Assam lags in SVAMITVA implementation despite 946 villages being surveyed

Staff Reporter  

Guwahati: The Government of India's flagship SVAMITVA is facing severe delay in implementation in Assam.  

 Despite the Government of Assam signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Survey of India for implementation of SVAMITVA on June 21, 2021, the state is lagging behind other states of the country in preparing and issuing property cards to rural inhabitants under the scheme.   

 This has deprived many villagers in Assam from potentially availing bank loands and other credit facilities.  

 Implemented by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj in collaboration with state revenue departments, state panchayati raj departments, and the Survey of India as the technology partner, the Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA ) was launched on April 24, 2021 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  

 The main objective of the SVAMITVA scheme is to provide a Record of Rights to property owners in rural-inhabited (abadi) areas.   

 In Assam, the scheme is being implemented by Revenue & Disaster Management Department.  

 Across the country, altogether 3,38,722 villages have been notified under the scheme, and drone flying completed in 3,30,854 villages, as of August this year.  

 Further, more than 3.24 crore property cards have been prepared, and over 2,72 crore have been distributed to the rural inhabitants under the scheme.  

 Unfortunately, while Assam has notified 946 villages under SVAMITVA, and drone flying completed in all these villages, not a single property card has been prepared or distributed till the first half of August 2026.  

 Significantly, other north-eastern states have fared better in implementation of the scheme. For instance, Mizoram and Tripura have already prepared 14,962 and 5,71,783 property cards respectively.  

To facilitate institutional credit on SVAMITVA property cards, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Department of Financial Services and the state revenue departments are working collaboratively to enable wider acceptance of SVAMITVA property cards for bank loans.   

 Some banks in states and union territories have started providing loans against SVAMITVA property cards. The state governments are also utilising the forum of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) to streamline efforts for acceptance of these property cards by banks.   

 Altogether 11,147 loans worth Rs 1,713 crore have been disbursed based on SVAMITVA property cards.  Among the states, 2,282 loan worth Rs.185 crore have been availed on property cards in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.  

 Under SVAMITVA, rural inhabited land is demarcated using drone survey and Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) technology to create high accuracy maps of abadi areas of villages.   

 These highly accurate maps help reduce property-related disputes by clearly demarcating property boundaries and creating Record of Rights.   

 The ministry is not aware of any major challenges related to property disputes, survey operations and public awareness.   

 Furthermore, transparent process of ground verification and dispute resolution ensures that ownership records are finalised fairly and accurately.  

 The Ministry of Panchayati Raj provides funds to Survey of India for completion of drone survey and maps preparation.   

 Subsequent activities such as ground truthing, preparation and distribution of property cards are undertaken by the states and union territories.   

 The ministry is continuously engaging with the states and union territories, and Survey of India for monitoring the progress of the scheme and for its timely completion to achieve its target of covering 3.38 lakh villages within the scheme implementation period.

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