babby god

form of state owned and public land occupied by landless people, conflict victims,

rebel groups, and boned labors today. It mostly exists in urban and semi urban areas

and also can be found in rural areas. It is neither officially recorded by the

government nor recognized by the cadastral system of Nepal (CSRC, 2009).

“Presently, 98% of Nepal’s farmland operates under Raikar tenure system. The name

is probably derived from the Sankrit words Rajya (state) and Kara (tax), thereby

denoting land on which state levies taxes. It means land on which taxes are payable to

the government and is listed in the official records. This distinguishes Raikar from

other forms of land tenure such as Birta, Guthi, and Kipat in which the occupant does

not necessarily pay taxes and for the most part they are not listed in official records”

(CSRC, 2009: 15).

“CBS defines Land Tenure as the system that refers to arrangement or right under

which the holder holds or uses holding land, land tenure relates to: area held in owner

like possession, area rented from others, area operated on a squatter basis, etc.” (CBS,

2004: NLSS Vol. 2. P. 4. as quoted in Dhakal, 2011:2).

Rights on Raikar land are limited to occupancy rights, vis-a- vis the state; however,

these rights can be freely sold or transferred to any person. After nationalization of

forest in 1957, management and protection of the forest was brought under

government control. The forest department became increasingly active and local

people found them excluded from the system, the people who had occupied the land

for generations but had no documented proof of ownership. Consequently, Chepangs

lost their right to land they had been tilling under shifting cultivation for generations

(CSRC, 2009).

Before the establishment of modern Nepal, and probably for some time afterwards, all

the above mentioned tribal groups held the land traditionally under a customary from

SHARE

About Admin