J&K government has accorded sanction to the creation of the Village Defence Guards Scheme (VDGS)-2022 to “prevent the incidents of terrorist acts inspired and supported from across the border and to boost the security grid in the Union Territory.”
The Scheme has come into operation with effect from August 15, 2022 and will have prospective effect.
The aim of the Village Defence Guards Scheme (VDGs) is to organize a small group of volunteer armed civilians in the identified villages along the borders as well as in-depth areas of the Jammu division, with a view to instill sense of self protection and ensure the safety and security of such villages, infrastructural installations in and around them and to check the trans-border movement.
Under the Scheme, the Village Defence Guards would be charged with the responsibility of protecting community installations and infrastructure facilities within the defined areas of their village and the Village Defence Guards would conduct night and day patrolling in a systematic manner.
The Village Defence Groups constituted in pursuance of the Government Order No.Home-293 of 1995, dated September 30, 1995, over the years successfully ensured the safety and security of the identified vulnerable villages and supplemented the efforts of the security forces in safeguarding the internal security.
Keeping in view the security scenario prevailing in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, more specifically, in the areas where the earlier Scheme was in operation, a need was felt to revise the existing scheme with a view to prevent the incidents of terrorist acts inspired and supported from across the border and to boost the security grid in the Union Territory.
Under the revised Scheme, the areas or villages, where the earlier Scheme was in operation will be considered as “more vulnerable areas” for the purpose of the Scheme and the arrangements made pursuant to the earlier scheme will now be governed by the instant Scheme.