Minister Adhikari warns of action against fake landless squatters

Kathmandu, Jan 1: Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Balram Adhikari, warned of action against those capturing lands in the name of landless squatters.     

Responding to queries raised in the Wednesday meeting of the Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives, Minister Adhikari mentioned that land acquired by fake landless dwellers would be seized.     

He stressed that a technology was developed to find how much land a person has owned across the country. The trend of acquiring and selling the land after taking it from the government in the name of landless squatters would be wiped out with the use of technology, Minister Adhikari shared.     

The Minister said the Land Problem Resolution Commission had started its works and the Ministry had determined jurisdiction for the Commission. "The deadline for the districts that received applications less than 1,000 has been determined for one year while two years for the districts with more than 5,000 applications and three years for the districts with more than 50,000 applications", he added.     

Similarly, Secretary at Ministry of Land Management, Arjun Prasad Pokharel, said a process to form district-level commission for the resolution of land-related problems was forwarded.     

On the occasion, lawmakers-- Bir Bahadur Balayar, Saraswoti Subba, Bhanu Bhakta Joshi, Mina Tamang and Amrit Lal Rajbanshi-- stressed that the Commission should be serious for sustainable resolution of the problems facing landless, squatters and unsystematic settlements.(RSS)