‘SVAMITVA Yojna enhanced rural economy’s strength’

Bhopal, Oct 06 (PTI): The SVAMITVA Yojana, a scheme towards establishment of clear ownership of property in rural areas, has enhanced strength of the rural economy and it will write a new chapter of development of villages in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.
Addressing virtually a function in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh where a survey for the scheme was completed in 10 months, Modi said after the successful implementation of the SVAMITVA Yojana on a pilot basis in some states, it will be implemented and extended at the national level for ensuring the development of rural areas. “It will become an example of Gram Swaraj in the country,” he said. The prime minister also spoke to some of the beneficiaries of the scheme in Harda district. He also wished Madhya Pradesh’s Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel on the occasion of his birthday. Patel, in his capacity as the revenue minister of the state in 2008, implemented a similar scheme in Harda district under the name of ‘Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Adhikar Pustika’ for the first time in the country to grant land ownership rights to villagers so that they can avail loan from banks on the basis of it.
The SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme was launched by the prime minister in April 2020 as a central sector scheme to promote a socio-economically empowered and self-reliant rural India.
The scheme aims at establishment of clear ownership of property in rural areas by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and providing record of rights’ to eligible households by issuing legal ownership cards to them.
“We have often heard that the soul of India resides in villages,” Modi said. But, even decades after independence, the huge potential of the villages of India has been untapped, he said.
The PM said this scheme of providing the property cards was initially launched on a pilot basis in the villages of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Karnataka.
Till now, property cards for over 22 lakh families have been prepared in these states, while in Madhya Pradesh, they have been given to over 1.70 lakh families in more than 3,000 villages.
Now, it is being rolled out in the entire country to provide property cards to people, he said.
The prime minister said the strength of village people lies in the land, but they cannot utilise it fully for their growth in the absence of required documents.
A lot of energy, time and money is wasted in land-related disputes and legal complications in villages…documentation of a property is a global problem and several countries are facing it, he said.
It is very important to bring the land and property records of villages out from uncertainty and mistrust and the SVAMITVA Yojana is going to become a huge strength of the residents of villages, he said.