The Territorial Army (TA) is a military reserve force composed of part-time volunteers who provide support services to the Indian Army. It consists of officers, junior commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and other personnel who hold ranks identical to those in the Indian Army, and also maintain civilian occupations. The primary 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" and to "provide units for the 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 the Indian Territorial Force (1920–1948). It is commanded by a three-star ranking Director General of the Territorial Army, typically a Lieutenant General-ranking officer deputed from the 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—a departmental unit consisting of employees of public sector undertakings (PSU) and the Indian Railway and ex-servicemen; and a non-departmental unit consisting of privately employed civilians.

The TA has participated in all of India's wars since the country's independence, including the Sino-Indian War of 1962, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the Kargil War. The TA has 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.

Individuals seeking to join the TA must be employed in mainstay civilian professions or be self-employed. Members are required to undergo two months of mandatory paid service every year. Although the TA states that it "does not provide a full-time career", soldiers can choose to remain embodied for longer periods. TA personnel are entitled to all benefits available to the Indian Army, except gratuity and pension, which are determined by the number of full years served.

History In 1612, when the English East India Company reached Surat, it established a contingent of part-time soldiers comprising the company's employees to safeguard its commercial interests. In 1687, the Governor and Council of Fort St. George ordered the creation of the of Trained Bands, a part-time force based in Madras. This force was established to defend against the rival French East India Company and native princely states. The played a role in the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, and many of its part-time units were eventually converted into regular and irregular forces.

After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Crown assumed control of Indian administration from the East India Company. Existing part-time forces were reorganized, resulting in the creation of the Volunteer Force (VFI) through legislation. As British rule expanded in India, full-time regular forces gained prominence. The VFI engaged in military conflicts both in India and abroad, including the Second Boer War and the First World War. Subsequently, the VFI was restructured and replaced by the Indian Defence Force (IDF).

The IDF, organized into separate European and Indian sections, was established by the Imperial Legislative Council on 9 October 1917 to release regular troops from garrison duties during World War I. Indians served as volunteers, while Europeans were conscripted. The Indian Defence Force Act of 1917 mandated military service for all European males (except clergy) aged 16 to 50 permanently residing in British India, including princely states."Indian Defence Force", The Times, 3 March 1917 Those aged 16 to 18 were obligated to undergo training, while men over 40 were required to serve in their local districts. Men between 19 and 40 were obligated to serve wherever needed within British India."Compulsory Service in India: The New Defence Force", The Times, 7 March 1917

The IDF's youth wing, known as the University Corps (UC), was established at the universities of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Allahabad. The IDF was generally unpopular among British conscripts. In 1920, it was replaced by two volunteer organizations: the Auxiliary Force (AFI) for European and Anglo-Indian officers and the Indian Territorial Force (ITF) for Indian other ranks."Indian Auxiliary Force: First Year's Success", The Times, 12 October 1921 The UC was reorganized as the University Training Corps (UTC) under the ITF and was later renamed University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC). After India's independence, the AFI was disbanded as its services were no longer required. The ITF was restructured into the 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 of India) on 23 August 1948. It was passed on 1 September and came into force on 10 September. It allowed civilians pursuing other professions to serve part-time in the army. The TA was constituted by reorganising and redesignating 11 ITF infantry units. The first TA camp was inaugurated by the first Governor-General of independent India, C. Rajagopalachari, on 9 October 1949. Since then, the annual Territorial Army Day has been observed on 9 October. During the India-China conflict in 1959, defence minister V. K. Krishna Menon, in a radio address, asked Indians to volunteer for the TA.

Initially, the Territorial Army comprised various types of units, including 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, except for the infantry battalions, were either disbanded or became part of the regular army. In 2019, the TA began accepting women in officer and other ranks.

Role By law, the Territorial Army is an integral part of the Indian Army, whose composition is defined in the Part I of the Defence Services Regulations, which states; "the army comprises regular army, regular reserves, and the Territorial Army". Part-time TA personnel may fall within the definition of regular army when attached to a unit. The Territorial Army Act 1948 states, 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 [Indian] Union in any part of the world, including persons belonging to the Reserve Forces and the Territorial Army when called out on permanent service".

According to the TA Act 1948; "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". The act 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 the 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"; and the 1982 review 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, in 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 passage of the 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".

Expanding scope At the time of its inception, the TA was well received by the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, but the concept was eroded and confined to some infantry and departmental units of the Indian Army. Former Indian Army colonel and columnist Balwan Singh Nagial wrote 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 "TAisation of defence forces" is a way to reduce 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 TA's focus expanded to include more operational and intelligence-gathering roles to cut costs of the Indian Army. In 2020, the TA was in a phase of gradual expansion.

In July 2022, the TA started recruiting Mandarin-language graduates as officers as part of an effort by the Indian Army to increase its expertise in Mandarin and Tibetology amid the 2020–2022 China–India skirmishes and efforts of China's People's Liberation Army to recruit Hindi interpreters for posting in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Activities

Territorial Army units were actively involved in military operations in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the Kargil War. The TA has participated in all wars since independence; subsequently, many of its air defence and artillery units were converted into regular army units. The TA also took 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 assisted the civil authorities during industrial unrest and natural calamities, particularly the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake, the 1993 Latur earthquake and the 1999 Odisha cyclone.

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