By Purushottam P. Khatri

Kathmandu, Jan. 25: A high-level commission formed to identify and protect the details of all public, government and Guthi land illegally grabbed by different individuals and institutions has confirmed that 470 Bigha worth plots of land were captured and their registration transferred by individuals.
The five-member commission formed under the coordination of former judge of Supreme Court Mohan Raman Bhattarai on May 20, 2019, had submitted its report to the government on December 2, 2019, identifying that a total of 470 Bigha of land plots owned earlier by the government, public and Guthi were found to have transformed into other person’s registration on different dates.
Although the members of the commission submitted the report to the government a month ago, the government had owned up the report and taken the recommendations forwarded by the commission to the implementation stage only after the Cabinet endorsed the report on January 20, 2020.
Talking to The Rising Nepal, joint secretary and spokesperson at the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Janak Raj Joshi said that doors to formalise the recommendation of the report had opened up following the government endorsement of the commission’s report.
He said that the government’s line ministries will now have the authority to begin further processes for taking specific decisions and actions from the respective levels to implement the recommendations.
“The report was prepared based upon 10 different locations of the country where maximum areas of the government land were found grabbed,” said Joshi. According to the report, of the total grabbed land, 348 Bigha plots were found illegally registered under individual names.
Sardu watersheds in Dharan were found massively encroached and grabbed illegally even in the name of an NGO, according to the report. Sardu area has mostly the government land and some land is owned by the Forest Office as well, according to joint secretary Joshi.
The report has also identified and studied Guthi land that was illegally transferred to other individual’s names in Nepalgunj and Makwanpur. According to him, the commission had given the report of three Guthi lands, one government land and others were public land.
After the report was owned up by the government, processes had already begun to bring the encroached land in the name of the government and Guthi land under Guthi ownership, said Joshi.
One of the members of the commission on condition of anonymity told The Rising Nepal that 84 Bigha land of Bageshwori Guthi in Nepalgunj of Banke district was found registered in individual names. Land registration record books of 2027, 2028 and 2057 were not found, according to the report. Of the 84 Bigha land, 17 Bigha land was found registered under individual’s names. The report has also recommended the government bring land plot number 90 and 163 of Bageshwori Temple under the registration of Guthi.
Similarly, 17 Bigha land of Nepal Punarbas Company of Banke was also found transferred into the name of individuals. The 17 Bigha land was found registered in the name of Nila Kumari Dhungel of Jhapa (10 Bigha) and Mina Upadhyay (seven Bigha) of Kathmandu. The commission had reported the government to bring back plot numbers 146, 148, 149, 150, 151 under its registration and scrapped registration made in the name of Dhungel and Upadhyay.
Similarly, six ropani 14 ana government land located at Barathawa Hajariya in Sarlahi district was also found passed in the name of Jagadev Mahato. Also, another piece of government land measuring 2 ropani 14 ana and one dam of former Yangpang VDC-4 of Bhojpur district was also found registered in the name of Dambar Bahadur Khatri.
The commission had reported that the Landless Squatters Problem Resolution Commission had also misused and handed over three ropanis (out of five) to landless squatters who had possessed land in their names in Kanchanpur district.