What’s the news: Around 60 percent of 3.72 lakh villages in India have had their properties mapped by drones under the SVAMITVA scheme, said the Panchayati Raj Ministry in the Lok Sabha on February 7, 2023. Is the government missing its target? Back in 2020, MediaNama had reported on two tenders floated by the Survey of India to procure 260 professional-grade drones to digitally map all Indian villages. As per the tender, the government was to map over six lakh villages over four years, an average of 1.6 lakh villages. However, the data provided by the Ministry on February 7 only looks at 3,72,181 target villages of which drone flying has been completed for 2,24,243 villages. It is unclear when this data was last updated. Safe to say, the government seems to have missed its original target by a longshot if only these many villages have been mapped by 2023. Why it matters: In its own words, the Indian government said that the “SVAMITVA” scheme aims to provide the ‘Record of Rights’ to villagers owning houses in inhabited areas of the villages. According to the Ministry, the scheme will help property owners secure bank loans, reduce property-related disputes, lead to village-level planning, and provide a basis for the assessment of property tax. However, all of this gets delayed when the government fails to meet its quota. SVAMITVA’s progress in states: Under the scheme, 31 states have signed an MoU with the Survey of India. Drone survey has been completed in…
