Tikapur Multiple Campus Land Encroachment Halts Educational Expansion

Dhangadhi. Tikapur Multiple Campus in Kailali of Sudurpashchim has been politically and socially cornered. The educational expansion and master plan of this campus have been completely stalled after nearly 300 bighas of land owned by the campus fell prey to encroachment for the past two decades. This campus is struggling with problems despite owning its land.

This institution, operating as an constituent campus of Sudurpashchim University, provides higher education in agricultural science. Illegal settlements have been established on the campus's land, for which it holds title deeds, and hundreds of permanent and temporary physical structures have been erected.

According to Campus Chief Dhavindra Rawal, the campus had only 80 bighas of land when it was established in 2058 BS. Later, in 2062 BS, the Tikapur Development Committee handed over an additional 300 bighas of land to the campus. The campus has legal records and title deeds for all this 380 bighas of land.

The encroachment began in 2063 BS, less than a year after acquiring the land. The campus administration had been trying to stop this illegal occupation since the early days. However, due to the pressure of vested interest groups and the vote bank strategy of political parties, encroachment continued to increase.

'Structures were rapidly built on the campus land with political and power backing. Now, schools, health posts, roads, and electricity poles have even been established with government investment without the campus's consent,' he said.

Classes for Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BScAg) and Master of Science in Agriculture (MScAg) are being conducted at the campus. For experimental education like agriculture, land is needed for farming and research over a large area.

'We have ample land on paper, but in practice, it is difficult to provide experimental classes to students,' Rawal said. Rawal complains that the campus cannot add new technical programs or build infrastructure as desired due to land scarcity.

In Tikapur Municipality-1 alone, 5,100 families have filled forms claiming to be landless. Most of them reside in the encroached areas of the campus. According to Ward Chairman Mohan Bik, the settlement here is of a very complex nature, comprising a mix of former Kamaiyas, flood victims, and unorganized settlers.

It is reported that some former employees of the former Tikapur Village Development Committee have also occupied land, citing non-receipt of service facilities. According to locals, the campus administration states that many people living there are not genuine landless people. Some have built houses on campus land even though they own property elsewhere. Locals say that people with assets in other municipalities of Kailali are also looking to take advantage here as landless people.

As the land reform commissions formed to solve the landless problem are dissolved due to political instability, the work of distinguishing between genuine and fake landless people has not been done. Ward Chairman Bik says that the new government will have to resolve this issue.

After a long period of uncertainty, Tikapur Municipality has now shown some initiative. The municipality has already collected data of about 10,000 landless and unorganized settlers within the city. According to the municipality's Information Officer Devi Prasad Acharya, details are currently being publicized at the ward level, inviting claims and objections. He said that through this process, genuine landless people will be identified, and only then will the management work proceed.

The municipality has also started a campaign to remove structures built by encroaching public land in the market area. However, a concrete decision regarding the campus's 300 bighas of land is still pending.