Tenant farmers tilling the Swargadwari Ashram Trust’s land have once again taken to the streets, demanding the government address their demands.

They protested in Ghorahi on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum to the District Administration Office. The farmers had staged a sit-in outside the office in March, which was called off after the government promised to address their concerns.

Prabhu Chaudhary, chairperson of the Swargadwari Trust Tenant Farmers Struggle Committee, said they resumed the protest because the government didn’t implement the agreements reached with the farmers.

Swargadwari Ashram, a revered shrine in Pyuthan district established in 1941, owns 1,034 bigha and 17 kattha (over 700 hectares) of land in Dang. Tenant farmers have been tilling 753 bigha (510 hectares) of the trust land for generations. Originally, 289 tenant families tilled the land, but that number has since grown to 3,500 households due to family expansion, with more than 15,000 individuals dependent on tenant farming.

Owing to legal complications, the lands belonging to the Swargadwari Ashram have dual ownership. On the one hand, the Supreme Court in 2006 issued a mandamus order, stating that the land of Swargadwari Ashram could not be fragmented as Swargadwari Trust is a private trust with specific characteristics. On the other hand, hundreds of tenant farmers have been demanding ownership of the lands that they have been tilling for years.