Koraput: Congress workers on Monday gheraoed the municipality office at Jeypore, demanding patta (Record of Rights) for the slum dwellers residing on government land in the municipal limits for several years.

The protest coincided with chief minister Naveen Patnaik's distribution of the land rights to 2,000 slum dwellers at his home district, Ganjam, besides Puri.

"It's almost seven months since the state government had prepared a law to provide patta to the slum dwellers of the state. But till now, even the survey is yet to begin at Jeypore to identify the beneficiaries," said Jeypore town Congress committee president Nori Mohanty.

"We demand the execution of the law for benefits of the slum dwellers of the town within a month from Monday. If the state government fails to implement the law within the deadline, we will intensify our agitation," Mohanty said.

In this regard, the Congress submitted a memorandum to the district administration for necessary action at the earliest. Prior to it, the Congress took out a rally in the town. However, officials said steps were being taken to execute the newly framed law for providing patta to the slum dwellers. "According to the law, steps are being taken, and the beneficiaries will be identified shortly," said Jeypore sub-collector Bikash Chandra Bain.