Why in news?
The Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) will survey all rural properties.
What are the problems?
- Individual farmers are not able to take land on lease, or confidently lease out land.
- Availability of institutional credit is constrained by the absence of proper land records.
- The digitisation of land meant for agricultural purposes has been completed to the extent of almost 90%.
- But, demarcating residential properties remains an issue.
What is the problem with tax collection?
- The digitisation of agricultural land records has contributed to the smooth implementation of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.
- However, the provision of common amenities is impacted by the lack of demarcation of property owned in the villages.
- Panchayats are unable to collect their due share of property tax from residential parcels.
- The Economic Survey 2017-18 said that the house tax collections of panchayats is 20% “relative to potential” (all India), with the southern States doing better in this respect.
- With clear titles and transparent land valuations, these collections could improve.
What is needed?
- A comprehensive digital mapping of rural land categories will help raise rural productivity and incomes in various ways.
- [Rural land categories - Agricultural, residential and commons]
What is SVAMITVA?
- The SVAMITVA seeks to address these problems.
- The plan is to survey all rural properties using drones and prepare GIS-based maps for each village.
- The process begins with the signing of a MoU between the Survey of India (SoI) and the State government concerned.
What is the process?
- The SoI will use technology for topographical mapping, including satellite imageries and drone platforms.
- During this financial year, the scheme will be implemented as a pilot in about one lakh villages across eight States.
- The States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.
- SVAMITVA would cover all 6.60 lakh villages in the country by 2023-24.
- Property cards or “sampatti patrak” will be made available on digital platforms or as hard copies to the village household owners.
What is the significance?
- Digitisation of personal identity and agriculture land, and now residential property in rural areas through SVAMITVA, will facilitate transparent transactions in land parcels.
- Non-farm related activities will benefit from clear title and the removal of land supply constraints.
- According to NITI Aayog’s 2016 report on land leasing, 36% of the tenant farmers are landless and 56% are marginal land owners.
- Clear title records, accompanied by legalisation of land leasing, will improve their access to credit, insurance and support services.
- With digital records, banks can lend freely without much documentation.
- Formal lease markets and digitisation of personal records can lead to improved implementation of schemes like PM-KISAN.
- These can be directed towards the cultivators, instead of absentee landlords.
- The main challenge for SVAMITVA is to ensure Centre-State coordination and smooth working of dispute settlement systems.
Source: Business Line
