PM to distribute 6.5mn property cards under SVAMITVA scheme

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday preside over the distribution of 6.5 million property cards under the SVAMITVA scheme to beneficiaries from over 50,000 villages across 12 states and Union territories, officials from the ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) said.

The prime minister will join the event virtually and interact with selected beneficiaries of the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme, which provides record of rights to rural property owners in order to allow them access institutional credit. Under the scheme, launched in 2020 by PM Modi in a bid to bring “economic progress” in rural areas, over 90% of the drone mapping has been done as on Thursday (January 16), covering around 317,000 of the around 346,000 villages that were the target, MoPR officials said.

“The situation existed for more than seven decades and demanded attention, as one of the essential requirements for the speedy economic progress…is the legally recognised rights of property… So far, 67,000 square kilometres have been surveyed, amounting to ₹132 lakh crorein terms of economic value,” Vivek Bharadwaj, secretary, Panchayati Raj ministry, said on Friday.

Besides Modi, Union Panchayati Raj minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, minister of state SP Baghel, and secretary Bharadwaj will also be present at the event. It will also be attended virtually by several chief ministers, Union ministers, ministers in the concerned states, and panchayat representatives, officials said.

The event on Saturday will mark a major milestone of crossing over 22.4 million property cards preparation and distribution under the SVAMITVA. For the physical distribution of SVAMITVA cards, events are being organised in over 230 districts across 10 states — Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh — and two UTs — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Bharadwaj also said the Union government is planning to showcase the “success of SVAMITVA” on global platforms. The outcome of the scheme, the bureaucrat added, includes creating and updating current ownership details in the revenue or property registers, which eventually helps in determining property taxes, resolving land disputes, and rural planning.

Citing examples of the impact of the SVAMITVA scheme in India, the ministry said it has benefitted Ekhatpur Gram Panchayat in Maharashtra’s Pune district. “The initiative has enabled the gram panchayat to address encroachments on public spaces within the village ‘abadi’ (inhabited) area and resolve property related conflicts…It has helped identify open spaces, facilitating better planning for community development,” it added.

The ministry also cited the example of one Manohar Prasad of Pipliya Mira village of Sehore tehsil in Madhya Pradesh, who used the property card as a legal document to secure a bank loan of ₹10 lakh for expanding his dairy business.

According to the ministry, so far, 31 states and UTs have joined the scheme. Of these, Sikkim, Telangana and Tamil Nadu participated only in the pilot phase, while Bihar, West Bengal, Nagaland and Meghalaya have not joined the scheme, the MoPR said.