A panel led by Supreme Court Justice Khil Raj Regmi yesterday proposed that the government introduced a will system by scrapping the centuries old heirship on parental property. But is our society ready to accept that?

Talking to The Himalayan Times, Kedar Khadka, a social worker from Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur, said the provision made sense for developed countries but not for a poor country like Nepal. Khadka, a father of four children, said, “In developed countries, the government guarantees pubic security, basic education, basic health, employment, senior citizens’ rights and other facilities. But Nepal has way to go to get there.”

Women rights lawyer Sapana Pradhan Malla agrees with him. “Our society is not prepared to lap up the will system,” Malla, who is also a member of the Constituent Assembly told THT. “Ultimately, this may be used against daughters,” she opines.

Khadka adds that in Nepal when the parents get old, they become the responsibility of children. “The will system may change this socio cultural pattern,” he feared.

Ramshova Karki, a teacher in Shree Mahendra Gram Lower Secondary School, Lubu, Lalitpur, said, quality education was more important for children than property. Karki, a mother of three children, of who two are in Australia for studies, added, “If we give them quality education, they would not eye our property. So will or no will will not make any difference.”

Megha Raj Pokharel, Secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association, opined, “This system may render many people homeless and destroy the society.”

Ganesh Pandey, a lecturer in Tribhuvan Multiple Campus, Palpa, however, thinks the will system could make the new generation independent and improve the development index of the country.

Ram Hari Dhakal, a sociologist said the will system would prove beneficial for the Nepali society in the long run. He said it might break down the joint families and increase criminal activities concerning property in the beginning but in the long run, the new system would increase citizens’ productivity. “It should be adopted gradually,” he added.

Advocate Ram Prasad Bhattarai also welcomed the move to shift society from the partition of the property system to will system.

source: The Himalayan Times (2010),"Are Nepalis prepared to scrap parental property heirship? ", The Himalayan Times, 13 August 2010,p.1