Indian Territorial Army

The Territorial Army (TA) of India is an auxiliary military organisation of part-time volunteers that provides support service to the Indian Army. It is composed of officers, junior commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and other personnel holding ranks same as Indian Army, who also have civilian occupations. The role of TA is to "relieve the regular army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services" and to "provide units for regular army as and when required".

The TA was constituted by the Territorial Army Act of 1948 in the Dominion of India as a successor to the Indian Defence Force (1917 – 1920) and Indian Territorial Force (1920 – 1948). It is commanded by a three-star ranking Director General of Territorial Army (a Lieutenant General-ranking officer deputed from Indian Army) and headed by the Chief of Defence Staff under the Department of Military Affairs of the Ministry of Defence. The TA has two units—departmental unit ( PSU and Indian Railway employees, and ex-servicemen) and non-departmental unit (privately employed citizens).

The TA has participated in all wars since India's independence, including Sino-Indian War of 1962, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the Kargil War. The TA have also taken part in Operation Pawan (1987) in Sri Lanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, Operation Rhino (1991) and Operation Bajrang (1990 – 1991) in Northeast India, and Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir.

Employment in mainstay civilian professions or self-employment is a pre-requisite for joining. Members has to undergo annual mandatory paid service for two months (counted as one year). TA stresses it "does not provide full time career", although there is no restriction. Soldiers often prefer to remain embodied for longer periods. TA personnel are entitled to all benefits applicable to the Indian Army, except gratuity and pension which are based on number of actual years served.

History

When the English East India Company reached Surat in 1612, they created a body of part-time soldiers from among the employees of the company to defend their commercial interests. In 1687, they created Companie of Trained Bands by the order of the Governor and Council of Fort St. George, a part-time force based in Madras created from among the employees of the company to defend against the rival French East India Company and native princely states. They also participated in the victorious Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757. Many of its part-time units were converted into regular and irregular forces.

After the events of 1857, the British Crown took over Indian administration from the Company and existing part-time forces were re-organised, creating the Volunteer Force (VFI) by an act of law. With the expansion of British rule in India, full-time regular forces gained prominence. The VFI was engaged in military conflicts in both India and abroad, including the Second Boer War and the First World War. The VFI was later re-organised and replaced by the Indian Defence Force (IDF).

The IDF, incorporating Europeans and Indians in separate sections, was formed by the British on 9 October 1917. It was established in order to release regular troops from garrison duties during World War I. Indians were volunteers, while Europeans were conscripted. The Indian Defence Force Act 1917 made military service compulsory for all European males (except the clergy) between the ages of 16 and 50 permanently residing in British India (including princely states). Those between 16 and 18 were obliged to undertake training only, while men over 40 had to serve in their local district, but men between 19 and 40 were obliged to serve anywhere required within the country.

The IDF had a youth wing named University Corps (UC) created at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Allahabad universities. The IDF was generally unpopular among British conscripts. In 1920, it was replaced by two separate volunteer organisations—the Auxiliary Force (AFI) for European and Anglo-Indian officers and the Indian Territorial Force (ITF) for Indian other ranks. The UC was re-organised as University Training Corps (UTC) under the ITF, later renamed as University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC). After India's independence, the AFI was disbanded as services no longer required, and the ITF was restructured into newly formed Territorial Army and the UOTC was converted into the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

Post-independence, the Territorial Army Bill was introduced in the Constituent Assembly (the then parliament) on 23 August 1948 and was passed as an act on 1 September and came into force on 10 September. It enabled civilians pursuing other professions to serve part-time in the army. The TA was constituted by re-organising and re-designatong 11 ITF infantry units. The first camp of TA was inaugurated by the first Governor-General of independent India, C. Rajagopalachari, on 9 October 1949. Since then, the annual Territorial Army Day is observed on 9 October. During the India-China conflict in 1959, defence minister V. K. Krishna Menon asked Indians to volunteer for the TA through a radio address.

The Territorial Army initially had various types of units, such as Armoured Regiment (TA), Infantry Battalion (TA), Air Defence (TA), Medical Regiment (TA), Engineers Field Park Coy (TA), Signal Regiment (TA), EME Workshop (TA), Coast Battery (TA), ASC GT Coy (TA), ASC Compo Pl (TA), and AMC Field Ambulances (TA). By 1972, these units were either disbanded or converted to Regular Army, except Infantry Battalions.

Role

The Territorial Army is an integral part of the Indian Army by law. Composition of the Indian Army as defined in the Part I of the Defence Services Regulations states that "the army comprises regular army, regular reserves, and the Territorial Army". Part-time TA personnel may also fall within the definition of regular army when attached to a unit. The Territorial Army Act 1948 states that, for the purpose of sections 128, 130, and 131 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), "all officers, non-commissioned officers and other enrolled persons who have been attached to a unit shall be deemed to be officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers respectively of the Regular Army". This is further complimented in the Army Act, 1950, which defines regular army as "regular army means officers, junior commissioned officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and other enrolled persons who, by their commission, warrant, terms of enrolment or otherwise, are liable to render continuously for a term military service to the ndianUnion in any part of the world, including persons belonging to the Reserve Forces and the Territorial Army when called out on permanent service".

Liabilities of TA personnel, as per TA Act 1948, states that "every officer or enrolled person shall be liable to perform military service: (a) when called out in the prescribed manner to act in support of the civil power or to provide essential guards; (b) when embodied in the prescribed manner for training or for supporting or supplementing the regular forces; and (c) when attached to any regular forces either at his own request or under the prescribed conditions". It also says no personnel has any liability to serve beyond the "limits of India", unless under a General or by a special order of the Government of India.

The concept of the TA was redefined multiple times by TA Review Committee nominated by the Government of India. The first review of 1971 defined it as "... to provide part-time military training to gainfully employed citizens of the nation", second review of 1982 said "... TA should be based on part-time and full-time units and recruitment to be all citizens who fulfil the prescribed standard, while in consonance with the traditional concept, every effort should be made to enroll gainfully employed persons", the third review of 1995 recommended a restructure to make it a tri-service organisation, including the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, named the Indian Territorial Force and pass the new Indian Territorial Force Act.

As per Army Order. 77/1984, the present role of the TA 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 regular army as and when required".

During the time of its inception, TA was well-received by the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force, but the concept of TA subsequently eroded and confined only to some infantry and departmental units of the Indian Army. Former Indian Army colonel and columnist Balwan Singh Nagial wrote that the "expansion of the regular army certainly overshadowed the concept of TA. Instead, it should have happened the other way around, keeping in view the cost-effectiveness of TA". In February 2020, General Bipin Rawat stated that "TAisation of defence forces" is a way forward for reducing the cost of running the military. After the restructuring of the Indian Armed Forces by introducing the Chief of Defence Staff and the Department of Military Affairs in March 2020, the focus of TA expanded to include more operational and intelligence gathering roles in an effort to cut down cost of the Indian Army, nevertheless, the TA was already in a phase of gradual expansion since the past few years.

Activities

Territorial Army units were actively involved in military operations in Sino-Indian War of 1962, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the Kargil War. TA has participated in all wars since independence, subsequently many Air Defence and Artillery units of TA were converted into regular army units. TA have also taken part in Operation Pawan (1987) in Sri Lanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and Operation Rhino (1991) and Operation Bajrang (1990 – 1991) in Northeast India. Departmental units came to the aid of the civil authorities during industrial unrest and natural calamities, most famous being the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake, the 1993 Latur earthquake, and the 1999 Odisha cyclone.

TA, as part of Indian Peace Keeping Force, was involved in peacekeeping activities in Sri Lanka from 29 July 1987 to 24 March 1990. Since early 1990s, units have been actively deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast India, and along India's northern and western borders. As per a 2021 report, approximately 75 percent of TA units are deployed in counter-insurgency / counter-terrorism prone areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast India. Since 1994, many TA soldiers are serving as regulars in counter-insurgency areas like Jammu and Kashmir for as long as three years in a stretch. TA participated in the rescue and relief operations during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and also protected oil installations in Vadodara during the riots post-Godhra train burning incident in 2002.

TA has also participated in mountaineering activities. The joint Indo-British TA Mountaineering Expedition scaled Mount Kokthang (6147 metre) twice in October 1982 and September 1994 and Mount Tenchenkhang (6010 metre) in May 1998 in West Sikkim. The Ecological Battalion units planted 2.5 crore saplings over 20,000 hectare of land in Mussoorie and Pithoragarh hill stations in Uttarakhand, Bikaner and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, ravine