Odisha govt's Jaga Mission is century’s biggest betrayal to slum dwellers: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday targeted the Odisha government over the Jaga Mission by staging protests in front of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office in the Smart City.

The BJP alleged that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is distributing fake Land Record Certificates under the Jaga Mission.

As part of their protest, the Bhubaneswar unit of the BJP took out a huge rally from its State party office in Bhubaneswar and marched towards the BMC office.

Alleging the State government of betraying the people, senior BJP leader Sameer Mohanty said, “Naveen babu launched Jaga Mission in 2016 and termed it as world’s largest land rights scheme. But the scheme turned out to be an eyewash for the beneficiaries as people with Jaga Mission Land Record Certificates (LRCs) in Chhatrapur and Konark were denied bank loans against those lands.”

“These LRCs that the government is distributing among slum dwellers are fake and I think this is the biggest betrayal of this century,” Mohanty alleged.

The Congress too took the State government on the offensive. Terming the Jaga Mission a drama, Jeypore MLA Taraparasad Bahinipati said, “As per the Supreme Court order, slum dwellers staying at a particular place for years cannot be evicted. The government is bound to give them land certificates. But Naveen Patnaik is doing a drama here by doing the same thing under the guise of Jaga Mission.”

“The scheme was launched just before the 2019 elections to influence the slum voters. However, after their win in 2019, they forgot about the scheme for four years. Now, as another election is approaching, Naveen Patnaik has again started distributing LRCs. But it will not make any difference; they will not be able to influence any more voters,” Bahinipati added.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday distributed LRCs to slum dwellers in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur in a special programme held at Kalinga Stadium in the State Capital.

During the programme, Patnaik said, “Jaga Mission has grabbed the attention of the world. Not only land rights, but the slum dwellers have also been provided with electricity and water supply.”

As per reports, the government has distributed 1.72 lakh LRCs under 110 municipalities so far.