SONAMLING DEC 11: Governance must reach people where they live, Nodal Officer Stanzin Rabgais said on Thursday as more than five hundred residents gathered for a Mimang–Si–sJabstogs outreach camp that became one of the busiest civic redressal exercises witnessed inside the Sonamling Tibetan Settlement this year.
His remarks set the tone for a day marked by rapid grievance intake, on-spot service delivery and firm community appeals.
Rabgais reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to transparent and accountable functioning and assured residents that grievances raised at the camp would be taken up without delay. His assurance came as Chief Representative Officer Tashi Dhondup placed before the administration a set of unresolved civic issues, including long-pending land regularisation matters and stalled Jal Jeevan Mission works.
The Chief Representative Officer submitted a memorandum detailing persistent bottlenecks in settlement administration. The document highlighted land demarcation disputes, delays in regularisation procedures, incomplete JJM works, the demand for a dedicated welfare budget for Tibetan residents, overdue blacktopping of internal roads and the need to strengthen waste-management systems. He also submitted a copy of the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy 2014 to reinforce the community’s claims.
Organised by the District Administration under the Mimang–Si–sJabstogs doorstep governance initiative, the camp functioned as an intensive public-service and complaint-handling forum. Residents throughout the day reported issues related to water supply, electricity, sanitation, road conditions and welfare entitlements. Officials from public works, public health engineering, power development, agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, rural development, social welfare, labour and handicrafts departments, along with banks and financial institutions, received complaints and issued on-the-spot clarifications wherever possible.
Rabgais informed the public that all petitions would be compiled and forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner with directions to concerned departments to effect timely redressal. He also briefed residents on ongoing development works and reiterated that the administration aimed to maintain transparency in every stage of service delivery.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Financial Literacy, supported by SBI Choglamsar, conducted awareness sessions on KYC updates, retrieval of unclaimed deposits, government-backed financial protection schemes and safe digital-banking practices, cautioning residents about rising cyber-fraud risks.
Officials continued to register a steady flow of complaints through the day, treating the submissions as part of the broader administrative review initiated by the outreach drive. As the programme concluded, the Chief Representative Officer thanked the district administration for deploying multiple departments inside the settlement and enabling direct engagement with residents.
