Mo Jami Mo Diha Abhiyan (My land My homestead Campaign) is a pro-people programme of Orissa Government. A Regional Workshop on 'Mo Jami Mo Diha' (My land My Homestead) was organised at Bhawanipatna on 6th & 7th December 2007 with active participation of different NGOs working in the KBK districts of Orissa. More than 60 social activists, social workers and intellectuals from Kalahandi, Koraput, Balangir, Nuapada, Rayagada, Subarnapur, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri districts were participated in this workshop. The vital portion of the report follows -

KEY ISSUES EMERGED
• Mutation has been a major problem to assess who is actually landless and homesteadless.
• Irregularity and corruption in ground level is rampant.
• Constraint of getting proper information from the revenue authorities.
• Discrepancies in land records and allotment
• Demarcation problem.
• A more proactive role of NGOs needed very urgently to make the Campaign more successful.
• Influential peoples’ encroachment on public/ common land
• Inadequate people’s participation
The civil society organisation representatives were divided in to 3 groups to discuss on 3 different themes and present the recommendations on the plenary session. Their recommendations are as follows -

Group - 1

What specific actions can NGOs take to make the Mo Jami Mo Diha Campaign more successful?
• Awareness on objectives of MJMD campaign
• Conduction social map for identification of landless families, women headed families, PWDs, orphans – all eligible for land distribution
• Land records collection in collaboration with Revenue Department and sharing of the same in Gram Sabha and Palli Sabha
• Cadastral mapping – identification of different land classifications on map drawn on a tracing paper and using different colours for each classification and identifying land for distribution to landless
• Sharing cadastral mapping and land records information with PRI members at Panchayat level through local workshops
• Capacity building of NGO members on cadastral mapping, legal literacy on land laws, MIS generation on land analysis, etc
• Facilitation of land settlement camps thrice a year in each RI Circle in collaboration with Revenue Department and PR Institutions
• Formation of Village Inquiry Committees (VIC) for monitoring of land transfers, rent receipt discrepancies, demarcation problems, etc
• Case by case documentation of landholdings and land dispute cases and uploading on website
• NGOs can use services of retired RIs/ Amins or any Revenue officials for support in MJMD campaign
• Specific efforts for land rights to widows, single women, destitute, orphans, PWDs under MJMD
• Interface workshop between Government, PRIs, Community Organisations and NGOs on MJMD – sharing of pending issues
• Documentation of positive case studies, development of people-friendly IEC and their large scale dissemination for replication
• Joint survey and settlement exercises by Revenue Department and local NGOs
• Facilitation of TDR court, Sub-Collector court, Fast Track court and Judicial courts for quick disposal of long pending civil dispute cases on land
• Regular update of land records and uploading on website – making it more user friendly too
• Formation of a joint action committee on MJMD at Gram Panchayat, Block and District level for better coordination and implementation of MJMD and also to provide a space for dialogue and discussion between GO-NGO
• Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005 to be used for easy access of land records by facilitating NGOs
• Funding support for local NGOs for facilitating MJMD campaign

Group - 2

What specific actions can the Panchayati Raj Institutions take to make the Campaign more successful?
• Orientation of PRI members required
• Community Awareness could be easy by PRI members
• Proper Implementation of PESA Act is necessary
• Information collection and documentation through PalliSabha
• Verification of application through special GramSabha meant for Mo Jami Mo Diha
• PRIs should also be taught to measure land to avoid discrepancies in actual area of possession
• PalliSabha and GramSabha should send resolution to the Tahsildar on alloting land to the actually landless and housesite to the homestead less families.
• Follow up action should be taken by Gram Panchayats
• People having less than one standard acre land should be given patta over the land they have under encroachment. A committee to look after the land issues within Gram Panchayat would be formed.
• GP to collect all the information related to land and should disseminate them in the villages coming under its jurisdiction
• GP should make resolution barring the influential people or landlord who still encroaching upon the common/public land and leasable category of government land which can be settled in the name of the poor landless and homesteadless families.
• PRI would recommend strict legal action against the person encroaching upon the private land of the poor families.
• Village level to the Zilla Parishad level the NGOs, CBOs, should be involved in the drive of facilitating successful decision making process in the MJMD campaign.
• PRI would report illegal transfer of land under regulation 2 of 1956 and OLR Act 1960 and to facilitate for final restoration of the land by the revenue department. Besides, regular monitoring of the possession for these restored land with the actual owners.
• Gram Panchayat should disseminate the information on number of tenants/ rayats, area of land and revenue paid so that people can know that how much land who has and how much revenue he/she is paying, in each village. The information should be displayed in a board in the village and GP head quarters. The total annual collection should be shared with the people.
• PRIs should be present in the GramSabha along with the Panchayat members. May be RIs should hold village meeting before implementing MJMD
• PRIs to make resolution for settling the objectionable category of govt land, where non-objectionable land is not available, through de-reservation process if the person is purely landless/ homesteadless.
• GramSabha would intimate resolutions to all levels for speedy disposal of long pending cases.

Group - 3

What specific actions can the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management take to make the campaign more successful?
• MJMD timeframe has to be changed – convert into a continuous campaign till resolution of all land dispute cases and no landless – timeframes can be fixed districtwise
• Recruit temporary or contractual staff for implementation of MJMD, train all Revenue staff on MJMD campaign and implementation
• Create local structures to make Revenue staff accountable to the people and to the Government
• Processes should be immediately initiated for fresh survey and settlement – looking at the complete confusion in land settlement – keep provisions in MJMD for fresh survey
• Easy accessibility and availability of land records for people
• Issue of joint patta – use MJMD for facilitation of joint pattas
• Eviction of encroachers on land settled in the name of others – first evict encroachers and then give patta to landless after fresh demarcation of that land so there is no future dispute
• Strict and in principle implementation of decision by Palli Sabha and Gram Sabha – in particular tribal Panchayats under PESA – Palli Sabha and Gram Sabha to identify landless and homesteadless families for inclusion in MJMD campaign
• Ensure possession rights of and patta holders who received land under Bhoodan Movement
• Fresh survey of irrigated lands in order to stop collection of water tax from land holders whose lands are not irrigated by any protective irrigation structures of the Government
• Abolition of provision for lease land to landless – instead settle the land in the name of possessor.

(You may request us for full version of the printed report, which is 35 pages on A4 size and contains a report of a Micro Study on Land issues in Orissa)