India extends ₹40 crore grants-in-aid to Central Tibetan Relief Committee for another five years
DHARAMSALA, 7 April: The Government of India 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 the fiscal year 2025-26.
The extension of the scheme for another five years was informed to the Rajya Sabha by India’s Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra while responding to a question by an MP from Odisha regarding the details of the ₹40 crores during the last five years, reports the Hindu.
“The scheme has been further extended for five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. An amount of ₹8 crore to CTRC has been released for the year 2021-22,” the report said citing the Minister in a written reply in the house.
According to the report, the Minister has said that “the scheme provides for an annual grant of ₹8 crore to CTRC to meet the administrative expenses of Settlement Offices and social welfare expenses for Tibetan refugees staying in Tibetan settlements spread across 12 States/UTs in the country. The entire amount of ₹40 crore (₹8 crore per annum) from 2016-17 to 2020-21 for this scheme has been released/reimbursed to the CTRC.”
The scheme, providing a grant-in-aid of ₹40 crore to CTRC for five years to meet the administrative and social welfare activities expenses of the Tibetan settlements spread across India was sanctioned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2015, the report noted.
The Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) was formed and registered as a Charitable Society under the Indian Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 and effectively acts as the Relief and Development Wing of the Home Department, Central Tibetan Administration(CTA)
The CTA commonly referred to as the Tibetan Government in exile maintains that the main objective of the committee is to coordinate Individual, Voluntary Agencies and the Indian Government’s efforts to rehabilitate and settle Tibetan Refugees spread across 45 Tibetan settlements across India.
Besides assisting and promoting the upliftment of the poor, needy, backward, underprivileged individuals and making the Tibetan settlement viable and sustainable.
