New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said nobody could eye the property of beneficiaries of Survey of Villages And Mapping With Improvised Technology In Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme after launching the physical distribution of property cards on Sunday (October 11).

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These cards are physical copies of property titles of the villagers’ homes and the surrounding areas they own (as opposed to the cultivated land). Under the scheme, land parcels in rural areas were mapped using drones. This will help in revenue collection and ensure clarity on property rights in rural areas.

The move will pave the way for villagers to use property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.

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“When one becomes the owner of their house, their self-respect is restored. One feels secure and strong,” PM Modi said while interacting with beneficiaries of the scheme.

“The launch of physical distribution of property cards is another historic step towards a self-reliant India,” PM Modi said, adding that the day it is being launched on is also significant. “Today is the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan and social reformer Nanaji Deshmukh. These two leaders worked tirelessly for rural development,” PM said.

“The scheme will also help villagers in taking loans. If they have proper documents of their land and properties, no bank can deny them loans,” PM Modi added.

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“Only one third of the world’s population has documents of their property... I cannot let the rural population be dependent on others, I have to work towards making them self-reliant,” he said, hailing the scheme for utilising modern means of technology to benefit millions of rural property owners.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Saturday said the launch will enable around one lakh property holders to download their property cards through an SMS link sent on their mobile phones, and this would be followed by the physical distribution of property cards by the respective state governments.

These beneficiaries are from 763 villages across six states, including 346 from Uttar Pradesh, 221 from Haryana, 100 from Maharashtra, 44 from Madhya Pradesh, 50 from Uttarakhand and two from Karnataka.

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The beneficiaries from all these states except Maharashtra will receive the physical copies of their property cards within a day, a statement from the PMO said.

SVAMITVA is a Central scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development which was launched by Modi on National Panchayati Raj Day in April this year. The scheme aims at providing the 'record of rights' to village household owners in rural areas and issuing them property cards.

The scheme will be implemented across the country in a phased manner over a period of four years (2020-2024) and would eventually cover nearly 6.62 lakh villages. Nearly one lakh villages in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka, and a few border villages of Punjab and Rajasthan will be covered in the pilot phase (2020-21).

(With inputs from agencies)