Raising the issue of land rights for the slum dwellers of Bhubaneswar, a women’s leadership meeting was held at the Shakti Vihar Community Centre in Salia Sahi slum by the Salia Sahi Samuhik Vikash Parishad.
The aim was to build awareness among women leaders of the slum areas for obtaining land rights of the household land possessed by them in the slums like Salia Sahi. About 120 women leaders gathered to bring about stronger unity and forge a bond to ensure that their voices are heard as they demand land rights for themselves and their fellow slum dwellers.
Guest speaker Sweta Patra, a university Business School professor and social worker, said, “Women are mothers and homemakers. We build families and homes. We do all this from the confines of our houses. But the homestead lands on which your houses are built do not belong to you. The land belongs to the Government and, therefore, can be retrieved by it, and if it happens to be your houses, they will also go. The need of the hour is to ensure that the Government provides you the land rights for ensuring the social security for you and your family.”
Parishad president Alok Parichha exhorted women leaders to bring about a stronger unity among them and sensitise other women to the greater cause of obtaining land rights for the slum dwellers.
Women slum leaders like Pramodini Mohanty and Shantilata Pradhan also spoke on the occasion. Parishad secretary Alok Digal and vice-president Bikash Nayak coordinated the programme. Parishad chief Patron Dr Sasmit Patra said the aim for each mother of the slums should be to ensure land rights for securing the future of their children and building social security for their families.