The Ansar-VDP organisation consists of three basic components.

A)     Ansar Bahini (Ansar force commonly known as sadharon Ansar or normal Ansar).

B)      Battalion Ansar

C)      Village Defence Party

Ansar Bahini

Ansar Bahini was raised on 12 February 1948 to help improve the law and order situation. In 1971 most of the members of this Bahini took part in the War of Liberation. The historical guard of honour to the first government of Bangladesh on 17 April 1971 at Mujibnagar was presented by the members of this Bahini. A total of 9 officers and 635 Ansar members sacrificed their lives for Bangladesh’s independence. Among them one received the gallantry award “Bir Bikram” and two others received “Bir Protik”. Language martyr Abdul Jabbar was a member of this force. Ansar Bahini was re-organised in 1972. Now, it is having its organisation up to Union level. Every Upazila is having a company of 100 men and a Female Platoon of 32 members and every Union is having a platoon of 32 persons.

The main responsibilities of Ansar Bahini as contained in Ansar Bahini Act 1995 (Act No. 3 of 1995) are:

A)      To assist the government or any organisation of the government in matters/works related to public security.

B)      To participate in any other work related to public security.

C)      To participate in any work related to public welfare for socio-economic development of the country.

D)     To assist Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, BDR, Police and Battalion Ansar as and when directed by the government.

Battalion Ansar

Battalion Ansar was raised in line with the Armed Police Battalions in 1976 to augment the strength of the security forces. Its main job is to assist the armed forces and other law enforcing agencies. At present, there are 35 Male and 01 Female Ansar Battalions deployed all over the country. Bulks of the Battalion Ansars are deployed in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) for Counter Insurgency Operation (CIO). One male and one Female Ansar Battalion will be raised in the current year.

The main responsibilities of Battalion Ansar as contained in Battalion Ansar Act 1995 (Act No. 4 of 1995) are:

A)     To assist the government or any organization under the government in maintaining public security.

B)       To participate in any work related to public welfare for development of socio-economic condition of the country.

C)       To participate in disaster management.

D)     To participate in any other work as directed by the government.

E)      To assist Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, BDR and Police as and when directed by the government.

Village Defence Party

To improve law and order situation and the socio-economic condition of the rural masses, VDP was raised on 5th January 1976. There is one male and one female platoon in every village. There is one male and one female Union Leader in each Union. Total strength of VDP is about 5.6 million of which 50% are women. The urban version of VDP is called the Town Defence Party or TDP. There are one male and one female TDP platoon in each ‘ward’ of every Pouroshava/Metropolitan City. The VDP and TDP members are employed in socio-economic development income generating activities and in various awareness programmes.

The main responsibilities of VDP as contained in VDP Act 1995 (Act No. 5 of 1995) are:

A)     To participate in work related to public welfare for development of socio-economic condition of the country.

B)      To assist in matters/works related to maintenance of law and order situation and public security.

C)      To perform any other duty, from time to time, as directed by the government.

Organisation

There are 36 regular Ansar battalions have been raised including one full fledged Female Battalion. Besides, the Bahini has two other components - about 300,000 strong ‘Sadharon’ Ansars readily available for embodiment and deployment in a short notice; and the other is about 5.6 million strong volunteers of community based VDP. These able bodied members both male and female from the community can easily be converted into an effective resistance force against any aggressor.

Battalion: 416 personnel

Battalion HQ: 20 personnel

Ansar Company: 99 personnel

Company HQ: 12 personnel

Platoon: 29 personnel

Platoon HQ: 02 personnel

Section: 09 personnel

Number of Units

Ansar Battalion: 36

Upazila/Thana Ansar Company: 507

Upazila/Thana Female Ansar Platoon: 507

Union Ansar Platoon: 4,485

Ward Ansar Platoon: 2,058

Male VDP Platoon: 87,319

Female VDP Platoon: 87,319

Male TDP Platoon: 718

Female TDP Platoon: 681