MUNDA SAHI RESETTLEMENT, CUTTACK

The Mundas are a tribal community that originally came to the city in the 1960s to work for the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) and lived on CDA land without legal title. As the city grew, the land occupied by the Mundas became of value, resulting in an unsuccessful eviction attempt by the CDA in 1999. With increasing tension between the Mundas and the CDA, the federation which had been working with the community since 2000, helped negotiate a resettlement alternative with the State.

The Munda community were provided plotted, titled land by the city and the Alliance supported the people to do surveys and move to the new location without the force of authorities. Over the years, the Alliance has continued to help the communities to resume saving, work with architects to build model houses, provide loans to build houses and gradually access other services as they adjust to their new surroundings. One of the biggest achievements of this project is the demonstration of a people-managed resettlement process, thereby allowing a marginalised population access to land.

2001