Kathmandu, February 8

The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation has proposed in its 15th Periodic Plan to obligate married men to mention the name of their spouses in land registration certificate.

This means married couples will have joint ownership of land once the plan comes into effect. This was stated in a written reply submitted to the House of Representatives today.

Secretary at MLMCPA Gopinath Mainali had prepared the reply in response to lawmaker Sarita Neupane’s question. The ministry stated that it wanted to introduce the scheme to promote women’s ownership of land.

The plan proposes that men should include the names of their spouses in the land ownership certificates that would be reissued to owners after the land use areas were demarcated. It also proposes to give additional discount in registration fees if land is registered in a woman’s name.

The ministry has also proposed in the plan that the land given to citizens under the land reform programme will have the names of family members to signify joint ownership of the property which the family cannot sell or mortgage.

The government has made a provision whereby freed Haliya and Kamaiya, who will get land from the government, will have the names of their spouses on land registration certificates.

The ministry stated that provincial governments had also followed the federal government’s policy of giving 25 per cent tax discount if the land was registered in a woman’s name.

Under the existing law, single women get 10 per cent discount if land is registered in their names.

The ministry added that the government would charge only Rs 100 as a tax if the husband and wife sought joint ownership of land and house.

The ministry stated that Dalit couples would have joint ownership of the land distributed to them by the government.

Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Kumari Aryal today faced questions on land-related issues from lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers Khagraj Adhikari, Gagan Thapa, Shanta Chaudhary, Maheswor Jang Gahatraj, Sanjay Kumar Gautam and Bharat Kumar Shah posed questions to Aryal.

The 15th Periodic Plan is under discussion in the National Planning Commission.

Proposed plan

• Married couples to have joint ownership of land
• Additional discount in registration fees if land is registered in a woman’s name
• The government will charge only Rs 100 as  tax if husband and wife seek joint ownership of land and house