Most of the states in India have populated village areas that are not properly measured and surveys for verification for attestation causes. Therefore, in order to provide ownership rights to the people living in rural areas of India, the government of India has come up with Svamita Yojana.
The Svamita Yojana, which was launched on the 24th of April 2020, stands for the survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas or SVAMITA. It is a central sector scheme with the objective to survey rural inhabited areas using modern technology. The Svamita Yojana aims to cover around six and a half lakh villages in India. With a tentative outlay of Rs 79.65 crores for the initial phase that is the year 2022-21, this scheme will continue for a period of four years in a phase-wise manner.
Svamita Yojana is a fresh initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj which will use the latest surveying technology like drone technology to complete serving land parcels in rural areas. In the initial stages, the scheme covered about six states on a trial basis. These states are Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
On the 11th of October 2020, the Prime Minister of India started the distribution of property cards through video conferencing under the Svamita Yojana. Those villagers who have collected this card can now take a loan from banks and Financial Institutions by submitting it.
Objectives of the scheme
Some of the main objectives of the Svamita Yojana are listed down below:
- Create exact land records for rural planning
- Ensure sign and stability to villagers by letting them use their property in order to take loans from banks and Financial Institutions
- Lessens the property-related disputes
- Helps in creating service structure and GIS maps that will eventually allow other departments to use these documents as per the requirements
- They also help in determining the property tax
Features of the scheme
The Svamita Yojana operates in a phase-wise manner. these phases are as follows:
- Phase-I
Phase-I is the initial phase that extends from April 2020 to March 2021. This face covers around 1 lakh villages of states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab. The concerned authority of this phase will establish the Continuously Operating Reference Stations or CORS network in two states, Punjab and Rajasthan.
- Phase-II
This phase will continue from April 2021 to March 2025 and will cover around 6.62 lakh villages. Moreover, there is a plan to establish a CROS network with 565 CROS stations.
Benefits of the scheme
Some of the benefits derived from the Svamita Yojana are listed down below:
- It will provide ownership rights over the properties
- By the means of the scheme, eligible property owners will get property cards that they can use to procure loans
- Due to drone technology and satellite mapping usage, the chances of mistakes in drawing property boundaries also reduce
- The Svamita Yojana ensures the development of rural areas through mapping and demarcation of village properties. This scheme will also help the government to plan as well as execute infrastructure programs in rural areas.