PM to virtually address event on rural land ownership scheme on Oct 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address a programme to be attended by the beneficiaries of a central scheme on establishing land ownership in rural areas in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, state minister Kamal Patel said on Monday.

The Pradhan Mantri Swamitva Yojna is a scheme towards establishment of clear ownership of property in rural areas by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and providing record of rights' to eligible households by issuing legal ownership cards to them.

Harda is the first district in the country where the scheme was originally launched in 2008 under the name Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Adhikar Pustika by Patel, who was then MP's revenue minister.

Currently, Patel is Madhya Pradesh's agriculture minister.

Later, the scheme was implemented at the national level under the name Pradhan Mantri Swamitva Yojna with the help of Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, which granted land ownership rights to villagers so that they can mortgage their property for availing loans and also as a surety for securing bails, Patel told PTI. Rural inhabitants were deprived of this right since independence, while their urban counterparts could take loans on the basis of their properties for starting a business or constructing their own house, he said.

The scheme granted actual independence to villagers from their financial woes after over 70 years, the BJP minister said.

Modi will also interact with the beneficiaries of the scheme on the occasion, he said. Besides, the Prime Minister will provide land rights to 1,71,000 residents from 3,000 villages at the event, Patel said.

The scheme covers multifarious aspects like facilitating monetisation of properties and enabling bank loan, reducing property-related disputes and comprehensive village-level planning. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also address the programme, he added.