Kailali. Raju BK, who has been living in the Ektanagar squatter camp in Tikapur of Kailali for the past two decades, has only one wish: to acquire land with land certificates.

He has been living in the hope of homestay for years without land, but that hope is yet to be fulfilled. No one has been able to fulfill his dream, which has been assured of land ownership certificates time and again.

Raju said that the political parties, leaders and candidates who had promised to provide houses with land ownership certificates during every election since 2064 BS return to the empty settlements in every election. According to him, although all the candidates have made a major agenda to garner votes in every election, there is no candidate who can fulfill it. “There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the squatters’ settlements these days. “One after the other, political parties and candidates have been asking for votes by distributing assurances in the settlements,” he said, adding, “When we ask questions, we don’t have answers to trust the candidates.” The answer for years is to give land ownership certificates. If that answer doesn’t make sense, I wonder how many years I’ll have to stay like this. ”

Landless, squatters, Dalits and unsystematic settlers have been voting in every election in the hope of getting land ownership certificates for years. Looking at the statistics of the district, the past elections have also proved that about one and a half lakh families of landless, landless squatters, Dalits and unorganized settlers have been electing these candidates just after the assurance of the candidates. Although the candidates have won the elections several times by giving priority to the agenda of providing land ownership certificates to landless squatters, Dalits and unorganized settlers in the manifesto, the dream of getting landless squatters has not been fulfilled.

Balika Singh, who was displaced by a landslide in Bajura two decades ago and living in a Tikapur squatter camp, has no faith in the candidate’s assurances. According to him, leaders who have been promising land ownership certificates for many years come to show their face only during elections. “Nowadays, we need votes, so we are going to come and go. “During the rainy season, no one comes when the muddy roads are constructed and mud houses are submerged,” he said. After the election, no one comes to know what is the problem of the people. ”

With the onset of summer, the locals of the camp settlement have complained that they have to stay awake all night fearing when the dry trees near their houses will be swept away by the storm. “You never know when the big dry trees in front of the house will fall. Every year, people are losing their lives due to falling of trees during storms,” said Bindra Chaudhary. There is no one to address that pain. Everyone has to fulfill their own interests. ”

Last year, a tree in front of the house of Jawara BK, who had been staying at Ekta Nagar Camp, fell due to the storm. Thankfully, there was no human casualty as the tree fell during the afternoon. Jawara’s husband had to go to jail after cutting down the branches of the trees above the house. “My husband had to go to jail for cutting down the branches of trees above his house. We had to pay a fine of two hundred thousand rupees,” Jawara says, “That pain is still fresh today.” If there was someone who could listen to our pain, they would have told us at that time. In times of difficulty, there is no one of their own. ”

There are nine squatters and freed kamaiya camps in Tikapur municipality. About five thousand families live there. This time, the candidates have changed the election agenda that they had been raising in the previous elections. The political parties, which had signed an agreement in the 2079 BS election with the promise of providing up to five kattha of land in the same area, have adopted the strategy of distributing land ownership certificates to the freed squatters by amending the necessary laws. The candidates of the major political parties in their election manifestos have pledged to provide land to the freed squatters after completing the legal process.

“Compared to the previous elections, most of the candidates have come to seek votes by adopting a different strategy on the issue of squatters, freed Kamaiya settlements. Bijay Chaudhary, a local of the same locality, said, “Earlier, there was talk of issuing land ownership certificates to those who won the election, but now it has been said that we will distribute land ownership certificates to all the squatters and freed Kamaiyas by amending necessary laws if they win the election.” According to him, even though the candidates have changed their strategy regarding the issue of land ownership certificates, they have lost faith due to betrayal time and again.

According to the Land Problems Resolution Commission, Kailali, 145,572 families have applied for land registration in the district. Of them, 21,545 are landless, 118,813 are unsystematic and 5,214 are incomplete. The freed landless squatters are demanding ownership certificates for the land they have been using for years.