Surkhet, July 11:

Of the over 10,00,000 landless families in Nepal, 4,76,000 are concentrated in the mid-western region alone. The figure was made public at a programme organised by

the Surkhet chapter of INSEC here today.

According to statistics, the mid-western region has the largest number of landless families — 4,76,000, — followed by the eastern region which has 2,94,000, the western region with 2,52,000 and the far-western region with 46,000 such families.

Rapid urbanisation is the main reason for the growth in the number of landless families in the mid-west, the statistics showed.

The Tarai has as many as three times the number of those in the hilly areas — the majority of them comprising freed Kamaiyas. It also said that 13 per cent of the families in Surkhet district are landless.