Man-wife joint land ownership stressed

CHITWAN, March 4: Women farmers and land right activists in Chitwan district on Monday urged the government to give momentum to a joint land ownership campaign launched over the last two years.



The government had announced in its budget speech in fiscal year 2011-2012 that it was to provide joint land ownership certificates. Under the policy, women are to be granted joint ownership over their husbands´ lands.[break]



At a three-day meeting organized by the National Land Rights Forum (NLRF) in Bharatpur Municipality from Sunday, farmers and rights activities from 48 districts have come together to draw the attention of the authorities to prompt implementation of the policy announced earlier.



The number of those seeking joint ownership certificates is still meager as the government has failed to implement the campaign decisively, compained stakeholders attending the meeting.



The government had come up with a policy of increasing land ownership by women as land ownership certificates were earlier only in the names of males.



Subhadra Bajgai of Devichaur VDC in Lalitpur district took out a joint land ownership certificate from the Land Revenue Office (LRO) in the district a year ago.

Prior to this, land held by the Bajgai couple was under the ownership of the husband alone.

But when the wife learnt about the joint ownership provision, she went to the LRO and enlisted her name along with that of her husband after paying Rs.100.



For the wife, the cost of joint ownership is a tax of Rs 100. “Despite this, many are yet to get joint ownership certificates,” said Som Prasad Bhandari, chairman of NLRF.



He went on to say that the government has not prepared any plan to take the campaign to the grassroots level and guarantee ownership rightgs to female members of the family.



According to him, many government officials at VDCs are even unaware of the joint ownership policy. NLRF is working to make people aware about the policy.



Subhadra Bajgai said the joint ownership provision has encouraged a culture of discussion among husband and wife before selling their land.



Some 400 people have received the joint land ownership certificates to date, informed Bhandari.



The meeting going on in Chitwan district is also likely to hold discussions on other issues related to women´s rights.

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