Janakram Pradhan, 81, remembers events in 1956 when the Odisha government had sent trucks to vacate Duanmunda village in Jharsuguda district. In one of India’s first major post-independence multipurpose river valley projects, the government was about to impound the Hirakud reservoir, formed as a result of damming the Mahanadi river. Duanmunda was one of the 19 villages in the district that were majorly hit. But less than a couple of kilometres away, at an elevation of 630-632 feet above the reservoir, were 3,231 acres acquired by the government, but not submerged. It was here that the villagers moved, continuing to call the area Duanmunda.
Janakram and his family of 11 have lived here for 67 years, among others from the village, gradually building concrete houses. It was only in December 2023 that he received the patta (land deed) for 74 decimals of land (about 435 square feet). He is delighted, but says, “The government that forced my family to surrender my land still owes us ₹300 from the ₹5,300 we got as compensation for the 9.5 acres we once owned.”
In a large-scale land records regularisation initiative, a part of the ‘Vision 5T’ that aims to transform Odisha, the government is attempting to resolve decades-old legacy issues. Some of these 30-odd problems related to land classification go back as far as India’s first war of independence in 1857, explain officials from the Revenue Department, under whose purview land records fall. “In Jharsuguda, this has benefited 1,749 families,” says District Collector Aboli Sunil Naravane.
The initiative — that will see rules and laws implemented — will impact almost all those in the State who own agricultural land because Odisha’s land records have complexities that range from lands that were sublet by rulers to subjects in pre-independence times to those seized by the British after 1857. Parts of the State were once under the Madras Presidency and some under the Bengal Presidency, making the inheritance of different systems a problem.
Last year, a Revenue Task Force was set up to help resolve land-related problems. “Experienced officials with expertise in land administration examined various aspects of land legacy issues,” says Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management) Satyabrata Sahu, who heads the task force. One of the key recommendations was the emphasis on a satellite-based land survey to reduce the time required to a little over two months.
Problems on ground
The Hirakud dam project submerged 73,923 hectares (1,82,590 acres) — 49,920 hectares (1,23,303 acres) of agricultural land, and 24,003 hectares (59,287 acres) of government land, including forests. This resulted in the complete submersion of 111 villages, with 108 located in Odisha. Additionally, 174 villages experienced partial submersion, with 141 in Odisha and 33 in Chhattisgarh. According to government sources, approximately 18,000 families were displaced in the process. In the reservoir area, 15,000 families were evicted from 1,47,363 acres. Only 3,790 acres of government-owned land was made available to 1,410 families for resettlement. They were given land deeds.
The project saw the rehabilitation and resettlement of people for years, with cases reaching the Orissa High Court and the National Human Rights Commission.
Jogindra Pradhan, another octogenarian from Duanmunda, had lost count of the innumerable representations made before successive State governments for legal allotment of land. Both he and Janakram had even been jailed for staging agitations in support of their demand. “Almost seven decades is a long time to live like occupants in an informal settlement. This is like a second independence day for us,” he says.
Jogindra explains the problems the villagers have faced over the years: “We reside on the banks of the Hirakud reservoir, but our agricultural land never got water for irrigation. Due to absence of government records, we were not eligible for the State-funded irrigation facility.”
In Lachhipalli village, Sashibhusan Pradhan, 76, expresses relief, saying, “Now, people can freely sell or buy land as their property rights have been officially provided. Over the decades, villagers endured immense difficulties as they couldn’t sell land in times of extreme need. The absence of pattas led to a lack of interest from buyers.”
Baidhehi Pradhan, 75, is one of the few women who have received a patta. She moved to Duanmunda only after she was married, but has lived here for about 50 years now. “This has always been home for me,” she says.
Displaced by another dam
In Gunduribadi village in the Ganjam district, 350 km south of Duanmunda, four generations of the family of Somanath Swain, 63, have lived a life of squatters in their own village. More than a century ago, the British government had envisioned a reservoir between the Khunteswari and Raipada hills, by damming the Jarau river. The foundation stone of the project was laid in 1896 — up to 22 villages would have gone under water. The British soon decided that far too much land would be impacted, and shifted the reservoir to another site.
The residents of the 22 villages lived without any documentation. During the settlement process in 1983, the land they occupied was recorded as belonging to the Water Resources Department, classifying it as jalasaya or reservoir, despite not being within the current Surada reservoir’s boundaries.
For the past century, the residents of Gunduribadi village have relied on possession notes (documents that do not allow resale) to validate their occupation. In December last year, up to 1,662 pattas (962 homestead and 700 agricultural pieces of land) for 1,363.049 acres were issued to residents of 17 villages. In Surada tehsil, villagers had developed their own system for land transactions in the absence of official records. Bichitra Kumar Gouda, a resident of Gunduribadi, explains, “During events like marriage or hospitalisation, land needs to be sold. In reservoir-affected villages, elders acted as witnesses or guarantors, and land was transferred verbally, in good faith. But without land records, its value was not realised.”
Odisha’s unique problems
In the past, several farmers enjoyed land as tenants under the ryoti system (institutionalised under the British as a way to collect revenue), and as successors-in-interest (legal heirs), recorded as Sikim. The cut-off date for regularising Sikim-category land was 1977. Many missed it.
In response, the State government has now amended Section 4(1)(i) of the Odisha Land Reforms Act, 1960, providing relief. Farmers now can change their land classification and record their land in their own name in the next two years. To expedite the matter, tehsildars have been asked to start suo motu regularisation of the record of rights categorised as Sikim. The government believes approximately 2,54,033 farmer families across 26 districts, of the total 30, will benefit from the initiative.
There are distinct classifications of land with unique characteristics in the State. Khasmahal land, governed by the Bengal Land Revenue Settlement Regulation (Regulation VIII of 1822 and Regulation XI of 1828), involves leases granted for a specific term. It required permission of the previous landlord for transfer of land. This clause has now been removed.
The processes for regularisation for many other types of land, to record it in the name of the occupant if they claim it, have been simplified. The cost of settlement has been brought down from 10% and 20% of the value of the land to 1% and 2%, respectively. Those hoping to convert agriculture land to homestead land will benefit. Earlier, the rate of conversion was dependent on the land’s distance from major roads; now it has been standardised to 1%, from an earlier cost that could go up to ₹3 lakh per acre.
Nazul land stands for escheated properties, seized after the first war of independence in 1857, often managed directly by the government, and occasionally used for public purposes or leased for 30 years in areas such as Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Kesinga, Bhawanipatana, Junagarh, and other urban zones.
Poramboke land, denoting uncultivated lands in villages reserved for communal purposes despite being in possession of individuals for generations, is a result of the State’s Tamil association. These can be reinstated to individuals.
Abadi (basti) land comes under Section 71 of the Central Provinces Land Revenue Act, 1917. Settlement officers in inhabited villages determine reserved land for residents or ancillary purposes, observed in Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Baragarh, and Nuapada.
Chaka land, a result of consolidation of agricultural land in eight districts under the Odisha Consolidation of Holdings and Prevention of Fragmentation of Land Act, 1972, will also see changes. This land could not be sold in parts but only as a whole. Recognising the increasing demand for land for housing and other development, the government amended the law in 2023.
V.K. Pandian, the chairperson of the 5T initiative, talks about touring the districts, where people pressed him for streamlined land records. “The administration addressed these concerns, with decisions made within the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. While these adjustments did not impose a significant burden on the State’s resources, they had a profound and positive impact on the lives of the people,” he says. The State is in the process of identifying and resolving projects stuck for over 10 years.
