Rampur : Happiness of Dhal Bahadur Malla of Rampur Municipality-6 in Palpa district found no bounds when he recently got a landownership certificate. He was deprived of governmental and basic facilities including the ability to transact land and receive bank loan for lack of the certificate.

Malla had been eagerly waiting the landownership certificate for 38 years. “I waited long for the certificate. I paid revenues from time to time. I am happy I have got the certificate albeit late,” said elated Malla. He bought 96.80 square kilometers of the land in 2042 BS, but he was just handed a receipt at that time as a proof for his purchase of the piece of land. So far, he has paid Rs 152,000 in revenues for the land.

Shanti Neupane of Rampur-5 is also overjoyed after acquiring the certificate. After a prolonged wait, Neupane can now proudly assert her ownership over a plot of land measuring 56.43 square kilometers. So far, she was obliged to pay Rs 141,980 in revenue for the land. “I own the house but lack a landownership certificate. It feels that the land and house belong to me after getting the certificate. I was deprived of various facilities for want of the land ownership certificate.”

Danda Bahadur Rana of Rampur-6 is planning to construct a house after acquiring the certificate. So far, he paid Rs 103,680 in revenues for the land he has been using for years. The certificate itself grants his ownership right over the land legally and it really matters for him.  The local people of the municipality have got land certificates although they had been possessing and using it for over five decades. They have been using the land since 2028 BS.

Many government offices and educational institutions including then Rampur Village Panchayat, VDCs, Ram Tulasi Secondary School, Daraidanti Secondary School, Basic Secondary School, Nabadurga Secondary School, and Shahid Multiple Campus sold plots to manage funds for their operations. However, instead of providing landownership certificates, they only issued receipts for these transactions.

As a result, the individuals who currently own the plots they purchased from these entities lacked enough documents to validate their ownership. This situation poses a challenge for the rightful owners, as the absence of certificate can create difficulties in accessing various facilities and benefits associated with land ownership.

On a positive note the local government has taken initiatives to provide landownership certificates to rightful holders as mentioned by the municipality Mayor Raman Bahadur Thapa. The distribution process was implemented in multiple phases.

In the first phase, 164 people got the landownership certificates on 23 December, 2022, while 98 on 24 January, 2023 in the second phase, and 354 on 19 May, 2023, he said.

Revenues amounting to over Rs 102 million were collected for owning the land for which the landownership certificates have been distributed, he said. Thapa has urged the acceleration of the registration of the acquired land. Thereafter, the municipality will document the houses, he said.

“We have been successful in distributing the landownership certificates for the land the local people had owned since 2028 BS despite difficulties and after a considerable wait and tremendous efforts. Around Rs 4 million has been spent in managing employees for land plotting and survey in the process,” he said.

Similarly, work to collect details of other landless squatters within the municipality is underway, he said. There are 545 landless squatters, it has been found. Out of the total 783 applications filed under the unmanaged settlement, 616 landownership certificates have been distributed.

Among the applications, 38 plots are found to have been registered in the name of men. In this case, the distribution of the landownership certificates could not take place in the absence of men, who have been away from their spouse due to various reasons. Now, preparations are underway to distribute the certificates by registering the plots in the name of their spouses, he said.

Rest of applications were rejected as they have not gone through the proper documentation, said Mohan Lal Gaire, chairperson of the district committee, Palpa of the National Land Commission (NLC), adding that some of the applicants are yet to turn up for the registration of their application.

The verification of 32 applications has begun, and collection of detailed report of the rest will take place within June 15. Thereafter, the determination of revenues to be paid, and the registration process will take place, he said.

"The certificates have been distributed after taking 20 percent fees in revenues based on the evaluation of the land carried out as per the National Land Commission Formation Order, 2078 BS at the land evaluation rate determined by the district value determination committee upon the recommendation of the local level," he said.

In case of new applications, the landowners have to fill the form where they voluntarily declare their properties and income sources. Based on the details provided by them, the amounts to be paid in revenues will be determined, he added.

Based on the evaluation of their properties, new applicants have to pay from eight to 200 percent revenues as per the National Land Commission Formation Order, 2078 BS.

According to the provision, people with low incomes have to pay eight percent revenue, and the people with high incomes up to 200 percent. Similarly, in case of landless Dalits, and landless squatters, the landownership certificates are distributed free of cost if it is certified that they have been using or tilling 130 square meters of land in residential area, and up to 500 ropanis of land in non-residential or agricultural area.

The distribution of the landownership certificates to the landless Dalits and landless squatters in Tansen Municipality began from May-end, said the district committee, NLC.

According to the data available with the NLC, more than 2,400 landless squatters throughout the country have already received landownership certificates. Notably, within Rampur Municipality in Palpa district, 616 individuals have been granted landownership certificates through this process.