Territorial Army

• Defence minister has recently approved posting of Women Officers of the Territorial Army along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

About Territorial Army

• The Territorial Army (TA) was raised by the British in 1920 through Indian Territorial Act of 1920 and it was organized into two wings namely – ‘The Auxiliary Force’ for Europeans & Anglo-Indians and ‘The Indian Territorial Force’ for Indian Volunteers.
• Post-independence, India’s first Governor General Shri C Rajagopalachari formally inaugurated the Indian Territorial Army on October 9^th in 1949.
• It is an organization where volunteers apply for a short period of training every year, so as to be ready to tackle any emergent situation or to serve for the defence of India.
• Also known as the ‘Terriers’, it is considered the second line of national defence after the regular Army.
• The Territorial Army is part of regular Army and its present role is to relieve the Regular Army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or the Security of the Country is threatened and to provide units for Regulars Army as and when required.
• Any citizen between the age of 18-42 years can be a part of the service.
• The pensionable age for a soldier below officer’s rank in the TA is the same as that of a regular soldier — 15 years.
• Operations– The TA units were actively involved in operations during the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars.
• The motto of the Territorial Army of India is ‘Savdhani Va Shoorta’e Vigilance and Valour.