Bhubaneswar: The state government has decided to revise the guidelines for availing land under the Vasundhara scheme to streamline and smoothen the process.
The Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) department is executing the scheme for allotment of government land for homestead purpose.
As per decisions taken at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary AP Padhi recently, the government would provide 4 decimals of land to the homesteadless persons free of premium in rural areas under the scheme.
Presently, 10 decimals of government land are being provided to these persons.
The decision to cut down on the size has been taken in view of scarcity of suitable land, official sources said here Wednesday.
The government has also decided to revise the process to certify the homesteadless persons (beneficiary).
The present rules say, the concerned Tahasildar has to endorse that the identified beneficiary has no homestead land anywhere in the state, which is very difficult and a time-consuming process, a source said.
To resolve the issue, it was decided that henceforth the applicant has to declare under oath that neither he/ she nor any member of his/her family living together has any homestead land anywhere in the state, or, has decimal of land in villages under tahasil, which is not sufficient for living purposes.
Further, a person who has very little own homestead land – like 1 or 2 decimals – which is insufficient for healthy living, will also now be eligible to get the scheme’s benefit; the government will meet the shortfall – up to 4 decimals – on free-of-premium basis for homestead purpose in rural areas, the source said.
If no suitable government land up to the extent is available adjacent to his own homestead land, he shall be provided the 4 decimals of land in another area.
In order to make the income criterion for homesteadless person more dynamic, it was decided to link it with the minimum rate of wage fixed by the state government for unskilled workers engaged in agriculture sector from time to time.
Besides, the government has also initiated the process to provide land to such persons staying in the urban areas (not in the slums). The Housing and Urban Development (H& UD) department will formulate a scheme for settlement of government land with the non-slum urban poor persons in urban areas who are not covered under the Odisha Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Act, 2017 and Rules framed there under.
