JAMMU: Around 150 Village Defence Group (VDG) members, including women volunteers, from 17 remote villages along the Doda–Chamba border are undergoing intensive training in handling automatic rifles, minor tactics, self-defence, bunker construction and repelling enemy attacks, officials said.
The villages are located in forested and mountainous areas where security forces are currently carrying out extensive search operations following suspected terrorist movement.
The training programme is being conducted at Shingini panchayat in Bhalessa, about 90 kilometres from the Doda district headquarters, with the objective of equipping volunteers to safeguard their villages and serve as the first line of defence in vulnerable areas.
An official said the initiative complements ongoing operations by the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and paramilitary forces in the higher reaches to track down and neutralise terrorists who had infiltrated the Chenab Valley, particularly the Doda and Kishtwar districts, in recent years.
Officials said VDG members have welcomed both the training and the recent upgradation of their weaponry. They expressed gratitude to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the supply of self-loading rifles (SLRs), which replaced the older .303 rifles, significantly boosting their confidence.
“This is a major programme bringing together members from 17 Village Defence Groups. We are being trained in weapon handling, bunker construction and self-defence. Receiving such training at our doorstep is highly appreciable,” said Surinder Singh, a VDG member from Shingini village.
Singh urged the government to provide more automatic weapons to VDG members, recalling frequent terror attacks in the region during the early 1990s.
Another VDG member, Rajesh Kumar Thakur from Gauala village, said the training imparted by the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police has instilled a renewed sense of confidence among volunteers.
“Earlier, we only had .303 rifles. After receiving automatic weapons, our confidence has increased, and we now feel capable of defending our villages,” he said.
Thakur also demanded that unpaid VDG members be given an honorarium, adding that the construction of bunkers in villages has helped alleviate fear among residents.
Security officials said strengthening Village Defence Groups, along with sustained operations in higher reaches, is part of a multi-layered security strategy aimed at denying terrorists any local support base and ensuring long-term peace in the region.
