Kunchok Migmar elected Dharamsala’s new TSO
DHARAMSALA, 4 June: Kunchok Migmar has been elected Dharamsala’s new Tibetan Settlement Officer (TSO).
Kunchok Migmar was declared the sixth TSO of Dharamsala after securing 1149 votes in the final round of the election.
Kunga Tsering, the incumbent TSO, came second with 690 votes trailing by 459 votes.
Kunchok Migmar who has been working as the Sponsorship Sectary of the TSO since 2018 has thanked Dharamsala Tibetans for their support and their vote. He has further pledged to serve the public to the best of his capacity.
A total of 1,839 Tibetans living in Dharamsala jurisdiction which extends to Tibetans living up to Gopalpur turned up to vote at the final round of Dharamsala’s TSO election held on 3rd June.
Though 710 more voters voted in the election compared to the last election, it is still a staggeringly low voter turnout.
Tibetans who have been paying voluntary contributions through the green book to Central Tibetan Administration(CTA) in Dharamshala for at least five years continuously in McLeod Ganj could vote in these elections.
It is estimated that around 8,700 Tibetans have registered their green book at Dharamsala.
Though the charter of Tibetans in exile mandates elections to be conducted to appoint Tibetan settlement officers across Tibetan settlements in India, most of the settlement officers are directly appointed by the CTA as holding elections for all the TSOs is not feasible.