Number of villages in Odisha may go up by 4,000
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Odisha’s number of villages is likely to increase by 4,000, as the State government is set to declare several hamlets as revenue villages.
The identification of revenue villages assumes significance as new villages will get the benefits of the government’s developmental schemes and programmes upon formal declaration. At the district level, more than 3,500 proposals for creation of new villages are pending.
In a letter to all Collectors, State Revenue and Disaster Management Secretary Bishnupada Sethi issued a set of instructions for converting hamlets into revenue villages.
“If a hamlet is located more than 500 m from the mother revenue village and has a population of 250 or more, it can be considered for declaration of new village,” Mr. Sethi said.
According to the instructions, if a hamlet lies within 500 m but its population is above 300, it qualifies to be declared as a village. Similarly, if a hamlet is separated from the mother village by a natural barrier and its population is below 250, it can be constituted to be a new village.
The newly carved out villages will continue to enjoy access to common land of the mother revenue village, which means the common property and resources belong to both villages.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved the proposal of the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management for streamlining the process of creation of new revenue villages out of hamlets, informed Mr. Sethi.
The issue of creation of new villages has been raised multiple times in the Assembly but always faced the sticky issue of ownership over common property resources.
“The State will now create approximately 4,000 new villages,” said Mr. Sethi, while informing the Collectors that these directives would supersede all previous instructions of the government in this matter. As per 2011 Census, the number of villages in Odisha is 47,477.
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