By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 9: The 14th administrative meeting with 43 settlement officers from India, Nepal and Bhutan started on Tuesday with the officials from the Department of Home (DoH) at the Sikyong hall. The inaugural ceremony held this morning invited CTA President Penpa Tsering who exchanged his views and policies with the settlement heads. The three-day meeting will determine various future plans along with confronting any present challenges faced by the respective settlements.
The general meeting has twelve agendas related to the welfare of Tibetans, as announced by Secretary Tsewang Dolma Shosur at the commencement function. This year’s annual conference will focus on collective issues, especially issues related to Bhutan and Nepal settlements due to their geographical distance. Sikyong also discussed primary objectives of the exile Tibetan community, such as growing numbers of the elder generation, insufficient healthcare, disability education and mental illness among the public.
Issues concerning land laws, factual poverty population, and proper statistics for demographics are also set to be discussed in the upcoming days. CTA President Tsering also laid out the Kashag’s initiatives for the Tibetan diaspora in India, Bhutan and Nepal. He further underlined the importance of the static data and records of the Tibetans in exile, adding that the lack of such standardized census records often leads to confusion and inefficiency.
“We have laid down plans for deriving accurate population census in the exile community in the near future,” he said. The need for proper data is also required in schools, he assured, as it will help navigate hindrances in the school administration. He gave the example of CST schools as they go through transition from the Indian government to the jurisdiction of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Apart from the livelihood dilemma of the community, he also tabled future plans of CTA’s e-governance, stating the need of preserving official documents online.
