Elections are an opportunity and a democratic process for the people to approve representatives in leadership for the operation of power and government. In the elections to the House of Representatives to be held on Falgun 21, the people will vote directly and elect their own representatives and send them to lead the parliament and government.

In another sense, elections are an opportunity for the people to choose their own rulers. There is a challenge in the current parliamentary practice, but if they can choose good, prudent and capable representatives during the elections, they can take the leadership expected by the people to chart the path of good policies, development and prosperity. And, at the same time, the commitment they make in the elections, the manifesto and political documents they prepare are also important.

In fact, periodic elections should be held every 5 years. However, after the Gen-G movement, the country went into a vacuum for some time. It became representativeless. The government was dissolved. The parliament was dissolved. Therefore, this emergency election-2082 is being held to form a new government with a new and fresh mandate as demanded by the young generation.

The representatives elected by the people in the elections run the country's governance. They lead and operate the government. They formulate necessary policies. They do development and the work that the people need. The commitments and manifestos they make before the elections will also provide an equally important guide for running the government and formulating government policies and programs in the future.

Therefore, since the main responsibility for how and on which path the country will travel lies with the political parties and elected representatives, it is absolutely necessary for them to understand the issues of the lower classes of the country. Because the largest number of people in the country are from the lower classes. And, they are the marginalized. They are in poverty. They are in need. They are in injustice. They are oppressed. And, they are trapped by various problems.

Especially, after the people's movement of 2062-063, the drafting of the constitution of 2072 and the federalism that came into practice thereafter, and the Gen-G movement in 2082, many political parties have been born in the country. In the meantime, many new forces have entered politics. Therefore, it is important for these parties and representatives to understand the pressing issue of land reform that has been lingering in Nepal for a long time and is connected to millions of people. There is also an expectation that these issues will become the main issues of all parties and candidates in the upcoming elections.

Understanding of land reform

In particular, the understanding of land reform is different. Some do not want to hear this issue at all, while others never tire of raising the slogan of land reform. Especially in Nepal, the communist parties have made it a main issue and they are connected to the grassroots level. However, a complex issue that has been arising for a long time, has not been resolved and is pending is the issue of land reform. The then Nepali Congress leader BP Koirala also tried to reform land, and the abolition of Birta is a good effort during his time.

Although the demand has been rising for a long time, land reform has not been able to be seen and felt in Nepal. However, the issue of land reform has been included in the political parties that have emerged in the meantime, their leaders, documents, election manifestos, government policies and programs and plans. It seems that repeated efforts have been made for this. However, despite some tentative efforts, land reform has not been achieved. What needs to be understood is that the country cannot be led towards prosperity without permanently solving the problems of landless and small farmers.

The gap between the haves and have-nots in Nepali society is huge. Some have opportunities, some have discrimination. The main root of this is the lack of access to and ownership of land resources. In the past, those in power and those around them acquired most of the land. The working class, the weaker sections of society, and some labor-related classes who were forced into various professions created by society were not allowed to access land resources. They were not allowed to own land under various pretexts. They tried to make them only laborers and labourers. Some of those who had land were also taken away in various ways.

That is why there is injustice here. Due to the discrimination that started centuries ago, the landless class is still in a weak economic condition. The social status of the landless is weak. Political access is weak. They are deprived of educational opportunities. They are deprived of various services, facilities, access and representation opportunities of the state due to lack of land. Their descendants are still workers today and cannot compete with other classes. It has become their destiny to continue wandering around the country and abroad for a living. And, they are forced to work hard. Most families from the Terai, Madhesh and Western Hills are still forced to go to various villages and cities of India for wages.

Land reform is a matter of ensuring access to and ownership of land for those whose livelihood is agriculture. It is about providing land titles along with land to those who have never seen a land title in their name in life, which gives them legal status and connects them to other opportunities. Land reform is about ensuring an environment where all Nepalis can live on their own land.

For this task, the state should end the existing unequal and unjust management of land and adopt a policy of just reform. For that, the facilitation and advocacy role of elected representatives will be important. In fact, this task is impossible without their positive initiative and facilitation. Land reform is the solution to all problems on land, ensuring equal, fair and secure access to and rights on land. The facilitation role of public representatives will be important for this task as well.

Land and human life

Land is the shelter of all living creatures in the world, including humans. From birth to death, humans are interdependently connected to the land. Human life cannot be imagined without land, perhaps. That is why land-production and human relations are interesting. Human livelihoods have been intertwined with the land in the journey from the agricultural era to the modern capitalist era. That is why everyone should have access to the land given free of charge by nature. For that, the state should ensure this by making a clear law.

Even now, about 10 percent of the world's population is hungry due to lack of access to land under their ownership or land to produce food, that is, about one billion people in the world go to bed hungry at night. According to the Global Hunger Indicators Report 2025, 673 million people are forced to live in the grip of hunger. 28 percent of the world's people live in food insecurity. Its impact is also visible in the Nepali community. The Nepal Living Standards Survey 2079/080 revealed that more than 20.27 percent of the population is directly below the poverty line. Nearly 6 million people are still struggling to make a living due to poverty. And the main reason for this is the lack of ‘land ownership’.

Key issues related to land

The main battle of today’s landless and small farmers is for ‘land ownership’. The ownership gap between those who have access to land and those who do not is huge. Here, people from some communities are dying without being able to register land ownership in their names for generations. This is the result of an unjust system. Some suffer from not only not having a house, but also a piece of land for rituals until death. Therefore, landless families have to struggle a lot for ‘a meal, a safe place to live, and a secure livelihood’.

According to the 7th Agricultural Census of Nepal, there are 41 lakh 30 thousand 789 farming families (62 percent). They cultivate 22 lakh 18 thousand 410 hectares of land. Ten years ago, farming families were 71 percent. The population dependent on agriculture is decreasing. In the last 10 years, the area of ​​land used and cultivated by farming families has decreased by about 415 thousand hectares. The total area of ​​land under cultivation is 18 lakh 76 thousand 343 hectares. In a decade, the area of ​​land used for temporary cultivation has increased by 95 percent, reaching a total area of ​​60 thousand 524 hectares.

There are about 1.3 million landless and unorganized households in Nepal. The cultivators of private, Guthi and Birta land are deprived of even the right to lease. Recently, due to various development projects, road network expansion, development projects, etc., the number of landless people has been increasing as tribal lands are being occupied for this purpose. Landless farmers have been struggling for a long time to solve these problems. The Constitution of Nepal itself has provided ample basis for land reform.

Accordingly, some land-related laws have been amended. However, the old state structure, the civil service administration that cannot assimilate the changes, the political parties and their leadership that only make paper commitments, and the lack of implementation of these laws have left the mentioned issues. We heard a lot of talk last year about the land-related bill. It has not yet been passed. Because the land problem is not being solved here, it is being made more complicated.

There are some laws, but they are not effective

The constitution that provides sufficient basis for land reform and is considered progressive is the Constitution of Nepal 2072. In Article 40 of the Constitution, the rights of Dalits, points (5) and (6), the state has guaranteed that the landless and homeless Dalits will be provided with land and housing in accordance with the law. Article 36 provides for the right to food, and Article 37 provides for the right to housing. In Part 4 of the Constitution, the Directive Principles, Policies and Responsibilities of the State, special provisions have been made to resolve the problems of landless, squatters, and unorganized settlements. Article 51 (h) of the Basic Needs of Citizens, point 11, states, ‘To manage unorganized settlements and develop planned and systematic settlements.’ In Article 51 (j) of the Social Justice and Inclusion policy, point 6, states, ‘To identify freed Kamaiya, Kamlari, Harwa/Charwa, Haliya, landless, squatters, and rehabilitate them by arranging houses for their residence and arable land or employment for their livelihood.’

After the constitution was made, the seventh (2075) and eighth amendments (2076) of the Land Act, 2021 and the regulations have been amended. The Land Use Act 2076 has also come into effect. After the eighth amendment of the Act, commissions have been formed repeatedly to provide land to landless Dalits, landless squatters and unorganized settlers. Section 52 B and C of the Land Act has added the management of landless squatters and unorganized settlers. It states that land should be registered and managed for a person who has reduced cultivation and built a hut for a long time for at least 10 years, even if it is a forest in government, public, private or government records.

However, this has not been implemented effectively. Due to the Forest and Park Act, the Land Act has not been able to work effectively. The Eighth Amendment to the Land Act has also provided the basis for the distribution of rights of tenant farmers. However, these are not effective because the state has not been able to create a separate, dynamic and empowered mechanism to effectively implement these laws. Even if we look only at the past 2046, 19 times the land commission/committee/task force has been formed and dissolved, but the problem remains the same.

Land issues after the elections

Understanding and problems of land reform, the major issues of the landless and farmers at that time and some solutions, meanwhile, it is necessary for the parties to thoroughly review the issues that have not received the attention of the state government and leadership. Some suggestions have been presented point by point regarding land reform that the government to be formed during the upcoming elections and thereafter should understand-

- In a context where the land management of landless Dalits, landless squatters and unorganized settlers has not been resolved even after a long period of time, it is necessary to have a legal system in place so that the local level can manage it.

-नेपालको संविधानले नै भूमिमा रहेको दोहोरो स्वामित्व अन्त्य गर्दै किसानको हितलाई ध्यानमा राखी वैज्ञानिक भूमिसुधार गर्न मार्गनिर्देशन गरेको हुँदा दर्तावाला एवं बेदर्तावाला दुवै मोही किसानको मोही हक सुनिश्चित गरिनुपर्छ ।

-हदबन्दीभन्दा बढी जग्गाको यथार्थ लगत तयार गरी हदबन्दीभन्दा बढी जग्गा भूमिहीन दलित र भूमिहीन सुकुम्बासीलाई वितरण गर्ने व्यवस्था गर्नुपर्नेछ । साथै उद्योग, फार्म तथा व्यावसायिक प्रयोजनका लागि भनी लिइएको र सो प्रयोजनभन्दा फरक उपयोग गरेका वा केही नगरी राखिएको जग्गाको यकिन लगत लिई, त्यसको पनि उचित हद तोकी बाँकी भूमिहीन एवं सुकुम्बासी परिवारलाई स्थायी र सुरक्षित बसोबासका लागि तोक्ने र खेती गर्न दिने व्यवस्था गर्दा भूमिहीनलाई न्याय हुनुका साथै उत्पादन पनि बढ्नेछ र यसले गरिबी न्यूनीकरणमा पनि टेवा पुग्नेछ ।

-गुठी जग्गाको स्वामित्व किसानमा हुने गरी समस्या समाधान गर्न स्पष्ट गुठी ऐन बनाई सो ऐनको प्रभावकारी कार्यान्वयनका लागि अधिकार सम्पन्न ‘गुठी समस्या समाधान आयोग’ गठन गरिनुपर्छ । 

-बिर्ता सामन्ती व्यवस्थाको उपज हो, जो अहिलेम्म पनि रसुवा, नुवाकोट, ललितपुरलगायत जिल्लामा बाँकी छ । यसका लागि बिर्ता समस्या पीडित किसानले जोतभोग गर्दै आएको जग्गा किसानकै हुने गरी दर्ता गर्ने बलियो कानुनी व्यवस्था गरिनुपर्छ । यसले मात्रै किसानलाई न्याय दिन सक्छ ।

-मुक्त गरिएको भनिएका हलिया, हरवा, चरवा, कमैया र कमलरी परिवारको भूमिमाथि पहुँच र जीविकोपार्जनको सवाल झन् झन् जटिल बन्दै गइरहेको छ । यी समुदायको सुरक्षित जीविकोपार्जन र उचित बसोबास व्यवस्थासहित पुनःस्थापना गर्न सरोकारवालाको सहभागितामा ‘बँधुवा मजदुर पुनःस्थापना कार्यदल’ गठन गरी प्रक्रिया अघि बढाउनुपर्छ ।

-संघीय सरकारले पटक–पटक ताकेता गरे पनि स्पष्ट कार्ययोजनासहितको भूउपयोग योजना बनेर स्थानीय तहहरूमा कार्यान्वयनमा आएका छैनन् । यसबाट भूमिको जथाभावी प्रयोग र व्यावसायिक प्रयोजनहरू बढ्दो छ । कृषि जमिनको अन्यत्र प्रयोग हुँदा खाद्य सुरक्षामा समेत प्रभाव पर्दै आएको छ । भूउपयोग ऐन, २०७६ र नियमावलीअनुसार सबै स्थानीय तहमा भूउपयोग योजना निर्माण गरी कार्यान्वयन गर्न/गराउन तीनै तहका सरकारबाट यथाशीघ्र पहल लिनुपर्छ ।

-संविधानको धारा– ३७ मा ‘आवासको हक’ उल्लेख गरिएको हुँदा उचित विकल्पबिना नेपालको जुनसुकै स्थान र भूगोलमा बसोबास गर्ने भूमिहीन परिवारलाई उठीबास लगाइने कार्य बन्द गरिनुपर्छ । ‘मानव पहिलो र उनीहरूको बास सुरक्षा पहिला’ भन्ने मर्मलाई ध्यान दिई, सुरक्षित बसोबासलाई ध्यान दिनुपर्छ । लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्रमा जनताद्वारा नै निर्वाचित जनप्रतिनिधि नेतृत्व रहने निकायबाटै जनताको घरबास–झुपडी उठाइने, बुल्डोजर लगाइने र आगलागी गराई उठीबास गराउने कार्य सह्य हुनै सक्दैन । यस्तो कार्य रोकी हरेक जनताको घरबस्ती सुरक्षित गराउनुपर्छ ।