The decision of the Army authorities to close down the unit-run canteen (URC) of the 122 Infantry Battalion, the lone Territorial Army unit in the State stationed here, has raised concern among jawans of the battalion and ex-servicemen in the region. They fear it is a precursor to a fresh move to shift the battalion from the Army Station here.
The authorities have already issued an order directing the closure of the URC being run by the TA battalion stationed here. Ex-servicemen in the northern districts using the battalion URC have already raised their concern about the move to close the facility and merge it with the URC of the Defence Security Corps (DSC) located in the station. The decision to down the shutters of the TA canteen was taken on the pretext that the battalion personnel have been deployed for operational duties in Jammu and Kashmir. As per the Army Order, an army unit should have minimum of 100 personnel for it to have an URC.
TA battalion sources, when contacted, said that the Kannur station was a permanent station of the battalion which is also known as Kannur Terriers. Around 180 TA jawans were still at the permanent station, they said adding that unlike the regular army, every TA in the country was located in a place which remained its permanent station even when the personnel were deployed for operational duties elsewhere. TAs were conceived as citizens’ reserve army, they said adding that 90% of the jawans in the battalion were from Kannur and Kasaragod districts.
For four decades
The battalion under the Madras Regiment has been stationed here for the past four decades. The move to close the URC has triggered apprehension among the battalion jawans that it is part of a larger plan to relocate the entire battalion to elsewhere. The plan to shift the TA unit from here a few years ago was reversed following pressure from people’s representatives here and the intervention of then Defence Minister A.K. Antony, according to sources.
Meanwhile, National Ex-Servicemen Co-ordination Committee (NExCC) State general secretary Vijayan Parali said at a press meet on Tuesday that the DSC canteen having a dependent strength of nearly 17,000 ex-servicemen was already over-subscribed. The TA canteen has a dependent strength of nearly 7,000 ex-servicemen and their families, he said. Moreover, the TA URC had employed war widows and ex-servicemen as civil staff for the maintenance and running of the TA URC, he said.
NExCC district secretary P. Sukumaran and Poorva Sainik Seva Parishad president P.R. Rajan were present at the press meeting.
