While the former was meant only for the Europeans and Anglo-Indians, all other Indian citizens could join the latter. After the attainment of Independence in 1947, a need was felt to have a sizeable reserve force of trained citizens to support the regular army in times of need. The Territorial Army Act 1948 was passed by the Indian Parliament resulting in the constitution of the present Territorial Army.
Raising
The Territorial Army was raised by Shri C Rajagopalachari, the first Governor General of free India on 09 Oct 1949.
Field of Activity
India’s Territorial Army is active in numerous fields of activity. It has following types of units.
- Infantry Battalions including Home & Hearth.
- Ecological Task Forces.
- Railway Engineer Units.
- Oil Sector Units.
- General Hospitals.
Territorial Army Infantry
The Infantry Territorial Army Battalion relieves Regular Army of static duties & Aid to Civil Authorities dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services.
Territorial Army Ecological Warriors
The Ecological Task Forces of Territorial Army are located at Dehradun, Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand), Samba (J&K), Sri Mohangarh (Rajasthan), Kufri (HP), Delhi and Tezpur, Rangia (Assam). They are making significant contribution in checking ecological degradation and environment protection in the assigned project areas. These units have won many prestigious national level awards including Guinness book of world records, for planting maximum number of trees in a day.
Territorial Army Railway
The units of Railway Engineer (TA) are deployed during war and peace to keep the rail communications going in designated areas. These units have also been embodied in the past to help the Railways during the Railway strike and during Flood Relief Operations. Entry to these units is open to Indian Railway employees only.
Territorial Army Oil Sector
Territorial Army Oil Sector units help in extraction, refining and distribution of oil during national emergencies. The officers & men of these units come from ONGC, IOC, BPCL & HPCL.
Territorial Army General Hospital
Territorial Army has seven General Hospitals which are located at Rohtak, Patiala, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Allahabad and Kolkata. They provide a capacity of 2500 beds to manage the overflow of casualties from Military Hospitals during war. Doctors, Nurses and Para-Medical staff come from the civil hospitals on which the General Hospital (TA) is based.
- How to join Territorial Army India
- Territorial Army India Notification 2013
- Territorial Army Syllabus and Exam Pattern
for previous year questions paper check this http://taofficers.blogspot.in/
Thanks….