SVAMITVA scheme an effective step in direction of economic empowerment in rural India: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi [India], October 12 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the SVAMITVA scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday is an effective step in the direction of economic empowerment in rural India.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done historical work by launching the distribution of property cards under SVAMITVA scheme on Sunday to more than six lakh villages over a period of next four years. This scheme is an effective step in the direction of economic empowerment in rural India," Rajnath Singh said in a tweet, roughly translated from Hindi.
Modi on Sunday launched the physical distribution of property cards under the 'Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas' (SVAMITVA) scheme through video conferencing.
The launch will enable around one lakh property holders to download their property cards through the SMS link delivered on their mobile phones, according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
Along with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Prime Minister is interacting with some of the beneficiaries during the event.
SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which was launched by the Prime Minister on National Panchayati Raj Day, April 24, 2020.
The beneficiaries of the scheme are from 763 villages across six states including 346 from Uttar Pradesh, 221 from Haryana, 100 from Maharashtra, 44 from Madhya Pradesh, 50 from Uttarakhand and two from Karnataka.
"Beneficiaries from all these states except Maharashtra will receive the physical copies of the Property Cards within one day - Maharashtra has a system of recovering the nominal cost of Property Card, so it will take a month's time," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
The move will pave the way for using the property as a financial asset by villagers for taking loans and other financial benefits.
The scheme aims to provide the 'record of rights' to village household owners in rural areas and issue Property Cards.
The scheme is being implemented across the country in a phased manner over a period of four years (2020-2024) and would eventually cover around 6.62 lakh villages of the country.
According to the PMO release, about 1 lakh villages in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka and few border villages of Punjab and Rajasthan, along with the establishment of Continuous Operating System (CORS) stations' network across Punjab and Rajasthan, are being covered in the Pilot phase (2020-21).
"All these six states have signed MoU with Survey of India for drone survey of rural areas and implementation of the scheme. These states have finalised the digital property card format and the villages to be covered for drone-based survey. States of Punjab and Rajasthan have signed MoU with Survey of India for establishment of CORS network to assist in future drone flying activities," read the release.
"Different states have different nomenclature for the Property Cards viz. 'Title deed' in Haryana, 'Rural Property Ownership Records (RPOR)' in Karnataka, 'Adhikar Abhilekh' in Madhya Pradesh, 'Sannad' in Maharashtra, 'Svamitva Abhilekh' in Uttarakhand, 'Gharauni' in Uttar Pradesh," it said. (ANI)