These recommendations have reportedly been made by E N Ram Mohan, Director General of the Border Security Force to the Union Government, after his visit to the areas where 22 Hindus were gunned down on the night of February 20-21. He has asked the government to raise a village defence committee (VDC) in each village and arm its members with the latest rifles and more importantly, with powerful wireless sets.

The mercenaries, who enjoy an advantageous position in the hilly and remote terrain, had reportedly set for themselves the target of ``eliminating atleast 30 to 40 Hindus on the visit of A B Vajpayee to Pakistan at the cost of Kashmir's jehad''. Militants had struck despite an alert being sounded in the area and the killing of four mercenaries by BSF troops in an ambush.

Incidentally, one of theslain Pakistani mercenaries, Adnan Junain carried an American driving licence and is presumed to have studied in the United States. The troops killed three more Pakistanis involved in the massacre and recovered arms and motivational literature from them.

The BSF chief has reportedly expressed the troops' inability to prevent such incidents given the ``absolute remoteness and inaccessibility of the area''.

The BSF has at present six battalions deployed in the area but ``even if 20 more were deployed the area could not be made militant-proof'', a Home Ministry source said.

Giving reasons for the ``militants striking at will'', sources said the troops operated in highly inhospitable conditions, which hampered their effectiveness. The entire belt is devoid of roads and troops trek steep hills to patrol the area. ``Even if the troops hear firing in the nearest village, they can reach there only after two to four hours and by then, the militants manage to flee''.

The security forces are offering a viableproposal of protecting Hindus by guarding residents of several smaller hamlets at a central point in makeshift accommodations. The villagers could return to work at the break of dawn and security forces would remain deployed at the ridges to offer them a cover.

Such a proposal had earlier been shelved by the government on the pretext that financial help from the Centre was needed for this. The proposal for the VDCs is also unlikely to find favour from the State Government, which is under severe pressure to disband VDCs in Doda.

The Jammu and Kashmir Government is also under pressure from its legislators, who allege the ``all-Hindu composition of the VDCs are communalising the situation''.