Land reform is a topic that has been included in political parties, their documents, election manifestos, government policies and programs, and various plans. However, due to the lack of a clear vision and committed leadership, this issue is not being implemented meaningfully.
What you should know
It is only half true to believe that the 2046 BS movement was successful only due to the efforts of any party, individual or group. It was a success after the marginalized people of that time, the poor, the landless, small farmers, tribals, women, etc. all took to the streets.
The people had taken to the streets with the hope and intense desire for an end to the oppression, injustice, deprivation, poverty, unemployment that the lower class had been experiencing for years and a prosperous society and a happy life. Which was the achievement after the rush of anger and change.
However, when we stand after three and a half decades and look at the dreams of change of the elders of that time, countless questions arise in our minds – has the life of the lower class really changed after that achievement? Have the problems of the landless, squatters, unorganized settlers, small farmers, women farmers, tenant farmers, farmers suffering from gangs, farmers suffering from poverty, villagers, bonded laborers (harwa, charwa, haliya, kamaiya, kamalari) and others been solved? The movements, street struggles and rebellions that have taken place in the subsequent decades say – no. The problems of the people remain serious. One of them is the issue of land reform.
Jagannath Acharya was the Minister of Land Reform in the first government after the general election of 2048 BS. After becoming a minister, Acharya took forward some land reform work. However, he could not succeed because he faced opposition and non-cooperation from within the party (Congress) and the government. Minister Acharya had said, ‘There is such social injustice that someone has a lot of land but does not set foot on it, someone works tirelessly on the land and does not have any land to show the progress of their labor.
This social injustice should be ended and land should be distributed in a way that ensures social justice.’ If the land reform efforts of the elected government after multi-party democracy had been successful then, then today in 2082 BS, we would hardly have to be involved in debates, struggles and battles for the same issue.
In the meantime, efforts and efforts have been in vain. It seems that the quantity alone has not been sought . Meanwhile, the formed and reorganized political parties and the government leadership parties seem to be giving priority to some land reform work . Since 2046, high-level land reform commissions have been formed three times (Keshav Badal-2051, Ghanendra Basnet-2067, Haribol Gajurel-2068), they submitted reports to the government with clear grounds and reasons for the need for land reform, but they have not been implemented .
On the other hand, to solve the problem of large numbers of landless, squatters and unorganized settlements, Land Commissions/Committees/Task Forces have been formed 19 times (Dron Prasad Acharya (2047), Achyut Raj Regmi (2047), Bal Bahadur Rai (2048), Shailaja Acharya (2049), Rishi Raj Lumsali (2051), Buddhiman Tamang (2052), Chanda Shah (2054), Buddhiman Tamang (2054), Tarini Dutta Chataut (2055), Gangadhar Lamsal (2056), Siddha Raj Ojha, (2058), Kailash Mahato (2063), Gopal Mani Gautam (2066), Bhaktiprasad Lamichhane (2068), Sharda Prasad Subedi (2071), Gopal Dahit (2073), Devi Gyawali (2076), Keshav Niraula (2078) and Hari Prasad Rijal (2081). Nevertheless, the problem The remaining .
It seems that the commissions formed in the last 36 years have been able to work for an average of one year and eight months . No matter what is written in the mandate, the Land Commission is bound to be dissolved as soon as the government changes . The interim government formed after the Gen-G movement also continued the same, although the Supreme Court later revived the Land Problem Resolution Commission .
It seems that the previous commissions have distributed land titles along with land to a total of 161,000 landless families . There is no systematic record of how many applications were received by the previous commissions and how many were resolved, although the recent commissions have started keeping digital records . According to the latest update, there are currently 88,998 landless Dalit families, 1,68,441 landless squatters families, and 8,72,181 unorganized settlers . The Land Commissions formed since 2077 have distributed land titles to 8,848 additional landless and unorganized settlers .
Former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has written in his book ‘Political Economics Through the Eyes’ (2063), ‘Marxist revolutionaries engaged in the practical work of social change decide policies and programs based on vague information without a solid class analysis of the Nepali peasant society. As a result, the depth of the problem cannot be reached.’
As Dr. Bhattarai said, the problems could not be solved because the people who were the ones who asked the questions could not be led by the people in the aforementioned land commissions and committees. The appointed officials did not take these problems seriously and could not reach the depth of the solution. They considered it only as an opportunity for employment and political appointments. In solving these problems, the people who were the ones who asked the questions should have led by the people.
Introduction There are countless problems left with us, some of which we will discuss here – After the then King Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered Nuwakot in 1801, the Birta system started in Rasuwa and Nuwakot was still not resolved. More than 5,000 farmer families are in pain in Nuwakot.
On the other hand, after the fourth amendment to the Land Act in 2053, when it was announced that the tenant and the landlord would divide the land equally and end dual ownership, 470,000 tenant farmers had submitted applications, but only about 43,000 tenant farmers were able to get their land distributed. The problems of a large number of tenant farmers remain. Some of their cases are in the land revenue office, some in the court. Even though the government has given a deadline of 2082 to submit applications and distribute land by 2083, this problem does not seem to be solved yet due to the lack of facilitation in simple and effective implementation. Tenant registration has been suspended since 2053, due to which more than 400,000 unregistered tenants are in a state of access and ownership.
According to a study report titled 'Bandhiyaka Haatharu' published by the Community Self-Reliant Service Center, there are 60,000 Haliyas in the country. More than 70,000 families are homeless There are . In Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur, Dang district alone, more than 18,400 families are Kamaiya (currently freed) .
Farmers are facing a big problem due to problems related to Guthi land . There are 2082 Rajguthi, 1050 Amanat Guthi, 1032 Chut Guthi and 3005 Lalmohar related Guthi in the country . The land in Rajguthi is 61,637 bighas of Raitan Numbari, 2,287 bighas of Guthi Adhinastha and 2,113 bighas of Guthi Tainathi . Farmers are cultivating this land and earning a living . Once this problem is solved, farmers can be put into practice and Guthi-Math-Mandir can be operated with local participation .
The laws have provided sufficient basis for land reform . The Constitution of 2047, the Interim of 2063 The Constitution of Nepal, 2072, has 'guaranteed' land reform, making the people economically prosperous, increasing agricultural production, and bringing the productive power of land to the farmers' reach. In the context of land reform, the Constitution of Nepal, 2072, is considered progressive. Land reform has been 'guaranteed' as a fundamental right in this constitution.
The law guiding land reform and land management is a continuation of the Land Act, 2021. This act, which has been amended for the eighth time, has been amended five times even after the changes of 2046 (2053, 2058, 2072, 2075, 2076). An attempt has been made to amend the ninth amendment since last year, which became a topic of great debate in the parliament, and now with the dissolution of the parliament, this bill has reached a coma. Due to the reluctance of the old state management structure, system, and bureaucracy, even progressive laws on land reform are not being implemented.
High-level Land Reform Commission led by Keshav Badal The 2051 report suggested, ‘The threshold limit should be determined on the basis of the number of landless farmers, available land, growing population and social justice. While ending dual ownership control, it should be in a way that the rights are obtained in favor of the tiller. A minimum wage for agricultural workers should be fixed and a law should be made for their protection, and a welfare fund should be arranged for agricultural workers.’
The High-Level Land Reform Commission (2068) led by Haribol Gajurel presented two main reasons for the need for scientific land reform in its report to the government— (a) social justice and (b) production increase. The suggestion submitted by the commission states, ‘Even in the current situation, if the cultivated, barren and more cultivable land is distributed equally among the actual agricultural families, each family will get about 1 hectare (1.5 bighas or 20 ropanis) of land. After identifying the squatters and landless farmers who want to cultivate, they should be provided with at least 10 kattas (about 7 ropanis) per family and others for housing. Landlessness should be ended once and for all as a gift of the republic by providing at least 1 katta (about 12 annas) of land and classifying the land on the basis of land use under a special program. However, the government has not implemented any report.
According to the Nepal Living Standards Survey report, 20.3 percent of the population in Nepal was below the absolute poverty line in the fiscal year 2079/80. Chapter 10 of the Sixteenth Five-Year Plan 2081/082-2085/086, reducing poverty and inequality and building an equitable society, aims to end absolute poverty and limit multidimensional poverty to three percent by the upcoming BS 2021. This means that to reduce poverty, it is necessary to guarantee land for residence and provide employment to everyone.
Of the 17 goals of sustainable development, the first is poverty eradication, the second is zero hunger. These two goals are related to land reform and economic participation. These are related issues. Nepal has also ratified these goals put forward by the United Nations in 2015 as a member state to be achieved by 2030. However, even after ten years of implementation, there is no concrete plan to solve the problems of landless, squatters and small farmers.
We have different understandings of land reform. One class, which does not work on the land, has a large number of land grabbers. Another large landless class does not even have ownership and access to land to build a hut. In recent times, the trend of displacing people and making them landless due to national parks, reserves, and various development projects is also increasing. Therefore, the latest generations of landless, squatters and small farmers are forced to leave the country every day for alternative livelihood options. Now, it is also becoming difficult to earn a living here from agricultural labor. The problems within this There are many sociological theories.
Political parties, their documents, election manifestos, government policies and programs, and various plans have included land reform issues. There have been some tentative efforts, but due to the lack of a clear vision and committed leadership on land reform, this issue is not being implemented meaningfully. If these problems are left unresolved and the people are only given hope, the people's lives will not be happy and it will be difficult to build a prosperous country.
