Aadhaar-like cards for village properties to be disbursed by PM
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hand over Aadhaar-like cards to property owners, spread across 763 villages in India, under the SVAMITVA scheme launched in April 2020, that intends to end disputes and boost the finances of properties in rural areas. The title deeds, for homes and surrounding areas, will come in handy in applying for loans as well. Here are more details.
What is the SVAMITVA scheme?
Short for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas, the SVAMITVA scheme aims to maintain a record of rural properties. This data had been lacking for decades. For this unique project, drones will be used to create a digital map for each property within a village's geographical limits. In the map, the boundaries of each revenue area will be demarcated.
Owners can get loans against cards, administration will collect taxes
After the property is duly mapped, states will prepare a unique property card, meant for owners. These cards will be acknowledged by the land revenue records department. Once an official document gives them property rights, owners will be able to furnish it as collateral to avail loans. Separately, the administration will use it to collect taxes, that will be spent on developing rural infrastructure.
Market value of even disputed properties likely to swell
Among other benefits, this scheme will play a role in market value appreciation of even the properties that remained tangled in a dispute for years. The plan is to map all populated areas in 6.40 lakh villages by 2024. The Central Panchayati Raj Ministry, Survey of India, Panchayati Raj departments, and Revenue departments of states will work closely for this project.
Populated areas were largely ignored as they didn't generate revenue
The woes relating to rural properties go back to the British era, people in the know explained. Since the Britishers were only concerned with collecting land revenue, they turned toward the Zamindari system. Though cultivated land was measured, populated areas were left as they weren't a source of land revenue. Even after independence, successive governments didn't make efforts to demarcate populated areas.
House owners from 763 villages will receive cards
On Sunday, house owners from 763 villages will receive cards. 221 of these villages belong to Haryana, 100 to Maharashtra, 346 are in Uttar Pradesh, 44 in Madhya Pradesh, 50 in Uttarakhand, and two in Karnataka, people privy to the development told HT.
