Speakers at a seminar yesterday said land reform should be made for ensuring the people's access to land and eradicating poverty from the society.

They also said that government should give more attention on land confiscation and distribution.

Shied Access to land by the rural poor: The case of Nepal, the seminar was organised at the Cirdap auditorium in the city on the occasion of the 29th founding anniversary ofCirdap.

Nepal Development Research Institute Coordinator Jagannath Adhikari said poverty is concentrated among the land dependents and the government should reform the land to ensure the people's access to land.

"l and policy should be made in favour of farmers, women, indigenous and Dalits, because people from these groups are mostly poor and landless," he said while presenting a keynote paper at the seminar.

Secretary to Rural Development and Cooperatives Division Fazlul Karim said despite global awareness and efforts, progress on securing access to land by the poor based on sustainability has been rather slow

Addressing the seminar as the chief guest, he said, “The issue of access to land and other natural resources by the extreme poor, particularly women and indigenous people, is very important. We will have to give more priority in land issue."

Cirdap Research Director Dr Nasreen Khandker said a national consensus is needed to solve the landdisputes.

Cirdap Director General Dr Durga Paudyal presided over the seminar where Dr Selim Raihan of Dhaka University also addressed.