The election of Rupandehi-2, where Vice President and former Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel from UML, industrialist Chunna Prasad Poudel from Congress and Sulabh Kharel from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is currently in the news. The election atmosphere here is attracting everyone's attention in the district, state and country. From tea stalls to intellectual discussions, Constituency No. 2 is discussed more than other areas of the district.

As much as there is election talk, there is also interest and discussion about the unorganized squatters here. With 135,050 voters, this area is also the area with the highest number of squatters and unorganized settlements. There are nearly 18,000 voters in Butwal Sub-metropolitan City-11 in this area. Of these, 50 percent are unorganized settlers. Similarly, Wards No. 1, 2, 18 and 19 are also wards with a high number of squatters. Apart from that, the number of unorganized settlers is also large in some wards of Tilottama and Sainamaina in this area.

There are at least 35,000 unorganized settlers in Rupandehi-2 alone. The party candidates are currently trying to woo those voters. However, the voters have a clear demand – ‘Now give us not assurances, but titles.’

The Tinau River flows almost through the middle of Butwal. As the river deepens, the river on both the banks of the river has spread into the Ukas area – squatter settlements. Places like Buddhanagar, Binapate, Hatti Sund, Durganagar, Majuwa Raniganj and others on the banks of the Tinau are squatter settlements.

These settlements are not new either. People who have been living on untitled land here since 2032 BS are also found. Among them is 81-year-old Bhimlal Puri of Raniganj, Butwal-17. He migrated from Tahatim, Ruru Kshetra Rural Municipality of Gulmi, and came to Butwal in 2046 BS. Since then, he has been living in Buddhanagar, Devinagar. He is also continuously voting in the hope of getting a certificate. He has a mud house. When the Tinau river washed away the bridge in Devinagar in 2074 BS, the structure on the Buddhanagar side also collapsed.

‘Whether before or after the elections – all the candidates who always came only promised to give red certificates,’ he said, ‘But, no one gave the certificates.’ He does not remember who came to ask for votes. However, he still remembers UML’s Bishnu Poudel. Even at the age of 81, Puri still has hope of getting a certificate. ‘The same Bishnu Poudel will give it, others are not so confident,’ he said, ‘It seems like a lot of work has been done now. Will I get it now!’ He said that he was hoping to get the title deed of the 1 bigha of land and house that he owns.

Saraswati Pariyar, a 58-year-old housebuilder from Udayapur, had her house washed away by a flood a decade ago. Nothing was left when the house was washed away. However, she still has hope that she will get the title deed of the remaining land. ‘They said they would build a dam on the Tinau river and give her the title deed of the land,’ she said. ‘Even the huts that were built in the river without a dam were washed away, and they did not give her the title deed of the remaining land.’ She complains that they always ask for names and details but do not give her the title deed. This time, she said, her hopes of getting the title deed have increased because the Landless Squatters Commission took money to give her the title deed. She has been telling those who come to ask for votes that there are 5 voters and they will vote only if they give the papers. 'They may not give papers right now, but they will vote for those who assure them of giving papers,' she said.

So far, candidates from parties such as UML, Congress, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Janmukti Party (JSP), Pralopa, Ujjaya Nepal (Ujjal Nepal) have reached out to landless and unorganized settlement voters. Most voters have the same demand, 'We have only been assured many times, now we will vote only for those who give papers.' However, they are not in a position to get papers immediately. The District Landless and Landless Squatters Commission has already distributed land ownership papers to more than 1,500 people. That has brought some relief and hope to the voters.

Another area with a large number of landless and unorganized settlers like Constituency No. 2 is Rupandehi-1. There are 146,824 voters here. However, in Devdaha Municipality, which has a large number of voters, about 35 percent of voters are squatters and unorganized settlers. After that, there are many squatters in Ward No. 11 of Tilottama Municipality. Then there are 9 and 10. Leelambar Sapkota, 59, who built a two-story pucca house on 8 acres of land in Ramnagar Chowk of Tilottama Municipality-11, said that he has not received a land ownership certificate even after asking for it since 2060 BS.

‘They always say that they give certificates in elections, but they forget after winning,’ he said, ‘This time we are preparing to ask for the certificate.’ He has 14 kattas of land. However, he does not have a land ownership certificate. He complains that it is difficult to send his children who want to study abroad without the certificate. ‘Some time ago, I went to various banks to send my daughter to Japan, but I couldn’t get a loan because I didn’t have a land title deed,’ he said, ‘Even though we had to negotiate, the work was done, who will understand our compulsion?’ That’s why his family is now thinking of voting only for those who give land titles.

Ganesh BK of Tilottama-11 said that although leaders repeatedly promised to solve the land title deed problem during the elections, they never did anything. ‘Despite surveying every year, we never received the land title deed,’ he said, ‘This time, I was wondering if I would get the land title deed because I paid the money along with the papers, and the election came unexpectedly.’ He said that it is not yet decided what will happen after the elections.

The National Land Commission had filled a form in 2077 BS to provide land titles to the locals living in Tilottama-11. At that time, 3,322 people from ward number 11 alone had filled the form, but the land title deeds were not distributed. Again, the commission issued a notice on 30th Shrawan 2082 for the last time, giving a deadline of 35 days for filling the form throughout the country. Accordingly, BK said that even if the locals fill the form from the ward, there is no guarantee of the land title deeds.

According to Raju Pandey, a technician at the National Land Commission of Tilottama Municipality, 8,290 people have filled the land title deeds form from the municipality. He said that the highest number of them are from Tilottama-11.

According to Bishnu Basyal, coordinator of the National Land Commission Service Center, Devdaha, 15,363 forms were filled from Devdaha Municipality in the previous commission. Last time, 965 people filled it. Out of which 786 people have already received the land title deeds certificate. According to Bharat Tiwari of Devdaha, former district member of the National Land Commission Rupandehi and former district member of Devdaha, the problem of land titles is relatively more in constituencies 1 and 2. In constituencies 1, most of the wards of Devdaha Municipality, Tilottama and Omsatiya have problems with unregistered land. In constituency 2, there is a problem of unorganized settlement in areas 3 and 4 of Tilottama, including Devinagar of Butwal Sub-metropolitan City, and Murgiya of Sainamaina.

Although the National Land Commission has tried to distribute land titles, the process of repeatedly forming and dissolving the Land Commission or the Land Squatter Problem Resolution Commission due to political instability has affected the work of distributing land titles. Prem Thapa of Devdaha said that it is also easy for candidates to ask for votes by showing this problem. The National Land Commission, which was working on the final phase of distributing land titles across the country, was again dismissed after the Genji agitation and protests of Bhadra 23 and 24. The commission officials were reinstated after going to court. However, despite the reinstatement, the work that reached the ward and tole levels is currently stalled.

According to Butwal Sub-metropolitan City Mayor Khelraj Pandey, 15,598 households in Butwal are living in unorganized squatter settlements, while 320 households are living in landless squatters. Of the 16,874 households, 333 are landless Dalits and 943 are landless squatters, there are no land titles. He said that the land survey work of many of them has been completed. ‘We have completed the work of many, and some have also been distributed land titles,’ he said. ‘We are now preparing to distribute land titles to those who missed out on the distribution.’ He said that there has always been a problem in the distribution of land titles due to the interests of political parties involved in the formation and dissolution of the commission.

According to Kumar Thapa, Chairman of the Land Commission Rupandehi, 95,761 citizens, including squatters and unorganized settlers, are without land documents in Rupandehi. Of these, 2,997 are landless Dalits and 66,998 are unorganized settlers. In addition, 19,115 people have been added to the list of those who were previously exempted in Lumbini Cultural Municipality, Omsatiya, Rohini, Sammarimai, Marchwarimai and Kotahimai, he said. ‘Out of the nearly 96,000 squatters across the district, the commission has completed the work of surveying the land of more than 55,000,’ he said, ‘We have also distributed land documents to more than 1,500.’ The work was stopped after the commission was dissolved while the work was in progress.'