This story was translated from Nepali. Read the original in Nepali
Mahottari. Landless Dalits, landless squatters and informal settlers have submitted 28,435 applications in Mahottari for land ownership certificates (lalpurja).
According to the Land Issues Resolution Committee, Mahottari, 28,227 of the applications received have been entered into the system, while 208 are yet to be entered.
Of the applications entered, 16,239 are from landless families: 8,418 from landless Dalits and 7,821 from landless squatters. Similarly, the committee said 11,691 applications from informal settlers have been included in the system.
According to the committee’s chair and Chief District Officer Indradev Yadav, 217 applications have been rejected and will not be included in the system. He said the work will take some time because it is being carried out according to the set process and method.
Mahottari’s 15 local levels have 138 wards. No applications from landless Dalits, landless squatters or informal settlers have come from six of them. The wards without applications are Samsi-4, Pipara-1, Sonama-5 and 6, and Manara Shiswa-7 and 9.
According to the committee, a seven-day notice on claims has been published in 117 wards, and ward-level facilitation committees have been formed in 93 wards. Landless Dalits, landless squatters and informal settlers have also been identified in 26 wards.
At the municipal level, the committee said facilitation committees have so far been formed only in Samsi, Sonama, Mahottari, Jaleshwar and Bardibas.
Applications will be sent to the district committee after field study, verification of the type of land and the state of possession, survey mapping, and decisions by the ward and municipal facilitation committees. The district committee said it will distribute land ownership certificates (lalpurja) to eligible beneficiaries after completing the necessary study and process.
The Land Issues Resolution Committee, chaired by the Chief District Officer at district level, was formed after the current government took office.
