National Land Commission Calls for Final Applications for Land Management

Butwal. The National Land Commission has called for final applications for land management for landless Dalits, landless squatters, and unorganized residents from 66 local levels across the country. The commission has issued a notice to submit applications in the prescribed format through the land surveyors of the respective local levels within 35 days, effective from July 19. Among the 109 local levels in Lumbini Province, only Dudhuwa Rural Municipality in Banke has been included in the commission's notice. Other local levels in the province are not on this list. According to the notice, landless Dalits, landless squatters, and unorganized residents from the local levels included in the list must fill out the application form designated by the commission and submit it to the respective local level within the stipulated period. After collecting applications, the commission will proceed with data collection, verification, and land management processes. The commission has urged the target communities in the respective local levels to submit their applications within the specified time, stating that this is the final call for applications. How did Dudhuwa alone get on the 'final' list? Questions have arisen as only Dudhuwa Rural Municipality in Banke has been included in the list among the 109 local levels in Lumbini Province. Has the problem of landless and squatters been resolved in other local levels of Lumbini? The problem of landless Dalits, landless squatters, and unorganized residents has been complex for years in Lumbini Province. There are a large number of landless and unorganized residents in various districts of the province, and there have been long-standing demands for land management. Although various commissions and committees formed in the past have collected data, thousands of families are still without land ownership documents due to repeated halts in the process. In such a situation, as the National Land Commission has called for applications from 66 local levels across the country for the 'final' time, interest has grown regarding the reason why other local levels in Lumbini are not on the list. Regarding the question 'How did only Dudhuwa Rural Municipality among the 109 local levels in Lumbini Province get included in the final notice?', Sanjeev Kumar Shah, Survey Officer and Information Officer of the Nepal Government Land Problem Resolution Committee, stated that in other local levels, agreements with the commission have already been made and processes have been initiated. According to him, very little land-related work had been done in Dudhuwa Rural Municipality. Therefore, that municipality has been included in the list for the final call for applications. 'The commission has issued notices three times since 2077 BS,' Shah said, 'For other local levels in Lumbini Province, a notice was issued for the last time on July 15, 2082 BS.' According to him, applications have been called for 687 local levels in installments so far, out of a total of 753 local levels across the country. A notice has now been issued for the remaining 66 local levels for the final time. He clarified that only Dudhuwa Rural Municipality from Lumbini Province is on that list. Data collection halted due to protests According to Vikram Giri, Chief Administrative Officer of Dudhuwa Rural Municipality, the rural municipality was collecting applications and conducting data collection for the landless and squatters until the last day of the 'Genji' protest. However, he said that many people missed the opportunity to apply as the process was halted after the protest. 'As many people were left out, the work progress report also appeared weak. Based on that, the commission has issued another notice,' Giri said, 'We will soon start collecting applications and expedite the work.' According to him, the problem of unorganized residents displaced due to Rapti River erosion, residing in forest areas and other public lands, exists in the rural municipality. He said that such families are present in most wards of the rural municipality. 'We will start collecting accurate data now,' he said. In the neighboring local levels of Dudhuwa Rural Municipality, the process of distributing land ownership certificates has already begun after collecting data for landless and unorganized residents. In Kohalpur Municipality and Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality of Banke, land ownership certificates have already been distributed to some families. It is reported that preparations are underway to distribute land ownership certificates to more families in those municipalities. In this context, Dudhuwa Rural Municipality is on the list for the final call for applications as it is still in the data collection process.