Sachin Pilot to be commissioned into Territorial Army

Congress leader and Union Minister Sachin Pilot will be commissioned into the Territorial Army as a regular officer in New Delhi on Thursday by Army Chief General Bikram Singh.

Thirty-five-year-old Pilot, who recently cleared the written exam conducted by TA and the Service Selection Board interview at Allahabad, will be joining the force as a lieutenant before proceeding for the training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, sources said.

He will be accorded the rank by Gen Singh and TA's Additional Director General Lieutenant General A K Siwach in New Delhi at a ceremony, they said.

The minister of state for communications and IT is joining as a regular officer and will have to proceed for mandatory training at TA Academy at Devlali in Maharashtra and IMA, they said.

Pilot, a member of Parliament from Dausa constituency in Rajasthan, will be commissioned into 124 TA Battalion of the Sikh Regiment. After clearing the written exam earlier this year, Pilot appeared in the SSB interview last month at the Allahabad centre.

Unlike celebrities like cricketers Kapil Dev and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and actor Mohan Lal, who joined the force as Honorary Lieutenant Colonels, Pilot will be joining TA as a regular officer and will get prescribed salary and incentives for the period of his service, the sources said.

Those volunteering for TA, which is under the Indian Army, receive military training for a certain period of time every year and can continue to remain gainfully employed in any profession.

The purpose of the organisation is to take care of critical infrastructure such as railways, oil and natural gas, hospitals and telecommunications during times of military emergency. At present, TA has a strength of approximately 40,000 personnel.