Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday handed over land rights certificates to more than 65,000 families living in slums in five cities of the state. Patnaik said the beneficiaries will also receive financial aid for constructing houses.
The families who were given the certificates at the programme in the Kalinga Stadium live in 875 slums across Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela, officials said. Addressing the gathering, Patnaik said a total of 2 lakh families will be given land rights, and of them, 1.72 lakh families have already got it.
Also, 1,010 slums have been upgraded as 'Biju Adarsh Colonies' with amenities such as roads, tap water at homes, toilets and street lights, among others, he said. The state government in 2018 launched the 'Jaga Mission' to provide land rights to impoverished families living in urban slums.
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Criticising the government, the opposition Congress and BJP alleged that the ruling BJD remembers people living in slums only ahead of elections. "The slum-dwellers are being given false land right certificates. These are not being accepted by banks for home loans. The government must stop misleading the people," said BJP leader Babu Singh who led a protest outside the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati said the programme was politically motivated with an eye on the elections.
