PM Modi to distribute 65 lakh SVAMITVA property cards on Saturday

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday distribute more than 65 lakh property cards under the SVAMITVA Scheme, the Panchayati Raj Ministry said.

According to senior officials of the ministry, beneficiaries from more than 50,000 villages in 10 states -- Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh -- and two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh -- will receive the cards.

SVAMITVA, a scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, provides a ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with the issuance of legal ownership cards to the property owners by mapping land parcels using drone technology, it said.

The prime minister will preside over the event through videoconferencing, where he will interact with selected beneficiaries and also deliver a nationwide address, the ministry said in a statement.

This event will mark a major milestone of crossing more than 2.24 crore property cards preparation and distribution under the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme and distribution of about 65 lakh property cards in a day.

Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan,’ Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj S P Singh Baghel, and Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj Vivek Bharadwaj will be present at the event.

It will be attended virtually by several chief ministers, Union ministers, ministers in the concerned states, and Panchayat representatives, the ministry said.

Events are also being organised in more than 230 districts for the physical distribution of property cards.

It is expected that around 13 Union ministers will physically join from designated locations to oversee the distribution ceremonies.

Training-cum-orientation programmes and distribution programmes will also be conducted in more than 25,000 Gram Panchayats across these 12 states and Union Territories, highlighting the scheme's impact and reinforcing its role in empowering rural communities.

Ministry officials said under the scheme, over 90 per cent of the drone mapping has been done, covering around 3.17 lakh of the over 3.44 lakh villages that were the target.

This includes full saturation in the Union Territories of Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, as well as the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

In addition, property cards have been generated for all inhabited villages in Haryana, Uttarakhand, Puducherry, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, and Tripura, highlighting significant advancements in implementation. The scheme's targets are likely to be achieved by 2026.

A survey of rural land in India for Settlement and record of rights had last been completed many decades back. Moreover, 'abadi' (inhabited) areas of villages were not surveyed in many states. Hence, no 'Record of Rights' could be created for the village 'abadi' areas.

The scheme aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India. The demarcation of inhabited land in rural areas would be done by the use of drone technology with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Department, State Panchayati Raj Department, and Survey of India.

The outcome would include creating and updating the 'Record of Rights' in the revenue registers and issuance of property cards to the owners.

So far, 31 states and Union Territories have joined the scheme. Of these, Sikkim, Telangana and Tamil Nadu had participated only in the pilot phase. West Bengal, Bihar, Nagaland, and Meghalaya have not joined the scheme.