Kathmandu, March 16

The Land (Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2019 registered at the Federal Parliament Secretariat has stipulated a provision for providing land to landless squatters.

According to Section 18 of the bill, the landless squatters who have been using government or unrecorded lands for at least 10 years now shall be entitled to a certain parcel of such land or any other government land.

As per the bill, the federal government shall maintain coordination with the concerned provincial government and local level prior to taking any decision related to providing land to landless squatters.

“The federal government shall ensure that the area or measurement of land to be provided to the landless squatters is not less than those earlier registered in the name of freed bonded labourers. The land provided under this law may not be transferred to anyone or otherwise disposed of in any form for a period of at least 10 years,” the bill states.

However, the land located within the areas of religious, cultural and strategic importance; land that needs to be kept secure in terms of natural disaster, disaster management and environment protection; and public land plots, among others, may not be provided to anyone.

As per the bill, the government may form a commission for the purpose of identification of landless squatters by conducting field study and data collection before distributing land to the beneficiaries.

The bill has defined a landless squatter as a person or any his/her dependent family member who does not have land under his/her ownership for generations within Nepal and cannot afford to pay money for the land from his/her income, resource or effort.

“If anyone submits false or wrong details to the concerned authorities with malafide intention to obtain land illegally, he/she shall be liable to a fine of up to Rs 50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both in addition to confiscation of the land and structures built thereon,” section 52 of the bill reads.