Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has introduced a groundbreaking bill in the state assembly on Saturday with an aim to redefine the criteria for homesteadless persons.
The Odisha Prevention of Land Encroachment (OPLE) (Amendment) Bill, 2025, proposes to consider families owning less than 1/25th of an acre (approximately 1,742 sq ft) of homestead land as homesteadless, making them eligible for land allocation benefits ¹.
According to Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, the existing provisions only benefit those with no homestead land, leaving out many families with minimal land holdings insufficient for building a proper dwelling unit. The new bill will replace the OPLE Act, 1972, which currently defines homesteadless persons as those with no homestead land, owning up to one acre of other land, and having an annual income below Rs 4,200.
Under the proposed amendment, families with less than 1/25th acre of land will be eligible for additional land allocation. The government may provide supplementary land near their existing plot if available or allow them to exchange their smaller plot for a 1/25th acre plot at a mutually agreed location.
The government has also assured that families without homestead land who have illegally occupied government land for homestead purposes will not be evicted. Instead, the tehsildar concerned will settle them in the land itself or in an alternative plot. The allocated land will be inheritable but non-transferable, and families will not be allowed to sell it.
The minister stressed that the total land holding for each family will be capped at 1/25th of an acre, including both government-allocated and previously owned land. This move aims to bring relief to numerous rural families who, despite owning small land parcels, faced eviction due to inadequate housing space.
