Rajkot/Bhubaneswar: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India has awarded Odisha with the prestigious PMAY-U Awards 2021, for ‘Best Policy Initiatives by State’ under special category.
The award has been conferred by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister, MoHUA Hardeep Singh Puri during 3 day ‘Indian Urban Housing Conclave’, held at Rajkot, Gujarat today.
Director Municipal Administration & Mission Director, Jaga Mission, Sangramjit Nayak along with Mission Director, Odisha Urban Housing Mission-AWAAS, Debasish Singh received the distinguished award on behalf of the Government of Odisha.
The Government of India has recognised Odisha as a State that has pioneered in creating solutions for the landless urban poor, by providing them with the security of tenure under its flagship initiative Jaga Mission, which has further helped beneficiaries in housing assistance under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Urban (PMAY-U). The innovation around leveraging such convergence of schemes, by the Odisha Government has been highly appreciated at the event.
With the prevailing urban challenges like housing, the formation of informal settlements that further caused the emergence of multiple issues relating to civic and safety gaps, socio-economic incongruity and disruption to city planning, Odisha has paved the way towards addressing such challenges associated with urbanization through the enactment of landmark legislation ‘Odisha Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Act 2017’.
Jaga Mission interventions focussed on assessing gaps at an individual household level like land rights, housing support, including individual toilets, piped water supply & in-house electricity, community-level- access to paved roads, drainage and proper street-lighting in slums and social needs of people – Parichaya community centres, open space development and child play areas with proper play equipment.
One of the major highlights of the State Government’s initiative is the convergence of the Jaga Mission with the Odisha Urban Housing Mission (OUHM) to provide land rights and housing to beneficiaries.
Evidently, land tenure & housing assistance were of paramount need. OUHM and Jaga Mission worked in close collaboration to ensure that land rights and housing is made available to slum dwellers, along with providing civic infrastructure facilities and services to transform slums into a liveable habitat.
Land security and housing support have not only improved the quality of life in slums but also boosted the socioeconomic conditions of individuals and families.
