The Territorial Army (TA) has inducted five Chinese language interpreters in August to assist the Army at Border Personnel Meetings (BPM) with China, defence sources said. Also, there are plans for the recruitment of cyber experts.
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As part of the overall force reorganisation, the Army is in deliberations with the TA to convert some of the regular units, primarily logistics-related, into TA battalions, in order to bring down financial outflow, sources said.
“The process for recruitment of Chinese language interpreters started in January and they were inducted in August. Five interpreters were recruited as per the Army’s requirement,” a defence source said.
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On the recruitment of cyber experts, the source said that deliberations were under way. The criteria for selection have been finalised and approval taken, and sanction for the proposal is expected by the end of the month.
On the conversion of some regular Army units into TA battalions, the sources said talks are in preliminary stages and once the sanction is received, a pilot project would be undertaken with a few units.
The TA, which is a citizens’ force raised by an Act of Parliament in 1948, currently has 60 units, of which 14 are deployed in counter insurgency duties in support of the Army and two units are in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. It also has departmental TA battalions funded by the Ministries of Environment and Forests, Jal Shakti, Railways and Petroleum.
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TA Units were deployed to support the Army in eastern Ladakh as part of Operation Snow Leopard at the peak of the stand-off with China in 2020, sources noted. Similarly, in May, as the crisis unfolded in Manipur, the TA oil units stepped in and took control of oil installations that were not operational and augmented manpower in order to ensure supplies of essential petroleum and oil products and refuelling of aircraft.
Certain units are also deployed in conjunction with the Border Roads Organisation and Ministry of Railways for protection of under-construction road and rail alignments in remote and sensitive areas, the source stated.
Two new ecological battalions are set to be raised in Maharashtra later this month on the request of the State government.
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Ecological assistance
The first Ecological Task Force (ETF) was raised in 1982, to protect the severely degraded hills of Mussoorie (Uttarakhand) due to intensive and incessant limestone quarrying and deforestation. Today, there are 10 ecological battalions deployed across the country.
Various ETFs have jointly planted approximately 9.38 crore saplings in approximately 88,400 hectares across the country and also constructed 29 new water bodies besides rejuvenating many existing ones, officials said.
A specialised TA ecological battalion, the Ganga Task Force, has been working on the conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga in conjunction with the Ministry of Jal Shakti as part of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). They also help to prevent soil erosion, patrol ghats to prevent illegal activities and assist in curbing pollution. The unit personnel have also been employed in New Delhi to assist in the ongoing efforts to control pollution in the Yamuna, sources said.
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These TA battalions also undertake tree plantation and have annual target of 40-45 lakh trees. Land has to be given by State forest departments. The saplings are looked after for 3-5 years and the survivability rate is 80-85%.
Earlier, there were six TA railway battalions, however with technological advancements and changing requirements, the Ministry has decided to disband four of them, sources said.
The TA has also begun inducting women officers since 2019 and currently they are serving with TA oil sector units and TA railway engineer regiments. Based on the experience gained during this period, a proposal has been prepared to extend the employment scope further, the source stated.