Over 1.2 Million Landless in Nepal Await Secure Land and Shelter Amidst Growing Hardship

Nepal's landless population continues to grapple with a crisis that successive governments have failed to resolve. For over 1.2 million citizens, the dream of secure land and shelter remains elusive, forcing them into precarious living conditions as squatters. Homes have been demolished, and families displaced, with the most vulnerable—women, children, and the sick—bearing the brunt of this ongoing neglect. The approaching monsoon threatens to exacerbate their already dire situation.

Since 1990, Nepal has formed nearly a dozen commissions and committees to address landlessness, yet the problem persists. This failure stems from frequent government changes, weak enforcement of land laws, and competing interests over land use. The Landless Issue Resolution Commission has registered over 1.2 million applications, underscoring the magnitude of the crisis and the deep-seated expectations among the affected communities for state intervention.

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More than 1.2 million applications have been registered.

The decentralized approach to data collection, involving local governments, has revealed significant regional disparities, with Lumbini province recording the highest number of applications. However, the lack of timely data submission from some key municipalities raises concerns about the completeness of the national database. This ongoing struggle for basic rights highlights a critical governance challenge in Nepal, where constitutional promises often fall short of practical implementation, leaving a significant portion of the population in a state of perpetual insecurity.

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the actual number of landless people is likely higher than official estimates.