By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec :23 Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Kumari Aryal said Sunday that the government would soon reclaim all the public and government lands encroached by the land-mafia.
“The government is moving ahead with a plan to protect the public land, which has been illegally transferred in individuals’ registration. Our first priority is to reclaim the public land encroached by individuals by abusing their position and power,” she said while speaking at the weekly Gorkhapatra Sambad.
The ministry alone is not able to collect the data by reaching the villages, she said, adding that support from various sectors, including local governments and political leaders, was a must to identify the government land and retain it.
“As per the data received from the land registration offices where we have introduced the online services, the government owns 3,454,603 bighas of public and government land across the country,” she said.
The latest report showed that around 4,300 bighas of land was encroached across the country, she added.
Recently, around 19 bighas of government land registered in an individual’s name in Barahathwa in Sarlahi district was annulled, she said.
“As the Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, I am trying my best to correct all the anomalies seen in our public land sector. Anomalies are everywhere, but I am dedicated to correct them during my tenure,” she said.
In 2031 BS, the then government had acquired five bighas, five kattha 13 dhur private land by providing certain compensation to the owners for the construction of Khaderi Irrigation Project in Ratnanagar, Chitwan, she said, “But later the land was registered in the names of individuals.”
“The land is now registered in the name of Kalika Auto Private Limited. Now, we have imposed a ban on the sale of the land as we are preparing to annul the illegal registration,” she said.
Talking about the problems of land squatters, she said that the government would address their problems as it was a responsibility of the government to provide certain land for their settlement.
“Here in Nepal, fake land squatters are occupying the land in the name of landless. So, thegovernment will remove them from the government land,” she said.