DH Deciphers | What is Svamitva scheme and how will it help house owners in villages?

On October 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed property cards under the Svamitva scheme to villagers. The scheme was launched on April 24, and these property cards were prepared during the process that followed. The Svamitva cards have been dubbed the Aadhaar cards for properties in rural areas. Let's find out how they work:

What is Svamitva?

Svamitva is an acronym for Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas. It's a Sanskrit word meaning ownership or possession. The initiative is fully funded by the central government. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj works with state departments of revenue and panchayati raj and the Survey of India to demarcate ‘abadi’ or inhabited areas in villages to create land records by using drone cameras. The process is spread over six stages: drone survey, inquiry process, property card preparation, chuna (lime powder) marking, data processing, generation of final maps and distribution of property cards.

Didn't such records exist earlier?

In British India, land records of cultivated land, including measurement maps, were prepared for the collection of revenue. But inhabited or residential lands in villages were not mapped, ostensibly because no revenue was expected from them. In the absence of legal documents, owners cannot leverage their properties to seek loans or financial assistance from banks. In most cases, the ownership of residential properties in villages (through sale or inheritance) is transferred with little legal documentation. More than paperwork, oral undertaking or possession is what matters the most.

How will Svamitva help?

The scheme will create accurate land records for rural planning, give legal property rights to the household owner, support the preparation of better Gram Panchayat Development Plans by using GIS (Geographic Information System) maps and reduce property-related disputes and legal cases. It will also help determine property tax, which would go to the gram panchayat wherever allowed or to the state exchequer. The property card will also help villagers buy and sell property without getting into any dispute. It will also free villagers from the fear of their homes getting occupied or someone staking claim to a property by showing fake papers.

How many villages will be covered in this scheme?

The government plans to cover all the 6.62 lakh villages in the country over the next four years. On October 11, 1.32 lakh house owners from 763 villages (346 from Uttar Pradesh, 221 from Haryana, 100 from Maharashtra, 50 from Uttarakhand, 44 from Madhya Pradesh and two from Karnataka) received the property cards. Around one lakh villages from these states will be covered over the next year.

How will a person access the property cards?

State government officials (from the revenue or land records department) will physically hand over the Svamitva cards to owners. The cards can also be downloaded through a link sent via SMS to the household owner.

What details will be there in the card?

Each card will carry details such as the unique property ID, ownership specifications, type of property, whether the residents are beneficiaries of government schemes such as old-age pension, widow pension or Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or Indira Awas Yojana. It would also have details such as whether any resident of the household has any disability, the BPL status of the household and the availability of drinking water.

How will Svamitva help in the development of villages?

With digital maps and accurate land records available, it would also help the village identify locations for setting up schools, hospitals, markets and other public facilities. It will also help in better management of gram panchayats with use of technology, much as the way municipalities and municipal corporations are managed.

Besides mapping individual rural property, the initiative will also survey and prepare GIS maps of community assets such as village roads, ponds, canals, open spaces, schools, anganwadi centres and health sub-centres. These maps would also help in the preparation of accurate work estimates for various development initiatives in villages.

What's the status in Karnataka?

In Karnataka, house owners from MG Palya and Basavapattana villages in Ramanagar district have received the property cards. The distribution of physical Svamitva cards has also begun in 83 villages in Ramanagar, Mysuru, Hassan, Belagavi and Tumakuru districts.

By March 2021, the government aims to distribute property cards in 16,600 villages in 16 districts: Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Dharwad, Gadag, Uttara Kannada, Davangere, Hassan, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Ramanagar and Tumakuru. The remaining districts will be covered in the second phase that will begin in April 2021.