10,339 people living in squatters in Banke

By Our Correspondent,Banke, May 22: One may not believe that more than 10,339 people are landless squatters and improvised and disorganised settlers in Baijnath Rural Municipality of Banke district. But it is a reality. This number has been identified through a systematic study conducted by the rural municipality recently. 

Chief Administrative Officer Dharmaraj Neupane informed that during the collection of data of the entire municipality in coordination with the Land Commission, it was found that there were 10,339 landless, improvised and unorganised settlers in the rural municipality.

He said that the data collection was carried out in various phases by mobilising the technicians of the rural municipality, Land Commission and Survey Office. 

According to the data collected by the rural municipality, out of 10,399 individuals, there are 1,639 landless squatters, 935 landless Dalits, and 7,765 other unorganised residents.

 According to Prakash Bahadur Shahi, Chairman of the Baijnath Rural Municipality, the rural municipality has a plan to reinclude the missing individuals if there are any. He also mentioned that for the distribution of land ownership certificates, the survey and documentation works have been carried out on behalf of the local government. 

Chairman Shahi said, “After identifying the genuine landless and improvised residents, we are preparing to distribute the land ownership certificates to them as soon as possible, and we need cooperation from everyone for this.”