100k get house ownership cards under new scheme

The property ownership cards were handed over to the beneficiaries under the government’s ambitious Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme at an event presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over video link.

Some 100,000 people from states including Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were handed over the legal ownership papers of their houses on Sunday, and the Centre vowed to give such documents to every household in every village of the country in the next three to four years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses after the launch event of the physical distribution of Property Cards under the 'Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas' (SVAMITVA) scheme, through video conferencing, in New Delhi on Sunday. (ANI Photo)(ANI)

The property ownership cards were handed over to the beneficiaries under the government’s ambitious Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme at an event presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over video link.

The scheme will bring historical changes to the villages of the country, Modi said, adding that it was a key step towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India).

The cards will pave the way for villagers to use property as an asset for borrowing loans and deriving other financial benefits, and end disputes among villagers over land ownership, the PM said. On the occasion, Modi also interacted with several beneficiaries of SVAMITVA scheme.

The prime minister said a record of property ownership opens up new avenues of investment. Access to bank loans becomes easier with a record of property ownership, which could generate self-employment, he said.

The difficulty is that today only one-third of the world’s population has a legal record of their property, Modi said. He added that the property card will clear the way for people in rural India to buy and sell property without disputes.

With new technology like drones being used in mapping and surveys, accurate land records can be created for every village.

The Prime Minister said unprecedented development had taken place in the villages in the last six years, which hadn’t taken place in the first seven decades after independence. He listed benefits such as gaining access to bank accounts, electricity and piped drinking water connections and access to toilets built under the Clean India mission.

He added that a major campaign to connect every village in the country though optical fibre is also underway at a rapid pace.

Chief ministers of several states were also present at the virtual event., where Modi expressed happiness that the cards were being distributed on the birth anniversary of two great leaders, Jayaprakash Narayan and Nanaji Deshmukh, who, he said, had devoted their entire lives to the empowerment of rural India and the poor.