National Panchayati Raj Day and SVAMITVA Scheme
Context
Ministry of Panchayati Raj commemorates 24th April of every year as the National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD), as the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, which led to the institutionalization of Panchayati Raj, came into force on this date.
Analysis
- Every year, on this occasion, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been awarding the best performing Panchayats/States/UTs across the country under the Incentivization of Panchayats in recognition of their good work for improving delivery of services and public goods.
- Awards are given under various categories namely, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar (DDUPSP), Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP), Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award (CFGPA), Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) Award and e-Panchayat Puraskar (given to States/UTs only).
- Prime Minister also dedicated the Scheme of SVAMITVA to the entire nation on 24thApril 2021.
- The Central Sector Scheme, “Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas’ (SVAMITVA) was launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24thApril 2020.
- The pilot phase of the Scheme was implemented during 2020–2021 in States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh and few border villages of Punjab & Rajasthan.
- The scheme aims to provide the ‘record of rights’ to village household owners in rural abadi areas and issuance of Property cards.
About SVAMITVA
- SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which was launched on National Panchayati Raj Day, 24thApril 2020.
- The scheme aims to provide the ‘record of rights’ to village household owners in rural areas and issue Property Cards.
- The Scheme is being implemented across the country in a phased manner over a period of four years (2020-2024) and would eventually cover around 6.62 lakh villages of the country.
Other features of the scheme:
- drone-based survey of rural areas by the Survey of India;
- establishment of Continuous Operating System (CORS) stations’ network to assist in future drone flying activities;
- digital property card format.
The scheme seeks to achieve the following objectives:
- To bring financial stability to the citizens in rural India by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.
- Creation of accurate land records for rural planning.
- Determination of property tax, which would accrue to the GPs directly in States where it is devolved or else, add to the State exchequer.
- Creation of survey infrastructure and GIS maps that can be leveraged by any department for their use.
- To support in preparation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) by making use of GIS maps.
- To reduce property related disputes and legal cases
- Survey of India (SoI) is the national mapping agency (NMA) of the country under the Ministry of Science & Technology.
Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS)
- CORS enables users (e.g. moving platforms) to position themselves with high-precision (cm-level).
- CORS is a GPS augmentation system that facilities, archives and distributes GPS data corrections for precise positioning in an automated manner, usually over an Internet connection.
- Distance-dependent errors are greatly reduced because more than one station is at work to ensure correct positioning.
- GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) technology has transformed how surveying is done.
- However, its use in survey applications is limited because of inherent errors associated with the GPS signals.
- Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS) is an infrastructure that can solve the problem of accuracy and real-time data acquisition.
- Looking at the importance and usefulness of the technology, the Survey of India has started an initiative of establishing nationwide CORS network.
- CORS Network has wide applications in the development of India.
- It will help in the construction of large infrastructure projects and in generation and updation of revenue maps, which is one of the major problems being faced by the country today.
- The system will also augment with the NAVIC network along with other GNSS networks like GPS, Galileo and GLONASS. In future, when the NAVIC system improves, dependence on foreign satellite systems will be reduced, making India a self-reliant nation.
- It is in great demand among industries like surveying, navigation, construction, mining, precision agriculture and scientific research that require greater positional accuracy, as well as continuity of data.
- India has launched various ambitious missions to prepare the nation for disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Industry 4.0 and robotics.