Land Policies in Nepal

Land is the basis of human existence. In general, the term Land is meant with both aspects of real property; the abstract such as rights and values, and the physical one such as minerals, crops and buildings attached to the land (Acharya, 2008). Land has always been the symbol of power and status. Over generations, land has remained the principal resource for the sustenance of the subsistence- bound rural communities, as well as for generating revenues for the rulers. Land is still central to all economic activities and livelihood of a large majority of population. Throughout the history of Nepal control of land has been concentrated in the hands of few elite classes and there has been severe exploitation of the peasantry. So, time and again land issue has resurfaced in Nepal as a political agenda for all political parties.

Land policy is required for overall transformation in the production relations to bring about rapid economic development with social justice. The main concern at present is to distribute Government’s unused land to landless and marginal farmers, squatters and freed bonded labourers (like Kamaiyas and Haliyas) and initiate co-operative farming (Adhikary, 2007). Land policies are crucial for poverty reduction and empowerment.

Land Policies in Nepal

Land reform in Nepal started after the end of Rana regime in 1951. During Rana Regime land abuse reached its highest level. After the collapse of this regime, there were various interventions by the state to reform land ownership, its distribution and tenancy conditions. Some of the significant interventions were:

· Land Reform Commission in 1953

· Preparation of Land and Cultivators’ Record Act, 1954

· Lands Act 1955

· Promulgation of Thirteen-Point Program, 1956

· Formation of Land Reform Commission, 1957

· Birta Abolition Act, 1957

· Agriculture Act, 1960

· Land Measurement Act, 1962

· Land Act, 1964

· Range Land Nationalization Act, 1974

· Trust Corporation (Guthi) Act, 1976

· Land Acquisition Act, 1977

· Land Revenue Act, 1977

Pre- 1964 Land Reform Era

The ownership of the land in pre-1964 era were basically state owned. The land simply belonged to the state and its rulers. Mineral resources belonged to the state. After 1946, six major forms of land holdings were recognised: Raikar, Rakam, Birta, Jagir, Kipat and Guthi. Rakam was form of land holding given to individuals by state in temporary basis and lasted until death or termination of service. Another form of land holding was Birta which was land granted to individuals to enable them to make a living by state on tax free basis. The state paid emoluments to its employees and functionaries partly or wholly through assignments of taxable lands and villages, rather than through payments in money. Such assignments were known as jagir. Guthis were lands registered to religious and cultural institutions. Another was Kipat which was the land collectively owned and cultivated by the Limbu community in the hills of Eastern Nepal. In most cases the owners of Jagir, Birta, Rakam or Kipat used to collect revenue from the tenants but such land yielded no revenue to the government (CSRC, 2009). Land Act 1957 was the first major land reform measures in Nepal after 1950 which focused on the security of tenure to the tenants. Similarly, Birta Abolition Act, 1957 abolished the Birta System and converted all Birta holding into Raikar land. In subsequent years, all except Guthi were subsequently converted into Raikar and these are the two that officially remain today. Raikar means land on which taxes are payable to the Government and is listed in the official records. This distinguishes Raikar from other forms of land tenure such as Birta, Guthi, and Kipat where the occupant does not necessarily pay taxes.

Post Land Reform 1964 Era

Lands Act of 1964 was the most comprehensive land reform of all the past measures. A considerable feature of land reform legislations were enacted in 1964 that can be grouped into the following four categories – a) tenancy reforms, which aimed to regulate tenancy contracts and/or transfer ownership to tenants; b) abolition of intermediaries that sought to abolish the hierarchy of proprietary interests that existed between the State and the actual cultivator; c) ceilings on landholdings that allowed for surplus land to be redistributed to landless households; and d) land consolidation reforms that sought to consolidate disparate or fragmented land holdings (Nuepane, 2008).

This Act has been amended six times. In further amendment the ceilings on land holdings have been reduced again and again. The fourth and fifth amendments are taken as two of the most important amendments. The fourth amendment makes a provision of apportioning 50% of the land hitherto cultivated by a tenant between the tenant and the land owners to ensure that the tenants become the owners of cultivated land.

Government has introduced other various land policies to reduce poverty and bring about rapid economic growth. A concept of land bank was put in place, to purchase surplus land form landlords and distribute to the poor farmers came into operation which was implemented in 2005 but after the political change in 2006 it was formally stopped. Similarly Agriculture Perspective Plan (1996-2016) was put forward to accelerate the growth through the development of agriculture. National Agriculture Policy 2005 was introduced which was inherited from Agriculture Perspective Plan that aimed at improving the living standard of the people by transforming subsistence agriculture into a commercial, competitive and sustainable agriculture. Some of these policies have been implemented but some of the policies are still limited into the documents especially in rural areas.

Land issue has been seriously addressed in interim constitution 2007. The Interim Constitution 2007 has a provision of scientific land reform. As per the Interim Three Year Plan of the government (2008-2010) this is meant ’end the feudal relationship existing in land ownership and land relations’; ’implementing land ceiling for social justice and productivity’; land rights to those who uses labour and skills on land etc (Nepali, 2010). To further address the land issue more scientifically Government of Nepal formed High Level Land Reform Commission in chairmanship of Mr. Haribol Gajurel representing United Nepal Communist Party (Maoist). In the mean time, due to political change, new government was formed under leadership of Nepal Communist Party (United Marxist Leninist) and new land commission was also formed in chairmanship of Mr. Dhanendra Basnet representing NCP (UML). The high level commission has multidimensional coverage such as abolishing feudal land ownership and its associated labour relation, ensuring land ownership by equitable distribution, ensuring safe housing of squatters and landless, ensuring production and productivity of land etc.

In this way various measures have been taken by government to address the issue of land. But the measures taken by the government have not delivered desired output due to various obstacles and hurdles. For examples the compulsory saving scheme of Land Act 1964 has to be discontinued due to prevalence of high corruption. Fourth amendment of land act 1964 had Provision for registering tenancy but a large number of tenants were not able to register due to lack of education and information. Around 0.45 million unregistered tenant were badly affected because of that. Likewise, implementations of other measures were not effective because of lack of willful initiatives towards execution of land reform and land consolidation programs (Nepali, 2010). There have been numerous changes in land policies but still land policies do not completely address the problems of poor and disadvantaged. One of the major reasons behind this is weakness in the implementation of the policies and another major hindrance is that policies are made by politicians and leaders and majority of them are elites of the society who do not want to change the status quo.

Works Cited

Acharya, B. R. (2008). Land Tenure and Land Registration in Nepal.

Adhikary, J. (2007). Nepal: Strengthening Land Administration Services. Kathmandu: Asian Development Bank.

CSRC. (2009). Land and Land Tenure Security in Nepal. Kathmandu: Community Self Reliance Centre.

Nepali, P. (2010). Land Policy Analysis of Nepal. Consortium for land Research and Policy Dialogue (COLARP).

Nuepane, K. (2008). Dilemma of Land Reforms: An Incursion to the Property Rights.