Key theme: Land rights

Social unit: Landless people in Mahottari district of Nepal who have been denied of land rights

Program that brought about the change: CARE Nepal\\\'s Chuli program (Churiya Livelihood Improvement program)

'As long as there is life, problems continue to come. Despite all the difficulties in life, I get a great sense of relief whenmy daughter and son-in-law or other relatives visit us. They no longer have to stand in someone else\\\'s land. Nobody can scorn them when they are in my land. What can be more joyful than this? '50 years old Manamaya Thapa gleamed. Being poor was something we were born with. What’s more painful is to become landless in one’s own country. Thanks to CARE Nepal, we no longer have to go through that pain,' she adds.

Manmaya is one among 27 poor and landless families in Mahottari district Kisannagar ward no. 9 who have settled in the bank of Ratu river. They have built their own homes on the river bank. Now that the government has built embankment, there is less risk of flood. The Chuli program implemented by CARE Nepal since 2007 through its partner organization Community Self-Reliant Centre targeting the landless has begun to bring about� changes in the lives of the poor and landless people . According to the chair of the Mahottari district committee of National Land Rights Forum Faudsingh Shyanba, the learning centres that are being run in the villages are the backbone behind these changes. There are four learning centres being run currently in Kisannagar by the National Land Rights Forum through the support of the Community Self Reliant Centre a nd CARE Nepal's Chuli program.

According to the district member of the Forum, Ramkumar Basnet, underlying causes of poverty were analyzed in Kisannagar. From this analysis, the poorest were identified and also the resources they could use. Four learning centers were established here targeting the certain areas.

�In each center at least 25 landless people began to assemble for about two hours each week to discuss issues such as their rights, what they could do collectively for their society, initiatives of National Land Rights Forum and other contemporary issues.

They decided to build their own house and identified the bank of the river as the appropriate place. They have built their houses there though the land is still public.

Tuk Bahadur Masrangi narrates the story. "When we erected pillars, some of the people in the village prote sted. They filed a case. But we were determined and united. After all we had not encroached on someone else\\\'s land; we were just using vacant river bank. The police came but returned just as they had come'.

The problem of  Village Block

The residents of Kisannagar VDC ward no. 8, Balampaki were actually not landless before. Many years ago, a government official was there to measure their land. Clustered as their settlement was in a relatively small area and as each family had tiny land holdings, the official recorded it as a ''Village block" without taking the trouble to measure each plot of land individually that belonged to different people.

After the poverty analysis, the forum conducted learning classes for the 26 families there. 'Before we didn\\\'t know how we could get our land certificates. After we started regular discussions with Netra Sir (the facilitator at the learning centre), we came up with a solution. We got united. We approached the VDC. At first the VDC secretary did not agree but since we were united he had to give in,' says Som Bahadur Lumre Magar.

The district chair of the National Land Rights Forum, Amar Bahadur Karki, says, 'After they were united and put pressure on to the VDC, a field investigation was conducted under the aegis of the VDC and the land was measured locally. The VDC sent a recommendation on the basis of the investigation and measurement to the authority concerned at the district level. The district level authority recognized the measurement and the ownership certificates were awarded on that basis. Nine households have already received their certificates. The rest will also soon get their certificates.'

The Forum is facilitating the households to register the land in the name of female members of the family. The men can sell out the land but females tend to do that less,' says Karki.

Key problems of land rights in Mahottari

According to the district chair of the National Land Rights Forum, Faudsingh Shyangba, there are 16,000 households who have been deprived of land rights in Mahottari district.