Building A Sustainable Future for Tibetans

Out of many projects, the following projects need urgent funding assistance to address some of the most basic needs of the Tibetan refugees living in settlements and to build a sustainable future for them:

Project 1: Rehabilitation of 145 Tibetan refugee families, Dekyiling Tibetan settlement, Dehradun, U.P. A project to provide shelter to 723 Tibetan refugees or 145 families at Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement in Dehradun. These families have been living in makeshift tents and rented houses for the last thirty years and recent joint survey done by the representatives of Indian and Tibetan authorities has found their cases genuine. Under this project, 145 homes with common bathrooms and toilets will be constructed. The capacity of existing handicraft workshop at the settlement will be increased to accommodate more artisans who will be inducted after giving them training in apron and yatra cloth weaving. The project will cost Rs.19,427,986 or US$462,571 and the beneficiaries will contribute 10% of the cost.

Project 2: Rehabilitation of 45 Tibetan refugee families, Shimla, H. P. This project proposes to provide shelter to 45 Tibetan refugee families who have been living in juggies and tents since their arrival in Shimla around thirty to forty years ago after escaping from Tibet. They earn their living by working as coolies at construction sites and some survive through petty business and street trading. They will now be rehabilitated at Shimla within the premise of the existing Handicraft Centre. The project will construct 45 family quarters with nine common toilets and bathrooms, an extension of the existing carpet centre where 45 persons can receive training and employment. The total cost of the project comes to Rs 10,037,175 or US$ 238,980, of which the beneficiaries will contribute 9% of the total cost. We have already raised US$50,000 but we still need around $120,000 to complete the project.

Project 3: Upgradation of Carpet Centre, Tibetan Settlement, Miao, Arunachal Pradesh Traditional Tibetan carpet weaving is the most important source of income and employment for this settlement. It employs over 120 weavers. Weaving hall and wooden looms are more than twenty years and now they need major replacement and renovation. The weaving hall needs to be expanded to accommodate more weavers and to reduce overcrowding. The project proposes to replace the wooden looms with steel looms that are more efficient and renovate the weaving hall. The total cost of the project is Rs. 876,150 or US$ 20860 and out of which 22% will be contributed by the community.

Project 4: Flood Protection Bund at Spituk Camp, Tibetan settlement, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir Spituk camp of Sonamling Tibetan Settlement is situated on the bank of river Indus. Due to unprecedented heavy rainfall in summer of 1999 in Ladakh, a part of the agricultural land and some homes were washed way by the flood waters. Unless some flood prevention measures are not undertaken immediately, it poses constant threat to the lives and properties of the camp. Thus, this project proposes to construct a flood protection bund measuring 320m x 1.5m x 1.5m to protect Spituk camp from any unprecedented flood. Total project costs Rs541,404 or US$ 12,890, of which the community will contribute 4% of the cost in the form manual labours.

Project 5: Green Houses Construction, Sonamling & Jangthang Tibetan settlements, Ladakh This project proposes to construct a total of 185 green houses: 110 green houses with 70% subsidy and 75 green houses with 60% subsidy for green vegetable cultivation at high altitude arid climate in order to solve the perennial shortage of green vegetables especially during long winter months in Ladakh. This will help the settlers in reducing mineral and vitamin deficiency related diseases. CTRC's earlier pilot project in green house construction has been very successful, thus, fuelling the demand for more such green houses from the settlers. This project will cost Rs. 2,584,578 or US$ 61,537

Project 6: Wood curving training, Tenzingang Tibetan Settlement, Arunachal Pradesh A project to train 20 youths in traditional wood curving for a period of five years with aim of preserving a unique wood carving skill and providing self employment to youths. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 1,249,000 or US$ 29,738

Project 7: Manufacture of Tradition Tibetan wooden bowl, Tenzingang Tibetan Settlement, Arunachal Pradesh Wooden bowl has a great demand among the locals who have similar cultural affinity with the Tibetans. This project proposes to train and manufacture traditional Tibetan bowl for generating income and employment to the settlers. The project will cost Rs. 866,652 or US$ 20,634

Project 8: Construction of Tibetan incense factory, Tenzingang Tibetan Settlement, Arunachal Pradesh This project is to manufacture traditional Tibetan incense to meet the local demand from monasteries and local residents. At the same time it will generate employment and income to the settlers. The project will cost Rs. 874,654 or US$ 20825

Project 9: Manufacture of Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP), Kham Kathok Tibetan Society, Sataun This project proposes to set up a small scale manufacturing unit of Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) for producing chairs, tables, handles, stools etc. to provide employment to the women of the settlement who are mostly unemployed . Though the capital investment is small, a return of 20 - 25% is possible. The unit can easily employ 10 to 14 skilled, semi skilled and unskilled workers. To purchase capital equipment, tools, raw materials and train workers, the project requires Rs 520,933 or US$12403

Project 10: Workshop Expansion Project, Tibetan Settlement, Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh Tractor repairing workshop is essential for timely cultivation of crops which is dependent on rain. The settlement's existing workshop lack equipment and tools to do even simple repairing works but it also does not have trained mechanics. For simple breakdown, tractors and other farm equipment have to be taken to long distance outside the settlement. To solve this problem, this project proposes to expand the workshop by purchasing additional machines and train one more mechanic. Two semi-trained mechanics are already available at the workshop. For purchasing equipment and training, the project requires Rs 385,000 or US$ 9166

Project 11: Agro-Forestry Plantation, at Tibetan Settlement in Chauntra, Himachal Pradesh A project to plant poplar trees on 10 acres of settlement land, which has remained, under-utilised for number of years. The project will help increase the green coverage, restore declining underground water table and at the same time generate long term income for the settlers. For fencing, purchasing plant materials and manure, the project requires Rs. 409,860 or US$ 9758.

Project 12: Poplar plantation, Dege settlement, Himachal Pradesh A project to plant poplar trees on 92 acres of the settlement land to generate long term income and at the same time it will improve the local micro-climate environment by increasing the green coverage and restoring underground water. For purchasing materials, the project requires Rs. 844,520 or US$ 20107 but the community will contribute all manual labours required for the implementation of the project.

Project 13: Drilling of Bore wells for irrigation, Tibetan settlement, Mundgod, Karnataka Mundgod Tibetan settlement in Karnataka State has population of 13,000 with total cultivable land of 4000 acres and farming the main source of income for the settlers. The crops grown by them are rice, maize and cotton which they solely depend on rain water. To cultivate two crops a year, the project proposes to drill 24 bore wells with submersible pumps for irrigation purposes. The total cost of the project is Rs. 2,822,400 or US$ 67200 of which the community will contribute 25%.

Project 14: Construction of Irrigation Canal, Tibetan Settlement, Solu Khumbu, Nepal The settlers are dependent on rainwater for irrigation of their fields. Due to erratic rainfall and drought, the farmers often do not get proper yield. For intensifying and diversifying the farming, the project proposes to construct irrigation canal to supply water to their fields. Total project cost Rs 665,500 or US$ 15845. The community will contribute 25% of the project cost through labours.

Project 15: Decentralised Dairy Farming, Delekling Tibetan settlement, Solu Khumbu, Nepal This proposes to provide improved breed of cows to some of poor settlers in order to alleviate their grinding poverty. Increased milk supply will benefit the settlers in general and the families will be able to earn some income. For purchasing the cows, the project require Nepalese Rupees 382,500 or US$ 5708 and the community will contribute 5%.

Project 16: Land Development and Irrigation canal renovation, Jampaling Tibetan Settlement, Nepal With the carpet business taking down turn in Nepal, the farming is the only reliable source of income for settlers of this settlement who are mostly ex-guerrilla fighters based in Mustang who were later disarmed by the Nepalese government. The settlement has quite a large area of land available that is lying uncultivated due to lack of irrigation facility. This project proposes to undertake land reclamation and construct irrigation canals from headwater so that the land could be cultivated. Various crops would be cultivated as well as a part of dry land would be used for tree plantation. The total project cost comes to Nepalese Rupees 1,129,354 or US$ 16856 and the settlers will contribute 20% of the project cost in form of manual labours. Project 17: Project Planning Workshop for Settlement Project Officers To improve the project planning and implementation capacity of the settlement project officers, a 10-day project training workshop on Project Planning and Management will be organised in one of the settlements in South India by hiring outside resource persons. For organising a 10-day training workshop for 25 project officers, the total fund required is Rs.175,000 or US$ 4167

Project 18: Organisation Development Workshop for Settlement Officers Settlement officers are the overall in charge of settlement administration, welfare and socio-economic development of the settlers. Depending on the local needs, the settlement office runs various enterprises such as carpet weaving, handicraft centres, procuring and advancing fertilisers and seeds, marketing of agricultural produces, flour mills, animal husbandry, tractor workshop and transportation, provision stores and so on to help with the needs of the settlers and to provide supplementary incomes to the settlers. Thus the skill and leadership quality of the settlement officers have far reaching impact on the development of the settlements. This project aims to upgrade the overall management skill in general and particularly in organisation development of the settlement officers. The cost of organising a 7-day training workshop for 46 participants, the CTRC requires a total fund of Rs.322,000 or US$ 7666 ( @ Rs1000/day/head )

Project 19: Co-operation and Business Management Workshop for Co-operative Secretary & Manager of the Major Tibetan Settlements The co-operative secretaries are responsible for managing the entire economic activities carried out by the co-operative societies in each settlement. It is imperative that they should have very good business management skills and how to manage co-operative societies efficiently. This project proposes to provide a seven day workshop training on co-operative and business management to 30 co-operative secretaries and handicraft managers in one of the settlements by hiring external resource persons. A 7-day workshop for 30 participants requires a total fund Rs.210,000 or US$5000 (@ Rs1000/day/head )

Project 20: Para-vet Training, Jangthang Tibetan settlement, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmire The project proposes to train 25 nomad youths for two weeks in first aids, treatments, vaccinations and basic animal care. The workshop will be organised at Leh. The cost of training is Rs 197,000 or USS$ 4690

Project 21: Adult Education Program, Sonamling and Jangthang Tibetan settlements, Ladakh To reduce the high level illiteracy among the settlers in these settlements in Ladakh, an intensive one year adult education program is to be organised so that non-literate settlers can acquire basic reading and writing skills both in Tibetan and English which will help them to better participate in personal and social development activities. For purchasing teaching aids and salary for instructors, the project requires Rs.500,000 or US$ 11904

Project22: Tailoring Training, Phuntsokling Handicraft Centre, Dalhousie, HP To reduce unemployment through self-employment, the project proposes to provide three year tailoring training to ten youths especially girls among the members of the community. The cost of project including training equipment, training materials, salary for instructors comes to Rs.594,660 or US$ 14158 and the community will contribute 10% of the cost.

Project 23: Networking of Tibetan Settlements by E-mail: To improve and accelerate the existing sluggish and fractured communication linkages between the Central Tibetan Administration and settlement offices and also among the settlements, the project proposes to install email facility in major settlements and welfare offices in India and Nepal which have dedicated telephone lines. For this, one complete set of computer with all accessories such as printer, hard disk and one modem are required. One person from each of the proposed settlements need to be trained at least for two months in basic computer operations including email and maintenance of the systems. Total project costs Rs 2,818,650 or US$ 67110

Project 24: Tibetan Information Technology Centre, Bangalore To take the advantage of booming IT sector in India, a centre to train Tibetan in software, hardware and software development is proposed to be set up in one of the bigger settlements which has the minimum infrastructure or in Bangalore. As per the preliminary estimation, a total of US$200,000 is needed to implement the project

Project 25: Stipends for the needy among the Elderly. To look after 4320 old and infirm who neither have homes and relatives to fall back upon nor financial resources to look after in old age, the Department of Home is seeking financial assistance from donors to provide monthly stipend requirement of US$15 or US$ 180 per year. For providing stipend to these oldies for five year, it requires US$ 3,888,000

Project 26: Renovation of Old People Home, Doeguling Tibetan settlement, Mundgod, K.S To renovate the old and dilapidated old aged home which has 160 inmates, a financial help to the tune of Rs. 7,711,000 or US$ 183,595 is urgently required.

Project 27: Integrated Development Programme, Fendeyling Tibetan settlement, Mainpat, Madhya Pradesh, India An integrated development programme for the overall development of the settlement, proposes to improve drinking water facility, develop agriculture sector, improve bred of the cattle, conduct ground water survey and exploit it for irrigation, provide revolving fund for procurement of agricultural inputs, re-equip the workshop and upgrades the skill of its manpower, purchase more tractors for enhancing the farm operations, revitalise the existing social and economic infrastructure such as flour mill, carpet weaving centre, guest house, community hall and education facilities. The programme is planned to be completed in three phases with budget of: Phase-I Rs 10,975,945 and Phase-II Rs 4,720,520 and Phase-III Rs 11,833,500/-. Total project cost Rs 27,529,965/-.

For further details and making donations, please contact:

Executive Secretary
Central Tibetan Relief Committee
Gangchen Kyishong
Dharamsala-176215
District Kangra
HP, India
Tel: +91-1892 -2214/22412
Fax: +91-1892 -25065
E-mail: nangsi@gov.tibet.net

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Last updated: 25-August-2000