Women are set to join the Territorial Army for the first time under the new pilot rollout.

The Army has considered inducting women cadres into Territorial Army battalions as a pilot project, with their recruitment initially limited to a few battalions, sources said on Sunday.

The move aims to gradually open up more opportunities for women in the force.

The Territorial Army, in its present form, came into existence with the enactment of the Territorial Army Act on 18 August 1948. It was formally inaugurated on October 9, 1949 by the first Indian Governor General, C Rajagopalachari.

According to sources, the Army has considered inducting women cadres in Territorial Army battalions as a pilot project. He said that initially their recruitment will be limited to a few battalions and later it can be extended to other battalions based on the initial feedback.

The government has been emphasizing the essence of ‘women power’ in the armed forces.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha in March 2022, the then Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt had said that the combat employment philosophy of women in the armed forces is a constantly evolving process and is regularly reviewed by him.

“At present, women are being inducted into 10 arms and services in the Indian Army, namely Engineer Corps, Signal Corps, Army Air Defence, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Electronics and Mechanical Engineer Corps, Army Aviation Corps, Intelligence Corps, Judge Advocate General Branch and Army Education Corps besides the Armed Forces Medical Services,” he said.

The Territorial Army was founded on the concept of an ‘army of citizen soldiers’. Apart from enhancing the organizational requirements, the Territorial Army also provides an opportunity to able-bodied volunteer citizens of India, especially those who are old enough to enroll in the regular Army, to serve the nation in uniform.

At present, the Territorial Army has a strength of about 50,000 personnel, which includes 65 departmental TA units like Railways, IOC, ONGC and non-departmental TA units of infantry battalions (TAs), including Home and Hearth battalions, ecological battalions (TAs) attached to various infantry regiments and engineer regiments (TAs) for maintenance of Line of Control fencing, according to its website.

Territorial Army units were actively involved in the campaigns of 1962, 1965 and 1971. “Terriers” also participated in a most active manner in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, Operation Rhino in the North-East and Operation Bajrang.