Svamitva Scheme

The Svamitva Scheme was launched on 24 April 2020 with an aim to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India. Under this scheme, mapping of every property is done with the help of drones in all the villages of the country. After mapping and demarcating of the property, a certificate of ownership of the property is given to the respective people of the villages.

The demarcation or survey of the inhabited land in rural areas is done by using the latest surveying method, i.e. Drone’s technology with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Survey of India, State Panchayati Raj Department and State Revenue Department. This scheme attempts to end property disputes in villages by demarcating the property of the villagers and providing them with the certificate of ownership of their property.

This scheme aims to help the rural population to obtain loan facilities on their lands based on the certificate of ownership, just like in the cities. Initially, this scheme is launched on a trial basis in six states across the country. The six states are Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. On 11 October 2020, the Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi issued the physical distribution of property cards through video conferencing under the ‘Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas’ (SVAMITVA) scheme. The villagers who received their property cards can now avail loans from the banks based on the property cards of their village property.

Features Of Svamitva Scheme

Svamitva Yojana is launched to create records of land ownership in rural areas by using modern technology. Since many villagers in the rural areas don’t have papers to prove ownership of their lands and survey of the populated areas in the villages is not done for the verification/attestation of properties, this scheme was introduced.

The end goal of this scheme is to the legitimate resolution of the property-related cases in rural India by providing ownership rights to the people in the villages. Property cards for every property measured and demarcated in the village will be prepared and given to the property owners, which is recognised by the Land Revenue Records Department. The villagers can obtain access to bank finance using their property card as collateral as these cards serve as an official document.

By using the latest technology of drones to measure the lands, a digital map is drawn of every property, and the boundaries of lands are demarcated of every revenue area. These GIS maps can be leveraged by all the departments of the government for their use. Under this scheme, a better quality of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) is prepared by making use of GIS maps.

eGram Swaraj mobile app is also launched, which provides a single platform to the government and the citizens for viewing the data on the planning, accounting and monitoring needs of the Panchayats in the country. This app and eGramSwaraj portal contain the reports and progress status of the activities undertaken and completed by the government under this scheme.

Svamitva Yojana Eligibility Criteria

The eligible rural people will be provided ownership records of the property which acts as proof of owning the lands. Rural people who are using populated land on or after 25 September 2018 will be allotted that specific land for which they will be eligible to get the land ownership records. The villagers will be given the ownership certificates and ownership records of possession of their property. The applicant who wishes to get the ownership of land records must have the Aadhar card along with the mobile number linked with Aadhar.

Benefits Of Svamitva Scheme

• Property cards are distributed under this scheme to the respective owners, which gives the villagers ownership rights over their properties.
• It will help to reduce property disputes in rural areas.
• It will enable the villagers to avail bank loans easily.
• It will enable for the rapid development of rural areas as mapping and demarcation of the village properties are done under this scheme.
• It will help the government for effective planning of the infrastructure programmes in the villages.
• Since drone technology and satellite mapping is used to demarcate property, the boundaries of the individual property will be done without any errors.
• The records of land ownership created in the villages under this scheme will help in the collection of tax, make new building plans and issuance of permits.

How Does Swamitva Scheme Work?

Under this scheme, the residential lands within the village limits will be measured and mapped through drones. It also prescribes the limits of every revenue block. The property cards created by the state governments for every house in the village will benefit about 6.62 villages in four years. The survey to be done under this scheme is planned in a phase-wise manner for four years, i.e. 2020-24. The projected outlay of this Central Sector scheme will be Rs.79.65 crores for the pilot phase (FY 2020 -21). The eGrama Swaraj portal provides details panchayat wise. This portal provides records of the work done from the planning stage till the implementation stage in every village under the Gram Panchayat Development Plan.