PM regularly reviewing security situation in Jammu region: Jitendra Singh

Jammu, Jul 19 (PTI) Amid a rise in terror incidents in the Jammu region over the past few few weeks, Union Minister Jitendra Singh Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is regularly reviewing the security situation and a new strategy has been adopted to neutralise terrorists.

Singh said village defence guards (VDGs), which have played a crucial role in counter-terrorism efforts, will be revived in the region.

The heightened militancy in the region over the past one-and-a-half months has left 24 people, including 10 security personnel, dead and 56 injured. The Doda district reported three terror incidents in the past as many days in which four army personnel, including a Captain, were killed.

“Some incidents that took place (in Doda district) recently, the government has taken serious action (to address terrorism). The prime minister himself is regularly reviewing the situation, apart from armed forces and paramilitary forces,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Kishtwar.

A new strategy to combat terrorists has been implemented but the details cannot be disclosed publicly, he said.

Singh, who inaugurated a sanitary napkin manufacturing unit in the mountainous district, emphasized that not only are VDGs being reinstated but new units are also being considered for deployment in sensitive areas.

“We are seriously considering the revival of VDGs and potentially establishing new units in sensitive areas,” he said.

The minister said the VDGs will be equipped with modern weapons, including self-loading rifles (SLRs). “The government is committed to this as VDGs have played a commendable role in combating terrorism in the region,” he added.

Singh said the sanitary pads manufacturing unit was opened under the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative to promote natural and sanitary hygiene among women and girls in remote areas of the region.

He also said that Kishtwar is expected to generate 8,000 megawatts of electricity in the near future. Kishtwar will also have an airstrip to connect it with the rest of the country, he said.