The Ministry of Finance has wrapped up guidelines for the Centre's Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment for the fiscal year 2024-25. As per sources, these guidelines were circulated among states on August 9th.
It has been learnt that substantial funds have been provisioned under this scheme towards key activities related to land reforms in rural and urban areas as well as the creation of a Farmers' Registry. This comes as the Finance Minister had highlighted the need to incentivize land reforms taken up by state governments during her Budget speech last month.
Rs 10,000 crore has been set aside to reward states implementing land reforms in rural and semi-urban localities. This includes assigning a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) for all plots of land, completing cadastral mapping and land survey work, and establishing a centralized land records system.
An additional Rs 5,000 crore will go towards developing an online Farmers' Registry detailing particulars of six crore farmers and their associated agricultural lands.
For urban regions, the guidelines provide fiscal benefits for digitizing property records using GIS technology and devising an IT-driven framework for property registration, updates and tax collection.
Among other provisions, Rs 5,000 crore will fund the construction of working women's hostels across states utilizing a Public-Private Partnership model. Uttar Pradesh is slated to receive the highest allocation of Rs 382 crore under this head.
To summarize, the new policy aims to expedite critical land reforms and boost investment in worker amenities through targeted grants to states, reflecting the government's focus on inclusive growth and modernization. Continued cooperation between Centre and states will be pivotal for timely implementation of these welfare schemes.
