Territorial Army Raising Day 2021: History, services and all you need to know

The 72nd Territorial Army Raising Day is being marked today, 9 October. The force has immensely contributed to nation-building and remained a benchmark for competence. ‘Savdhani Va Shoorta’ (Vigilance and Valour) is the motto of the Territorial Army of India. On this special occasion today, Director General of TA Lieutenant General, Preet Mohindera Singh, and Union Minister for Sports and Territorial Army, Anurag Thakur visited the TA camp for blood donation.

History of Territorial Army: In 1920, the Territorial Army was raised through the Indian Territorial Act of 1920 by the Britishers into two wings namely - ‘The Indian Territorial Force’ for Indian Volunteers and ‘The Auxiliary Force’ for Europeans & Anglo-Indians. After Independence, in 1948, the Territorial Army Act was passed. Later, in 1949, Shri C Rajagopalachari , first Indian Governor-General, formally inaugurated the Territorial Army on 9 October, 1949. Initially, the Territorial Army had various units such as Infantry Battalion (TA), Armed Regt (TA), Engineers Field Park Coy (TA), Air Defence (TA), Coast Battery (TA), Signal Regiment (TA), AMC Field Ambulance (TA), among others. However, these units were converted to Regular Army or disbanded, by 1972. Services provided by Territorial Army: A part of the Regular Army, the role of the Territorial Army (TA) is to assist the civil administration in dealing with natural disasters, relieving the Regular Army from static responsibilities, and maintenance of essential service in situations that affect the security of the country or life of the communities. As and when required, the Territorial Army also provides units for Regular Army. The Territorial Army currently has a strength of around 40,000 individuals consisting of departmental TA units like IOC, Railway, Telecommunication and General Hospital, ONGC, and Ecological Bn (TA) affiliated to Infantry Regiments. Contribution of Territorial Army: The units of the Territorial Army have provided active services in North-East, Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s western and northern borders. The force was also a part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka from 29 July, 1987 to 24 March, 1990. As per reports, almost 75 percent of units of Territorial Army are deployed in North-East and Jammu & Kashmir in the Counter Insurgency/Counter Terrorism environment . The role of these TA units is to carry out their respective tasks and maintain security in insurgency-prone areas. With a survival rate of 65-70 percent, ETF Battalions have reportedly covered an area of 72,761 hectares of land and planted around 6.90 crore saplings. The territorial Army’s contribution has also been recognised by authorities who have conferred various awards on them including Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, and Param Vir Chakra.