The parliamentary standing committee on rural development and panchayati raj department has raised concerns in the implementation of drone-based mapping of land parcels in rural areas.
In a report tabled in the Lok Sabha on December 12, the committee –– headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka –– noted the slow progress in drone-based land mapping under the SVAMITVA scheme which was launched in 2020. The panel further flagged insufficient funds for the scheme as 30,000 villages were yet to be mapped.
“...The committee also observed that in rural areas there are so many complications on the title of the property due to joint or undivided families and common or community land ownership by the tribal society. These issues need due thought by the Government to resolve them in a systematic and within the legal framework,” the panel said in its report. “For the purpose they need to deploy adequate trained, technically and legally qualified persons, adequate funds for implementation of the same. The Committee may be apprised about the progress made by the Government in this regard.”
The panchayati raj department has set a deadline to implement the scheme in all notified villages by March 2025. The committee also noted that the pace of implementation was slow and funds provided by the government were “not sufficient”. “...Achieving full coverage by the 2025 target may face delays,” the report said.
Drone based mapping of the land parcel was launched with an aim to give ‘ownership rights’ to the people residing in rural areas having parcels of land and property. This was brought in to facilitate monetization of rural residential assets for credit and other financial services through banks.
{{/usCountry}}Drone based mapping of the land parcel was launched with an aim to give ‘ownership rights’ to the people residing in rural areas having parcels of land and property. This was brought in to facilitate monetization of rural residential assets for credit and other financial services through banks.
{{/usCountry}}It, however, does not cover villages in urban areas. According to the committee’s report, people in 1.36 lakh villages have received property cards through this process so far.
The committee’s observation resonates with the situation on ground. Jharkhand, with 26.2% of tribal population, has 757 notified villages out of which mapping has been completed for only 240 villages. People familiar with the development said that Khunti district of Jharkhand saw resistance from the tribal communities. A person familiar with the issue told HT: “The is a lot of suspicion among the tribal communities regarding the survey because of the unique IDs being given to the property owners, and people were not sure of the process on the modalities. Also, certain confusion remains regarding the implementation due to the lack of proper information dissemination.”
The committee also noted that as of July 2024, ₹20 crore out of the ₹70 crore allocated had been utilized, “reflecting slower than anticipated progress”. It recommended that the ministry accelerate drone surveys and issuance of property cards by providing ‘targeted’ technical and logistic support to lagging states.