Need For Rational Means of Fixing Land Value
Pradeep Kumar Kunche, Think Social Engineering Think Me The recent GOI reform – “SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme Property Cards” to provide land rights with titles in the rural areas, is the need of the hour reform to empower rural population. However, this measure will become land grabbers and private financers delight, if additional measures are not brought in with immediate effect. Lands in urban areas are subjected to grabbing especially by land sharks/ real estate operators, due to rapid urbanization/expansion of cities/towns. Most of the land sharks/land grabbers have political nexus, and have hands-on experience grabbing land in city outskirts in urban areas/towns. These land grabbers will now focus on rural lands/properties, especially poor people and farmers and those belonging to SC, ST OBC and try to grab their land in one way or the other. “SVAMITVA Scheme Property Cards” will become a big boon for private financers to provide loans at high interest by mortgaging properties of the rural population - especially farmers. Organized gangs/real estate mafias in connivance with the ruling party/top in the Government (in some of the states) are intentionally registering properties at high-cost to enhance land value artificially, so that Government enhance the circle rate naturally, obtain finances from PSU banks with the artificially raised value of properties market rate. This is becoming increasingly common modus operandi in urban areas. With “SVAMITVA Scheme Property Cards”, the same will happen to the property valuation in rural areas. Most of the banks are unable to recover huge loans as the real value of properties is far below the market value. This irrational rise in land value is due to a lack of a system in place to ensure the rise in land value is proportionate to the overall development of the local territory in various aspects like Human development index, per capita earnings, health care, sanitation, education, communal harmony, gender justice, etc. To ensure rural people of India harness the benefit of owning a piece of land/land right through “SVAMITVA Scheme Property Cards”, there is an acute need for integrated measures in the land reforms, by fixing land value by territory. Also, there is a need for fixing minimum and maximum land value and raise in land value year on year, all based on predefined standard parameters, rationally across India.
Tags : Interviews Land Pradeep Kumar Kunche