Kathmandu, February 17

Lawmakers representing the ruling and opposition parties today said the Land Use Bill presented by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation should not be passed with the existing provisions in haste.

In a meeting of the Parliamentary Agriculture, Cooperative and Natural Resources Committee, they demanded that the bill be discussed in the presence of line minister, secretary and experts.

The panel’s Chairperson Purna Kumari Subedi assured lawmakers that the bill would be rigorously discussed with the line minister, secretary and experts.

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Haribol Gajurel said top political leaders, including Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, should take final call on the bill. “The bill is unlikely to be implemented if it is passed as it is. Formulating and enacting laws forcefully will only invite protests,” Gajurel told the panel.

The bill has provisioned fines up to Rs 3 lakh for landowners keeping their arable land fallow for three years. Gajurel said the government should first categorise land — agriculture and housing. He said the bill should also address issues related to implementation of modernised agriculture techniques.

“Landowners can lease out arable land to the government and the latter can re-lease it to interested people, inviting bids. Generated revenue can then be shared between landowners and the government,” Gajurel said.

NC lawmaker Satya Narayan Sharma Khanal said the state could not seize land from farmers. “Agriculture should be made an

attractive profession,” he added.

The bill should be first discussed at the local and provincial levels, said NCP lawmaker Suresh Chandra Das. “To avoid controversy, top leaders should also discuss the bill,” he added.

NC lawmaker Sitadevi Yadav said the bill should be revised with provisions to attract youths to agriculture, while NCP lawmaker Radha Gyawali said feedback from experts should be sought.

More than 60 per cent Nepali population is involved in agriculture that contributes 30 per cent to the gross domestic product. Former minister Keshav Badal said more than 5,460,000 families were involved in farming.

“What about barren land owned by the government? Will it also be fined?” asked former secretary Mahendra Shrestha. “How can the owner of a plot of land that costs Rs 50,000 pay Rs 3 lakh in fines?” he wondered.

Another former secretary and land expert, Rohit Kumar Bhattarai, said the cost of development projects in Nepal had even surpassed that in Europe and the US due to land compensation cost. “People have to go through six months of hectic procedures to buy land in India, but individuals control land transactions in Nepal,” Bhattarai said. “Let’s not invite another conflict on land issues. It should be discussed seriously and the bill should not be passed in haste.”

As per the bill, all land owners must mandatorily determine their land status again. The new bill is necessary for managing land as per its use, and for regulating tax collection.

The bill divides land into 10 zones — agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, mines and minerals, cultural and archaeological, river and lake-reservoir, forest, public use and open spaces and building materials (stone, sand) excavation.

On January 12, the ministry had relaxed some of the restrictions imposed on plotting land except for land falling in the agricultural zone. As per the ministry, total ban on land plotting issued in August 2017 had been reviewed because of practical difficulties in implementing the rules.

The ministry has asked land owners to update their land records and certificates at the local level.