Srinagar, June 6 : Village Defence Committee (VDC) members in Jammu and Kashmirâ??s Doda district have been given specialised training in handling automatic weapons and techniques of guerrilla warfare.

VDC members of Doda district have expressed confidence in tackling any security challenge following specialized training in handling automatic weapons and guerrilla warfare techniques, officials said on Saturday.

As part of efforts to strengthen security in far-flung border villages, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Doda Police conducted a training programme for VDC members from villages adjoining Himachal Pradeshâ??s Chamba district.

A police spokesperson said the initiative was aimed at enhancing internal security and improving the preparedness of local defence volunteers to effectively counter possible terrorist activities in vulnerable areas.

The training, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (Operations), Amit Kumar, focussed on the handling of Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs) recently issued to VDC members and imparted skills related to guerrilla warfare.

The programme was held at Lower Bheja village and attended by VDC members from Katyara, Sharekhi, Upper Bheja, Bharai, Butla and Sehad villages.

Around 150 VDC members, including two women volunteers from the remote Athkhar Valley of Bhaderwah, participated in the training session, he said.

Not only male members, but female members of the VDCs have shown eagerness in getting training to handle automatic weapons in order to protect themselves and their families from terrorists.

VDC members said they had been assisting security forces in anti-terror operations since 1997 and remained committed to safeguarding their villages and maintaining the countryâ??s sovereignty. Officials said the specialized training programme is part of a broader strategy to strengthen grassroots counter-terrorism preparedness in Doda district.

The initiative equips local volunteers with combat skills, weapon handling expertise and tactical knowledge to support security forces in remote areas. Security officials said the strengthening of VDCs, coupled with sustained anti-terror operations in higher reaches, forms a multi-layered security framework aimed at preventing terrorist infiltration, denying support networks and ensuring lasting peace in the region.

In Jammu and Kashmir, VDCs are community-based self-defense groups first established in the mid-1990s to protect remote and vulnerable areas against militant attacks. They act as a force multiplier for formal security forces.

VDCs were first formed in 1995 in the erstwhile Doda district (now Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban), VDCs provided arms and training to local residents, largely ex-servicemen, to defend their villages.

Following the January 2023 terror attacks in Rajouri, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs revamped and rechristened these units as Village Defence Guards (VDGs).

Each VDG/VDC is provided with a gun and 100 rounds of ammunition. Under the revamped VDG policy, members receive fixed, equal monthly remuneration directly credited to their bank accounts, resolving historical salary disputes.

They are heavily concentrated in border and hilly terrains across the Jammu division, particularly in districts like Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar, and Doda.

The idea of forming VDGs did not pick up in the Valley and they have been restricted to various remote areas of Jammu division only.

/IANS