<span style="color: #222222;">In Jammu and Kashmir, for the first time, the ex-servicemen who are Village Defence Committee (VDC) members are being equipped with Self Loading Rifles (SLRs). AIR Jammu Correspondent reports that these ex-servicemen, mostly who had served in Army, had volunteered themselves to be a part of VDCs and to be equipped with SLRs. <br />''<br />''Earlier, all the VDC members in Rajouri district were equipped with 303 rifles which are single bullet loading weapons and having 10 bullets in magazine. The rifle is considered powerful in terms of damage and long range but is considered outdated in terms of reloading, firing time and number of bullets. Worth to mention, the demand for providing new weapons to VDC members had gained momentum in last few years but Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha promised providing new weapons to ex-servicemen VDC members after he visited Dhangri village last Monday after the recent terror attacks that claimed 7 lives. Around 40 ex-servicemen living in the area identified by panchayat level committee were provided SLRs alongwith 100 bullets to each member.</span><br />