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• Recently Lt Governor Manoj Sinha assured the Jammu and Kashmir people that they would get a Village Defence Committee (VDC).
  • People in Jammu and Kashmir are demanding that in the background of increasing militant attacks, they must be provided weapons to take on attackers.

Village Defence Committee (VDC):

• The VDCs were first formed in the mid-1990s to defend people against militant attacks.
  • The then Jammu and Kashmir administrations had decided to provide residents of remote hilly villages with weapons and give them arms training to defend their people and village.
• The VDCs have now been renamed as the ‘Village Defence Guards (VDG)’.
  • It is set up in vulnerable areas of J&K and was approved by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • Like a VDC member, each VDG will be provided with a gun and 100 rounds of ammunition.
• It is a group of civilians provided with guns and ammunition to tackle militants in case of attack until the arrival of security forces.
  • The persons leading the VDGs will be paid Rs 4,500 per month by the government, while others will get Rs 4,000 each.
• The VDGs will function under the direction of the SP/SSP of the district concerned.
• Composition of VDCs
  • A minimum of 10-15 ex-servicemen, ex-policemen and able-bodied local youth were enrolled in each VDC voluntarily.
• The VDCs also faced allegations of human rights violations and other crimes, including murder, rape and extortion.

Key facts about Jammu and Kashmir :

• Jammu and Kashmir is home to several valleys such as the Kashmir Valley, Tawi Valley, Chenab Valley, Poonch Valley, Sind Valley and Lidder Valley.
• The Himalayas divide the Kashmir valley from the Tibetan plateau while the Pir Panjal range, which encloses the valley from the west and the south, separates it from the Punjab Plain of the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• The Jhelum River is the major Himalayan river which flows through the Kashmir valley. The Tawi, Ravi and Chenab are the other important rivers flowing through the region.
• The union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is divided into 20 districts and consists of two divisions: the Jammu Division and the Kashmir Division.
• Important Tribes; Gujjar, Bakerwal, and Gaddi.
• The most widely spoken language in Jammu and Kashmir is Kashmiri, the mother tongue of 52.72% of the population according to the 2011 census. The second most spoken language is Dogri, spoken by 20% of the population.
• According to the 2011 census, the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir was 67.17%.

Must Read: https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/narco-terrorism-an-emerging-security-threat-in-jammu-and-kashmir

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-politics/what-are-village-defence-committees-which-jk-locals-want-revived-8363980/

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