What is the Svamvita scheme, who benefits from it and how

Context: The PM has declared that once property cards are released under the
Centre’s SVAMVITA scheme in all the villages of the country, it could unlock
economic activity worth over 100 lakh crores. The acronym SVAMVITA stands for
Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village areas. It
aims to provide a ‘record of rights’ to those having houses in villages, and
issue them a property card. The plan is to survey all rural properties using
drones and prepare a GIS-based maps for each village.

Key points

·       Overview: Prime Minister
is set to distribute over 65 lakh property cards under the SVAMITVA Scheme via
video conferencing.

·       SVAMITVA
Scheme: Launched in 2020 as a Central Sector Scheme. To empower rural property
owners by providing Record of Rights for properties. And facilitate the
economic growth of rural India by enabling property monetization and access to
financial resources.

·       Features
of the scheme: Advanced Technology - Drone technology and
Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) for accurate surveying and
mapping of rural inhabited areas.

Property Cards - Official
documents provided to property owners for financial and legal uses.

Reduction in
Disputes - Minimize property-related disputes by creating precise land records.

Financial
Inclusion - Property cards can be used as collateral for loans, promoting rural
financial stability.

Development
Planning - GIS maps generated under the scheme aid in better Gram Panchayat
Development Plan (GPDP) preparation.

Coverage - Drone surveys
have been completed in over 17 lakh villages, with saturation achieved in six
states and UTs, including Puducherry and Tripura.

·       Benefits
of the scheme: The delivery of property rights through an official
document will enable villagers to access bank finance using their property as
collateral. The property records for a village will also be maintained at the
Panchayat level, allowing for the collection of associated taxes from the
owners. The money generated from these local taxes will be used to build rural
infrastructure and facilities. Freeing the residential properties including
land of title disputes and the creation of an official record is likely to
result in appreciation in the market value of the properties. The accurate
property records can be used for facilitating tax collection, new building and
structure plan, issuing of permits and for thwarting attempts at property
grabbing.

·       Need
for and significance of the scheme: The need for this Yojana
was felt since several villagers in the rural areas don’t have papers proving
ownership of their land. In most states, survey and measurement of the
populated areas in the villages has not been done for the purpose of
attestation/verification of properties.

·       Challenges
in Implementing: Unclear Legal Validity of the SVAMITVA Cards. No
specific provision is provided to ensure the legal validity of the property
cards. Variations in laws governing the land record-keeping practice across
different states. Proper inclusion of the marginalized communities, including-
Sharecroppers, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Women, etc.

·       Way
forward: The SVAMITVA scheme targets to complete the land record survey exercise
by March 2025. The following points can be kept in mind while going forward
with implementing the SVAMITVA Scheme-

Ø  The relevant
authority shall guarantee that the property cards are legal proof of land
ownership recognized by Financial Institutions.

Ø  State government
could also constitute expert committees to ensure that the relevant state laws
are amended so that the objectives of the SVAMITVA Scheme can be achieved.

·       Conclusion: After its
successful completion, the SVAMITVA scheme will be a cornerstone in many ways.
It will support village-level planning, monetize the assets of rural people,
minimize property-related disputes, and will also potentially improve the
financial condition of the Panchayati Raj Institutions using tax collection.
Every village in the country will eventually be covered under the scheme, which
is a step in the right direction towards taking the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign
to rural India and establishing Gram Swaraj in the true sense. Timely
implementation and effectively dealing with the challenges enroute the
implementation of the SVAMITVA Scheme is the need of the hour.