Community Development 

The viability of the Tibetan settlements is essential to maintaining the cohesiveness of the exile community, for it is there that families can thrive and cultural and religious life is sustained.  To this end, from the very beginning of the diaspora, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) focused on the creation of a network of settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan that would provide employment and promote self-reliance among more than 140,000 Tibetan refugees.   

Conditions in the settlements in the early years were very difficult, as the refugees had to clear jungle and convert untamed land in remote areas into habitable spaces.  Over time, with support from the international community and in cooperation with the Government of India, 52 major and minor settlements were established in India, Nepal and Bhutan, including 21 agricultural settlements, which required thousands of formerly nomadic people to radically change their livelihoods.

The CTA created the Department of Home in 1960 to coordinate relief and rehabilitation of the refugees who were streaming out of occupied Tibet.  In 1981, to give legal standing to the Department’s activities, His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) was formed and registered as Charitable Society under Indian Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.

In recent years, as the resources in the settlements have been stretched by the continued flow of new arrivals, and with a growing lack of employment opportunities in the settlements, the work of the Department of Home has shifted to include planning for long-term economic development and community revitalization.  The Department oversees the agricultural settlements, which are gradually converting from chemically-based to organic farming, carpet-weaving cooperatives in India, and handicraft societies in Nepal and Bhutan.  It also manages the Refugee Reception Centers, cares for the destitute and elderly, and coordinates emergency relief in times of flood, fire, drought and cyclones. 

The Department of Home has evolved into a highly professional organization, with four functional divisions to manage and coordinate the different aspects of rehabilitation and community development.  These are the Administration, Agriculture, Planning & Development, and Welfare divisions.  While the Department is headquartered in Dharamsala, it encourages refugees in the settlements to elect their own grassroots level heads, as this is seen to be an essential milestone in developing the full political maturity of the community.