Odisha is trying to turn one of its most sensitive property questions into a paper trail that can be checked, tracked, and completed.
Law, Works and Excise Minister Prithviraj Harichandan on Friday chaired a high-level review on Sree Jagannath Temple land settlement and the use of a proposed e-portal, with a clear brief: move faster, keep the process clean, and put every occupant on record.
Officials said the aim is to take forward the process already started to grant land rights to sevayats and non-sevayats who have lived for years on land recorded in the name of Lord Jagannath.
For generations, many temple servitors and other occupants have stayed on Srimandir land without a settled title. The state has already identified tens of thousands of acres belonging to the temple and, earlier this month, the Cabinet approved the Shree Jagannath Temple Land Management Rules, 2026 to replace older uniform policies with a digital, time-bound system. Friday’s review focused on how that system will actually work on the ground.
Officials told the meeting that an e-portal will be developed to make the arrangement more orderly and transparent. Sevayats and non-sevayats in occupation of Shree Jagannath land will be able to submit their details through a simple online route. The idea is to build a complete database of all occupants, so settlement is no longer a file-by-file scramble.
Minister Harichandan examined the proposed system in detail and suggested changes to make the portal more useful for applicants and administrators. The emphasis, according to the official note, was on speedy implementation and transparency.
That matters because the settlement is meant to serve two sides at once. Occupants who have lived on the land for long periods get a path to legal recognition. The temple administration gets a clearer inventory of who is on which parcel, reducing the scope for dispute, delay and opaque claims. Officials said both sevayats and non-sevayats stand to benefit if the portal is designed well and used widely.
The review brought together the departments that will have to make the platform work. Among those present were Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Chief Administrator of SJTA and ACS, Revenue; Vishal Dev, ACS, Electronics and Information Technology; Dr. Pabitra Mohan Samal, Principal Secretary, Law; and Additional Secretary Shibaprasad Mohapatra. Puri Collector Dibyajyoti Parida joined virtually. Senior officers of OCAC and ONIC were also in attendance.
The presence of revenue, law and IT officials was not incidental. Settlement of temple land cuts across records, legality and technology. A portal that only collects forms will fail if it is not linked to verification, field checks and updated land records. The new rules already point toward an online system for applications, district-level scrutiny and integration with existing land platforms such as Bhulekh and Bhunaksha. Friday’s meeting appears to have pressed that digital backbone one step closer to daily use.
The political and administrative stakes are high. Lord Jagannath’s landed estate is vast, spread across districts of Odisha and beyond. Much of it has been occupied for decades. Some occupants are traditional servitors with a living link to the temple. Others are non-sevayats whose families have stayed on the land without a settled deed. Leaving the issue unresolved helps neither the occupant nor the temple fund.
By putting occupant data on a single portal, the government is trying to replace informal memory with a searchable record. If the database is complete, officials can process claims with fewer gaps. If it is incomplete, the old problems — missing papers, competing claims and slow files — will simply move online.
Minister Harichandan directed officials to get the portal ready, make it easy to use, and not let the settlement drift.
