Human beings depend on different types of Capital for their personal, institutional and social requirements. These different types of capital include natural capital, manmade capital, cultural capital and social capital. Social capital has been classified into three different types viz. bonding social capital, bridging social capital and linking social capital. Social Capital plays an important role in bringing people together in any community.
During 1959, when China occupied Tibet, Tibetans fled from their mother land to different parts of the world and settled. At present there are 53 Tibetan settlements all over the world and out of this 35 are located in India. The administrative structure of the exiled Tibetan government is known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and it has its head quarter at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. Since its inception, the Central Tibetan Administration adopted the Camp Leader Approach (CLA) for reaching people. The Camp leaders not only act as an instrument to execute the policies from the top but also act as a facilitators to put forward the voices of the citizen to the concerned departments. Thus Camp leaders are the vital link between the administration and people.
An attempt is made in the present paper to understand the methods adopted by the camp leaders in promoting the social capital in the Tibetan settlements located in Bylakuppe camp in Karnataka. It is based on the survey and personal interview with the camp leaders. The result indicate that camp leaders are a vital link in promoting linking social capital more than the other forms of social capital and this is helping in improving the living conditions in Tibetan camps.
