NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will distribute over 65 lakh property cards (land title certificates) to rural land owners on Saturday and the cumulative value of these properties is pegged at least Rs 135 lakh crore.
Officials said the property card will help people to get loans from banks as financial institutions prefer to mortgage properties as collateral.
These property cards have been made under the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) Scheme of the panchayati raj department. The scheme helps provide a ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with the issuance of legal ownership cards by mapping land parcels through the utilisation of drone technology in an effective manner.
“People will get the hard copies of these property cards. Our assessments have shown this will be a big boost to people who want to get a loan,” said an official.
“Earlier not having a proper property card was a handicap for people to apply to get bank loans,” further added the official.
The scheme covers aspects such as facilitating monetisation of properties, reducing property-related disputes, and comprehensive village-level planning.
Department officials said the beneficiaries are from more than 50,000 villages in 10 states- Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh- and two Union Territories- J&K and Ladakh- will receive the cards as a part of the scheme by the union government.
“Everyday more number of property cards are being generated and hence the number is increasing,” a source said.
Panchayati raj secretary Vivek Bhardwaj said the department is planning to showcase the success of the scheme globally and in collaboration with the external affairs ministry, it will host an international workshop on land governance in India with participation of 40 representatives from 20 countries across southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America in March.
He added that the department is planning to participate in the World Bank Land Governance conference in Washington in May to highlight India’s achievements and encourage international adoption of the Svamitva model.