Svamitva Scheme UPSC 2024: Objectives, Benefits, Facts and Figures for UPSC
Svamitva Scheme UPSC:- The Union Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Government of India, has launched a new Central Sector Scheme called SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas). On April 24, 2021, National Panchayati Raj Day, this program was unveiled. Its main objective is to use cutting-edge drone technology to limit residential zones in rural areas, providing a much-needed solution for property validation in rural India.
This essay will go into great detail about the ambitious SVAMITVA system, including its needs, aims, and coverage as well as its benefits and challenges. A crucial subject to study for the UPSC IAS Exam is the SVAMITVA system. Questions for the General Studies Papers 2 and 3 (Main) are expected to be based on the SVAMITVA Scheme.
Contents
What is the Svamitva Scheme UPSC?
SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas Scheme. In 2020, the central sector program was made public. For rural India, it offers a comprehensive property validation solution. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Ministry of Rural Development, and the Survey of India are working together on it.
The program seeks to strengthen rural communities. They can get digital ownership records of their properties using it.
A phased introduction of the SVAMITVA Scheme is underway. By 2024, all communities in the nation should be a part of it.
The program maps rural villages and creates digital property records using drone technology.
Public-private collaboration is being used to carry out the plan.
SVAMITVA, or Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas, is the whole acronym.
To achieve the scheme’s goals, the State Panchayati Raj Department, the Nodal Ministry, the Revenue Department, and the Land Records Department would collaborate in each state.
The scheme’s primary goal is to give rural India’s property validation needs an integrated solution.
SVAMITA Under this program, government agencies will give landowners property cards.
In order to establish borders for rural Abadi regions, drone surveys and Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) will be employed.
This will make it easier for homeowners to own their homes in populated regions and utilize them as collateral for loans or other financial needs.
A four-year period, starting in 2020 and ending in 2024, will see the gradual implementation of drone mapping throughout all towns.
The initiative currently covers only the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana.
The Central Government of the country is the scheme’s primary funder, having allocated Rs 79.65 crore for the project’s trial phase.
Major Objectives of the Svamitva Scheme UPSC
The following are the goals of the Government of India’s ambitious scheme:
To offer a cutting-edge, creative, and comprehensive property validation solution for rural India.
in order to compile precise land data for rural planning.
to lessen and settle property conflicts.
enabling individuals to use their property to receive financial benefits, such as loans, to promote financial independence and stability in rural India.
to produce land records, GIS maps, and survey infrastructure that any department may utilize as needed.
to calculate the property tax using land record papers and maps.
to aid in the creation of a higher caliber Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) through the use of GIS-based maps and land records.
Need for Svamitva Scheme UPSC
In rural India, where land records are sometimes completely lost or maintained poorly, the SVAMITVA initiative is desperately needed. Here are a few more requirements:
India’s rural areas were the site of a survey many years ago.
Many states did not survey inhabited rural areas or settlements, hence there are no land records available there.
The owners cannot turn their property into a financial asset if they do not have valid property documentation.
Thus, the SVAMITVA plan is crucial to provide the owner their legal rights to their property in a timely and economical manner.
Activities under the SVAMITVA Scheme
The primary activities included in the Scheme are as follows:
There’s been the establishment of the Continuous Operating Reference System (CORS). CORS is a network of reference stations that offers real-time, high-accuracy network RTK adjustments.
Large-Scale Drone Mapping: To map rural populated regions, the Survey of India will employ drone surveys (Abadi). To provide property rights to rural households and issue property cards, this will produce accurate, high-resolution maps.
Awareness Campaign: This campaign aims to inform people living in rural areas about the advantages of the surveying technique.
Installation of Program Management Units: To supervise and coordinate the plan’s implementation, state and federal program management units will be established.
Establishment of Program Management Units: State and federal program management units will be set up to oversee and administer the plan’s execution. To support local-level planning, the Ministry’s proposal for spatial planning will use maps and spatial data from drone surveys.
Recording Workshops and Best Practices: National and regional seminars will be arranged to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experiences, and best practices will be recorded.
The SVAMITVA program offers numerous benefits, a few of which are listed here:
By utilizing their assets as collateral, property owners will be able to obtain institutional funding through the delivery of legal property rights through government channels.
The upkeep of local property records will facilitate tax collection and strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions’ financial position.
The resolution of the property disputes will ease the stress on the already overworked legal system and foster social cohesion in rural communities.
The market worth of the property will rise as long as SVAMITVA cards and legal property rights are provided.
Accurate land and property records will enhance disaster management procedures and allow for more effective municipal planning.
Furthermore, the SVAMITVA strategy would promote better Prime Minister Aawas Yojana (Gramin) implementation.
Scope of the Scheme
The program will cover every hamlet in the nation for five years, beginning in April 2020 and ending in March 2025. The initial phase of the initiative was implemented in several states, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka during the 2020–21 fiscal year. Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana also had the CORS network infrastructure built during this era.
Working on the SVAMITVA Scheme
Three phases comprise the deployment of the SVAMITVA scheme:
Pre-Survey
Survey Activities
Post Survey Activities
Image Source: Svamitva Guidelines
Challenges in Implementing the SVAMITVA Scheme
Several significant obstacles stand in the way of the creative SVAMITVA plan’s implementation, including:
Unsure of criminal applicability of Svamitva cards
There is no specific clause to ensure the assets playing cards’ legality as prison property.
Differences between state rules governing the exercise of keeping land data.
Appropriate inclusion of underrepresented corporations, which includes women, sharecroppers, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes.
In states inside the southeast, the gram panchayat wishes to have the prison authority to acquire property taxes.
Suitable complaint redressal machine.
As it should be adhering to the open geospatial consortium standards.
SVAMITVA Scheme: Facts and Figures for UPSC
SVAMITVA Scheme
Full Name
Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas
Launch
24 April 2021
Ministry
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Other Ministries and Agencies Involved
Survey of India (SoI), State Panchayati Raj Department, State Revenue Department, and National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Aim
To provide the rural Indian population with an integrated, comprehensive, and proper property validation solution.
Target Period
April 2020 and March 2025
Way Forward
The goal of the SVAMITVA program is to finish the land record survey by March 2025. When proceeding with the SVAMITVA Scheme’s implementation, bear the following factors in mind:
The property cards must be verified by the appropriate government as legitimate documentation of land ownership accepted by financial institutions.
The state government may also set up expert panels to ensure that any changes to relevant state laws further the objectives of the SVAMITVA Scheme.
Every state should grant gram panchayats the ability to collect property taxes by amending the applicable legislation.
Concluding Remarks
When the SVAMITVA plan is successfully executed, it will serve as a cornerstone in many ways. The Panchayati Raj Institutions’ financial status may even improve thanks to tax money, which will also help with village planning, asset valuation for rural inhabitants, and a decrease in property-related disputes. The program, which is a positive step in bringing the Atmanirbhar Bharat movement to rural India and establishing Gram Swaraj in the true sense, will eventually reach every hamlet in the nation.
Ans- The SVAMITVA Plan went into effect on April 24, 2021.
Q. Why is India’s SVAMITVA Scheme necessary?
Ans- There may be no land records at all in some situations, and land record surveys in rural regions were completed decades ago in the majority of Indian states. Consequently, there is an urgent need to adopt the SVAMITVA Scheme.
Q. What is the SVAMITVA Scheme’s primary goal?
Ans- Offering Rural India a complete, integrated, and affordable property validation solution is the main goal of the SVAMITVA Scheme.
Q. A SVAMITVA Card: What is it?
Ans- First introduced on April 24, 2021, the SVAMITVA card is the official record that attests to the owner of real estate.
Q. Which ministry is the SVAMITVA Scheme’s nodal ministry?
Ans- The SVAMITVA Scheme’s nodal ministry is the Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.