Villagers sans land-ownership cards for decades

CHIPLETI: Though not all the local residents of Churiyamai-6 of Makawanpur possess ownership certificate for the land they have tilling since long, they now boasts of having a toilet near their houses.

It was all possible after two NGOs Plan Nepal and Rural Awareness and Development Society here sensitised the locals for sanitation. Following the construction of the toilets, they have also declared the village an open excretion-free area on Wednesday.

They, however, complain that the leaders of various political parties show up in the village during the election time promising of giving the land ownership certificates, but never bother to return once the polls are over.

Chandra Bahadur Ghalan, chairman of the management committee of the local Bishwojyoti Primary School, said, “Every house has now a toilet although we have not yet received the documents for our lands.” Ghalan, who was also the ward chairman during the Panchayat era, said that 97 families of the village had no document for their lands as yet.

The locals are compelled to reach their village from Hetauda via Amlekhgunj of Bara paying Rs 40 as bus fare or via Ratanpura paying Rs 50 for the same. “The rulers of the Panchayat era had enjoyed our chickens distributing many assurances. However, the hope that we harboured after the political change in 2046 BS for the documents too was dashed due to the yawning gap of the leaders’ saying and doing.”

According to him, the entire village would be a part of Bara district if they had not protested in 2037 BS.

Buddha Bahadur Ghalan, school teacher, said the villagers had settled in the area nearly four decades ago.

Dipendra Ghimire, programme coordinator, Rural Awareness and Development Society, said that the organisation had also helped in building a concrete container for supplying 6, 000 litres of water to the villagers of Churiyamai-6. Coordinator of third project of Plan Makawanpur Kush Thapa said that the village was very backward until a decade ago. He added that the state had not even provided them the ownership certificates for their land.