One million people residing in 2,500 slums across Odisha will be provided land right certificates in the next one year. It is billed as the largest project of its kind in the world and when it was launched at Ganjam district on Monday people of eminence like Ratan Tata, Lord Norman Foster, described it as “ earth shaking”, “path-breaking” and so on.

The shower of praise for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from the luminaries on the dias continued as they all “ saluted” the CM. Lord Foster, put it “ the new land owners certificate opens the doors for an era of positive change and security…it gives a signal to the global community”.

Advertisement

It was befitting to the eye-catching pre-event publicity blitz that announced the worlds largest such project enabled by first of its kind legislation The Odisha land rights to slum dwellers Act , 2017 and the scheme “Jaaga” ( Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission).

Each state can replicate the pioneering effort of CM Naveen Patnaik just as he showed the way to the rest of the country in disaster mitigation and resilience, again internationally acclaimed. But to put it in perspective, rather than getting bowled over, it was not for the first time that land right certificates are being provided to slum dwellers in Odisha.

True, there was no structure, scheme or legislation but the same had been done by way of executive order of the government since 1982 by the then J B Patnaik government.

And it was not a one-off move, J B Patnaik right through his tenure till 1990 did provide land right certificates to slum dwellers of Bhubaneswar and over 5000 slum dwellers benefited with land rights as well as financial assistance to build houses.

The first during that period was in 1982 when the slum near Nivedita working women’s hostel in Bhubaneswar followed by other slums in phases in 1985, 1987, 1988.

It was limited to the state capital. There was another difference no private trust or company was involved , the state Housing Board was engaged. There was no publicity blitz. The biggest difference between then and now was that slum dwellers were evicted forcefully and given land on ‘outskirts’ of the city.

Today, the then ‘outskirts’ have become education hubs and health care centres. Now there is a law which entitles and empowers the slum dwellers Ironically, the land rights to slum dwellers stopped during Biju Patnaik’s regime between 1990-1995 and was not revived , in a sense, till on Monday.

During the past 17 years Naveen Patnaik government had not issued a single land patta to any slum dweller. The legislation passed last year initially mooted by former revenue minister Bijayshree Routray but subsequently placed and moved by the urban development minister last year has made the entire exercise unique and to cover all slums across urban towns of the state makes it bring about a positive change.

Urban local bodies have already started work in this regard and will provide land right documents to slum dwellers in their respective municipal area. The act provides for entitlement up to 45 sq meter in municipal area and up to• a maximum of 60 sq meter in notified area councils.

For the economically weaker section it will be free of cost while for other categories benchmark value will have to be paid. The plot of land is heritable, not transferable by way of sale, gift etc.

But the beneficiary can mortgage it to financial institutions for house building purposes. All cases against the slum dweller relating to unauthorized settlement or occupation shall abate on issuance of land certificate. The Act also provides a rehabilitation and housing where the existing slum land is required by the government.