In July 2007, the former National Assembly passed the Land Act, which among other things provided for the deletion of records of sokshing (woodlots) and tsamdro (pastures) from private and community land registers called lagthrams. These lagthrams are the records of categories and sizes of landholdings owned by Bhutanese families or communities. Records of sokshing and tsamdro owned by peasants are also reflected in these lagthrams.
Why did the National Assembly decide to delete records of tsamdro and sokshing from the lagthrams? Its rationale was that sokshing and tsamdro lands belonged to the state although they were reflected in private lagthrams. In case of sokshing, it argued that lagthram-holders were only granted the „right. to collect leaf litter for use as organic manure in agricultural fields. That is why it reasoned that peasants were not required to pay taxes for sokshing, whereas they pay taxes for other categories of their landholdings. They were also not allowed to cut down trees. The argument justifying the deletion of sokshing records from private lagthrams and