The Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) scheme was introduced in 2020 by the Government of India and is implemented by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. The scheme aims to provide ownership records (Property Cards) to rural landholders for their homestead land. Issuing these property cards ensures security and clarity for landowners, reduces land disputes in rural areas through accurate records, and increases land value, enabling owners to access bank loans.
The SVAMITVA implementation process includes boundary marking of various types of land (homestead, commons, private, etc.), drone mapping and surveying of properties, data re-verification with the public and local institutions, and issuing property cards to owners. Through SVAMITVA, rural properties are demarcated, land rights are issued, and records are digitized. The scheme also maps commons and public lands, such as roads, schools, public institutions, community spaces, and government land, marking their boundaries. Thus, SVAMITVA helps protect common lands from misuse or fraudulent transactions, especially by powerful people belonging to higher castes and class.
The aim of this study is to verify the effectiveness of mapping common lands in rural India under the SVAMITVA scheme. Using PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) tools, the study seeks to determine whether the boundaries of commons align with the village mapping and cadastral maps created under the scheme. This will also help in understanding status of known commons as well as status of land being used as commons which is not formally identified as such - like land used as waste land, etc. The study will also enable us to understand geographic overlap issues in public and private lands and redressal mechanisms deployed by the community and local institutions. This will provide greater insights regarding participatory mechanisms through which commons were mapped and protected (or not) under the scheme.
