Territorial Army (India)

Territorial Army
प्रादेशिक सेना
Territorial Army India Logo
Country	India
Type	Army
Size	200,000 Troops
Headquarters	TA Group Headquarters
Nickname(s)	Terriers
Motto(s)	सावधानी व शूरता - Savdhani Va Shoorta (Vigilance and Valour)
Engagements	1962 India-China War 1965 Indo-Pak war 1971 Indo-Pakistani War Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka OP RAKSHAK in Punjab & J&K OP RHINO and OP BAJRANG in the North East
Decorations	2 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals 15 Vishisht Seva Medals 5 Vir Chakras 13 Sena Medals 25 Mentioned-in-Dispatches 43 COAS commendation cards.
Website	Official Website of Territorial Army

The Indian Territorial Army (TA) is a second line of defence after the Regular Indian Army; it is not a profession, occupation or a source of employment. It is only meant for those people who are already in mainstay civilian professions; in fact, gainful employment or self-employment in a civil profession is a prerequisite for joining the Territorial Army.

The Indian Defence Force, 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 the First World War. It was divided into British and Indian sections. Like the Indian Army of the time, units in the Indian section consisted primarily of British officers and Indian other ranks. Units in the British section were all British. The Indians were volunteers, but many of the Europeans were conscripted, as the Indian Defence Force Act 1917 made military service compulsory for all Europeans permanently residing in British India (including the princely states) between the ages of 16 and 50. Boys between 16 and 18 were only obliged to undertake training and men over 40 only had to serve in their local district, but men between 19 and 40 were obliged to serve anywhere required within the country. Only the clergy were exempt.

The IDF was generally unpopular among the British conscripts. It was replaced by the Auxiliary Force (for Europeans and Eurasians) and the Indian Territorial Force (for Indians) in 1920.

The modern Territorial Army was inaugurated by the first Indian Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari, on 9 October 1949 after the Independence Territorial Army Act was passed in 1948. The annual Prime Minister's Territorial Army Day Parade takes place on 9 October.

The Territorial Army initially had various types of units such as armoured regiments, infantry battalions, air defence, medical regiments, engineers field park companies, signal regiments, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) workshops, coast batteries, Army Service Corps GT Coy, ASC Compo Pl, and AMC field ambulances. By 1972 these units were either disbanded or converted to Regular Army units with the exception of infantry battalions.