SVAMITVA property cards: How drone surveys are changing rural land ownership

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Drone technology is transforming how land ownership is recorded in rural India. Under the Centre's SVAMITVA scheme, drones are mapping residential properties across villages to help issue legal ownership cards and modernise land records.

Launched in April 2020, under the ministry of panchayati raj, the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme aims to provide a record of legal ownership to rural household owners using drone-based surveys.Under the scheme, owners of rural households are issued legal ownership cards for the exact area of their property, mapped by drones.The survey helps in creating accurate land records for rural planning, reducing property disputes, providing proprietary rights to villagers, and determining property tax.According to the ministry, as of March 11, drone surveys have been completed in 3.29 lakh villages out of the targeted 3.44 lakh, and 3.10 crore property cards have been prepared for 1.87 lakh villages. Additionally, 2.65 crore property cards have been distributed.Nearly 1.15 crore Property Cards have been prepared and 1.01 crore distributed in the state of Uttar Pradesh.In order to be eligible, the applicant should have a property in a rural inhabited (Abadi) area, and the scheme does not cover Agricultural Lands.

Identity and ownership proofs of the property owners are among the documents required by the revenue officials.The ministry of panchayati raj provides financial assistance to the Survey of India for conducting drone surveys and preparing maps under the scheme.Subsequent activities, including ground verification, preparation of property cards and their distribution, are carried out by the respective states and Union Territories.

The ministry also regularly monitors the progress of the scheme in coordination with the Survey of India and states/UTs to ensure its timely implementation.The scheme uses drone surveys along with Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) technology to create high-accuracy maps of rural abadi areas. These maps help clearly demarcate property boundaries, reduce property-related disputes and facilitate the creation of Records of Rights.A transparent process of ground verification and dispute resolution further ensures that ownership records are finalised accurately.Additionally, some states and union territories, including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu, have also introduced provisions for recording women as co-owners on SVAMITVA property cards.