Army Chief empowered to call on Territorial Army personnel for deployment
In the midst of tensions with Pakistan, the Government has empowered the Chief of Army Staff to call on officers and personnel of the Territorial Army to provide for 'essential guard or to be embodied for the purpose of supporting or supplementing' the regular army.
The notification issued by the Department of Military Affairs dated May 06, 2025 shall remain in force for three years with effect from February 10, 2025 to February 09, 2028.
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'In exercise of the powers conferred by Rule - 33 of the Territorial Army Rule 1948, the Central Government empowers Chief of the Army Staff to exercise the powers under that rule to call out every officer and every enrolled person of the Territorial Army to provide for essential guard or to be embodied for the purpose of supporting or supplementing the regular army…,' the notification said.
Out of the existing 32 TA Infantry Battalions, 14 Infantry Battalions can be called upon for deployment in the areas of Southern Command, Eastern Command, Western Command, Central Command, Northern Command, South Western Command, Andaman and Nicobar Command and Army Training Command, it stated.
The embodiment shall be ordered provided the funds are available in the budget or have been made available by re-appropriation of the internal savings in the budget, it stated.
For units embodied at the behest of Ministries other than the Ministry of Defence, the cost will be debited to the respective Ministries and will not be included in the budget allocation of the Ministry of Defence.
Presently, the Territorial Army has a strength of approximately fifty thousand personnel comprising 65 Departmental TA units such as Railway, IOC, ONGC, and Non Departmental TA units of Infantry Battalion (TA) including Home & Hearth Battalions, Ecological Battalion (TA) affiliated to various Infantry Regiments, and Engineer Regiment (TA) for maintenance of Line of Control Fencing, according to the TA website.
Besides these, a Composite Eco Task Force for the National Mission for Clean Ganga is being raised at Allahabad. The Eco Task Force is dedicated to the development, preservation and maintenance of ecological balance and afforestation in difficult areas, the website states.
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