Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all Union ministers to attend the public events to be held to distribute 57 lakh property cards among a dozen states and UTs on December 27, under SVAMITVA, a central sector scheme, The Indian Express has learnt. The move is being seen as a big push to the implementation of the scheme that aims to provide ‘Record of Rights’ to owners possessing houses in inhabited areas in villages, and issue legal ownership rights through property cards or title deeds. It is learnt that the Prime Minister has asked ministers to attend the events, at a meeting of the Cabinet on December 20. According to sources, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has planned to hold physical events across 12 states and UTs—Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Ladakh. The chief ministers of these states and the L-G of Ladakh will also participate in the event in their respective states, the sources said. The Prime Minister will participate virtually. In all, 57 lakh property cards will be distributed across 240 districts in these states, the sources said. It is learnt that Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have been asked to coordinate with BJP-ruled states, said a source. SVAMITVA, a property survey and mapping scheme, was launched by the Prime Minister on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24, 2020. and distribution of property cards began on October 11 that year. So far, 2 crore property cards have been issued, said an official, adding that all households have been covered in several states like Haryana and Uttarakhand. The scheme aims to cover the entire country by the end of financial year 2025-26. According to the Panchayati Raj Ministry, the scheme will benefit rural people in many ways. First, it will enable rural households to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits. Second, it will help in determination of property tax, which would accrue to the Gram Panchayats directly in States where they are empowered to collect such taxes. Third, it will increase liquidity of land parcels in the market and increase the financial credit availability to the village. Fourth, the scheme will pave a way for creation of accurate land records for rural planning. Sixth, all the property records and maps will be available at gram panchayats, which will help in taxation of villages, construction permits, elimination of encroachment, etc. Seventh, it will help in reduction in property-related disputes. Eighth, as the property maps will be made using the GIS technique, the same can be used for better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plan.
