Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Kapil Moreshwar Patil today suggested the Meghalaya government to devise a policy to provide property cards to villagers.
Patil who was in Shillong to review central schemes and programmes being implemented by the State government spoke about the benefits of the Swamitva Yojana, which aims to create a record of land ownership in rural areas using modern technology.
According to Patil, the property card for every property in the village will be prepared by states using accurate measurements delivered by drone-mapping. These cards will be given to property owners and will be recognised by the land revenue records department.
Pointing out that lands in Meghalaya are generally scattered, the minister said property card to villagers will enable villagers to access bank finance using their property as collateral.
Patil also spoke at length about the how funds of the 15th Finance Commission meant, for local self government for the development of the villages, can be made available to the traditional institutions of the villages in Meghalaya in the same way as it is done in respect of the villages where there is Gram Panchayats.
He said that he will take up the matter with the Finance Commission to devise solutions to the difficulties faced by the Autonomous District Councils and traditional village institution in respect of receipt of funds so that these traditional institution can continue doing the good works for the development of villages.
The minister assured that all possible assistance will be provided by the Ministry of Panchayat Raj so that villages in the Meghalaya as well as in other states of the North East can effectively utilise the benefits of the schemes of the central government for development of every village.
At the meeting, the minister reviewed MGNREGA, PMAY-G, NRLM, RGSA and other flagship programmes and expressed satisfaction over the proper implementation of schemes even without the presence of formal Gram Panchayats.
Speaking about the effective management of the institutions, the minister said, “In Meghalaya community ownership is evident in the implementation of government schemes and this is the reason why a record amount of Rs 1500 crore have been utilised under MGNREGA in a small state like Meghalaya”.
Principal Secretary to Government of Meghalaya, Sampath Kumar in the meeting mentioned about the survey, ‘Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019’ released recently by the Government of India. He said as per the report, in 2018-19, an average farmer household in Meghalaya earned about Rs 29,348 per month whereas a Punjab farmer’s household earned about Rs 26,701.
The minister expressed his satisfaction over the achievement and said that the people of Meghalaya have utilised the schemes of the government very effectively and have clubbed benefit of the schemes like MGNREGA and NRLM to reap the maximum benefit.
State Community & Rural Development minister Hamletson Dohling and Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council Chief Executive Member, Titosstarwell Chyne were also present during the meeting.
