Introduction

Dhondenling Tibetan settlement, Kollegal, Karnataka settlement was established in 1974 with the help of the Government of India and Karnataka State. Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRADA) extended their technical support in the construction of the living quarters, settlement offices, hospital , school buildings road etc. The settlement has total area of 3121.14 acres of land allocated for both residential and agricultural purpose.

Settlement Location:

Dhondenling Tibetan settlement is located in Kollegal Taluk, near Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border and the nearest town is Kollegala which is at the diatance of 40 km. The settlement is situated at a height of 3345 ft. above sea level. And experience a moderate climatic condition. The average temperature of the place is about 20° Celsius and average annual rainfall of 140-170 cm.

3,160

Initial Population

3061

Present Population

No of Villages in the settlement

This settlement consists of 22 villages or refugee camps with average of 25-35 families in each camps.

Settler’s Livelihood:

Agriculture is the main source of income for the settlement people and farmers mostly cultivate maize, ragi and potato once in a year. Due to the geographical location of settlement, farmers cultivate their crops mainly in the end of July during the time of retreating monsoon. The location plays a vital role in determining the livelihood of the settlers for the settlement falls under rain shadow area. Hence, rainfall is quite scanty in the region which also impacts the drinking water of the people. Apart from agriculture, the settles are engaged in seasonal sweater selling during winter season in the hope for a better standard of living.

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Facilities in the settlement

School	Three Kindergarten school One main primary school upto 10th standard
Health facilities	One modern allopathic hospital One Tibetan Medical and Astro institute
Monastery	The settlement has five monasteries Dzongchen monasteries Taksham monasteries Tanak monasteries Dhragyal monasteries Bayoe monasteries
Co-operative Society	The settlement has one co-operative Society with few public service section, namely fair price shop, tractor repair and rental section, handicraft Center.

Administrative setup

Representative
Each settlement has a settlement officer who is the Representative of the Department of Home appointed by Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Dharamsala. Settlement officer is the principle post of the settlement. He is charged with overall control of running of affairs in the settlement. Under the Representative there are chief executive officer Co-operative society, appointed by CTA, Manager of the workshop and other small handicraft and also village leaders.

Representative acts as the liaison between the settlement and the Department of Home (CTA) and is the main source of information for the people in the settlement. The roles of Chief Diplomat, Chief Justice and Head of the settlement are all combined in one post. Daily task for the representative range from adjudicating disputes to communicating with group leaders and outside authorities, and generally watching over the running of all aspects of the settlement.

Group Leaders
The functioning or activities of every settlement are more or less similarly to each other. There are 22 villages in this settlement and each of these 22 villages possess an elected group leaders whose job is to act as an intermediary with relevant authorities, pass on information, settle disputes and collect money. Group leaders are not elected for their policy-making idea, nor do they campaign on certain issue. These group leaders are chosen on the basis of their strength of personality and once ability to stand before the interest of their village. The duty of the leader is more or less like the representative, but on smaller and more personal scale.