Housing and Urban Development Department of Government of Odisha State
The Pitch
The Housing and Urban Development Department of the Government of Odisha State responded to India’s nationwide COVID-19 lockdown by working with existing community networks to create mass employment opportunities for the urban poor and informal and migrant laborers.
The Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic caused profound economic distress among the urban poor and marginalized by halting the usual bidding process for public works. Returning migrants, urban poor and similar vulnerable groups slipped deeper into poverty due to widespread job losses and reductions in working hours and wages. Local businesses suffered acute economic losses.
The Process
- Started a 6-month, $14 million program intended to serve as a rapid response to the pandemic-induced national lockdown
- Worked directly with community groups, slum dwellers associations and women’s self-help groups to deliver construction projects in local communities
- Transitioned into a well-embedded, regular state scheme within a year (with a five-fold increase in financial allocation)
The Impact
- Protected the livelihoods of the most marginalized: Wage seekers were paid every week through direct bank transfers for their work
- Introduced new methods to build local leadership and expand capacities of community organizations, inspiring other organizations such as Jaga Mission and UNNATI
- Partnered with 5,368 women’s groups and 438 slum dwellers associations
- Paid 700,000 urban workers and migrants $12 million in wages, impacting 87% of Odisha’s slums and all local bodies
- Employed workers across all 114 local bodies in Odisha to implement 22,500 climate-sensitive building projects including drain desilting, green cover, rainwater harvesting, community centers, sanitation activities and public space development
- Developed 800 mini parks, 1,200 open-air gyms, 300 playgrounds, 80 new water bodies and 350 kilometers of paved walking tracks, creating public spaces for residents of all ages
- Constructed rainwater harvesting structures to store water via the project’s “Catch the Rain” campaign
- Success of the initial emergency Urban Wage Employment Initiative program led to the creation of MUKTA in 2021: an institutionalized and longer-lasting urban employment program
- Led to replication across four Indian states and was commended by the Indian government
