Image released by PMO on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi speaks during distribution of property cards under
'Svamitva' scheme, across 10 states and two Union Territories, via video
conferencing. (PMO via PTI Photo)
NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday distributed more than 65
lakh property cards under the SVAMITVA scheme, and said it will bolster
economic activities and help in poverty alleviation.
The prime minister virtually addressed the event and also
interacted with some beneficiaries.
He also said rural land digitisation is "furthering
rural empowerment by leveraging the power of technology and good governance".
The property cards are being distributed to beneficiaries
across more than 50,000 villages in 10 states -- Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and two Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and
Ladakh.
Modi said the scheme will help people get loans and
benefits of other government schemes.
"Around 2.24 crore beneficiaries in villages will
now have SVAMITVA property cards after 65 lakh cards are distributed
today," the prime minister said.
"Property rights are a major challenge across the
world. Years ago, the United Nations had held a study, which revealed people
did not have legal documents for property rights in several countries. The UN
has said property rights are important for poverty alleviation," he said.
Modi said an eminent economist had opined that property
in villages is a "dead capital" because people cannot do anything
with it, and it can't help increase their income.
"India was also impacted by this challenge. People
in villages have property worth lakhs of crores (of rupees), but they did not
have papers for it. There were disputes, properties were snatched, and even
banks did not provide loans over it," he said.
The prime minister emphasized that no sensitive
government could leave its villagers in such distress.
"Previous governments should have taken steps to do
something about it but nothing much was done," he said.
Modi said Dalits, backward classes and tribals were the
worst affected by this.
Elaborating on the SVAMITVA Yojana, he said it involved
mapping houses and lands in villages using drones and providing legal documents
for residential properties to villagers. He added that the benefits of this
scheme are now visible.
"India has over six lakh villages, with drone
surveys completed in nearly half of them," Modi said.
He highlighted that after receiving legal documents,
lakhs of people had taken loans from banks based on their properties and
started small businesses in their villages.
"After getting legal property rights, lakhs of
people have taken loan. They have used this money to start their businesses.
Many of these are farmers, for whom this property cards is a guarantee to
financial security," he said.
Modi said that once property cards are issued in all
villages, the scheme will unlock economic activities worth over INR 100 lakh
crore. He emphasized the substantial capital that will be added to the
country's economy.
Noting that earlier, land disputes were common for
farmers and obtaining land documents is challenging, often requiring multiple
visits to offices and leading to corruption, the prime minister said that land
records are being digitized to deal with these issues.
Highlighting that SVAMITVA and Bhu-Aadhaar are
foundational systems for village development, he said that Bhu-Aadhaar provides
a unique identity to land, with around 23 crore Bhu-Aadhaar numbers issued,
making it easy to identify land plots.
"Over the past seven-eight years, approximately 98 per
cent of land records have been digitized, and most land maps are now digitally
available," Modi added.
Later, in a post on X, the prime minister said rural land
digitisation is "furthering rural empowerment by leveraging the power of
technology and good governance".
Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh
'Lalan', Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj S P Singh Baghel and
Ministry of Panchayati Raj Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj were also present at the
event.
It was attended virtually by several chief ministers,
Union ministers and state ministers.
Events are also being organised in over 230 districts for
physical distribution of property cards. It is expected that around 13 Union
ministers will physically join from designated locations from across the
country to oversee regional distribution ceremonies of property cards.
The SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with
Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme was launched in 2020 to enhance
the economic progress of rural India by providing 'Record of Rights' to
households owning houses in inhabited areas in villages through the latest
drone technology for surveying.
The scheme also helps facilitate monetization of
properties and enabling institutional credit through bank loans; reducing
property-related disputes; facilitating better assessment of properties and
property tax in rural areas and enabling comprehensive village-level planning.
