CEC, Hill Council, Leh, Advocate Tashi Gyalson visited all the camps of Tibetan Sonamling Refugee Settlements in Leh and addressed the grievances of the people on July 9.

Chief Representative Officer (CRO) of the Central Tibetan Administration in Leh and the district officers of Leh, including Assistant Commissioner Development Leh, Assistant Commissioner Revenue Leh, Executive Engineer (Xen) Construction Division Leh, Xen PHE Leh, Xen PDD Leh and various Assistant Executive Engineers and Junior Engineers of all the Public Works Departments accompanied CEC Leh during the day-long tour. 

The Tibetan community stated that it is for the first time in their history that a chairman of LAHDC Leh has visited all the TR camps in Leh to listen to their grievances. 

CEC, Tashi Gyalson reviewed grievances and listened to the demands of the residents of TR Camps based in Leh. The local representatives of respective TR camps put forth various issues and made basic demands of the concerning settlements. The main issues highlighted to the CEC included sufficient drinking water facilities, need for street lights, issuance of ration cards, private and community land issues, restoration of irrigation canals, renovation of community halls and the blacktopping of roads in the Tibetan settlement areas.

CEC Gyalson paid a visit to the monasteries of Rutok, Karma Dupgyud Choeling and Bon at TR Settlement Chogalmsar. He sought blessings from the monastic abbots and listened to the grievances of the concerned monasteries. He also visited Men-Tsee-Khang Cultural Centre (Tibetan Medical & Astrology Institute) at Leh and took stock of the issues and concerns raised by the staff.

At the office of Chief Representative Officer (CRO), Choglamsar, Leh, CEC took stock of the status of Tibetan Community health care centre, Cooperative society and Community Television Network setup (Nyamdrel TV) centres based within the office compound. He took note of the outreach of the Nyamdrel TV network, especially during the COVID pandemic time, in providing online classes through the local community network to the students and appreciated the concerned officials and teachers of TCV school for helping the affected students in filling the academic gap. 

He evaluated the issues with an on-ground visit to the sites. He directed concerned District Officers and Executive Engineers of various departments to execute all the planned developmental works in all the Tibetan Refugee Settlements timely due to the short working season. He assured the residents of TR camps that the pending developmental works would be completed soon in a phased manner. He also assured to take up the major concerns with the higher authorities for early redressal of the genuine issues faced by the Tibetan refugees in Leh. 

Post-completion of the official tour, CEC Tashi Gyalson termed the day-long tour as successful in evaluating on-ground issues of the Tibetan Refugee Community. He stated that the Hill Council is dedicated to develop and uplift every community of the district. He expressed hope that the concerned departments would revisit and address all the issues in consultation with the residents in developing the Tibetan Refugee Settlements by providing sustainable solutions to all the main issues. 

On behalf of the Tibetan refugees, CRO Leh expressed gratitude to CEC Leh for visiting the TR Camps to assess their issues. He also thanked the Local Administration and Government of India for extending their help in uplifting and supporting the Tibetan community in Ladakh.