Caught in Bureaucracy: Bhandara Tibetans’ Plea to Retain Settlement Officer Fails

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA 29 April: The residents of Bhandara Tibetan settlement in Maharashtra’s collective effort to prevent their Settlement Officer(SO) from leaving the settlement after receiving his transfer order from the Central Tibetan Administration(CTA) fails despite their appeals to the administration to allow the SO to remain in his position until the Rent Tenancy Certificate(RTC) for the settlement is secured.

The issue surfaced online through a YouTube video posted by Pema’s Channel, a content creator from the Bhandara Tibetan settlement on 28th April. 

Appealing in the video, the settlement residents explained that they gathered to prevent the SO from leaving, emphasising that 60–70% of the RTC process has already been completed. They further expressed concern that the repeated transfers of the SO before fulfilling the maximum three-year tenure have significantly hindered the progress of obtaining the RTC for the settlement.

Palden, the head of camp 2, Bhandara Tibetan settlement, told the Tibet Express over the phone that efforts to obtain the RTC have been ongoing since 1972. However, due to issues with documentation and diplomatic challenges, no SO has completed the process so far.

He noted, “The current SO has been able to complete a significant part of the process but the CTA has issued him a transfer order despite our earlier appeals and without the RTC, we continue to face land encroachment from the local people, against which we do not have any legal documentation to prove our legality in the area.”

In July 2024, several welfare groups within the settlement have submitted a joint petition to the CTA, urging that the incumbent SO, Karma Lodoe Sangpo—who took office on January 24, 2024, and has been performing his duties diligently—be allowed to continue in his role for a minimum of three to four years.

Although the CTA had assured that it would address the residents’ concerns through SO Karma Lodoe following their efforts to prevent his departure, Palden stated that the SO, acting on orders from the CTA, had already left the settlement by the time they went to meet him on Tuesday morning. He added that, as of now, there has been no communication from the CTA to the settlement.

Clarifying that the settlement has no objection to SO Karma Lodoe, since he neither voluntarily left nor was promoted, Palden, who has worked as a representative in the settlement for over 10 years, also noted that government officials have shown consistent reluctance to work in the settlement due to the region’s extreme heat and remote location.

“Officials have opted for leave without pay and even opted to resign to avoid working in our settlement; nobody wants to work here,” he added.

In response to the concerns raised by the residents, Tibet Express contacted the CTA’s Home Department. After being tossed between the Home Department and Kashag’s (Cabinet) Secretariat, eventually, Palden Dhondup, the Home Secretary of the CTA, agreed to speak with us over the matter.

The Home Secretary stated that there is no such law requiring a SO to serve a full three-year term. The appointment and transfer of officials are decisions made and collectively carried out by the secretaries of all seven departments within the CTA, after which the proposal is submitted to the Cabinet for final approval.

“The home department looks into the capability of officials in relation to the post. And if a transfer takes place, the department makes sure the next official meets the necessary criteria to carry out the work of the former official.”

Dhondup acknowledged that the early transfer of officials and SO is not a new issue, but one that has persisted for a long time. “As civil servants, we are bound to follow orders from higher authorities without question. We agreed to this when we joined the administration,” he said.

Given that such a system has posed challenges for Tibetan settlements, Bhandara being a current example, when asked whether there are alternative avenues or potential systemic reforms to address the real-life consequences on communities, since laws and systems are ultimately meant to serve the welfare of the people.

In response, he emphasized the need for a stable legal framework to ensure the smooth functioning of the administration. “If we continually alter laws to suit individual people and settlements, the system risks collapsing. There would be no end to amendments if we catered to every request,” he said.

Addressing the RTC issue specifically, he drew from his personal experience as a former SO of the Orissa Tibetan settlement, describing the process as a complex diplomatic undertaking. He explained that the RTC process is heavily influenced by various external entities—from local authorities to state governments, and even the Indian Cabinet—and becomes even more complicated within a democratic system like India’s. As such, he noted, the process naturally requires time.

He added that the newly appointed SO for the Bhandara settlement is someone who was born and raised there and is therefore well-positioned to effectively carry forward the work that has already been started.