Now Reading: Rajnath chairs panel meeting on strengthening Territorial Army
-
01
Rajnath chairs panel meeting on strengthening Territorial Army
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…
The Story in Brief
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.
The Indian Opinion
Official praise can easily turn the Territorial Army into a catch-all symbol of national service, while critics may dismiss its non-combat work as publicity. Both readings are too simple. The force has a defined reserve role, and its disaster and ecological work is measurable. The useful test is whether deployment readiness and sapling survival rates hold up to independent records, not whether speeches use grand phrases. Will future reports publish those figures unit by unit?
Sources (3): economictimes.indiatimes.com, newindianexpress.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
