Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 6 (ANI): 18 members of the Indian parliament (including 12 from Lok Sabha and 6 from Rajya Sabha) of the parliamentary committee on the welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes along with their family members and officers of the parliamentary committee and other officials came here to attend a 2-day meeting in Dharamshala for June 5 and 6.

The delegation, led by chairman Dr Faggan Singh Kulaste, a Lok Sabha member, is here for a meeting with various stakeholders. The Indian parliamentarians also met with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Some members met the Dalai Lama on Thursday, and a few met him on Friday.

While interacting with the delegation, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said, 'Honoured and happy meeting with this big delegation. We consider India to be truly our father's land...We are followers of Buddha, and one institution in India--Nalanda- we study Nalanda's thoughts. So when I visited Nalanda, I really felt something very moving, so now. I state more or less India now, not only because of its big population but also because of all the major world's rich traditions live together. Thank you.'

Faggan Singh Kulste, Lok Sabha Member and the committee's chairman, told ANI, 'This is an SC-ST welfare committee of the parliament, which has a wide significance in the country. The parliament has announced this committee for the welfare of India's 25 per cent population. The committee talks about the rights and welfare of SC-ST government employees. Although the SC and ST commissions already exist, this committee takes note of all the proceedings done by the commissions, and then the Parliament and the government act according to the recommendations of this committee. The committee has a total of 30 members, 20 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Raj Sabha, and we have nearly 18 members attending the 2-days meeting in Dharamshala here. Some of the committee members met the Dalai Lama yesterday, and a few are meeting him today. It was a nice meeting with him. It was an informal courtesy call. The Dalai Lama has very positive thoughts for this country, and we also supported him.'

Mithilesh Kumar, Rajya Sabha member, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, told ANI, 'We have come to Dharamshala on a study tour and we got so many things here which will be raised and discussed in the Parliament. We also met the Dalai Lama, who said that we must be strong while living in India and be cautious of China. And we also extend our support towards him.' (ANI)