Modi's 'Swamitva Yojna' will empower villagers: Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel

Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel on Monday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the 'Swamitva Yojna', saying it will change the face of the rural sector and empower villagers.

On the Panchayati Raj Diwas on April 24, the prime minister launched the 'Swamitva Yojna', or the ownership scheme, to map residential land ownership in the rural sector with the help of modern technology like drones.

Patel said despite the country getting Independence 70 years back, there was still a "big divide between the urban and rural areas" in terms of economic empowerment.

Though people in rural areas have houses or shops on their plots, they cannot avail loan against the property because of the "complicated web of rules", he said.

"The 'Swamitva Yojna' launched by Modiji will grant real freedom to people in rural areas in terms of economic empowerment, as it will ensure that financial institutions now grant them loans for construction of their own pucca houses and shops, Patel told PTI.

He alleged that the earlier governments deprived people of this basic facility, which resulted in the huge urban-rural divide.

"The new scheme will fulfil the dream of Mahatma Gandhi in real sense, as it will lead to economic empowerment of villages and also check migration of labourers to other parts of the country," the BJP leader said.

Earlier, unlike the urban population, rural folks were unable to get loans or bail from court on the surety of their houses in villages, but now, with the launch of this scheme, the prime minister has bridged this wide gap between urban and rural areas, he said.

Asked about a similar scheme launched by Patel in his earlier stint as the state revenue minister in 2008, he said, "We had implemented this scheme that time in the name of Mukhyamantri Gramin Awas Adhikar Pustika' and it empowered a lot of people in my home district Harda."