Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC):

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: India and neighbourhood relations.

Context:

The Union government has extended the scheme to provide ₹40 crore grants-in-aid to the Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) for another five years, up to fiscal year 2025-26.

Highlights of the Scheme:

• Launched in 2015.
• It is a scheme of providing grant-in-aid of ₹40 crore to CTRC to meet the administrative and social welfare activities expenses of 36 Tibetan settlement offices in different States.

Tibetans in India:

More than one lakh Tibetan refugees are settled in India.

• Major concentration of the Tibetan refugees is in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
• Tibetan refugees began pouring into India in the wake of the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959.
• The government decided to give them asylum as well as assistance towards temporary settlement.

Tibetans abroad:

Over 1 lakh Tibetans are settled across India, while the remaining are settled in United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Mongolia, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and various other countries.

Do you know about the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE)?

The Speaker and a Deputy Speaker head the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile.

The 16th TPiE had 45 members:

1. 10 representatives from each of the traditional provinces of Tibetan – U-Tsang, Dhotoe and Dhomey;
2. Two from each of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the pre-Buddhist Bon religion;
3. Two representing each of the Tibetan Communities in North America and Europe.
4. One from Australasia and Asia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan).

What does the Tibetan Constitution say?

The Central Tibetan Administration exists and functions on the basis of the Constitution of the Tibetan government called ‘The Charter of the Tibetans in Exile’.

• In 1991, The Constitution Redrafting Committee instituted by the Dalai Lama prepared the Charter for Tibetans in exile.
• The Dalai Lama approved it on June 28, 1991.

Who can vote?

Only Tibetans living outside the subcontinent will elect their MPs based on their current geographic location. Besides MPs, voters will make their choice of the President as well.

Election Procedure:

The voting will be held in two rounds.

1. In the preliminary round, there will be no official candidates, i.e. a voter can choose any person of his choice, which is expected to be one of the several candidates who have started campaigning among the electorate.
2. Unless a person secures 60 percent of the vote, the two top contenders of the first round will become the official candidates for the second round to be held in April 11.

What is Kashag?

The Kashag (Cabinet) is Central Tibetan Administration’s highest executive office and comprise seven members.

It is headed by the Sikyong (political leader) who is directly elected by the exiled Tibetan population.

• Sikyong subsequently nominates his seven Kalons (ministers) and seeks the parliament’s approval.
• The Kashag’s term is for five years.

Is TPiE officially recognised by any country?

Not exactly, it is not recognised officially by any country, including India.

• But, a number of countries including the United States of America and European nations deal directly with the Sikyong and other Tibetan leaders through various forums.
• The TPiE claims its democratically-elected character helps it manage Tibetan affairs and raise the Tibetan issue across the world.
• The incumbent Sikyong, Lobsang Sangay, was among the guests who attended the oath-taking ceremony of prime minister Narendra Modi in May 2014, probably a first.

Sources: the Hindu.