Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government on Tuesday signed an MoU with the Tata Trust to conduct field survey to accord land rights to identified slum dwellers and help redevelop, rehabilitate and upgrade slums. The survey report will provide technical inputs for settlement of land rights in urban areas.

The government's decision comes when the state is heading towards urban bodies' election early next year. In August last, the government had decided to accord land rights to the identified slum dwellers.

Odisha becomes the first state to give such land rights to the slum dwellers living in the limits of municipal corporations, municipal councils and Notified Area Councils (NACs).

According to the agreement, the Tata Trust will involve the community while deciding the settlement of land in favour of slum dwellers.

Naveen said: "There was a choice between continuing with the practice of evictions and treating people as encroachers resulting in lakhs of families living in fear and insecurity or recognising their immense contribution to the life of the city and providing them land rights. Keeping people first, we choose the second option."

He directed the district collectors and other officials to accord top priority to this work, "which will bring happiness on the faces of slum dwellers".

The urban poor in slums will get land rights for residential use that can be inherited, mortgaged but cannot be transferred. On behalf of the state government, secretary, housing and urban development, G. Mathivatnan and Tata Trust trustee Venkatraman signed the MoU.