Land Ownership Woes Plague Residents in Rupandehi as Election Promises on Land Deeds Remain Unfulfilled

Butwal. In Ramnagar Chowk, Tilottama Municipality Ward No. 11, Lilambar Sapkota owns a two-story concrete house built on 8 dhur of land. Sapkota, 59, has been a resident here since 2060 BS.

A while ago, he approached various banks to send his daughter to Japan, but he could not get a loan because he lacked a land ownership certificate (Lalpuja). He managed by borrowing money. His two daughters are now in Japan.

It has been years since more than a dozen concrete houses were built around Sapkota's house, but they still have not received their land ownership certificates.

Padam Bahadur Bishwakarma, who has been living in the area known as Akase Pul in Tilottama-11 for 30 years, is a farmer. Despite paying taxes to the ward office for years in pursuit of the land certificate, he remains in distress due to the delay.

Meeting with Ratopati at Ramnagar Chowk, BK said, “Our main problem is the land ownership certificate. Leaders promise to provide the certificates, but we haven't received them yet. We wish they would stop giving us false assurances.”

Sapkota recounts the sorrow of leaders repeatedly committing to solving the land certificate issue during elections but never taking action. He mentions that although land surveys are conducted annually, there is no certainty about when the certificates will be handed over. He also informed that they have been paying taxes to the ward office.

The National Land Commission had forms filled out in 2077 BS for the locals in Tilottama-11 to receive land ownership certificates. At that time, 3,322 people from Ward No. 11 alone filled out the forms, but the certificates were not distributed.

Again, the Commission issued a notice on Bhadra 30, 2082, stating it was the final call, announcing a 35-day deadline across the country for form submission. Locals here also filled out forms through the ward office accordingly. However, there is no guarantee that they will be given land certificates this time either.

According to Raju Pandey, a technician from the National Land Commission in Tilottama Municipality, 8,290 people from the area filled out forms, with residents of Tilottama-11 submitting the highest number. He stated, “We estimate about 1,000 new forms will be added within the municipality, and the target is to complete the entry by the end of Magh Masant.” After Ward No. 11, the land certificate problem in Tilottama is successively severe in Wards 10 and 9.

Many residents living on public land (Ailani) are concentrated in areas like Ramnagar, Bhupu Sainik, Ganesh Nagar, Kalika Sthan, and Kanchi Bazaar, which fall under Devdaha Municipality but are adjacent to Tilottama.

Rupandehi Constituency No. 1 includes Devdaha Municipality, Rohini Rural Municipality, Wards 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17 of Tilottama Municipality, and Wards 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Omsatiya Rural Municipality.

According to Bharat Tiwari, former district member of the National Land Commission and a resident of Devdaha, among the five constituencies in the district, Constituency No. 1 has a comparatively larger land certificate problem. In this constituency, the issue of public land is prevalent in Devdaha Municipality, Tilottama, and Omsatiya.

Vishnu Basnyat, coordinator of the National Land Commission Service Center in Devdaha, mentioned that 15,363 forms were filled out from Devdaha Municipality in the previous commission. In the latest round, 965 people have applied, of whom 786 old applicants have already received their land ownership certificates. Local government and National Land Commission staff are deployed here.

According to social activist Prem Thapa from Devdaha, most areas in Devdaha-12 are on public land. The local government collects taxes annually on this public land. However, although candidates for the House of Representatives mention this issue in their manifestos, they have not resolved it, nor has the state addressed it in any other way.

Krishna Prasad Pokhrel, a former headmaster and resident of Tilottama-11 Ramnagar, stated that even though he has been residing and farming in this area since 2039 BS, farmers have not received land ownership certificates. “Many elections have been held here, leaders have come and gone, but the land certificate problem remains as it is,” he said. He urged that candidates should take this issue seriously even after the elections conclude.

Khim Thatrai, a local from Devdaha, highlighted that the squatter settlement problem is the main issue, adding that candidates should also focus on problems like irrigation and roads. He noted that leaders use the squatter settlement issue as a vote bank during elections. “In every election, leaders come seeking votes using the slogan of that squatter settlement problem,” he said.

Rupandehi-1 has 146,824 voters, and there are 31 candidates, including independents.

Instability in Commission Worsens the Problem

The National Land Commission or the Squatter Settlement Problem Resolution Commission has been formed and dissolved repeatedly. According to Prem Thapa from Devdaha, this instability causes problems for squatters in obtaining land certificates, and it also makes it easier for candidates to seek votes by highlighting this very issue.

The individuals mentioned above are voters from Constituency No. 1.

Following the 'Jengji' movement on Bhadra 23/24, the government again dissolved the commission. The commission officials were reinstated after going to court. This instability in the commission has affected matters at the grassroots level.

While the commission was preparing to distribute land certificates to locals in Devdaha and Tilottama Municipalities, the then government dissolved the commission in Rupandehi district, which was led by Haribahadur Acharya Chhetri. Then, on Poush 29, 2081 BS, a new district-level commission was formed in Rupandehi under the leadership of Kumar Thapa Magar. After the new commission arrived, land surveying work was underway in various places. The process of distributing land certificates had advanced in some areas.

Following the 'Jengji' movement on Bhadra 23/24, the government again dissolved the commission. The commission officials were reinstated after going to court. This instability in the commission has affected matters at the grassroots level.

Meanwhile, Raju Pandey, a technician from the National Land Commission in Tilottama Municipality, informed that preparations are underway to distribute about 1100 land ownership certificates in Tilottama. According to Kumar Thapa Magar, Chairman of the Land Commission Rupandehi, the work was halted because the commission was dissolved midway while working based on the notice issued by the government as the final call. He stated that work has resumed only after being revived by the court.

He also stated that the highest number of squatter settlement problems in Rupandehi is in the Devdaha area.

Currently, surveying and other processes have been completed in various parts of the district, but the election code of conduct has been enforced. He explained that after the elections conclude, a notice will be issued according to regulations for the collection of revenue for the completed land processes. Only then will the work of distributing land ownership certificates begin.