KATHMANDU, July 26: The “Bill to Amend Some Nepal Acts Related to Land, 2082 BS,” tabled in the House of Representatives (HoR) on May 6, has been controversial from the beginning. This bill has begun to strain relations even between the ruling coalition partners, Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML. On the other hand, the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal has already withdrawn its support for the government over this very issue.
As tensions within the ruling coalition escalated due to the bill, the UML, which is leading the government, has stepped back somewhat. Consequently, the bill has been sent to a parliamentary committee for clause-wise discussion as per the NC’s demand. Earlier, the UML had wanted to pass the bill through a fast-track process, but it was sent to the committee after the NC insisted on detailed discussion. On Thursday, Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation (MoLCPA), Balram Adhikari, tabled a proposal in the HoR to send the bill to the concerned committee for clause-wise discussion.
Initially, there was a plan to pass the bill on Friday itself. However, after the NC expressed disagreement, it was sent to the committee for clause-wise discussion. Even though the bill is now under committee review, the NC and UML have yet to reach an agreement on several key points mentioned in the bill.
The JSP Nepal has registered a proposal to amend ten points in the bill. Likewise, the NC General Secretaries duo Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, along with other lawmakers, have also submitted amendment proposals. One of the provisions in the bill allows land exceeding the ceiling limit to be developed into plots or housing units (apartments) and sold. The NC strongly opposes this provision and insists on its revision. NC, JSP Nepal, and other parties argue that failure to amend this point will cause significant harm to the country.
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General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma submitted amendment proposals specifically targeting the provision that allows land exempted from ceiling limits to be developed and sold for housing purposes. They argue that land obtained under ceiling exemptions for other purposes should not be sold or distributed for real estate business. Similarly, their proposed amendments suggest that when issuing land ownership certificates (Lalpurja) to unorganized settlers, it must first be verified whether they already own houses or land in urban areas.
The amendment proposal also states that land designated as forest, even if currently vacant, should remain classified as forest land and that land ownership certificates should not be issued for such areas. The Land Bill includes a provision to grant land ownership to unorganized settlers who have been living on land for the past ten years without a certificate.
Lawmakers have proposed including a provision that land previously approved for agriculture, industry, or other purposes should not be repurposed for real estate development, housing, or apartment construction and sale. Thapa and Sharma have emphasized through their amendment proposal that land exceeding the prescribed ceiling should not be used for purposes other than originally approved, and the bill should mention this with restrictive language.
The bill proposes that land granted for agriculture, industry, institutions, educational and health organizations can also be approved for housing purposes. However, while the bill separates "landless Dalits" and "landless" under different headings, the NC’s amendment proposes grouping both under a single category and listing unorganized settlers under a separate heading.
So far, more than 1.5 million families have submitted applications to the Land Issue Resolving Commission to receive land ownership certificates. For this reason, the UML argues that the Land Bill should be passed as soon as possible to facilitate the distribution of land ownership to landless Dalits, landless people, unorganized settlers, and squatters.
Bill will turn the Terai into desert if passed as it is, JSP-Nepal warns
JSP Nepal has argued that if the bill is passed in its current form, the Terai will become a desert. This concern is emphasized in their 10-point amendment proposal registered in Parliament.
“If this bill is passed without changes, it will result in deforestation, destroy the environment and biodiversity, and lead to overpopulation in the Terai–Madhesh region, sparking internal conflict. It will turn the native Madhesi, Indigenous, Tharu, and Muslim communities into minorities,” the amendment proposal states. “Likewise, land encroached from public areas, riversides, forests, national parks, wildlife reserves, buffer zones, pasture land, markets, and national forests will be distributed to illegal settlers who have cleared forests.”
JSP Nepal has also stated that if the bill is passed unchanged, it will establish the notion that law-abiding landless squatters will not receive land from the state.
“If the bill is passed as it is, only those who clear forests will get land, while landless squatters who follow rules and regulations will be left out. This will encourage forest encroachment and deforestation. As a result, forest areas and the Chure region will be encroached upon, gradually turning the Terai–Madhesh into a desert,” JSP Nepal argues. “If the Land Bill is passed without revision, it will benefit land mafias, land brokers, and real estate businesses the most.”