Slum dwellers stage dharna in front of Bhubaneswar Mayor’s residence alleging irregularities in Jaga Mission

Locals of Nilakanthanagar slum in Bhubaneswar staged a dharna in front of Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das’ residence on Friday alleging exclusion from the Jaga Mission beneficiary list.

The locals alleged that they have been excluded from the beneficiary list while outsiders who do not reside there have been granted land rights. Moreover, a lot of ineligible beneficiaries have managed to get their names on the beneficiary list by virtue of corruption, they alleged.

A resident of Nilakanthanagar slum said, “70 persons in our slum have been listed to get land rights under the Jaga Mission. However, out of them, around 40 persons are not residents of Nilakanthanagar. We have never seen them in the area. They do not reside here, but they still managed to get land rights in our slum.”

“That is why we have come here. There has been corruption in identifying beneficiaries. Otherwise, outsiders would not be on the beneficiary list,” he alleged.

Asked about the allegations and the dharna, Mayor Sulochana Das said, “It is natural to complain when one man gets land rights and another man of the same slum does not. I want to clarify here that those who have been granted homes under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) will not be provided land rights under Jaga Mission.”

“And as far as outsiders of a particular slum are considered, everybody who fulfils the eligibility criteria, be it a tenant or a local resident, everybody will be provided land record rights,” Das clarified.