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Govt draws up land use policy
KATHMANDU, JUN 07 -
The government, for the first time, has prepared a land policy with a view to boosting agricultural production and stopping arbitrary fragmentation of fertile land across the country. ‘Land Use Policy 2010’ comes after widespread concern that encroachment of agricultural land by haphazard residential projects has increased the risk of food crisis in Nepal.
Till now, Nepal does not have any clear-cut and specific policy on the preservation of fertile land for agriculture production. The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management, in coordination with National Planning Commission and other ministries, has prepared the policy. Land Reforms Minister Dambar Shrestha said, “We will publicise it soon for public discussion before finalising it.” The policy comes into effect after the Cabinet approves it.
Natural Resources and Means Committee of the Legislature-Parliament had time and again directed the Ministry for Land Reforms and Management to make a policy on the use of land after myriad complaints that fertile land was being fragmented posing a threat to food insecurity in Nepal.
The new policy has been prepared keeping in mind how land will be used and managed in the federal structure — mainly setting criteria on how the central government and federal states divide power on the issues related to land use.
The new policy envisages solving all land-related problems within 15 years through scientific land reform — an issue on which all political parties have agreed to in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Interim Constitution.
Land will be allocated or categorised for agriculture, forest, residential area, urban development, industrial area and other sectors and no one will be allowed to deal in land allocated for agriculture, reads the policy.
Managing rampant fragmentation of land is another major objective of the policy. Utilisation of abandoned land by different sectors, preparing skilled manpower for better management of land and marginalised people’s access to land are other issues that the policy aims to address.
Keshave Badal, a land expert and a CPN-UML leader, said,”The high-level land Reform Commission which was formed under my leadership 15 years ago had suggested immediate formation of a land use policy.”
Posted on: 2010-06-08 07:39
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