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Sachin Pilot first serving minister to join Territorial Army
Thursday September 06, 2012 09:51:22 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Congress MP Sachin Pilot Thursday became the first serving union minister to
be commissioned as a regular officer in the Territorial Army, and
stressed that it will not come in the way of his official duties.
In a ceremony in South Block here, army chief Gen. Bikram Singh
and Pilot's mother Rama pipped the rank of lieutenant, formally
commissioning him as an officer in the 124 TA Battalion of the
Sikh Regiment.
"I am honoured to be a part of this family," a beaming Pilot, the
minister of state for communications and IT, said.
For the 35-year-old Pilot, an MP from Ajmer in Rajasthan, it was a
dream come true and part of his mission of continuing his family's
links with the armed forces. His father, Squadron Leader Rajesh
Pilot, a former cabinet minister, was a fighter pilot in the
Indian Air Force (IAF) and his grandfather served in the army as a
Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).
"This has been my desire to join the army for very long as I
wanted to have my links with the armed forces like my father and
grandfather," Pilot said.
As a regular TA officer, sources in the army said Pilot would be
required to do a month-long basic military training course, a
three-month in-house basic military training course at Deolali in
Maharashtra and another three months of training at the Indian
Military Academy in Dehradun.
He will be part of what is called
"urban concept battallion," which would require him to attend a
military camp for 14 days and do another 22 days of parades of
four hours in a year. He will get a salary and accompanying
benefits for 36 days each year.
Pilot made it clear that this will not be construed as an office
of profit. "The clause of office-of-profit in the Indian
constitution, in that, the Territorial Army is an exception."
"I had considered all these legal aspects before joining the TA,"
he said.
"Absolutely. I would always be there to serve the country," he
replied when asked if he would be ready to serve in the armed
forces in times of conflict as the TA commission required him to
do.
Pilot also made it clear that he would perform all his assigned
duties in the unit and all his duties as a junior minister.
When asked whether his joining the TA would help improve the image
of politics and politicians, he said: "I think if educated and
young people join any field including politics, this would help."
"In the last few years, youths are joining politics at state and
panchayat level and I feel this would help in bringing about a
positive change in the country," Pilot said.
Pilot's tryst with the TA started around two years ago during an
orientation programme organised by the defence ministry for young
parliamentarians.
K.P. Singh Deo, who had served as minsiter of state for defence in
the 1980s, had retired as a brigadier. He had, however, enrolled
before becoming a minister.
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