus, coming after Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee the state in the early 1990s.

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