Nepal plans to seize lands owned by King Gyanendra and other royal family members and distribute them to the poor as it moves toward treating the monarch like a "normal citizen," a minister said Saturday.
Legislation limiting the amount of property the king can hold will be drafted once an inventory of royal properties is completed, Land Reforms Minister Prabhu Narayan Chaudhary said in Kathmandu, the capital of the impoverished Himalayan nation.
"The seized royal property will be nationalised and handed over to poor farmers and landless people," the minister told AFP, without giving a timeframe for the policy's implementation. "The king and the royal family members will be treated just like normal citizens," he added.
Under the law, Nepalese people are allowed to own 7.45 hectares (18.4 acres) of land, the minister said. But according to a preliminary land reform ministry report, the king and royal family members own 1,729 hectares (4,274 acres) of land, including palaces and forests, the minister said.