PM to launch distribution of e-property cards under SWAMITVA scheme on Saturday

PTI, Apr 23, 2021, 8:17 PM IST

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the distribution of e-property cards under the ”SWAMITVA scheme” on Saturday, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

As many as 4.09 lakh property owners will be given their e-property cards on National Panchayati Raj Day (April 24), which will also mark the rolling out of the SVAMITVA scheme for implementation across the country.

Prime Minister Modi will launch the distribution of e-property cards through video conferencing, the PMO statement said.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar will also attend the event, it said.

The prime minister will also confer the National Panchayat Awards 2021 on the occasion.

The National Panchayat Awards 2021 are being conferred under the following categories — Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar to 224 panchayats, Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar to 30 gram panchayats, Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award to 29 gram panchayats, Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award to 30 Gram Panchayats and e-Panchayat Puraskar to 12 states.

The prime minister will transfer the award money (as grants-in-aid) through the click of a button, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, the PMO said.

The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the panchayats concerned in real-time, it said, adding that this is being done for the first time.

The SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme was launched by the prime minister on April 24, 2020, as a central sector scheme to promote a socio-economically empowered and self-reliant rural India.

The scheme has the potential to transform rural India using modern technical tools of mapping and surveying.

It paves the way for using the property as a financial asset by villagers for availing loans and other financial benefits, the statement said.

The scheme will cover around 6.62 lakh villages of the entire country during 2021-2025, it said.

The pilot phase of the scheme was implemented during 2020–2021 in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and select villages of Punjab and Rajasthan.