Territorial Army Eligibility – Age, height, weight, chest

The Indian territorial army is a gateway to joining the Indian army for those who were somehow not eligible to join the regular army. The eligibility for the territorial army is lenient as compared to the regular army. Due to this reason people who did not manage to get into the regular army, try to get into the territorial army.

If you are searching for eligibility for TA, then I assume that you must be familiar with the fact that TA does not provide a full-time career. This means if you do get selected in the territorial army, then it does not mean that you will become full-time army personnel. People who are recruited in TA get to serve army just for a few months annually, the rest of the time they can do whatever they want.

For the time that a TA personnel serves in the year, he/she is treated as regular army personnel and gets almost the same benefits as the regular army. Though the duties of the territorial army are different than the regular one, the amount of respect and hard work are almost the same. So, if you are interested in knowing more, then keep on reading. Here is a list of some of the important questions that we will answer in the article:

Ta Army Eligibility 2023
Who can apply for TA?	TA age limit
Educational qualification for TA	Nationality for TA
Physical Eligibility for TA	Employment status

Territorial Army Eligibility – Overview

TA may not be as famous as the regular Indian army, but, don’t underestimate the competition in it. Each year thousands of candidates from all over the country apply for different posts in TA, but not all applications are accepted. A study shows that at least 10% of applications are rejected just because the applicants were not eligible to apply.

So, if you do not want that to happen to you, make sure that you satisfy all the eligibility criteria needed for the territorial army. Don’t worry, it is not rocket science, just make sure you comply with all the criteria that are mentioned below in this article, and you will be fine.

Soldier eligibility for TA

Just like the army, one can join the territorial army in two ways. As a jawan or solider (JCO – junior commissioned officer), or as an officer. The eligibility criteria for both entries are a bit different. In this section, we will discuss the eligibility criteria for solider in TA. First, take a look at the table that gives an overview of all the eligibility for territorial army soldiers.

Eligibility for TA Soldier (JCO)
Who can apply	Indian male citizen / ex-defense servicemen
Age	18 to 42 years
Education	10th pass (matriculation)
Citizenship	Only Indians are allowed
Physical	The applicant should be physically fit
Medical	The applicant should not have any mental or physical illness

People often ask “if female candidates can apply for TA or not?” so, let’s settle this for good. Female candidates can only apply for officer posts (details for which are given below). When it comes to soldiers or JCOs, then only male candidates can apply for these posts.

Officer’s eligibility for TA

The selection process and eligibility criteria to recruit an officer for TA are difficult as compared to the solider entry. But still, a lot of people apply every year which automatically sets the bar high. Only the best out of the best are selected for officer posts. So, if you are preparing to become an officer in the territorial army, then you better be prepared.

Eligibility for TA Soldier (JCO)
Who can apply	Indian male & female citizens / ex-defense service officers
Age	18 to 42 years
Education	Graduation from a recognized university.
Employment	Gainfully Employed.
Citizenship	Only Indians are allowed
Physical	The applicant should be physically fit
Medical	The applicant should not have any mental or physical illness

Candidates can apply for departmental or non-departmental TA as an officer. Only those candidates who are employees of one of the following government departments can apply for departmental TA. The included departments are Railway, IOCL, HPCL, BPCL, and ONGC.

Eligibility For Territorial Army – Detailed

Let’s now discuss eligibility for the territorial army in detail to make sure that all your doubts are resolved for good. From the tables that are given above in this article, we have already got a good idea about all the eligibility criteria, but in this section, we will discuss them in detail.

Employment status – gainfully employed

First of all “gainfully employed” simply means that the applicant must have a source of income, be it business or job (government or private). This is a unique criterion that you will only see in TA. One may argue that it is illogical to ask for employment status, after all, people apply for TA to get employed, then why ask? Actually, there is a reason for this.

We know that TA employees only serve 1 or 2 months annually, and if they do not have a source of income then they will remain unemployed for the rest of the year, which may hinder their performance while serving. Therefore, this criterion is imposed.

Who can apply for TA?

As mentioned above in this article, all Indian citizens and ex-defense officers who satisfy all eligibility criteria can apply for the TA officer posts. But, for the post of solider or JCO, female candidates can not apply.

TA age limit

The age limit for both jawans and officers is the same i.e 18 to 42 years. There is one exception for the officer posts, if the applicant was a medical officer then the upper age limit for such a candidate is 45 years.

Educational Eligibility for territorial army

For people applying for JCO or lower rank posts, the educational qualification required is just a 10th or matriculation pass. Whereas, for people applying for officer posts, the minimum education qualification is graduation.

Nationality for TA

Unlike the regular army where applicants from friendly countries like Nepal are also welcomed, only Indian citizens can apply. TA does not accept applications from candidates from other countries.

Physical and medical eligibility

Since the upper age limit is high in the territorial army, therefore, the physical and medical criteria are not as strict as in the regular army. But, the applicant should not have any physical or mental illness and should be physically fit to carry out regular physical tasks.

Height: 160cm

Weight: more than 50kg

Chest: 77 to 82cm

That’s it for this article, hope you found answers to all your questions in this article, if not, then feel free to drop a comment and we will try to answer as soon as possible.