Memorandum
submitted to Chief Secretary, Odisha demanding
Land Patta to Slum-Dwellers in
Bhubaneswar, capital City of Odisha
On
5.12.16, a Civil Society delegation submitted memorandum to Sri Aditya Prasad Padhi, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Odisha demanding
allotment of land/plot to Slum-dwellers
residing under Jurisdiction of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC)
and discussed with him
about possible modalities to carry out this work, if the Govt. took it
as policy decision. It was suggested to State Govt. (a) to
undertake thorough exercise
to identify the eligible slum-dwellers
in different slums in Bhubaneswar
and lease out atleast
900 sq. ft. of land to each
family following the procedure which has been made while allotting land to IAS, IPS officers,
Ministers, MLAs etc., (b) recover
thousands of acres of land illegally acquired by
influential persons, private
bodies in the city, (c) undertake comprehensive land planning
by dividing land into
five categories and reserving
land for
slum-dwellers in different
locations of Bhubaneswar, as per Odisha Govt. Land Settlement Rules, 1983, (d) enactment of new land recognizing
the property right of Slum-dwellers in slums of
urban areas following Central
Govt. Model Act, 2011, (e) frame a
comprehensive Slum Development Policy
recognizing right to
Slum-dwellers to access land
in urban areas. The members of the delegation were Sri Pradip Pradhan,
Pradip Pradhan, Social Activist and Advisor to
Bhubaneswar Basti Unnayan Parishad, Sachikant Pradhan, Convener, Core Committee Group of Civil Society Member
and Slum-dwellers, Pratap Kumar Sahu, President, Odisha Basti Sangharsh Samiti,
Bhubaneswar, Ranjulata Mohapatra, Convener, Bhubaneswar Basti Unnayan Parishad,
Sanyasi Behera, Institute of Social Work and Research, Jogendra Dakua,
Chairman, Tapoban Lane Basti Unnayan
Trust.
Background
of the Demand for
land by Slum-Dwellers
Since
last few years, Bhubaneswar has witnessed migration
of large number of poor
people from rural areas in search of
employment and settled in slums
unauthorizedly for their living.
The State Govt. as well as Municipal Corporation has made a
lot of administrative arrangements in
terms of providing basic amenities like drinking water, shelter, sanitation,
electricity, road connectivity, voter ID
Card, Ration card to them
in order to ensure better standard
of living.
As per Govt.
record, there are 436 identified slum settlements in Bhubaneswar of
which 320 ( 73% )
are unauthorized and 116 (
27%) are authorized. The total slum population is 3,01,611
with 80,665 households , indicating
an average household size of 4 members.
The size of slums ranges from 0.045
hectares to 18.31 hectares. , the smallest being
Radha Kristan Basti in Ward 45
and the largest being
Khandagiri Basti in Ward 23.
The number of households in the slums
also vary, from as low as 13
HH in Rangamatia Basti in Ward 9
to as high as 1,414 in Tarini
Nagar Salia Sahi in Ward 16.
The Slums listed cover an area of
7.15 sq. km. which is 3.9% of the total municipal area ( 186 sq.km.).
The
Slum-dwellers are seen staying in very wretched condition with very bad sanitary environment. They are
staying in Jhumpudi , low lying
area located along
roadside, rail line side and
managing their family in small hut with
much pain, sorrow and grief.
As they do not enjoy any right
over the land, Bhubaneswar Municipal
Corporation and BDA displaced
and destroyed these slums in the name of development or
handing over the land to
corporate house. It has become very common phenomena in
Bhubaneswar.
As per Odisha Govt. Land Settlement Act, 1967 and its Rules, 1983, the State Government is
required to divide land in five categories in urban areas making the land reserved for
(a) Govt. offices and public purpose ,
(b) sale of land through auction, ( c)
house for middle class, (d) poor people.
(e) Small and Medium Scale Industry etc. But the state Govt. has not yet kept the land reserved for settlement of poor, slum dwellers in
Bhubaneswar. That’s why, a number of
unauthorized Slums have been developed through out Bhubaneswar.
On the other hand, following the due
legal procedure of Government Grants Act, 1895 and Odisha Development
Authority Act, 1981 , the General
Administration Department, Bhubaneswar
Development Authority, Odisha State Housing Board have allotted land
to a number of categories
of Institutions like private
educational Institutions, Hotels,
corporate house, business
institutions, builders and Individuals
like political leaders, MLAs, MPs,
Ministers, IAS, IPS officers, Govt. employees and many others. Similarly
Many rich, influential people,
kith and kin of the politicians and bureaucrats have been allotted multiple plots under Discretionary quota
and through filling of false affidavit by the
then Minister for Housing and Urban Development, General
Administration Department. Many
educational Institutions like Loyola School, DAV School, KIMS have been
allotted land free of premium or nominal
rate. As per CAG report, Sri Achyut Samant, Founder KIIT has
taken more than 100 acres of
Govt. land in Patia and Chandaka area through fraudulent means.
As per Govt.
record, not a single
slum-dweller has been allotted land
in Bhubaneswar till yet.
Since years together, they
have been demonstrating
to get a piece of land in
city for their permanent settlement
by way of organizing dharana and
rally in front of assembly and
submitting memorandum to Chief
Minister. On 5th October
2016, thousands of Slum-dwellers had
organized massive rally and demonstration in front of State secretariat demanding land patta over
the land they have been staying since more than 30 years. Around 2400 applications addressed to Chief
Minister have been submitted to Chief Minister for allotment of piece of land in their favour.
In a state-level consultation on “Right
of Slum-dwellers to access land in
Bhubaneswar” held on 28.10.16,
the representatives of different
political parties, Slum-dwellers, Civil
Society Groups and Social activists like Sri Panchanan Kanungo, former Minister,
Govt. of Odisha, had echoed their voice in support
of demand of Slum-Dwellers for
allotment of land patta to them. The
participants had expressed their
concern over pitiable conditions of slum-dwellers and their wretched
living standard in congested slums in an era of modern development. The meeting passed an unanimous resolution
that like Ministers, MLAs and Officers, the slum people are entitled to get a
piece of land for their livelihood.
Allotment of land should be made following the same procedure adopted
while allotting land to the individuals, business house etc.
It
deserves to be mentioned that
the State Govt. has planned to
allot house to Slum-dwellers under Rajiv Awas Yojana renamed as Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana. But building under construction are found
very congested with small rooms
and not viable for living of a family. Many Slum-dwellers have expressed
their concern and unwillingness to stay there.
Right to
get land and shelter is the fundamental
right of every citizen of the country.
Denial to shelter is the violation of Human Rights of the Slum-Dwellers.
Keeping it in view, the Central Government
has issued a Model Act to
provide for comprehensive property
rights legislation for Slum Dwellers in
the country in 2011 which has not been enacted in our state.
Pradip Pradhan
M-9937843482
Date- 7 .12.16
