Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today described ‘Jaga Mission’ being named for this year’s World Habitat Awards as a “rare honour”.
“It is a rare honour for the ‘Jaga Mission’ which will work for the urban poor to get land and houses in their slum development areas,” said Patnaik briefing reporters here today after a function organized to celebrate Jaga Mission being named for the World Habitat Awards at the Kalinga Stadium premises here.
Patnaik used the opportunity to thank industrialist Ratan Tata for his enthusiasm and help through the Tata Trust and Lord Norman Forster, who is considered probably the best architect in the world for all his tremendous help.
He also thanked the PWD and the Works and Housing department for all their hard work and in particular G Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary Housing and Urban Development Department for heading all the work.
“The novel Jaga Mission launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to better the lives of people living in slums in every town and city of Odisha and to provide them with all facilities has got worldwide recognition and appreciation. This programme has bagged an award at the World Habitat Awards,” informed Pratap Jena, Minister for Housing and Urban Development speaking to newsmen.
He said this award will further inspire them to work bettering the lives of those living in slums in urban areas of the State.
It may be mentioned here that the State government’s pioneering initiative of granting land rights to several lakh slum dwellers in the State has been named for the Bronze award in this year’s World Habitat Awards.
The project is being undertaken by the Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission (OLHM) or the Jaga Mission. OLHM or Jaga Mission, maps and surveys slums, bringing together the use of pioneering technology and community participation.
It then uses this information to assign land rights to eligible residents – and upgrades the physical infrastructure with roads, drains, street-lights, sanitation and clean water supplies.
More than 50,000 families have been granted land rights under the new legislation – The Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Act – which was passed by the Odisha government in 2017 as the first step in its pioneering programme to raise living standards in the state’s 2,919 slums.
Once implemented state-wide, the project will have issued land rights to 206,000 families, benefitting 1 million people.
Affordable housing complexes built on government land will benefit a further 0.8 million people. The target for completion is 2021-2023.