J-K: Village Defence Committee members celebrate receiving 'permanent status' under VDGS-22
Aug 16, 2022
Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 16 : The members of the Village Defence Committe in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch celebrated receiving 'permanent status' under the Village Defence Guards Scheme (VDGS).
The VDGS-2022 came into effect from Monday, a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned approval for its creation in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We express our gratitude to PM Modi for the scheme. We suffered a lot and tackled militancy at the local level where Army could not reach," expressed villagers.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, for showing their constant concern for the people of the Union Territory.
Notably, Singh is also a resident of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Thanks PM Sh @NarendraModi for your constant concern for #JammuAndKashmir. Huge relief from the Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Sh @AmitShah. Sanction accorded to Village Defence Guards Scheme (VDGS) 2022 for Jammu and Kashmir," Singh had tweeted.
Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned the approval for the creation of the Village Defence Guard Scheme - 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
"The above order vides Government Order No. 287-Home of 2022 dated August 14, 2022 has been made in reference to order of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh in WP(C) 3262/2019 titled Kewal Krishan and Ors V. State of J&K and Ors with clubbed matters and communication no. F.No. 17012/13/2021-S(JKL) dated March 2nd, 2022 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI, Department of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs," read the order copy.
Earlier, this scheme was known as Village Defence Committe in which volunteers from villages were trained by the Indian Army and Police. Under this scheme, rifles were provided to VDC's and they protected their villages from terrorist attacks and terror-related activities specially the vulnerable villages in mountainous areas of the Jammu region. VDC members had helped Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in the fight against Terrorism.
There was long demand by the VDC members that this committee should be more organized and there should be some decisions on their payments. These members had also met Home Minister Amit Shah.
