Land Reforms, Caste Discrimination and Land Market Performance in Nepal

Jeetendra P. Aryal Roresearcher and Stein Holden ()
Additional contact information
Jeetendra P. Aryal Roresearcher: International Maize and Wheat Improvement CenterczDelhicyIndi

Chapter 2 in Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, 2013, pp 29-53 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The caste system is an inherent part of Nepal’s institutional structure, as are class formation, political instability and conflict. The group the caste system discriminates against the most forcefully is the Dalit, the so-called ‘untouchables’. Dalits have for many centuries faced religious, occupational and even territorial discrimination; they were traditionally excluded from receiving education and using public resources, and had no rights to own land (Dahal, 1995; CHRGJ, 2005; Haug et al., 2009). The situation of the Dalits in Nepal, especially before 1951, can best be explained by a patron-client dependency in which landed patrons (high-caste households) provided the Dalits with access to small pieces of land and other basic requirements for subsistence living — and in return for that, they were bound to provide their services to their patron; in essence, a feudal system. Although caste discrimination is outlawed now, it still has impacts on their lives, because it restricts their access to economic resources; as a result, nearly 75 per cent of Dalits in Nepal are functionally landless (Wily et al., 2008). Traditional religious justification combined with poverty and landlessness contribute substantially to the social ostracism of the Dalits (Banerjee and Knight, 1985).

Keywords: Land Tenure; Land Productivity; Land Reform; Land Tenure System; Village Development Committee (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-34381-9_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781137343819

DOI: 10.1057/9781137343819_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().