Shri Giriraj Singh : SVAMITVA will play a vital role in making rural India Aatmanirbhar.

Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Shri Giriraj Singh today inaugurated a national meet on SVAMITVA Scheme: A Stepping-Stone Towards Upliftment of Rural Economy at SCOPE Convention Centre, SCOPE Complex, New Delhi. The Minister also launched the dashboard (https://svamitva.nic.in/) for monitoring the implementation of the scheme.

In his inaugural address, Shri Giriraj Singh called upon the States to complete the implementation of the SVAMITVA scheme well before the deadline in 2024. The Minister asked the States to take it as a challenge and assured that Union Government will provide all necessary support for early completion of the target.

Shri Giriraj Singh said on the occasion that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has taken a resolve to build a self-reliant India and SVAMITVA Scheme is an important step towards making the villages self-reliant. Referring to Prime Minister’s  mention of the SVAMITVA scheme in his Independence Day speech, the Minister said it is Prime Minister’s vision that he thought of harnessing the technology and data for the betterment of rural India. He said that the use of technology and data will make rural India more transparent. The Minister also asked states to increase the role of Panchayats in the implementation of the SVAMITVA scheme.

Speaking about the importance of the SVAMITVA scheme, the Minister said that SVAMITVA will provide a sense of ownership to the rural people and they can avail the loan with the help of an SVAMITVA card. Presenting the achievements under the scheme, Shri Singh said that the SVAMITVA scheme will play a vital role in making Aatma Nirbhar Rural India.

Union Minister of Panchayati Raj emphasized on the need for judicious utilization of drones which are key tools for achieving the outcomes of the scheme and exhorted to the states to provide at least 5 villages per drone team per day. It was also emphasized by the Union  Minister of Panchayati Raj to adhere to the timeline of 15 days to provide feature extracted maps to State for ground-truthing. Similarly, States should also adhere to the timeline of 30 days to provide ground-truthed maps back to the Survey of India.

State of Haryana is to complete the title deed distribution in Lal-Dora areas by December 2021. Drone survey is to be completed in UTs like Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and at least 75 districts are to be targeted to be completed with Drone Survey by December 2021. Drone Survey is to be completed on war footing in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Survey of India was exhorted to augment the drone teams in States.

Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil also emphasized achieving the target before the deadline. He said it Prime Minister’s Sankalp to make villages Atmanirbhar and we have to contribute to achieving it. He highlighted the low level of Own Source of Revenue (OSR) tax collection by Gram Panchayats. Maharashtra has augmented its OSR property tax collection through charging a nominal fee on Property Cards (Sanad) distributed in the State. States may leverage SVAMITVA Scheme to augment such OSR collection wherever Gram Panchayats have been empowered to do so.

Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sushri Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said that the SVAMITVA scheme will play a major role in rural development and in making people self-reliant. She said it will also play an important role in reducing rural to urban migration.

Union Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste requested all States to implement the scheme in their State at the earliest. He said the SVAMITVA scheme will prove to be important in connecting the deprived people with the mainstream of society.

State of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were appreciated by the Ministers for being at the forefront in the implementation of the Scheme. Madhya Pradesh has developed an End to End automation process right from drone flying, ground-truthing and property cards generation. Citizens can view the progress of the Scheme in few clicks and download the final property card. Citizens can also register for Objection through Revenue Court Management System (RCMS). This has brought transparency and streamlined the implementation of the scheme in the State. New States were encouraged to put in place similar web-based/ mobile-based IT systems for expediting survey activities.

States were encouraged to implement SVAMITVA Scheme in a mission mode and utilize drones judiciously to complete drone surveys on time.

Close coordination between State and Survey of India was emphasized as critical for the success of the Scheme. The New States were encouraged to streamline the processes, liaise with Survey of India proactively, and implement the Scheme in a timebound manner to meet various Milestone targets set for the Financial Year.

Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Shri Ajay Tirkey, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Shri Naveen Tomar, Surveyor General of India along with senior officials of the Government of India and representatives of the State Governments were also present on the occasion. The conference saw the participation of more than 60 officials from 26 States and UTs, Survey of India and Central Ministries. Senior officers from the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Civil Aviation, NITI Aayog, Ministry of Rural Development attended the program.

Detailed presentations were made by Officials from State Land Records Department, Survey & Settlement Department, Land Revenue Department, Survey of India, NIC, District Collectors & Magistrates, and Officials from Indian Banks’ Association on best practices from the States, Consideration for SVAMITVA implementation in the Sixth Schedule areas, technological requirements – End-to-End process automation & Continuous Operating Reference Systems (CORS), aspects of bankability of property cards and key features of SVAMITVA dashboard.

Background:

SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages And Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on National Panchayati Raj Day, 24^th April 2020 with a resolve to enable economic progress of Rural India by providing “Record of Rights” to every rural household owner. Aiming to demarcate inhabited (Abadi) land in rural areas through the latest surveying drone technology, SVAMITVA Scheme is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Departments, State Panchayati Raj Departments and Survey of India. The scheme covers multifarious aspects viz. facilitating monetisation of properties and enabling bank loan; reducing property-related disputes; comprehensive village level planning would be the stepping-stone towards achieving Gram Swaraj in true sense and making rural India Atmanirbhar (self-reliant).

SVAMITVA Scheme aims to provide Record of Rights to villages household owners. The record of rights can then be utilized by the owners to avail bank and loan and other financial benefits. The Scheme would also help in settlement of disputes at village level, creation of accurate land records, and establishment of CORS network as a public infrastructure to be used by any department or agency.

Phase I – Pilot Scheme (April 2020 – March 2021) covers States of Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and the establishment of Continuous Operating Reference Systems (CORS) in the States of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Phase II (April 2021 – March 2025) – Complete survey of remaining villages and CORS network coverage across the Country by 2022.

Prime Minister launched the physical distribution of Property Cards to about 1.25 lakh residents of 763 villages in the States of Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on 11^th October 2020. Further, on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on 24^th April 2021, Prime Minister launched the National roll-out of the SVAMITVA Scheme and more than 4 lakh beneficiaries across 5,000 villages received the property cards/ownership cards.