The Village Defence Party (VDPs) is a

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

force in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, organised in distinct units at the level of individual villages and urban towns. It is administered by the

Home Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

of the central

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

. Although domestic security is its main objective, the Village Defence Parties are also specifically charged with working on village development and welfare schemes.

History

The Village Defence Party system was created by

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981. He was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup d ...

, the late

President of Bangladesh The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...

in 1976 as part of his "self-sufficient village government plan." The equivalent of the VDP for small towns is the "Town Defence Party." After Zia's assassination in 1981, the VDPs became less prominent, but its role in local development was re-emphasized as part of President

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...

's decentralisation policy. In 1988, the total numbers participating in VDPs across the nation stood at 10 million.

Organisation

The current strength of the Village Defence Parties is 5.6 million, of whom 50 percent are women. Each VDP unit is uniquely organised with equal numbers of men and women. For every village, there is one

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

of men and a platoon of women. Similarly, there is one platoon of men and another of women in every ward of metropolitan cities in Bangladesh. At union level command channel, there is one male and one female Union Leader in each Union. The director general of the Bangladesh Ansar is also the chief of the Village Defence Party. The post is currently held by Major General AKM Aminul Haque.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Law enforcement in Bangladesh 1976 establishments in Bangladesh