Squatters rally in Chitwan for papers to call the land theirs

At a three-day meeting this week, families living on public land demanded recognition of their claims and protection from eviction.

For Maya Devi Thakuri, a bitter irony is impossible to miss. She has lived decades on a tiny plot in Bhagyodayatol (which means a place where one’s fortune blossoms) in ward 6 of Gaidakot Municipality in Nawalparasi East. But she has never received the ownership certificate for the seven ana (222.57 sq metres) land that would make it truly hers.