Tibetan Welfare Office

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Signpost of Tibetan Settlement Office Tibetan Settlement Office Dharamsala.jpg
Signpost of Tibetan Settlement Office

The Tibetan Settlement Office (T.S.O.) (formerly "Tibetan Welfare Office") Tibetan : ང་ཚོའི་སྐོར།,  Wylie : nga tsho'i skor is acting within the Tibetan Ministry of the Interior and is part of the central Tibetan administration in Dharmshala, India. The T.S.O. organizes projects in the social, cultural and economical sectors. Furthermore, they focus on issues of environment and enduring development.

Tibetan alphabet abugida used to write the Tibetic languages and others

The Tibetan alphabet is an abugida used to write the Tibetic languages such as Tibetan, as well as Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Ladakhi, and sometimes Balti. The printed form of the alphabet is called uchen script while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê script.

Wylie transliteration

The Wylie transliteration system is a method for transliterating Tibetan script using only the letters available on a typical English language typewriter. It bears the name of Turrell V. Wylie, who described the scheme in an article, A Standard System of Tibetan Transcription, published in 1959. It has subsequently become a standard transliteration scheme in Tibetan studies, especially in the United States.

India Country in South Asia

India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Contents

Waste Management

In 1994 the „Clean Upper Dharmshala“-project was launched by the T.S.O. The aim was to solve the waste management in Upper Dharmshala which needed strong efforts due to the increase of nonbiodegradable waste in that region.

In the beginning the project had installed three „Green Workers“, who collected recyclable material from companies and households in McLeod Ganj. A great positive impact on the environmental situation could also be achieved by installing five dustbins which were frequently emptied by a dust cart.

McLeod Ganj Suburb in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

McLeod Ganj is a suburb of Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" because of its large population of Tibetans. The Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered in McLeod Ganj.

Furthermore, public toilets were built, which are frequently being maintained. The drainage system in the area of McLeod Ganj and the Dal Lake was displaced to prevent water pollution.

Dal Lake lake in India

Dal is a lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The urban lake, which is the second largest in the state, is integral to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is named the "Jewel in the crown of Kashmir" or "Srinagar's Jewel". The lake is also an important source for commercial operations in fishing and water plant harvesting.

Recycling

Recyclable material is being collected door by door by the "Green Workers" or emitted by the households.

The following materials are being recycled:

Carton box or container usually made of paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard

A carton is a box or container usually made of paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box.

Tin Chemical element with atomic number 50

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from Latin: stannum) and atomic number 50. It is a post-transition metal in group 14 of the periodic table of elements. It is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, which contains stannic oxide, SnO2. Tin shows a chemical similarity to both of its neighbors in group 14, germanium and lead, and has two main oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4. Tin is the 49th most abundant element and has, with 10 stable isotopes, the largest number of stable isotopes in the periodic table, thanks to its magic number of protons. It has two main allotropes: at room temperature, the stable allotrope is β-tin, a silvery-white, malleable metal, but at low temperatures it transforms into the less dense grey α-tin, which has the diamond cubic structure. Metallic tin does not easily oxidize in air.

The collected material is either sold in Dharmshala or transported to Pathankot (distance: 80 kilometres). The transportation itself is not cost-effective.

Pathankot Place in Punjab, India

Pathankot is a city in the Punjab state of India. Pathankot district is a border district which shares international border with Pakistan on its West. Pathankot was officially declared as District of Punjab state on 27 July 2011. Pathankot district is at the meeting point of the three northern states of India — Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Due to its location, Pathankot serves as a travel hub for those three northerly states.

Paper Factory

The T.S.O. opened a little paper factory in Upper Dharmshala where handmade products are made by recycling paper.

The Green Shop

Signpost of Green Shop Environmental Office, Mc Leod Ganj.jpg
Signpost of Green Shop

In 1994 „The Green Shop“ was opened and is an environmentally oriented shop selling various products, and acts as a collection point for hazardous materials, such as used batteries and expired medicines. [1]

Furthermore, the following products are sold:

Social Commitment

The Tibetan Settlement Office is concerned about the needs of the society. It tries to find various solutions for example in questions of youth, education and old-age provision. The T.S.O. is also giving legal advice in cases of conflicts in the society. One of its main goals is to obtain a social, religious and political harmony within the society.

The T.S.O. also established the „Gaddi Women's Self-Help Society“.[ citation needed ]

Since 2003, the Tibetan Settlement Office is a partner of Austrian Service Abroad, with one Austrian Social Servant (usually) per year working here for ten months.

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Dharamshala City in Himachal Pradesh, India

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Biodegradable bag

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