KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Balen Shah announced that the government has distributed land ownership certificates to 5,737 landless and unmanaged settlers across various districts. In a social media statement on Monday evening, Prime Minister Shah described the distribution as a beginning, noting that the government is now moving to accelerate the process nationwide.
According to the Prime Minister, the government has collected and processed 1,311,197 applications related to land issues. He stated that previous efforts, which involved significant state spending on various commissions and structures, failed to yield expected results. Consequently, the current administration has adopted a new approach based on technical expertise and coordination with local levels rather than political power-sharing, aiming to make the process transparent and cost-effective.
The government has set a target to resolve the issue of landless squatters within 1,000 days, establishing it as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the administration. Efforts are underway to relocate those living in high-risk areas to safer locations. For families displaced from the Kathmandu Valley, the government has initiated land management procedures in their respective permanent districts of residence.
The Prime Minister further confirmed that legal actions have been initiated against individuals who provided false information to claim land ownership. To expedite the process, the government is working on necessary amendments to the Land Act, the Forest Act, and other relevant legislation to remove structural and procedural barriers that have historically hindered land reform.
