The head of the Khatlon Land Management Directorate, Dilovarsho Pirzoda, told reporters in Bokhtar, the capital of Khatlon province, last week that inspections led to the cancelation of 593 decisions related to illegal allotment of lands made by heads of districts, jamoats and farming units.  

According to him, the inspections have been carried out after president's criticism directed at local officials over numerous over land fraud and violations, which came during an address to a meeting of regional administrators in Danghara that took place in September last year.

Pirzoda noted that 56 such decisions were canceled in Kushoniyon district, 25 decisions in Vose district, Jaloliddini-Balkhi district 22, in Hamadoni district - 18, Panj district – 15, Nosir-Khusrav and Khovaling districts – 14 each, Dousti, Jaihoun and Qubodiyon district – 13 each, Jomi district – 12, I the cities of Nurek and Kulob as well as Farkhor and Yovon district – 11 each, Shahritous – 7, and Shamsiddin-Shohin district – 6.  

“Some of these decisions related to illegal allotment of lands and some others related to errors in allotment of lands to farming units,” Pirzoda said.  

It is to be noted that President Emomali Rahmon  has repeatedly raised the issue of illegal allotment of lands in Khatlon province.

Recall, the State Committee on Land Management and Geodesy of the Republic of Tajikistan in July last year endorsed a new procedure for issuing, replacing and canceling the land share certificate.  This move was aimed at reducing the level of corruption in the land sector and restricting the rights of heads of dehqon (peasant) farms, who violate the rights of ordinary members of dehqon farms.   The document is reportedly aimed at regulating relationship related to land shares in farming units.  The new procedure provides favorable conditions to exercise the right to land use, establish farming units, determine the size of the land plot and land share, and overcome existing problems in this area.

The land share certificate is a document determining the share of a dehqon farm member in the dehqon farm’s total land fund.  

In Tajikistan, laws ban the private sale of land.  Agricultural land can only be leased from the state.  People can also receive a plot of land -- free of charge -- from their local government to build a home.

Only people who don't have their own home are eligible for a land parcel in the district where they are registered as a permanent resident.

Applications for the parcels of land are made to the district governor and the governor either approves the request, sends it to local authorities in each area for a final decision, or rejects the request if the applicant is deemed ineligible.

The application must be accompanied by a lot of documentation, including a letter from the local authorities in the applicant's home village or town to verify the applicant's account of their personal circumstances and their genuine need for land.