KATHMANDU: Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation Balram Adhikari has stressed the urgent need to draft and pass legislation to enable the newly formed National Land Commission to carry out its mandate of resolving land-related problems.
Speaking at the meeting of the Agriculture, Cooperatives, and Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Minister Adhikari said that although the commission has a three-year term, one year has already passed without progress due to the absence of necessary legal frameworks.
He said the government aims to settle all forms of land-related disputes within the remaining two years, provided the law is enacted swiftly. “Only land registered in the name of the government can be distributed to the landless by the commission. Similarly, provisions have been made to grant land to those relocated outside national parks but who have yet to receive plots,” Adhikari said.
According to him, nearly 70 percent of the work related to addressing the problems of the landless has been delegated to local governments. “If municipalities and rural municipalities do not initiate the process, the commission cannot move forward,” he said.
The minister also explained that historical shortcomings in land measurement have contributed to many present-day disputes. He cited the case of Mustang, where only 500 ropani of land was measured during the Panchayat era because the then village head claimed no further surveying was necessary.
“This negligence is now creating difficulties, even for apple cultivation and other land use in the area,” he said.
Minister Adhikari urged lawmakers to prioritize and pass the bill without further delay to ensure effective implementation of the commission’s work and resolution of long-standing land problems.
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