# Rajnath chairs panel meeting on strengthening Territorial Army 2026-08-06T11:31:34+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on Thursday to discuss the Territorial Army’s role and effectiveness. Officials briefed members on its mandate, achievements and operations, while members offered suggestions to strengthen the force. Singh said the Army provides surge capacity through a reserve of trained soldiers who can be deployed when needed. The force has nearly 44,400 personnel across 59 units and is fully integrated with the regular Army. Singh also described the Territorial Army as a citizen-soldier force involved in border security, internal security, disaster relief, social work and environmental protection. Its personnel helped during floods in Kerala and Assam and an Odisha cyclone. The ministry said ecological task forces have planted about 10 crore saplings, with survival rates of 80-85 per cent. ## Coverage - economictimes.indiatimes.com - newindianexpress.com - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Tags: defence, disaster relief, Parliamentary panel, Rajnath Singh, Territorial Army Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rajnath-singh-chairs-panel-meeting-on-territorial-army/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rajnath-singh-chairs-panel-meeting-on-territorial-army/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.