Event held to formally welcome new Dharamsala TSO
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, June 17: Dawa Rinchen, the newly elected Tibetan Settlement Officer (TSO) was formally welcomed as the fourth TSO of Dharamsala at a function hosted by the settlement office today at Hotel Tibet in Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala.
The gathering has in attendance, among others, new TSO Dawa Rinchen as the Chief Guest, acting TSO Tsering Lhamo, Palden Dhondup, Additional Secretary of Department of Home, Central Tibetan Administration, Ajay Singh Mankotia, President of Indo-Tibetan Friendship Association, Tibetan parliamentarians, heads of non-governmental organizations and welfare organizations as well as representatives of schools and monasteries located in Dharamsala and neighbouring areas.
Acting TSO Tsering Lhamo, in her opening address, thanked all the heads of government and non-governmental organizations in Dharamsala for their support and cooperation during her short tenure.
Lhamo expressed her trust and confidence in the new TSO in resolving all the issues and difficulties faced by Tibetan residents of Dharamsala.
The newly elected TSO, Dawa Rinchen thanked the Tibetans in Dharamsala jurisdiction for trusting him and electing him to the office and further encouraged Tibetans living in Dharamsala to visit his office with their grievances and problems, saying it is his responsibility to resolve their issues.
“I want to establish a good relationship between the settlement office and members of the community because we hear lot about robbery cases and girls being molested but none of them are reported to the settlement office,” the newly elected TSO said in an interview after the function.
Dawa Rinchen was declared the new TSO on June 15 after the Office of the Tibetan Election Commissioner announced the election results. Resignation of former TSO Sonam Dorjee before the completion his 3-yr term after getting re-elected for a second term had necessitated the recently held election. Following Sonam Dorjee’s resignation, Tsering Lhamo took charge as the acting TSO until Dawa Rinchen’s appointment.