Kendrapada: The Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Rural Areas (SVAMITVA) Scheme has notified 3,094 villages across five districts in Odisha, minister of state for panchayat raj S P Singh Baghel said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Responding to a question from MP Mamata Mohanta, Baghel said Rayagada district leads with 2,654 notified villages, followed by Jharsuguda (372), Nabarangpur (35), Gajapati (21) and Dhenkanal (12).
The scheme, implemented through a partnership between the ministry of panchayati raj, Survey of India (SoI), revenue, panchayati raj departments and the National Informatics Centre, has completed drone surveys in 2,724 villages since Odisha signed the MoU on Feb 5, 2021. “So far, 1,785 maps have been handed over to Odisha for ground verification,” Baghel said.
He added that 31 states/Union Territories have signed MoUs with SoI for the scheme’s implementation.
The minister also revealed that of the Rs 11.5 lakh allocated to Odisha for information, education, communication (IEC) and state project monitoring units (SPMU), the state has utilised Rs 11,49,500.
The SVAMITVA scheme provides funds directly to states for IEC activities and SPMU setup, with allocations based on the number of villages to be surveyed.