How Odisha Is Trying Increase Land Ownership Among Women
The key motive of Odisha's Policy for Girls and Women, 2014, is quite clear from the introductory message of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. "Girls and women of the state of Odisha are on the move on many frontiers but there are still challenges which we need to overcome. The objective of this policy is to ensure an enabling environment that promotes equal opportunities, eliminate discrimination, achieve holistic development and empowerment through changes in social attitudes, building strong institutions and enhancing capacities," the message by the CM reads.
Among the focus areas noted to achieve the target of the policy is asset ownership, under which the state wants to "enable women to claim their rights over assets, land and housing through legislations and administrative measures". In a move that would help the women of Odisha to do so, the state has decided to cut the stamp duty charges on property purchase from the earlier five per cent to four per cent. This reduction, expect state officials, would encourage families to register property in the name of women members.
Under the plan, the state will also reduce the stamp duty on gift deeds of immovable property executed in the name of women. To ensure that women have enough funds to own land, Odisha also plans to engage with financial institutions to provide credit easily. Under the policy, Odisha will allot 0.04 acres of land in rural areas to women of the low-income groups. The state will also allot land to homeless and displaced families in the name of women and ensure women get their right as far as property inheritance is concerned. It only gets better. Odisha also plans to introduce educational courses on land rights of women in the training curriculum of Odisha Administrative Services.
If all these measures are implemented effectively, Odisha could become a better place for women. For a state that has a sex ratio of 970/ 1,000, and a female literacy rate of 64 per cent, measures such as these may actually be effective in bringing about a change. Female literacy rate in India's 11th-largest state is much higher than bigger states such as Bihar (53.53 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (57.18 per cent) . The state could use the better numbers to promote land ownership among women.