KATHMANDU, April 6: The government formed the Land Issue Resolution Commission to address the problems of landless people, squatters, and unmanaged settlements. However, the commission is turning out to be costly, as it requires at least Rs 560 million annually just to pay salaries and allowances for its officials and staff.
Land Issue Resolution Commission spokesperson Sanat Kumar Karki said the Ministry of Land Management has instructed the commission to prepare its budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26 within a ceiling of Rs 550 million. However, Karki insisted that the commission cannot operate within that limit. "Rs 550 million is not enough for us. It doesn't even cover the salaries and allowances of our officials and staff. How can we perform our other duties?" he said. "The ministry has made it clear that it cannot provide more than Rs 550 million."
The Land Commission recently recruited 1,000 employees for district-level commissions across the country. It hired one office assistant each in 35 districts. Among the new recruits, 600 serve as Amin (land survey assistants) and 400 as surveyors. According to spokesperson Sant Kumar Karki, the commission also plans to recruit 55 additional computer operators within a few days.
The commission appointed 316 officials from the central level down to the districts. Including both officials and staff, it now needs to provide salaries and allowances to around 1,400 employees. It has appointed four officials in each district.
At its central office, the commission approved positions for around 50 employees, including one undersecretary, four section officers, and four land survey officers.
The commission provides the chairperson of the central Land Commission with the salary and benefits of a state minister, the vice-chairperson with those of an assistant minister, and the members with those of government secretaries. At the district level, the commission grants chairpersons benefits equivalent to an undersecretary and members those of section officers.
It also offers allowances and daily travel expenses under this arrangement. The current central leadership includes Chairperson Hari Prasad Rijal, Vice-Chairperson Sanat Kumar Karki, and members Jagat Basnet, Tek Bahadur Shah, Govardhan Koli, Gunj Bahadur Khadka, Anil Krishna Prasai, and Aarti Bhandari.
So far, 1.35 million landless families have submitted applications to the commission, seeking land ownership certificates (Lalpurja) for the land they occupy. The commission has already registered 1,096,400 of these applications into its system.
Out of the registered applications, landless Dalits submitted 86,300, squatters submitted 167,000, and the remaining came from unmanaged settlers. The commission stated that Kailali district topped the list, with 130,000 families applying for land ownership certificates.
Spokesperson Sanaat Kumar Karki said the commission is preparing to invite new applications from those who missed out earlier. During Keshav Niraula's leadership of the previous commission, some districts did not receive a single application. Despite that, the current commission established offices in those districts.
Current data shows that Humla and Eastern Rukum districts do not have any squatter or unmanaged settler families. Even in districts that received no applications, the commission deployed staff, including land survey assistants and surveyors.
The cabinet, in its meeting on October 29, 2024, formed the Land (Squatter) Problem Resolution Commission with Hari Prasad Rijal as chairperson at the central level. This marks the 23rd such commission. To establish it, the government passed the Land Issue Resolution Commission Formation Order on September 30, 2024.
Earlier, after a change in the ruling coalition, the government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal dissolved the previous National Land Commission, which Keshav Niraula had chaired since its formation on September 10, 2021. The government officially annulled the commission on March 21, 2024, and then initiated the process to form a new one.
However, on April 5, 2024, 17 individuals, including two former central members, Govardhan Koli and Tek Bahadur Shahi, filed a case at the Supreme Court challenging the government's decision.
The Supreme Court issued an interim order on April 7, 2024, instructing the government not to form a new Land Commission and to maintain the status quo of the commission under Keshav Niraula's leadership. As a result, the process to form a new Land Commission was halted. However, after the former members who had filed the case withdrew it, the cabinet passed the formation order for the new commission.