Until a few years back, there was a complete male domination in land ownership. Thanks to the Government’s policy, which provides 20 percent discount while registering land in the name of woman, this trend has changed in favor of women.
Together with the Government policy, it is the social perspective towards women that has changed the existing trend of land ownership. The capacity building among women is another reason behind it. According to officials of the Land Revenue, the trend of registering land in the name of female increased remarkably in the last three years.
Similarly, the Department of Land Reform and Management (DLRM) states that ownership of women has increased during the 11 months of the previous fiscal year. Data were borrowed from 13 different land revenue offices including Dilllibazar, Chabahil, Rupendehi, Nepalgunj, Nawalparasi, Gorkha, Tanhaun and Kapilbastu; out of which about 25 percent of total land registration were in the name of women.
During this period, 67,048 out of total 163,495 cases were registered in the name of women. Women were provided tax exemption that amounted to Rs137, 234,896 in total in the 13 offices. In retrospect, the Census report of 2001 shows that the ownership of women in land was only about 10 percent.
It was in 2062 that the Government introduced a new policy regarding tax exemption owing to strong voice raised by various organizations working in the areas of women. They argued that tax privilege policy could bring positive changes among people in order to increase women’s land ownership.
After their continuous pressure, the Government introduced 10 percent tax privilege policy in the first year. From the fiscal year 2063/64, 20 percent tax privilege was given to women while registering land in their name. Of late, the Government has also launched the provision of tax privilege for Dalit, Janajati and the family of martyrs.
One has to pay 2 percent and 4 percent of the total tax while registering land in the Village Development Committee (VDC) and Municipality respectively.
At the present juncture, the liberal provision for woman makes serious sense because they were deprived of property rights both before and after marriage until a few years back. Due to the patriarchal social structure, women hardly had actual property rights although registering property in the name of female spouse was widely in practice, especially in the urban areas. However, such a trend was solely to secure one’s property from family disputes.
Since maximum women still don’t have property ownership, they are compelled to be dependent on their husband and family. In this context, women can be self- dependent if they have access to land and property.
Though the new policy has contributed to increase in women’s ownership in property especially in land and house, we cannot say that it is sufficient. The Government hasn’t paid enough attention to the issue and has not made the general people aware about it.
Besides, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and other organizations of civil society, working in this sector, are also equally responsible in this regard. They can launch different campaign and publicity programs through national and local radios, televisions and newspapers among others.
The tax privilege limitation also requires to be expanded, as the members of lower middle class families cannot get benefit from the current one.
For instance, a person having a small piece of land in Kathmandu wants to register it in the name of his wife or other female member of the family as he gets tax privilege of Rs 5000. But if the female, in whose name the land is to be registered lives in remote area, then he has to spend more than Rs 5000 for her air transportation cost alone. In this case, he might not be encouraged to register the land in the name of the woman.
Hence, it is significant that the rate of tax privilege should be increased to at least 50 percent. Land right organizations have also been demanding for an increase so that more people can benefit and also encourage them to register in the name of woman.
Increment of women’s ownership in land will increase their decision-making power and self-dependent ability. It also means that women would be free from domestic violence and stigma. Most of the women, who don’t have ownership in property, worry about their old age. They worry about getting proper respect and care from their son and daughter in-laws.
In this regard, such affirmative policy can bring about changes in their life through economic and social empowerment. By making them a real owner of property, such policy can contribute effectively to the overall empowerment of women, who are marginalized from the political mainstream. The government and other stakeholders should take proper initiation and also rectify some part of the policy and also focus on making general public aware of this provision.
– Maina Dhital
