Owing to the poor or complete lack of property rights, the slum dwellers across Indian states grapple with issues such as poor access to civic amenities and basic essentials such as water and electricity.

In this endeavour to help transform the slums into liveable habitats and provide the residents with access to basic amenities, Odisha’s JAGA Mission has emerged as a model programme.

We speak with G Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Government of Odisha and Shubhagato Dasgupta, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Director, Scaling City Institutions for India, (Sci-Fi).