Land of a Billion – S.2 Ep.8: Securing Property Rights for Slum Dwellers: The Successes From Odisha

Securing Property Rights for Slum Dwellers: The Successes From Odisha

Land of a Billion: Tune in as experts discuss the property rights for slum dwellers in the state of Odisha.

There are between 60 and 90 million people living in slums across India. Owing to the poor or complete lack of property rights, the slum dwellers across Indian states grapple with issues such as poor access to civic amenities and basic essentials such as water and electricity.

In this endeavour to help transform the slums into liveable habitats and provide the residents with access to basic amenities, Odisha’s JAGA Mission has emerged as a model programme. In this episode, we discuss the various steps, challenges, and successes of the mission, including how it brought community participation as one of its major steps towards slum degradation.

We speak with G Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Government of Odisha and Shubhagato Dasgupta, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Director, Scaling City Institutions for India, (Sci-Fi) to discuss and understand Property Rights for Slum Dwellers in the state of Odisha through the story of Jaga Mission.

Catch the following questions asked by our host at respective timestamps:

03.07: Understanding the context in which the story of Odisha’s JAGA Mission began. When did it start and how far have we come?
08.20: We often don’t talk about or recognise the rights of the slum dwellers themselves. Could you tell us why it is important to have this conversation and ensure their access to secure property rights?
13.50: What were some of the biggest challenges that the Odisha government faced during the first stage of the Jaga mission?
16.40: What is the political economy of slum legalisation like? What were the different stakeholders you have to manage to ensure a smooth process?
19.56: What has been the collective impact of this Mission in Odisha?
24.30: What has been the impact of the mission during covid?
28.08: I
f you had to pick one core challenge that India needs to focus on to secure land rights for a billion, what would that be? 

What should you expect from this podcast series?

‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Friday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here.

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak with Shipra Deo, Director, Women’s Land Rights, Landesa and Pranab Choudhury, Founder & Coordinator, Centre for Land Governance to understand how poor access to land rights disempower women farmers in India.