In Mauraniya, Kailali District a total of 23 landless families live on an area of land totaling 1.06 hectares. This land is used for cattle herding by landlords, and as a graveyard. People from the community have repeatedly attempted to remove them from this place. Despite the landless commission conducting a survey here in 1999, no further steps have been taken with regard to ownership. Instead the landlords partitioned the land for themselves, without making the landless people aware. In 2007 NLRF discussed this issue and established an organisation involving 23 women in the land rights movement.
Since 2008 collective farming activities have been carried out, whilst some of the women began to raise money for the movement fund. The organization started a vegetable farm with money being raised from selling corn, coriander and potatoes. Later on an agro based enterprise was developed supported with pump priming monies. Further 0.33 hectares of a local resident’s land has been utilised to cultivate paddy. The organization has also formed the Mauraniya Land Rights Women Cooperative which has a total of 30 members.
The cooperative has to date collected a total of NPR 74,500 (US$ 955.12)Each member contributes NPR 1 (US$ 0.01) on a daily basis or NPR 30 (US$ 0.38) on a monthly basis. The organization has also established a meeting hall, where monthly meetings are carried out. The land learning center is open 3 times in a month.
