Drone survey under the pilot phase of the central scheme SVAMITVA, which aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India, has been completed in about 23,300 villages of nine states and property cards have been prepared and distributed/under distribution to about 2.30 lakh property holders of about 1,432 villages till last month, Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, said on Monday.
In an interacton with reporters on the progress of various schemes under the ministry and budgetary allocations for the next financial year, Kumar said that the pilot phase of SVAMITVA, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year on National Panchayat Day on April 24, has been sucessful in solving property related disputes in the villages of Haryana and elsewhere where the pilot phase has been implemented so far.
A total of Rs 913.43 crore has been provided to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) in Budget 2021-22, a 32 per cent increase over the revised estimate of 2020-21.
The major part of it is provided under the scheme Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA), a centrally sponsored scheme that aims to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) with main focus on convergence with Mission Antyodaya through capacity building of the rural local governments.
The infrastructure facilities like panchayat bhawans, computer and broadband connectivity, trained manpower etc. and providing quality training to the elected representatives and other functionaries of the PRIs are the principal components of RGSA.
A provision of Rs 200 crore has been made for the scheme SVAMITVA to provide the ‘record of rights’ to village household owners possessing houses in inhabited rural areas in villages and issuance of property cards to the property owners through survey of village areas with help of drone technology by the Survey of India.
The pilot phase of SVAMITVA had been approved with a Budget outlay of Rs 79.65 crore.
The pilot phase of this scheme is being implemented in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, Kumar said.
Likewise, 210 CORS (Continuous Operating Reference Stations) are being set up in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and these are likely to be completed and operationalised by March 2021. The scheme would ensure CORS network coverage across the country by 2022, said the Panchayati Raj Secretary.
The Survey of India has deployed about 130 drone teams in the states which are being slowly augmented with the supply of ‘Made in India’ drones by the suppliers. It is expected that about 250 drone teams will be in place by March 2021 and steps are being taken to deploy about 500 drone teams in the states/UTs in 2021-22, he added.
The ministry has sent a proposal to the Department of Expenditure with an outlay of Rs 566.23 crore for extending the scheme to the rest of India to cover nearly 5.41 lakh villages. In 2021-22, with a Budget provision of Rs 200 crore, 16 states will be covered targeting 2.30 lakh villages, said Kumar.
The drone requirements for the SVAMITVA scheme has boosted the drone manufacturing sector in India. The Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have now developed survey grade drones and supply for 175 units had been given to ‘Make in India’ product companies.
