|
In a historic move to transform rural India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the distribution of e-property cards under Swamitva Yojana across the country on Saturday.
On the occasion of Panchayati Raj Diwas, the PM digitally distributed the property cards (Gharauni) to 57,401 villagers of 425 villages of Uttar Pradesh, in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
A total of 1409 villages of UP have benefited from this scheme till now. Over 4.09 lakh property owners across the nation have been given e-property cards, paving the way for villagers to use the property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits. Earlier, on October 12 last year, as many as 41,431 villagers from 346 villages of 37 districts of UP were digitally given certificates of ownership in the presence of the PM.
An official communiqué released on Saturday confirmed that on December 15, 2020, the CM had handed over rural residential records to as many as 10,041 villagers of 229 villages. Later, on February 12, 2021, a total of 2,09,016 villagers of 1001 villages from 11 districts of the state received ‘gharauni’.
While launching the event via video conferencing, the PM said that while the country was fighting a battle against deadly Coronavirus, the Central government was totally committed towards public welfare. “This scheme will not only boost rural development but will also eliminate corruption in the villages,” he added.
The Prime Minister also conferred National Panchayat Awards 2021, on Saturday, under these categories- Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar (to 224 Panchayats), Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (to 30 Gram Panchayats), Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award (to 29 Gram Panchayats), Child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award (to 30 Gram Panchayats) and e-Panchayat Puraskar (to 12 States).
For the first time, the Prime Minister also transferred the award money (as Grants-in-Aid), ranging from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.50 lakh, by clicking a button. The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the Panchayats concerned in real-time.
Describing the importance of panchayats in the country, the PM said, “Panchayats and villages are the most important parts of our democracy. Villages play a key role in our India’s progress and making it ‘aatmanirbhar’.”