Nepal Cracks Down on Middlemen in Land Revenue and Survey Offices to Improve Service Delivery

Kathmandu. The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation has banned middlemen from Land Revenue and Survey offices to make service delivery transparent, effective, and free of grievances. Following the ministry's directive, the Survey Department issued a circular to all its subordinate offices nationwide, instructing them to prohibit the entry of unauthorized individuals.

Among government offices, Land Revenue and Survey offices are known for the highest volume of public complaints and overcrowding. With the government's ban on middlemen, a reduction in crowding has been observed. After police detained several individuals labeled as middlemen at Land Revenue offices based on government directives, document-writing professionals (Lekhapadi Byabasayi) launched protests, causing disruptions in service delivery for several days.

Work at the Land Revenue and Survey offices in Lagankhel, Lalitpur, remained almost at a standstill for the past few days. Police detained more than 21 people, labeling them as middlemen.

Following the police detention of legal professionals under the guise of middlemen, the document-writing professionals protested. Once they stopped working, most operations at the Land Revenue office came to a halt. Currently, most Land Revenue tasks proceed only after online entry through the Bhu-Sewa (Land Service) centers.

With the system stalled by the professionals, service seekers who had traveled from far away for land registration, plotting, or ownership transfers were left in confusion.

Like elsewhere, services at the Lagankhel Land Revenue office were nearly paralyzed, but as of Wednesday, services have resumed following an agreement between the document-writing professionals and the Land Revenue office to operate Bhu-Sewa centers based on identity cards.

Durga Bahadur Pandak, Information Officer at the Lalitpur Land Revenue Office, stated that services resumed today following dialogue with the professionals. He explained that service delivery had been stalled for several days because Bhu-Sewa centers and document-writing professionals stopped working after the government's new directive and police crackdowns.

According to him, services resumed today after discussions with the document-writing professionals and Bhu-Sewa center operators. "Services were stalled after police crackdowns a few days ago led Bhu-Sewa centers and document-writing professionals to stop work," Pandak said. "After a meeting with the professionals yesterday, services have resumed today. It has been agreed that professionals will now prepare documents, collect evidence, and send service seekers to the office from outside."

He noted that when documents did not arrive via Bhu-Sewa (online), daily tasks such as house registration, amendments, freezes, and releases—totaling 200 to 400 cases—were affected, all of which have now resumed.

He said, "It has been agreed that professionals will now prepare documents and collect evidence while sitting in their own Bhu-Sewa centers, and then send the service seekers to the office. The office has moved forward with work using a token system."

Pandak mentioned that since work was previously done through Bhu-Sewa centers legally, there is a need to manage it systematically. He added, "It is problematic for the Land Revenue office when document-writing legal professionals stop work. Land Revenue staff cannot handle all the work alone. The cooperation of document-writing professionals is necessary."

Meanwhile, the document-writing professionals have expressed strong objections to being labeled as middlemen. Bharat Ghimire, Secretary of the Nepal Lekhapadi Legal Professionals Association, Patan Unit Committee, claimed that they are working after being registered according to the law.

"We are official professionals registered under the Legal Practitioners Act and the Document Writing Act; we are not middlemen," Ghimire said. "Since 2076 BS, we have been providing technical support to the state through Bhu-Sewa centers by depositing collateral. The state should view us as partners."

He stated that they returned to work after the Lagankhel Land Revenue office agreed to allow professionals entry based on identity cards. The professionals have also committed to assisting the administration in controlling actual middlemen.

He explained that they provide technical support equivalent to that of employees in filling out complex land administration forms and online system schedules, and that if they were not there, the state would have to hire many more employees.

• Service seekers are happy

Service seekers have felt a great sense of relief after the crowd of middlemen was removed from the Land Revenue office. Hari Ghimire, a service seeker from Kalanki, expressed happiness, saying that while brokers used to surround and harass him previously, his work was completed in just 10 minutes today.

He mentioned that the prevalence of middlemen who used to pull and surround people from outside the office has now disappeared. "Previously, brokers would grab us and take us somewhere, but now I came directly, took a token, and the work was finished in 10 minutes. This system is very good," he said.

Similarly, another service seeker, Babulal Chyangwang Tamang, described this government move as extremely positive and welcome.

Tamang said, "Middlemen were cheating service seekers by confusing them about how to write applications, land surveying, and where to pay revenue. Now that middlemen are gone, an environment has been created where service seekers can get services directly and easily."

He emphasized that a distinction should be made between document-writing professionals and middlemen, and that actual middlemen should not be allowed to enter the office.

Another service seeker, Sharmila Shakya, also said that the office looked much calmer and more organized compared to the past. "I used to be afraid just seeing the crowd before; today, the work was done very conveniently and peacefully," she shared her experience.

However, Shakya also mentioned that the help of official professionals is necessary for those who cannot read or write.

Service seekers suggested that while removing middlemen is good, the help of official document-writing professionals is needed for filling out forms and technical work, so they should be managed properly.

Another service seeker, Badri Narayan Shrestha, also welcomed this government move and suggested that professionals should be managed by setting a fixed service fee. He said that an environment should be created for professionals to sit in their own offices with fixed service charges.

Currently, security has been tightened at the Lagankhel Land Revenue office, and entry is granted only after checking identification documents and the nature of the work. As a result, unnecessary crowding in the office premises has decreased, and transparency in service delivery is expected.