Roles and Responsibilities of Territorial Army (TA)

BJP MP Anurag Thakur has been recently commissioned into the Territorial Army. Many more famous personalities like M S Dhoni and Kapil Dev are already a part of it. Its motto is Savdhani Va Shoorta (Vigilance and Valour) and its personnel have participated in 1962 India-China War; 1965 Indo-Pak war; 1971 Indo-Pakistani War; Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka; OP RAKSHAK in Punjab & J&K and OP RHINO / OP BAJRANG in the North East. Some basic information about Territorial Army is given here:

What is a territorial army (TA)?

Territorial Army is a military force which can be mobilised at the time of emergencies. The members of TA are volunteers already employed in civil professions but receive military training for a few days in a year. Territorial Army came into existence by passing the Territorial Army Act in 1948 and has its origins form the Territorial Army raised by the British in 1920 through the Indian Territorial Act, 1920. During the British times, the TA was grouped into two: “The Auxiliary Force’ for Europeans and Anglo-Indians and ‘The Indian territorial Force’ for Indian volunteers. After independence, it was inaugurated on October 9, 1949 by C Rajagopalachari.

What is the role of Territorial Army (TA)?

The role of TA is to relieve the regular army from static duties and help civil administration to cope up with natural calamities. When the security of the country is threatened the TA is tasked to maintain essential services. It also provides units for the regular army when needed. Currently, the TA has a strength of approximately 40,000 first line soldiers and another 160,000 second line troops. The personnel of TA serve in units like Railways, IOC and ONGC, telecommunications, and General Hospital. They also serve in non-departmental TA units of Infantry (TA) and Ecological (TA) affiliated to various infantry regiments in the Army.

What are the eligibility criteria for the personnel belonging to the TA and how the training is organized?

Any graduate between the age group of 18 and 42 years are eligible to apply to the advertisements for recruiting into TA published twice a year. The candidates has to clear a preliminary interview board after which they have to go through SSB interview, Medical Board and Police verification before being commissioned into the Territorial Army. For the non-departmental TA, training is provided at urban and provincial systems. A minimum of 30 days of training which is extendable to a maximum of 60 days including a camp of 14 days has to be completed by the personnel of TA every year. Four hours of training constitute a single day of training. Similarly, all officers are mandatorily required to undergo 10 weeks of post-commission training within the time span of 2 years of their commissioning.

What are the eligibility criteria for honorary commissioning in to TA?

MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev were granted honorary commission into TA to act as brand ambassadors to the Army. This is a decorative role. Others like former Union Minister K P Singh Deo, former MP Manvendra Singh, former Union Minister Sachin Pilot and the current BJP MP Anurag Thakur entered into TA after undergoing through the due process.

What are the benefits the TA personnel are entitled to?

They are entitled to all the benefits which are applicable to regular army personnel like medical care during embodiment of training as well during war, gratuity, pension and other benefits depending upon the pre-defined criterias. The personnel of TA are allowed to wear military uniform only during certain ceremonies and occasions like recruitments/training, military parades as spectators and other similar functions in which they are required to wear military uniform.