KATHMANDU, July 13: The government on Sunday signaled a significant shift in its approach toward displaced squatters by dispatching six ministers to a holding center in Bhaktapur and announcing that it would continue providing food support while expediting the distribution of land ownership certificates to eligible landless families.
Home Minister Sudhan Gurung was joined by Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration Pratibha Rawal, Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens and Sexual Minorities and Social Security Sita Badi, Minister for Health and Food Safety Nisha Mehta, Minister for Education and Sports Sasmit Pokharel, and Minister for Youth, Labor and Employment Ramjee Yadav during visits to the holding centers in Kharipati and Bode in the Kathmandu Valley. Officials from the High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization (HPCIDBC) also visited several holding centers.
The visit came a day after floodwaters inundated the holding center in Kirtipur, forcing the government to relocate displaced squatters to Kharipati. According to the HPCIDBC, 65 squatter families are currently staying there.
During the visit, Minister Rawal assured residents that genuine landless families would receive land ownership certificates as soon as possible. She said the government had already begun distributing land ownership certificates in Bardiya from the third week of the Nepali month of Asar and would soon expand the process to many other districts.
"We have already started distributing land ownership certificates to landless families. Within the next few weeks, genuine squatters in many districts across the country will also receive their certificates," Rawal said.
She added that the certificates would be distributed to ensure long-term legal security and prevent future disputes.
Govt reverses decision to halt food supply
Forest Act a hurdle to distribution of land ownership certifica...
The government has also decided to continue providing food to squatters staying at holding centers and said it will no longer ask them to vacate the facilities immediately.
Earlier, the government stopped providing food assistance, leaving many families in holding centers struggling for more than a week.
"We will not stop providing food to squatters staying at the holding centers, nor will we ask them to leave immediately," said Machha Kaji Maharjan, member-secretary of the HPCIDBC and joint secretary at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development.
Maharjan said the government had never intended to forcibly evict families from the holding centers. Instead, it had offered each family a one-time assistance of Rs 25,000 and monthly house-rent support of Rs 15,000 to encourage voluntary relocation.
He said the relocation plan was intended to help families transition into more sustainable living arrangements rather than keep them in temporary shelters indefinitely.
"Living in holding centers for a prolonged period makes it difficult for families to integrate into society and can also affect their mental well-being. That is why we sought alternative arrangements, but only voluntarily," he said.
128 families still living in holding centers
According to Maharjan, 128 squatter families are currently living in government-managed holding centers. Of them, 65 families are staying in Kharipati, five in Banepa, five in a hotel in Balaju and 33 in Ichangu Narayan apartments. The holding center in Nagarkot has already been vacated.
However, many squatters say repeated relocations from one holding center to another have only added to their hardships.
Maharjan said 1,711 squatter families have so far received the government's one-time assistance of Rs 25,000.
Youths stage protest in Kathmandu
Meanwhile, youths staged a protest at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu on Sunday, accusing the government of treating squatters in an inhumane manner and demanding a dignified and long-term solution.
The protesters also alleged that police unlawfully assaulted and detained Gen Z activists, including Majid Ansari and Sarisma Thapa, when they visited a holding center to assess the condition of displaced families. Ansari is currently undergoing treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj.
More than two months since demolition drive
The government launched a demolition drive beginning on April 25 to remove squatter settlements from various parts of the Kathmandu Valley using bulldozers. Families displaced by the operation were temporarily relocated to holding centers.
More than two months later, however, a long-term rehabilitation plan has yet to be implemented.
The government has pledged to resolve the issue by forming a Land Problem Settlement Commission and distributing land ownership certificates to genuine landless families within 600 days.
During the demolition campaign, authorities removed 19 squatter settlements across the Kathmandu Valley and demolished 2,687 structures, including 890 permanent and 1,797 temporary ones.
According to the District Administration Office, the operation displaced 15,316 people, including 6,858 men, 5,325 women, 1,437 boys and 1,696 girls.
For the upcoming fiscal year 2026/27, the government has allocated Rs 3 billion to develop parks, expand green spaces and river corridors, strengthen river control measures, and improve drainage systems in areas from which squatter settlements were removed.
