Innovative Technology Boosts Survey and Mapping Efficiency, Ministry of Panchayati Raj Reports
The Central Sector Scheme “SVAMITVA” aims to provide the ‘Record of Rights’ to household owners possessing houses in inhabited areas (Abadi) in villages with issuance of legal ownership rights (Property cards/Title deeds). Under the scheme, the land parcels in rural inhabited area of all the villages of the country are surveyed using drone technology. It is being implemented with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Department, State PanchayatiRaj Department and Survey of India (SoI). States need to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SoI for implementation of the scheme.
So far, 31 States/UTs have signed MoU with SoI for implementation of SVAMITVA Scheme, which are given:
State-wise status of MoU between State and Survey of India under the SVAMITVA scheme
| Sl. No | State/UT | Date of Signing MoU |
| 1 | Karnataka | Already had MoU with SoI |
| 2 | MadhyaPradesh | Already had MoU with SoI |
| 3 | Maharashtra | Already had MoU with SoI |
| 4 | Haryana | 08-May-19 |
| 5 | Uttarakhand | 03-Jun-20 |
| 6 | UttarPradesh | 08-Jun-20 |
| 7 | Punjab | 02-Jul-20 |
| 8 | Rajasthan | 15-Jul-20 |
| 9 | Andaman & Nicobar | 27-Jul-20 |
| 10 | AndhraPradesh | 08-Dec-20 |
| 11 | Chhattisgarh | 23-Dec-20 |
| 12 | Odisha | 05-Feb-21 |
| 13 | Lakshadweep | 12-Apr-21 |
| 14 | Kerala | 20-Apr-21 |
| 15 | Tripura | 26-Apr-21 |
| 16 | ArunachalPradesh | 11-May-21 |
| 17 | Gujarat | 21-May-21 |
| 18 | Ladakh | 25-May-21 |
| 19 | HimachalPradesh | 27-May-21 |
| 20 | Daman &Diu and Dadra&NagarHaveli | 31-May-21 |
| 21 | Assam | 21-Jun-21 |
| 22 | Jammu& Kashmir | 17-Jun-21 |
| 23 | Manipur | 21-Jun-21 |
| 24 | Mizoram | 08-Jul-21 |
| 25 | Jharkhand | 14-Jul-21 |
| 26 | Puducherry | 22-Jul-21 |
| 27 | Sikkim | 23-Aug-21 |
| 28 | Goa | 26-Aug-21 |
| 29 | Tamil Nadu | 02-Nov-21 |
| 30 | Telangana | 19-Apr-22 |
| 31 | Delhi | 26-Apr-22 |
Out of a total 3.44 lakh notified villages to be covered in these States/UTs, drone survey has been completed in 3.12 lakh villages and 2.03 crores property cards have been prepared in 1.30 lakh villages. The State-wise status is given below:
State-wise status progress under the SVAMITVA scheme
(As on 19th July 2024)
| S.No. | States/UTs | Notified Villages for survey | Drone Flying completed villages | Property Cards prepared (villages) | Number of Property Cards prepared |
| 1 | A&N Islands | 186 | 186 | 141 | 7,409 |
| 2 | AndhraPradesh | 13,364 | 13,280 | 1,128 | 5,52,848 |
| 3 | ArunachalPradesh | 5,484 | 2,367 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Assam | 1,074 | 946 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | 15,791 | 15,791 | 1,384 | 1,84,515 |
| 6 | Dadra&NagarHaveli and Daman &Diu | 80 | 80 | 75 | 4,397 |
| 7 | Delhi | 31 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Goa | 410 | 410 | 410 | 6,72,646 |
| 9 | Gujarat | 13,132 | 13,014 | 3,396 | 7,96,255 |
| 10 | Haryana | 6,260 | 6,260 | 6,260 | 25,15,646 |
| 11 | HimachalPradesh | 15,196 | 13,621 | 124 | 2,737 |
| 12 | Jammu and Kashmir | 4,590 | 4,143 | 616 | 18,444 |
| 13 | Jharkhand | 757 | 240 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Karnataka | 30,715 | 13,897 | 3,277 | 9,37,829 |
| 15 | Kerala | 1,415 | 594 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Ladakh | 232 | 232 | 111 | 7,575 |
| 17 | Lakshadweep Islands | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MadhyaPradesh | 43,014 | 43,014 | 26,402 | 33,87,137 |
| 19 | Maharashtra | 37,819 | 37,209 | 12,813 | 19,78,332 |
| 20 | Manipur | 3,856 | 209 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Mizoram | 550 | 271 | 9 | 1,155 |
| 22 | Odisha | 3,054 | 2,709 | 43 | 1,500 |
| 23 | Puducherry | 96 | 96 | 92 | 2,801 |
| 24 | Punjab | 11,718 | 9,929 | 100 | 16,164 |
| 25 | Rajasthan | 36,310 | 35,652 | 6,695 | 4,53,392 |
| 26 | Sikkim | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Tamil Nadu | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Telangana | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Tripura | 898 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | UttarPradesh | 90,908 | 90,908 | 60,081 | 85,17,595 |
| 31 | Uttarakhand | 7,441 | 7,441 | 7,441 | 2,78,229 |
| Total | 3,44,400 | 3,12,563 | 1,30,598 | 2,03,36,606 |
Survey of rural land in India for settlement and record of rights has been done from time to time. However, Abadi (inhabited) areas of villages were never surveyed in many States. In the absence of accurate land records and clear ownership, State Revenue Department lacked land records of rural Abadi. Rural property owners lacked means to utilize their residential assets for availing bank loans and rural land was prone to property related disputes.
During the implementation of SVAMITVA Scheme, few challenges related to technology adoption and awareness generation were observed. Several States did not have online system for updating and recording Abadi land ownership. Revenue staff was not trained for using online applications for updating maps. Citizens were not aware of the benefits of SVAMITVA Scheme. However, the challenges were addressed actively through:
- Gram Sabha is to be conducted for creating awareness at the Panchayat level. Thereafter, land survey is undertaken using survey grade drones.
- For creation of records, a participatory approach was adopted for property demarcation and ground verification.
- Most State revenue departments have devised online systems for the implementation of the scheme, viz., ground verification of maps, notification of claims and preparation of property cards.
- Upon finalization of property details, property cards are created and provided to property owners directly through Digilocker application. MadhyaPradesh has also created online portal for storage and updating records wherein Banks are also able to login to create charge on property.
- In some States, individual notices are issued to property owners before finalization of Property Card
- SMSs were sent to MPs and MLAs for to notify the start of Svamitva implementation in their respective constituencies.
- Training is regularly provided to the State Revenue Department officials