Empowering rural India through land rights and property cards

Overview

Over 64% of the Indian population resides in Rural India. The Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi believed that the transformation of India was not possible unless it transformed the systems that run its villages. As India enters a new age of technological advancement aimed at socio-economic development, a relook at the adoption of technology for empowering its rural community is the need of the hour. Thus, on the 24th of April 2020, the Government of India launched the Survey of Villages Abadi & Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas or the SVAMITVA scheme.

SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (Village Level) that establishes clear ownership of property in rural inhabited (Abadi) areas, by mapping land parcels using drone technology and providing ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with the issuance of legal ownership cards (Property cards/Title deeds) to the property owners. It will ensure streamlined planning and revenue collection and provide clarity over property rights in rural areas.

The scheme covers multifarious aspects viz. facilitating monetization of properties and enabling bank loans; reducing property-related disputes; comprehensive village-level planning would be the stepping-stone towards achieving Gram Swaraj in the true sense and making rural India Atmanirbhar.

The scheme seeks to achieve the following objectives:

y Creation of accurate land records for rural planning and reduce property-related disputes. y To bring financial stability to the citizens in rural India by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.

y Determination of property tax, which would accrue to the GPs directly in States where it is devolved or else, add to the State exchequer. y Creation of survey infrastructure and GIS maps that can be leveraged by any department for their use. y To support the preparation of a better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) by making use of GIS maps

SVAMITVA Scheme is implemented with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Department, State Panchayati Raj Department and Survey of India.

Scheme Implementation

The survey of rural land in India for settlement and record of rights had last been completed many decades back; however, inhabited (Abadi) areas of villages were not surveyed/ mapped in most of the States. Hence, in the absence of a legal ownership document, the owner of the property in the rural habitation is not able to leverage their own property as a financial asset acceptable by the banks to provide loans and other financial assistance. To provide the legal right of the property to the household owner in a time transparent and cost-effective manner, the Survey of India planned to undertake Drone-based surveys using Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) technology for capturing images. The high-resolution and accurate image base maps have facilitated the creation of the most durable record of property holdings in these areas with no legacy revenue records. Such accurate image base maps provide a clear demarcation of land holdings in a very short frame of time compared to on-ground physical measurement and mapping of the land parcels.

The scheme is being implemented in two phases.

Phase I – Was the Pilot Scheme that ran from April 2020 to March 2021, covering Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, AP, and Rajasthan. During this phase 210 CORS network stations were established in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Phase II – Is currently running since April 2021 and will end in March 2025, which will complete the survey of the remaining villages in the country. Under this phase, 357 CORS network stations will be established.

The scheme has a well-planned implementation plan that started with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Survey of India and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj followed by state specific MoUs between the Survey of India and respective State Governments. The first step was to identify the villages to be surveyed for the preparation of the property ownership card. State Government’s had to amend the Rules and Acts to undertake drone-based surveys for preparing the Property Cards under SVAMITVA Scheme.

The foundation of the success of the SVAMITVA scheme lies in the establishment of a robust spatial frame - Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) network that supports establishing Ground Control Points, which is critical for accurate Geo-referencing, ground truthing and demarcation of Lands. Further, the largescale high-resolution orthorectified images were used to prepare the accurate maps to confer ownership property rights. Based on these maps or data, property cards are issued to rural household owners.

Sensitisation of villagers through the Gram Panchayats was done through various Information Education Communication initiatives to build awareness in the local population about the scheme methodology and its benefits.

For the actual survey process, demarcation of inhabited or Abadi areas and marking of rural properties is done using lime powder in the presence of landowners. Thereafter, large-scale mapping is done using unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. The maps created using these drones are verified by ground survey teams of the revenue department and any corrections, as required are made post-ground verification.

Once the inquiry process is over, property cards are generated and distributed digitally to owners. The final map data is uploaded on a digital platform - “Gram Manchitra” (Village Maps). This platform enhances Spatial Planning Application by leveraging digital spatial data created under the project using spatial analytical tools for the creation of to support the preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) or Village Development Plans. A dashboard has been prepared for the Online Monitoring and Reporting of the entire System. Several Project Management Units have been set up at the National and State levels to support the Ministry of Panchayati Raj & State Governments respectively with scheme implementation.

The output of the program

Towards the nationwide roll-out of the Scheme (FY 2021-2025), 28 States/UTs have signed a Memorandum of understanding with the Survey of India for the implementation of the Scheme across the country.

Some of the concrete outputs derived from the implementation of the SVAMITVA scheme, include:

1. Large Scale Mapping of rural inhabited areas has generated high resolution and accurate maps of the scale 1:500 that facilitate the creation of the most durable records of property holdings in the rural inhabited areas and support comprehensive village level planning. 2. Drone survey technology is the latest survey methodology which makes mapping activities easier and more efficient. It reduces field time and survey costs and captures topographic data much faster than with traditional land-based methods. 3. Drone Survey is completed in nearly 1,78,620 villages till September 2022. 4. 691 CORS stations have been established in the country. 5. Over 46,000 property cards have been prepared, and an additional 41,866 property cards have been distributed to village landowners till September 2022. Outcomes achieved

1. Clarifying land titles enables greater use of land as collateral and hence improves access to credit from formal institutions. The absence of certain specific information like ownership, size, value, past encumbrances, disputes, etc. on land inhibits access to credit. 2. Madhya Pradesh has provisioned property cards in MP land revenue code Section 109 in Abadi areas that are recognized by banks for providing loans similarly as done on agricultural land; the mortgage is provided on both residential and agricultural land. Maharashtra has made provision in Maharashtra

Land Revenue Code, 1966 Section 149 for property cards, providing loans on property cards and noting of charges. Form 7/12 is used for providing loans in rural abadi areas. The Registration Department of

Maharashtra prepares ready reckoner of rural properties for valuation purposes, based on which stamp duty is decided. 3. Madhya Pradesh has drafted rules for conducting surveys – MP Bhu-Survekshan /Bhu-Abhilekh rules and liaised with SLBC for recognizing property cards for availing loans. Madhya Pradesh has also provided an online charge creation facility since July 2019, and nearly 7000 bank branches are onboarded to provide loans in Abadi areas. Any charge created on land by banks can be viewed at https://mpbhulekh.gov.in/mpbhulekh.do Any subsequent change/transfer of ownership is registered through the MP-Bhulekh portal. As a matter of good practice, charges on Abadi land when the mortgage is created along the same lines as done on Agricultural land in Madhya Pradesh. 4. SVAMITVA Scheme deliverables are being used for improving the management of property tax collection in villages by many states in different forms. Effective implementation of property tax requires identification and valuation of the tax base, tax liability assessment based on spatial and non-spatial data, tax billing and collection, tax enforcement, taxpayer services, and dispute resolution, which is being facilitated through the SVAMITVA scheme in rural areas. 5. Taking into cognizance the usability of this technology, many States like Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and

Karnataka are surveying areas and are now using Drones for surveying areas other than rural habited areas. 6. The mapping drone requirements under the SVAMITVA scheme boosted the Drone Manufacturing sector and Drone mapping eco-system in India. The Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have developed

Survey Grade Drones and supply orders have been put to “Make in India” product companies for drone mapping activities under the scheme. 7. The Scheme has generated employment for skilled manpower. Due to the huge requirement for GIS manpower, more than 1000 GIS Digitizers have been engaged at various Survey of India offices and these numbers are increasing regularly based on the project requirements. As a result, numerous start-ups and

MSME service companies have started augmenting their GIS manpower bench strength to cater to these requirements.