Women paralegals are slowly becoming the norm in Dhankuta as opposed to them being an exception earlier. Paralegals help service seekers at the Land Revenue Office to arrange necessary documents while transferring land ownerships.

In the past, there were very few women in the profession. But according to Jitman Jimi of the District Land Revenue Office, women are catching up to men and are even surpassing them in the quality of work they produce.

Every day, Upama Neupane of Chitwan is busy helping service seekers prepare their documents for land-related works at the District Land Revenue Office in Dhankuta.

Neupane, who has been working as a paralegal practitioner for the last four years, says she sustains herself with the income from her job.

“I am a divorcee. I took the license to become a paralegal nine years ago. Because of that, I’m able to make my own living,” she said.

Man Prakash Khadka, chairman of the district’s Paralegal Business Association, said there are currently 30 active paralegal practitioners in the District Land Revenue Office.

“Among them, half are female,” Khadka said.

One of the oldest paralegal practitioners in the district is Reena Shrestha, who has been in the profession for the last 12 years.

“In the past, I worked as an assistant at my husband’s firm. But now I work as a paralegal myself and make around Rs 20,000 monthly,” she said.

Like Neupane and Shrestha, Anju Bhattarai of Chanuwa in Mahalaxmi Municipality is another female in the profession.

“With my income as a paralegal, I can afford to send my children to school and meet my family’s needs,” said Bhattarai, who has been in the profession for the last four years.

A majority of female legal practitioners said that they make a monthly income ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. Usually, these women spend around six hours in the Land Revenue and Survey offices.

Many service seekers also say that they prefer to work with female paralegals instead of the males.

Kiran Rai, one of the service seekers, said that he usually likes to take service from female paralegals because of their friendly approach.

“They are friendlier and we can get our work done easily,” said Rai.