In number 3 of the agenda set for the meeting of the House of Representatives on June 25, it was mentioned that Land Management Minister Balram Adhikari will submit a proposal to discuss the land-related bill in the House. On that day, after presenting the amendments to the bill for decision, the agenda for passing the bill was fixed the previous day in the evening. But neither the ruling party Congress was consulted nor the opposition parties were aware of this.

According to the Congress leaders, suspicion arose after the bill to amend some of Nepal's land-related laws was placed on the agenda without consulting the ruling party. Congress General Minister Vishwa Prakash Sharma raised objections through social media at 4 am on 25 June. In a

warning style, Sharma wrote, "It is necessary to get consensus by amending some of the Nepal Act Amendment Bills related to land." There is open disagreement that it is going to be presented to the Parliament without doing enough homework and passing it directly. Let's not hesitate, let's seek prior agreement or send it to the committee. Otherwise, today (June 25) should be removed from the agenda.

Another General Minister Gagan Thapa, who is on a visit to Thailand, also mentioned the need to amend the Land Bill and gave a message that it should not be put on the agenda without agreement. Then other Congress leaders also became active. The main opposition Maoists as well as JSP Nepal protested publicly. The government was forced to remove the bill from the agenda. Even after a week has passed since then, there is still distrust between the ruling Congress and UML regarding the process of amending and passing the bill. 

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli wants to pass the bill through 'fast track'. Land Management Minister Adhikari says that there is an obligation to pass the bill quickly to facilitate the work of the Land Commission.

He argues that due to the non-amendment of some vague provisions of the Act related to land, forest and national parks, there is a problem in distributing land to landless Dalits and squatters. Congress leaders are not ready to accept the minister's argument. Congress MP Dilendra Prasad Badu says that the Eighth Amendment of the Land Act does not stop the distribution of land to landless Dalits and squatters. 

The Land Problem Solution Commission is distributing red parts to landless Dalits and squatters in various places. The commission distributed red parts to Arjundhara Municipality of Jhapa on Wednesday. The landless Dalits and squatters there took part from the hands of Speaker Devraj Ghimire. Before that, the commission has been distributing parts in different districts. 

The Congress leaders suspect that the main interest of the amendment that the government is trying to make in the Act now is to distribute land to unorganized residents and to set up various companies to give concessions to those who occupy more than the limit of land, rather than giving landless Dalits and squatters red portions. They are demanding that the Bill be sent to the Agricultural Cooperative and Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives to clear the doubts of the ruling and opposition parties.

The Congress leaders are insisting that the directive order given by the Supreme Court in the writ of Giribandhu Tea Estate in Jhapa should also be considered. In the directive order issued by the Supreme Court on 24th March 2080, it has been stated that 'Coordination shall be maintained while formulating any policy or law regarding the common rights of the Union and the Provinces'.

In the case of Giribandhu Tea Estate, the Supreme Court also issued a mandate stating that 'in the case of granting limitation exemption, the land has been used for different (other) purposes without being used or used for different (other) purposes or the land has been left vacant (barren) and immediately and compulsorily must acquire/make the land in the name of the Government of Nepal in accordance with the Land Act 2021. 

According to a leader of the Congress, since Prime Minister Oli is not ready to send the bill to the committee, they are trying to adopt a middle way of amending it by forming a working group. Prime Minister Oli can form a working group with Congress and JSP Nepal leaders on Monday night at the Prime Minister's Residence Baluwatar. A

option was suggested. Congress leaders were flexible on that. Jaspa Nepal, on the other hand, took the position that the bill should be sent to the committee, saying that it is necessary to reach an agreement in discussions with experts. 

Although Congress and UML have a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives, the ruling party will not have a majority in the National Assembly if JSP Nepal does not support them. Since the ordinance has to be passed in the future, Prime Minister Oli, along with Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, asked Jaspa Nepal President Upendra Yadav to participate in the government and support the land bill on Monday night. Yadav put forward the condition that there should be a 'course correction' saying that there is no environment to come to the government due to the behavior done in the past. Rajkishore Yadav, senior vice president of Jaspa Nepal, also participated in the meeting.

On Wednesday, Jaspa Nepal has taken a formal decision to withdraw its support to the government while the dialogue about participation in the government is going on.

'There was a proposal to participate in the government after reconsidering the decision to withdraw support and to support the land bill,' Jaspa Nepal president Yadav told Kantipur, 'However, we have no interest in joining the government and the land bill cannot be passed as it is, we have said that we will remain in the opposition until course correction is made.'

The government recommended five ordinances including land to President Ramchandra Paudelka on 29th December to speed up public services, maintain good governance and create an environment for investment. Other ordinances from the President were issued on the same day, while the land ordinance was 'held' for two days and issued only on January 2.

The ordinance was issued after the President expressed concern that the ordinance could increase the encroachment of public lands and forests. But without the support of JSP Nepal, the process of approving the ordinance by the Parliament was not started and it became inactive. The government has brought the bill keeping the provisions in that ordinance. 

The ruling party has 27 seats in the 59-member National Assembly, including 16 of the Congress, 10 of the UML and 1 of the LOSPA. With the support of JSP Nepal, which has three seats, it will get a majority. There is a constitutional provision that the ordinance must be approved by both houses of the federal parliament.

Even if the National Assembly rejects the regular bill, it can be sent to the President's office for verification after it is passed again by the House of Representatives. But rather than for the land bill, Prime Minister Oli has tried to make JSP Nepal participate in the government to facilitate the ordinance in the future. But even though that road has ended for now, a minister of the government said that the dialogue is continuing. 

Jaspa Nepal president Yadav said that the land bill is the main interest rather than cooperation with Congress and UML. The current main concern of the ruling party is to support the land bill. There is no difference between the current bill and the previous ordinance. The bill has sanctioned deforestation. This should be stopped," he told Kantipur, "cutting down trees and destroying forests should not be done under any circumstances. We are concerned that the activity of selling the land in the forest area and giving it to the land mafia, providing accommodation or opening a hotel should be stopped.' 

President of Jaspa Nepal Yadav said that there is a provision in the bill to give forest land to developers and real estate and it will lead Nepal towards desertification. He said that because the government is trying to pass the bill through a short procedure without going to the parliamentary committee for discussion, the suspicion has increased.

According to sources in Baluwatar, Prime Minister Oli is ready to form a working group to revise the bill after pressure from the Congress. An agreement has been reached to have two each from Congress and UML, and one each from Jaspa Nepal and Maoists in the working group.

The Congress has given the responsibility to MP Badu, who is also a central member of the party, to do the homework of amending the bill by integrating the amendment proposals submitted by the party. Congress General Minister Sharma says that if the bill is sent to the committee, it will be easier to find an agreement among all the political parties represented in the Parliament.

If it is to be passed quickly, it will be delayed when it is taken to the committee, then forming a working group is also an option. The bill can be amended by the working group," he says, "at least if Jaspa Nepal can be taken into confidence, the bill will be passed by the National Assembly as well." 

The Congress insists that it should be explained clearly, as the 'loop hole' bill, which gives a discount on the sale and distribution of vacant land held in the names of various companies including agriculture, but not used by converting it into home business, is emphasized by the Congress. The Congress demands that land should be given to unorganized residents only after scientific mapping. In the bill, it is arranged that the land designated as forest and intermediate areas will be brought to the name of the government and given land. 

Congress MP Badu said that the bill brought on a two-day 'hold' by the President and which could not be approved by the Parliament was brought with the provisions of the Ordinance, even though the ruling party had to amend it, and the suspicion arose when they tried to pass it at once without discussion.

'We are not ready to move forward without modifying it, our first emphasis is that it should be taken to the committee. But if the prime minister does not accept it, even if it goes to the working group, the bill should be amended in such a way as to remove the doubt," he said. 

Land Management Minister Adhikari says the process will be long after the bill goes to committee. Sometimes it takes years after going to the committee. Now the commission has been formed. "The commission has not been able to work because the law has not been amended," he said.

Congress General Minister Thapa and Sharma have proposed an amendment to Section 12 (g) of the Basic Land Act. By adding 12 (h) to it, it is mentioned that the restrictive phrase after sub-section 4 should be clearly interpreted from keeping the title on the special provision of exemption of limitation of real estate business. 

It is proposed by the Chief Minister to put a restrictive phrase with explanation so that the land in excess of the limit cannot be used for purposes other than those for which it was taken.

It is stated in that, "However, when taking the exemption of limitations according to the prevailing law, the land that has been exempted or approved for the purpose of commercial agricultural industry such as agricultural farm, tea industry, establishment, educational institution, health institution, etc. has been kept vacant (barren) without being used according to the specified conditions for the same purpose or has been used for a different purpose or later established a real estate business company and conducted real estate business on that land in the name of that company or received approval to do such business or applied for approval for other purposes including agricultural industry. It is not allowed to carry out real estate business on the land that has been exempted or approved, or to build houses and housing (apartments) in such houses and sell them according to this section. They suspect that unorganized residents have been "intruded" in 52 (b) of the

Act. This clause is reserved for the provisions related to landless Dalits and squatters. But in this the word disordered has been inserted. It is not compatible with the legal and jurisprudential recognition of the insertion of irregular words in it. There is a separate provision in section 52 (c),'' Pratap Poudel, the legal advisor of Chief Minister Thapa, said, 'This is why there is a suspicion of misuse of government land.'

  But Paudel said that this will not stop those who are not able to sell and distribute after obtaining permission to buy for real estate business.

Thapa and Sharma have also amended the National Parks and Wildlife Protection Act 2029, saying that the provisions of the law that can be misused even when giving land to unruly residents should be made more clear. Like them, Badu and other Congress MPs also have amendments in this section. Even though forest and Bhutan have been marked on the land map where landless dalits, squatters and unorganized residents are located, the current bill has made provision for re-mapping and distribution in the name of the government.

When distributing land, the proposal of General Minister Thapa and Sharma is to provide ownership of land only after scientifically analyzing the economic conditions of landless Dalits, squatters and unorganized residents, the nature of the land, area, valuation, period of awad kamot and whether or not there are houses in other urban areas. They said that since there are many open government lands that are not used but are currently written as forests and Bhutan, there is a risk that such lands may be re-mapping and misused, so the related provisions have been amended to make it more clear. He said that only lands of delighted lands are to be mapped in a scientific intention to prevent encroachment of forest areas.