Siliguri: As a part of CTA’s 7 Zonal Household listing trainings that are being convened in Ladakh, Poanta, Dharamshala and 2 in Bylakuppe, 47 participants, including three settlement officers and five office secretaries from the Northeast Tibetan Settlement Offices, attended the three-day workshop at Saluja Hotel in Siliguri starting from 26 February 2024.
The inaugural ceremony was presided over by the Secretary of the Home Department, Palden Dhondup, and Joint Secretary Tenzin Khenrab. The inaugural session was marked with a traditional gesture of lighting the butter lamp and offering of white khatag (scarves) before the portrait of His Holiness the Dalai lama. Also in attendance were Kalimpong Settlement Officer Karma Gelek, Nyima Dorjee from the Tibet Fund office, and expert speakers Sandeep Gosh and Kshitij Pal from the Sambodhi Research & Communication Pvt. Ltd based in Noida.
Home Secretary Palden Dhondup emphasised the significance of having a concise household database of the Tibetans in exile in order to ensure effective and equitable administrative and programmatic decision-making that will benefit the Tibetan population at large as well as formulating policies to drive the CTA’s efforts towards the overarching goals.
The enumerators were predominantly young, with an average age of about 28, and were from Maio, Tezu, Kalimpong, Darjeeling & Sonada, Gangtok, Rawangla, Shillong, Tenzingang and Bomdila settlements.
The household listing program is funded by the USAID through the Tibet Fund. From 1 to 3 March, the participants from Tuting & Nepal Tibetan settlements will continue with the second round of training at the same venue.
-Report filed by Department of Office, CTA