Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary initiatives seek to empower rural India with cutting-edge technology, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.
Distributing SVAMITVA property cards to beneficiaries at the deputy commissioner’s office in Jammu Kashmir’s Kathua district, Singh, according to an official press release, praised the central government’s visionary initiatives, empowering rural India with cutting-edge technologies and bringing transparency in different fields.
The event was organised as part of a nationwide initiative to distribute SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) property cards under the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, with Modi presiding over the national event.
Singh said the scheme aimed to empower rural families by providing them with legal rights over their property, thus promoting financial inclusion and economic stability.
“This initiative is also in line with the government’s vision to enhance rural development and ensure social and economic uplift of the rural population around the country,” he said, expressing strong support for the SVAMITVA scheme and emphasising the benefits it would bring to rural areas, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the property cards were a transformative initiative that would change the lives of countless families in rural areas.
“This initiative is a step towards the government’s commitment to empower every citizen, ensuring that even the most remote villages are brought into the mainstream of progress. The people of Jammu and Kashmir will benefit immensely from this programme and it will play a crucial role in enhancing socio-economic development in the region,” Singh said.
The minister emphasised the importance of technological innovation in facilitating these initiatives, pointing to the use of GIS mapping and other modern technologies to streamline the process of land records and digitisation.
He said the government’s efforts to incorporate innovative technologies, such as grievance redress systems and facial recognition technologies, were steps to improve governance.
“This initiative represents a clear step towards self-empowerment and digitised property rights, helping create foolproof documents of ownership,” Singh said.
As part of these initiatives, he said the government was rolling out high-resolution property ownership cards that would serve as crucial documents for obtaining loans and other services.
“These cards (will) also enable rural women to independently own and manage property in their own names, supporting their economic and social independence,” Singh said.
He highlighted the role of advanced technologies such as satellite imagery and drones in modernising agricultural practices.
The use of drones for farm measurement provides farmers with accurate data on land measurement, crop patterns and water usage, contributing to more efficient and sustainable farming, he said.
The minister also discussed the use of drones for large-scale land mapping for SVAMITVA and said 92 per cent of the task was completed in Jammu and Kashmir.
“A total of 2.19 crore cards are to be distributed across the country, with 37,902 to be issued in Jammu and Kashmir, including 8,000 in Kathua district,” he said and added this was not just a technological advancement but a cornerstone of economic empowerment.
The integration of the initiative with other government programmes is a comprehensive approach to rural development and governance, Singh said.
Looking ahead, the minister said the government aimed to achieve real-time monitoring of development parameters through the Aspirational Blocks Programme.
“Our goal is to uplift aspirational blocks and villages by implementing the governance index at the block level, ensuring sustainable growth from the grassroots,” he said.
