Odisha to provide land rights to slum dwellers

Bhubaneswar: On the eve of New Year, the Cabinet of Odisha government has decided to provide land rights to the slum dwellers of five municipal corporation towns of the state.

The Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday approved the proposal for extension of Jaga Mission for slum dwellers in five municipal corporations — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur.

Under the Jaga Mission, the state government will provide land to slum dwellers residing in the five municipal corporations.

In a historic decision, the Cabinet has decided to extend the Jaga Mission scheme to five municipal corporation towns of Odisha.

“As many as 8,58,000 people of 1.90 lakh families in 938 slums across the five municipal corporation areas will be benefited with the decision,” Odisha Housing and Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena said.

The land distribution process will be completed within six months, he said.

Under the Odisha Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Act, 2017 and Jaga Mission, land rights have been provided to people residing in 109 urban local bodies (ULBs) including municipality and NACs across the state, Jena said, adding, around 1.75 lakh families have been benefited from the programme till date.

The Odisha Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Act, 2017 was enacted with a view to assign land rights to identified and eligible slum dwellers with a twin objective of providing security of tenure and to transform the slums into liveable habitats.

The jurisdiction of this Act was extended to all the Municipalities and NACs.

Now, similar provisions were also incorporated in the Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003 through an amendment to confer property rights on the households living in the slums of the Municipal Corporations of the state, officials said.

The Cabinet has also approved the proposal to provide grant-in-aid under 7th Pay Commission to eligible teaching & non-teaching staff of new aided non-government high schools, upper primary schools, Madrasas, said chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra.

About 26,164 employees of the non-government aided schools and Madrasas will receive the benefits of grant-in-aid with effect from January 1, 2022, he said.

IANS