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Agrahayana 11, 1931, at 04:21:19 PM
Land Administration Manual
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
1. Land revenue not a tax,
but rent payable to the State. In the first edition of this work it was contended that the land revenue
was a rent and not a land tax, and this view has been retained in the opening
paragraphs of the fourth edition of the Settlement Manual. This is not the
place to embark upon a summary of the prolonged controversy on the subject; the
question was examined with care by the Indian Taxation Enquiry Committee of
1926, which was found itself unable to arrive at any agreed finding. As that
committee pointed (See paragraph 53 of
this Manual) out “according to the description given by Manual of the
fiscal administration of an ancient Hindu State, The main source of the State
revenue was a share of the gross produce of all land, varying according to the
soil and the labour necessary to cultivate it. In normal times the share varied
between one twelfth and one-sixth, but was liable to rise even to one-fourth in
times of war or other public calamity. The revenue was collected not from
individual cultivators but from the community represented by the headman…. In
the early days of Muhammadan administration, the State share of the gross
produce demanded by the Hindu kings was converted into the khiraj or tribute
payable on land in countries under Muhammadan rule though the share taken was
greater than before.” The committee found that the land revenue has ceased to
represent a portion of gross produce…. That in the Punjab …….the Government
demand is theoretically based on an economic rent, but actually takes many
other factors into consideration…Under both Hindu and Muhammadan rule, the
State never claimed the absolute or exclusive ownership of the land and
definitely recognized the existence of private property in it.”(See paragraph 80 of this Manual).
The General finding of the Committee was that in some cases the revenue was a pure rent and in others it is more difficult to maintain this view. In this province, the theory still holds that the revenue is of the nature of a rent charged by the State as overlord of the land.
The term “Rent” includes the payment
of land revenue and cesses on behalf of the landlord.”
2. Collector, and steward. The officer entrusted with the duty
of realizing the land revenue is not a mere rent collector, especially in
provinces like the Punjab, where the demand is fixed for a period only, and the
State continues to have a direct and immediate interest in the improvement of
the land. His position is rather that of the steward of a great landowner. As
such, he is bound to respect, and preserve from encroachment by others every
private right in the soil which has been created or confirmed by the state.
Where the revenue has been fixed for a term only, he has not only to collect
it, but also to look forward to a time when it will be revised, and to collect
and record in systematic manner statistical information, which will facilitate
its equitable reassessment. He must initiate and assist measures to prevent, so
far as may be the loss of crops from causes which are in any degree
controllable by man, and must prepare in ordinary times for those graver
natural calamities which produce intense and widespread scarcity of food. In
particular the collector must do everything in his power to conserve the soil
of his district and to maintain its fertility. The top –soil contains most of
the fertility of the land, but on sloping ground in many parts of the Punjab,
especially in districts bordering on the Himalayas and in the Salt range it is
being rapidly removed by erosion. Erosion is assisted by the long periods of
drought, the short growing periods of grass and the heavy rainstorms
characteristics of the
The aim of land policy is the true
symbiosis, or permanent association, of man his animals and the land. It is wrong
that any man, by slothful cultivation, by excessive grazing, or by exploitation
of the surrounding vegetation should imperil the stability of the soil of his
own or his neighbors holdings. It is his duty to hand on his fields intact to
his successor. The Collector must, therefore, encourage and assist every effort
made by right holders to maintain the fertility of their land, to conserve the
valuable top-soil, and to develop their estates. In addition he must in
co-operation with the
He must encourage and
assist every effort made by right holders for the development of their estates.
In many parts of the province, such as the colony districts, the State is not
only supreme landowner of the soil generally, but also sole landowner of a
considerable part of it, and it is the duty of its local representation to
administer this property so that it may be profitable to the State as
representing the people as a whole, and at the same time beneficial to the
colonists, whose prosperity is the first care of a progressive Government.
3. Scope of handbook. It is the object of this book to
describe how these various functions can best be carried out by the officer
incharge of a district. As a revenue officer, he is legally known as the
Collector, but the more familiar title of Deputy Commissioner will generally be
used in this work. His functions will be described in the several capacities in
which he is called upon to act: --
(i)
(i)
As a recorder of agricultural statistics.
(ii)
(ii)
As guardian and registrar of the rights in the soil enjoyed by private persons.
(iii)
(iii)
As a collector of the land revenue;
(iv)
(iv)
As a promoter of the stability and
improvement of landed property;
(v)
(v)
As a custodian of State property;
(vi)
(vi)
As a judge between landlords and tenants.
The head of a district has many
other important duties to perform, but the discussion in this work is confined
to his functions in connection with the administration of the land.
4. Rural communities. Before describing the machinery of the administration, it is well to
say something of the agricultural communities for whose benefit mainly it
exists. The reader is supposed to be familiar with the chapters in the
Settlement Manual, which deal with “Tenures and the Rights of Landowners” and
“The Rights of Tenants.”(Chapters VIII
and IX. The former may be usefully supplemented by “Tribal Law in the
Perpetuity cultivation with
condition that cultivator will maintain peachy creates relationship of landlord
and tenant.
5.
6. Dangers to peasant ownership from
division of holdings and mis-appropriation by money-lenders - There are two grave economic
dangers, which beset the ownership of land in small parcels by peasant
proprietors. The first of these is the reduction of the size of many holdings
below an area sufficient to support a family in comfort. This is due to the
operation of the law of inheritance under which sons, on the death of their father,
each take an equal share of the family land. It is easy to exaggerate the
effect of this law. Most small owners are able to get additional land on rent,
and where means of livelihood are scanty, the difficulties in finding brides
are apt to prove insuperable. Apart from the unpopular remedy of interfering
with the law of inheritance, there are indirect means of mitigating the evil of
over population. One has been found in the colonization of large tracts of
State land rendered culturable by the construction of new canals. Another has
been the increasing diversification of occupations in towns.
The second, and more serious, danger
was the transfer of land by sale and mortgage to those whose outlook on life
prevented them from cultivating it with their own hands. (See in connection with this subject paragraph 379-381 and 402-406 of
the settlement Manual 4th edition)
7. Oscillations
of opinion on subject - The political advantage of maintaining the existing framework of
society, and of keeping the land in the hands of those whose hereditary
occupations was tillage, was fully recognized by the first administrators of
the
8. Apologetic tone adopted by early
administrators as to measures adopted to preserve stability of village
communities - While
experience acquired elsewhere led shortly after annexation to the adoption of
measures to prevent the intrusion of aliens into village communities by the
purchase of land, some of the ablest officers held that these measures were
open to the reproach of economic unsoundness, and that the prospect of
agricultural improvement by the attraction to the soil of the capital of the
moneyed classes was being sacrificed to the importance of political stability.
IN his commentary on the Punjab Civil Code, Mr. Montgomery felt constrained to
apologize for the maintenance of the law of pre-emption. Later, Mr. Cust
remarked in his Revenue Manual: “The principle (of pre-emption) is not defended
on any economic grounds, but is maintained for social and political reasons,”
and contemplated without regret” a gradual process” by which the existing village
communities might “melt away and give place to a more modern, and perhaps more
politically nice, distribution of property.”
9. Causes
of increase of transfers. The disposition to look on unlimited power of transfers as an essential
feature of proprietary right and a necessity of economic progress was
strengthened by the assimilation of the law and procedure of the Punjab with
that of the older provinces, which resulted from the extension of the Code of
Civil Procedure to the province in 1866, and the establishment of a Chief Court
in Lahore in the same year. About the same time the policy of moderation and
fixation of the land revenue began to make land attractive as an investment.
Titles had been clearly determined, and the moderation of the demand made the
ownership of land a source of income. The peasant proprietor found his credit
rapidly expanding. The old system of limited borrowing on the security of
crops, cattle, and ornaments was supplanted by one of extravagant borrowing on
the security of the land.
10. Increase
looked on as beneficial or at least inevitable. Sales and mortgages of land to money-lenders
became a feature of village life. By some this was looked upon with little
alarm and even with complacency. It was maintained that the resources of the
country would be developed by the application to the improvement of the land of
capital of the moneyed classes. Even those who disliked the process, were
disposed for a time to look on it as the outcome of an irresistible economic
law.
11. Growth of opinion hostile to free
transfer. But, with
each quinquennium the alienation of land proceeded everywhere at a more rapid
rate and in some parts of the country the area which had passed out of the
hands of the original owners amounted to a considerable total. The social and
political evils likely to spring from the expropriation of the old landowning
classes again came to be keenly felt, and acquiescence became increasingly
difficult, and ceased to be regarded as inevitable. The policy of laissez faire
expounded by the English economists was no longer considered as applicable to
every country and stage of society. Experience also showed that the expectation
that the new proprietors and mortgages would be improving landlords was not
fulfilled. Very few turned out to be anything but rent receivers, and their
tenants lacked the devotion and pains-taking labour of peasant owners.
12. Reasons
for change of opinion. The interest in primitive institutions aroused by the works of Sir
Henry Mayne, and stimulated by the abundant evidence of their survival in
13. Civil courts accept doctrine of limited
ownership - This
doctrine invaded the civil courts, which were bound by section 5 of the Punjab
Laws Act to decide questions of inheritance, adoption and gifts primarily on
evidence of custom, and from 1887 onwards it formed the foundation of a series
of decisions by the Chief Court on sales and mortgages by sonless proprietors,
adoption, gifts and pre-emption.(See
chapter III of “Tribal Law in the Punjab “ By Roe and Rattigan) But these
decisions, valuable though they were , did not prove effective restraints on
the actions of landowners, and in no way reduced the seriousness of the problem
which Government had to face.
14. Necessity of restricting credit basis of
15. Classification of measures taken at
different times to protect landowners. The measures taken at various times for the
protection of the landowners of the
(a) (a) The legal
enforcement of the custom of pre-emption:
(b) (b) The restriction of
transfers by landowners belonging to agricultural tribes:
(c) (c) The exemption from
sale in execution of decree of land and other property of hereditary
agriculturists.
16. Pre-emption: its nature - The origin of pre-emption is
clearly explained in “Tribal Law of the
17. Early
provisions in Punjab Civil Code, etc. The first administrators of the
18. Entries in village administration papers. The customs governing pre-emption
were also recorded in village administration papers draw up at settlements made
before the passing of the Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872. “In nearly all the old
wajib-ul-arz we find a provision securing this right either to the next heirs,
or to the agnates generally, and after
them to all members of the village community to the exclusion of strangers.(“Tribal Law of Punjab by Roe and Rattigan
page 88)
19. Right
restricted by Civil Courts. Two early judgements of the
20. Provision
of
(a) (a) to the village site
and houses;
(b) (b) to all lands within
the village boundary;
(c) (c) to all transferable
rights of occupancy in such lands. (Section
10)
In the absence of custom to the contrary. the
right was declared to belong to the following persons in the order stated:-
(a) (a)
first, in the case of joint undivided
immovable property, to the co-sharers;
(b) (b)
secondly, in the case of villages held on ancestral shares, to co-sharers in
the village , in order of their relationship to the vendor or mortgagor;
(c)
(c)
thirdly, if no co-sharer or relation of the vendor or mortgagor claims to
exercise such right, to the landowners of the Patti or other sub-division of
the village in which the property is
situate jointly;
(d) (d)
fourthly, if the landowner of the Patti or other sub-division make no joint
claim to exercise such right, to such landholders, severally;
(e)
(e)
fifthly, to any landholder of the village;
(f)
(f)
sixthly, to the tenants (if any) with rights of occupancy in the property;
(g) (g)
seventhly, to the tenants(if any ) with rights of occupancy in the village.
In case of transfers of rights of occupancy
under section 5 of the Punjab Tenancy Act, XVI of 1887, the prior right of the
landlord was secured by section 53 of that Act. If he failed to exercise it,
pre-emption belonged, first, t the tenants
(if any)having a share in the occupancy right proposed to be sold and
secondly, to the other occupancy tenant in the village. (Section 12. By a proviso to the section if Government owned the trees
growing on land, it had a right of pre-emption in the land superior to that of
any private individual)Where the charkadari tenure prevails(See paragraph 167-170) of the Statement
Manual), the adna maliks
possessing shares in a well had a right of pre-emption in these shares in
preference to the ala malik.(Section 20)
Where tow or more persons were
equally entitled to pre-emption, the vendor or mortgagor might determine which
of them should exercise it(Section 12).
Section 13 to 18 of the Act provided for the enforcement of the right. The
matter was left entirely to the civil courts, no provision being made for the
reference of any question in dispute to the revenue officer.
21. Interpretation applied as regards
customary rights of pre-emption. It will be observed that, as regards the persons entitled to
pre-emption, the Act expressly saved custom.(Section
12) But in practice its 12th section was usually taken, both by
Settlement Officers and civil courts as, disposing of the whole matter. The
entry on the subject usually made by the former in codes of tribal
custom(riwaj-iam)was that pre-emption was regulated by the Punjab Laws Act.(“Tribal
Law in the Punjab” by Roe and Rattigan page 83) The chief Courts has held
that the village administration papers furnish valuable evidence of custom as
regards the persons entitled to claim pre-emption.(Punjab Record No. 98 of 1894. See “Tribal Law in the
22.
Subject to the provisions of section
11(Now see section 15 of Act I of 1913),
the right of pre-emption in respect shall vest ----
(a) (a) in the case of the
sale of such land or property by a sole owner of occupancy tenant, or when such
land or property is held jointly, by the co- sharers in the persons who but for
such sale would be entitled to inherit the property in the event of his or
their decease, in order of succession;
(b) (b) in the case of a sale of a share of such land or property held
jointly, first in the lineal descendants of the vendor in the male line, in
order of succession;
Secondly, in the co-sharers, if any,
who are agnates; in order of succession;
Thirdly, in the persons described in
sub clause(a) of this sub-section and not herein before provided for;
Fourthly , in the co-sharers, (I)
jointly (ii) severally;
(c) (c) If no person having
a right of pre-emption under sub-clause (a) or sub –clause (b) seeks to
exercise the right---
First, when the sale effects the superior or
inferior proprietary right and the superior proprietary right is sold, in the
inferior, proprietors, and when the inferior proprietary right is sold in the superior proprietors.
Secondly, in the owners of the Patti
or other sub-division of the estate within the limits of which such land or
property is situate, (I) jointly, (ii) severally;
Thirdly, in the owners of the
estate, (I) jointly (ii) severally;
Fourthly, in the case of a sale of
the proprietary right in such land or property, in the tenants(if any)having
rights of occupancy in such land or property, (I) jointly, (ii) severally;
Fifthly, in any tenant having a
right of occupancy in any agricultural land in the estate within the limits of
which the property is situate.
Explanation 1.- In the case of a sale of a right of
occupancy, clauses (a) ,(b),and (c) of this sub-section with the exception of
sub –clause fourthly of clause (c), shall be
applicable.
Explanation 2. – In the case of sale by a female of property to which she has
succeeded through her husband , son , brother or father, the word “agnates” in
this section shall mean the agnates of the person through whom she has so
succeeded.
Chapter IV of the Act deals with
procedure. It maintains the jurisdictions of the civil courts. but makes
careful provision to prevent pre-emption being used to defeat the objects of
the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900.(Section 20,21,26 and 27 of Act II of 1905)
22-A.
23. Commissioner’s
sanction to transfers to strangers formerly required. There used to be an old rule which
required the sanction of the Commissioner to the transfer to a stranger of a
share of land in a village community. It was more a device to ensure that
reversions had an opportunity of exercising their right of pre-emption than an
attempt to restrict freedom of contract. Mr. Cust, in 1860, explained it as
follows:” The right of pre-emption is not to be evaded; the sanction of the
Commissioner must precede all such mutations and. Within a period of three
months from the transfer taking place or being made known to the parties
concerned, the validity of the transfer may be dispute by a regular revenue
suit under paragraph II, part I, Chapter XIII; of the Punjab Civil Code.”(paragraph 13 of Financial Commissioner’s
Book Circular No. XLVII of 1860)
The rule was retained in the
instructions on mutation procedure under the first Punjab Land Revenue Act ,
XXXIII of 1871 . But it was there directed that “if the transferee has obtained
possession, and no suit for pre-emption is brought within the term of
limitation, or if such suit, when brought is dismissed, mutation of names shall
be sanctioned.” This may have had some
effect in discouraging transfers to strangers, the tendency being to
regard a transaction of the sort as incomplete till it had been recognized by
an entry in the record of rights.
24. Far-reaching
change effected by
25. Scope of the Act. The Act came into force on the 8th
of June, 1901. It extends to the whole of the
26. Usufructuary and collateral mortgages. Mortgages are broadly divided into
usufructuary and collateral mortgages. In the former the mortgagee takes
possessions of the mortgaged land, enjoying the rents and paying the land
revenue, the difference between the rent and the revenue being regarded as
equivalent to the interest on the mortgage debt(This was the almost universal form of usufructuary mortgage in the
27. “Members of Agricultural Tribes” And “Agriculturists”. The provisions of the Act which deal
with temporary alienation’s only recognize two classes of persons—
(a)
(a)
Those who are members of agricultural tribes and
(b)
(b)
Those who are not members of agricultural tribes.
Upon the latter no restrictions of
any kind are imposed. Those relating to permanent transfer originally
introduced a third class described as –
(c)
(c)
Agriculturists.
28. “Members of Agricultural Tribes” meaning of term.- The first class
consists of persons belonging to the tribes notified as “Agricultural” under
the powers conferred by section 4 of the Act, and the second obviously includes
all other persons. Subject to the exceptions noted below, the lists of
agricultural bribes which have been gazette(Punjab
Government Notification No. 63, dated 18th April 1904 and Appendix A
to Financial Commissioner Standing Order No. 1 –Alienation of Land)
comprise every tribe dependent on the land for support which owns any
considerable area of land in the district under which its name is shown.
Brahmans have been excluded for the present even from the main group of those
districts in which they own much land and cultivate with their own hands
because they are largely engaged in money-lending and other non-agricultural
pursuits. They have been notified in separate groups.
29. “Agriculturists”;
meaning of term.
The first two groups are in the main natural ones, but the third, or that of
“agriculturist” was defined as “a person holding agricultural land who,
either in his own name or in the name of his ancestor in the male line, was
recorded as the owner of land or as an occupancy tenant in any estate at the
first regular settlement; or if the first regular settlement was made in or
since the year 1870, then at the first regular settlement or at such previous
settlement as the local Government may by order in writing, determine.” The
provision was introduced to mitigate what appeared to be the hardship of
preventing acquisition by those who were old landowners . Experience proved
that it was unsuitable and it was repealed in 1907.
30. Cancelled.
31. Restrictions on sales. There are no restrictions on the
purchase of land but only on its sale. The sale by the member of an
agricultural tribe to anyone not belonging to such a tribe in the same district
requires the sanction of the Deputy Commissioner(Sections 3(1) and (2)). Sanction may be given either before or
after a deed of sale has been drawn up and possession given . If sanction is
refused the sale takes affect as an usufructuary mortgage in the first of the
three forms described below (See
paragraphs 40-42 of this manual)for such term not exceeding twenty
years and on such conditions as the
Deputy Commissioner may think reasonable.(Section
14).
32. All agricultural tribes in each district
from a single group.
For the present all the agricultural tribes in each district, with a few
exceptions noted below. Have been notified as forming a single group(Punjab Government notifications No.21-S
dated 22nd May 1901 and No. 114, dated 16th July 1902).
Members of agricultural tribes have therefore, with these exceptions, full
powers of selling and buying inter se within the limits of the district in
which they own land . Should this broad system of grouping lead anywhere to the
rapid expropriation of one tribe by another, the formation of small groups of
tribes my become necessary. Brahmans and other agriculturists in some districts
have been declared as separate groups of agricultural tribes within their
respective districts from 1909 onwards. (See
part B of the appendix to Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 1)
33. Cancelled.
34. Cancelled.
35. Order
sanctioning sale does not affect rights of
reversions .
The executive order by which a Deputy Commissioner sanctions a sale in no way
affects any right which reversion’s or other have to contest the validity of
the transfer by legal proceedings or to claim pre-emption.(Section 5)
36. Exchanges gifts and
wills. All that has
been said above of sales applies equally to exchanges , gifts and wills . Death
–bed gifts to Brahmans often known as dohli, are not usually regarded as
subject to the provisions of the Act. But the amount which can be alienated in
this way is limited by custom, and if it is exceeded. The donor’s heir can sue
to have the area reduced to what is permissible by tribal law.
37. Instructions as to giving or withholding
sanction to sales.
The following instructions have been issued by the financial commissioners with
the approval of Government as to the considerations, which should influence a
Deputy Commissioner in giving or withholding sanction. Subject to the proviso
to sub-section (iii) below he need not concern himself with the possible rights
of reversions or pre-emptors. –
(i) (i)
Sanctions should not be given unless the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that
the transfer is really advantageous to the vendor and his family. If a zamindar
depends entirely or mainly on his land, no alienation should ordinarily be
allowed which will reduce the land he retains to less than is required for the
support of himself and his family.
(ii)
(ii)
Sanction should be given if the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that there is
no intention of evading the Act when the object of the purchase is to obtain.-
(a) (a)
A site for a workshop or factory, for building for the accommodation or welfare
of persons to be employed in them, for a power installation for working
industrial enterprise, the health of persons engaged as laborers or otherwise
in connection with such;
(b) (b)
A building site close to a town or village site.
(iii)
(iii)
Sanction may be given to an alienation of land-
(a) (a) by wealthy zamidars
owning much land, for commercial reasons or to improve or consolidate their
properties;
(b) (b) by indebted
zamindars owning mortgaged land, and desiring to sell a part of their land, in
order to raise money to redeem the whole or part of the rest only if the Deputy
Commissioner is satisfied that the transfer is really advantageous to the
vendor and his family, and that the vendor is not able to sell the land to a
member of an agricultural tribe included in the same group as the vendor at a
price which will enable him to attain his object;
(c) (c) proposed or effected
in favour of zamidars who, by reason of their insignificant numbers, have not
been classed in the particular district as members of agricultural tribes;
(d) (d) to bonafied artisans
who are not professional money-lenders. It is desirable to encourage thrifty
members of the artisan class to become owners of small plots of land when the
alienation is not disadvantageous to the vendor and his family;
(e) (e) by a member of an
agricultural tribe in one Punjab district to a member of the same tribe or
group of tribesi n another
provided that in cases (a),(b).(c)
(d) and (e) no member of an agricultural tribe included in the same group as
the vendor has offered, or is ready to offer, a fair price for the land.
38. Mortgages
by way of conditional sale abolished. The only restraint on mortgage which the Act
makes generally applicable is contained in its 10th section, which
abolishes the form of mortgage by way of conditional sale. This was a form
whereby the mortgagor agreed that if he failed to redeem by a certain date the mortgage would be changed
to sale. All that the money-lender had to do was to prevent repayment of the
debt by any will or artifice and the rights of the owner became extinguished
without recourse to court.
39. Scope of other restrictions. The other provisions regarding
mortgages apply only to those made by members of agricultural tribes in favour
of persons who are not members of the same tribe or of a tribe in the same
group, or in other words , as matters at present stand in the same district (Section 6(1)). When hypothecating his
land to such persons, a member of an agricultural tribe must choose between
three kinds of mortgages. Two of these are usufructuary mortgages, the
mortgagee acquiring for the time being the rights of landlord.
40. Usufructuary mortgage for limited period,
usufruct extinguishing principal and interest. The first is a mortgage for a limited period
not exceeding twenty years, all the rights of the mortgagor being suspend, and
the rents and profits enjoyed by the mortgagee being taken as extinguishing by
the end of the term his claim for both principal and interest (Section 6(1)(a). This form of mortgage
was rare in the
41. Usufructurary
mortgage for unlimited period with reservation of right of occupancy. In the second form of usufructurary
mortgage the term is subject to no statuary limitation; the mortgagor reserves
the rights of an occupancy tenant at such cash rent as may be agreed upon
consisting of –
(a) the land
revenue, plus,
(b) (b) the rates and
cesses, plus
(c) (c) an additional sum of
exceeding (a)
and this rent is taken as
equipment to interest. The mortgagor tenant can not alienate his right of
cultivation, and he can only be ejected on some ground which would, under
section 39 of the tenancy Act, Justify the ejection of an occupancy tenant(Section 6(1)(c)). Should he abandon the
land or be ejected from it, the mortgage takes effect as one in the first form
for such term no exceeding twenty years from the date on which his possessions
came to an end, and for such a sum of money as the Deputy Commissioner may
think reasonable(Section 6(2)). This
form of mortgage is very rarely adopted.
42. Collateral mortgage. The third form of mortgage is a
collateral one in which the mortgagor retains all rights of ownership and
cultivation ,a subject however, to be the condition that if he fails to pay
principal and interest in accordance with the terms of the contract, the
mortgagee may apply the Deputy Commissioner to put him in possession of the
land. The mortgage then becomes converted to a susfructary one of the first
form for such reasonable. It is also his duty to determine what the principal of
the debt in the case of the new mortgage shall be. This will consist of
whatever amount he finds to be due on account of the balance of principal and
interest outstanding on the old mortgage. In making up the account the Deputy
commissioner, need not accept the rate of interest contracted for but may award
whatever amount of simple interest the thinks reasonable (Section 6(1)(b).).
43. Conditions which may be interested in
statutory mortgages -
In these statutory mortgages conditions may be inserted limiting the right of a
mortgagor or mortgagee in possession to cut, sell or mortgage trees. Or to do
any act affecting the permanent value of the land(Section 8(b)). The time in the agricultural year at which a
mortgagor who redeems his land may resume possession of it may also be fixed(Section 8(a)) . Any conditions not
permitted by the Act which are inserted in these mortgages are null and void(Section 8(2)see also paragraph 47)).
44. Revision of terms of unauthorized
mortgages. If a
member of an agricultural tribe mortgages his land in any unpermitted form, the
deputy Commissioner is authorized to revise the terms so as to bring the
transaction into conformity with whichever of the statutory forms the mortgagee
a appears equitably entitled to claim (Section
9(1)). In the case of mortgages by way of conditional sale executed by
members of agricultural tribes before the commencement of the Act, the deputy
Commissioner may call on the mortgagee to choose whether he will retain the
existing mortgage with the sale condition struck out, or accept, in lieu of it,
a mortgage in the first of third of the forms described above(Section 9(2)).
45. Procedure in suits to enforce
unauthorized mortgages - If a suit is instituted in a civil court on a mortgage by way of conditional
sale or in a form unauthorized by the Act executed by a member of an
agricultural tribe, the court is bound to make a reference to the deputy
Commissioner so that the court is bound to make a reference to the deputy
commissioner so that he may exercise the powers referred to in the last two
paragraphs.
46. Mortgagor’s right of redemption
unrestricted - The
execution of a mortgage in one of the statutory forms in no way interferes with
the mortgagor’s right to redeem his land at any time on payment of the mortgage
debt, or in the case of a mortgage in the first or third form, of such
proportion of the mortgage debt as the Deputy Commissioner determines to be
still due.
47. Question whether statutory mortgages will
come into use - The
local Government has power to permit any therefrom of mortgages to be used by
members of agricultural tribes and to the conditions admissible in the forms
permitted by the act. Thirty years experience has shown that only the first
form of mortgage has proved acceptable. The second form is almost unknown. The
conditional sale clause has now practically disappeared.
48. Leases - As it would be easy to evade the
provisions regarding mortgages by making transfers for long periods in the form
of lease the term of leases made by members of agricultural tribes in favor of
persons who are not members of the same tribe or a tribe in the same group has
been limited to twenty years.
49. Restriction on extensions of mortgages
and leases. The
object of the Act would also benefited if, during the currency of a mortgage or
lease for a term limited by law to twenty years, the mortgagor or lessor were
free to extend the period by executing a fresh transfer. If the alienation
already effected is for twenty years, no further transfer by way either of
mortgage or of lease is permitted; if it is for less, a further mortgage or
lease is allowed for such a number of years as will Bering the whole period of
transfer up to twenty years.
50. Restriction
on hypothecation of crops. Another device for evading the Act had also to be guarded against.
Three is little difference in effect between a mortgage of land and mortgage of
its produce. Members of agricultural tribes are, therefore, forbidden to
aliendage or charge the produce or any part of the produce of their land for a
period exceeding a year without the sanction of the deputy commissioner. There
is no interference with borrowing on the security of the next two harvests. The
period of one year will as a rule, cover contracts made by landowners with the
agents of largess firms engaged in the wheat and oil –seed export trade? Such
dealings have been of great benefit to the zamidars in may parts of the
country, and if engagements of the sort for a period exceeding one year come
before a deputy commissioner, he need feel no hesitation about sanctioning
them.
51.
51-A Temporary
alienation’s in execution of decrees. Sale of land belonging to a member of an
agricultural tribe in execution of a decree is forbidden by section 16, but at
one time a learned judge of the High Court held that the land of an insolvent
agriculturist vested in the official receiver who could sell it to another
member of an agricultural tribe in satisfaction of a decree passed by an
insolvency court. Division Bench of the same court subsequently overruled this
interpretation of the law.
It is, however, a settled question
that a civil court can in execution of a decree, orders a temporary alienation
of the land of a judgment –debtor who is not a temporary alienation of such
land. (Vide Full Bench rulings in one
52. Other exemptions in favor of
agriculturists. By
section 60(1),(b) and (c) of the Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908) the following
kinds of property belonging to an agriculturist are exempted from attachments
:-
(a) (a) implements of
husbandry:
(b) (b) Such cattle and seed
grain as may, in the opinion of the court, be necessary to enable him to earn
his livelihood as such;
(c) (c) The materials of
houses and other buildings owned and occupied by him.
When the agriculturist is person liable for the
payment of land revenue the proviso to section 70 of the land Revenue Act, XVII
of 1887, becomes applicable, and if an order to attach produce is issued, the
court should ask the collector to decide what portion of it should be exempted
as being necessary for seed grain, and for the subsistence until the harvest
next following of the defaulter and his family.”
No revenue court or officer must, except for
reasons of urgency to be recorded, issue any process of arrest against tenant
or against a landowner who cultivates his own land during either of the two
harvesting seasons.
53. Provisions of Tenancy Act regulating
relations of landlords and tenants at will. The chapter on the Rights of Tenants” in the
Settlement Manual treats mainly of the history of hereditary tenant right in
the
54. Proportion of land cultivated by tenants
–at-will. About 43
percent of the land in the province is tilled by the landowners themselves, 9
percent by occupancy tenants at will, a few of whom pay no rent, if the five
south western districts of Jhang, Montgomery, Multan Muzaffargarh and Dera
Ghazi Khan are excluded, 44 percent are cultivated by tenants – at will, 47
percent by the landowners and 9 percent by occupancy tenants. The tenants –at
–will are for the most part also landowners in the same village who owns too
little land of their own to provide a decent livelihood.
55. Lien of Landlord on
produce. The rent
of a tenant’s holding is a first charge on its crops. If any other creditor
gets the produce attached in execution of a decree against the tenant, the
landlord can insist on the its sale and on being paid from the proceeds
whatever he proves to be due on account of the rent of the current harvest and
of any unpaid rent which fell due within the year immediately preceding the
date of his application to the revenue of fiber on the subject. The finding of
the revenue officer as to the amount to which the landlord is entitled has
theforce of a decree.
56. Rights and duties of landlords and tenants as regards produce.
Except in the case just mentioned t, the landlord must not intermeddle with the
tending, cutting or harvesting of his tenants crops. But of course where the
rent cossets or a portion of the produce he has a right to take part in the
division, and to remove his own share. The tenant on his part is bound, where
thereunto is taken by division battle or appraisement (kankut) not to remove
any portion of the produce at such a time or in such a manner as to prevent the
due division or appraisement thereof” and to abstain from dealing with it in a
manner contrary to established usage. If he wrongs his landlord in either of
these ways, and a rent suit is the result “ the produce may be deemed to have
been as full as the fullest crop of the same description on similar land in the
neighborhood for that harvest.”
57. Division by referee appointed by
Tahsildar. Delay in
dividing a garnered crop may result in very serious loss from the sprouting or
rotting of therein. The landlord or tenant who is injured by the failure of the
other party to attend may apply to the tehsildar for the appointment of a
referee to divide or appraise the produce. The referee may carry out the
division or appraisement in the absence of one. Of the parties, if after due
notice he fails to appear. The result of the referee’s proceedings must be
reported to the tehsildar for confirmation. The same procedure may be adopted
when there is an dispute between the landlord and the tenant about the division
or appraisement.
58. Payment
of rent though tahsil. When two or more persons are landlords in respect of a single tenancy
the tenant is not bound to pay part of his rent to one and part to another. It
is their business to appoint one of their numbers to receive the whole rent.
Where rent is payable in cash, the landlord may, for some reason refuse, to
receive it, or to grant a receipt. Their may for example, be a dispute about
the amount and he may refuse to sign an acquttance unless the tenant will give
him all the claims. Again a tenant may occasionally be in doubt that the person
is who is entitled to be paid the rent. In either case it is open to him to
apply to the tahsildar to accept the rent as a deposit, and pay it to the
person whom he considers entitled to receive it.
59. Notice of relinquishment.
Tenants at –will
usually hold by the year only, leases for a term of years being still uncommon.
Arrangements are as a rule, made for the agricultural year (Kharif –rabi) the
outgoing tenant giving up the land after the spring crops have been harvested.
The law provides that neither party to a contract of letting shall be able to
put the other in difficulty by failing to give timely notice of his intentions
as regards the next agricultural year, which means in the tenancy act, the
twelve months beginning on the 16th of June. A tenant who proposes
to quit his holding after the Rabi harvest must inform his landlord on or
before 15 January. If he fails to do so he becomes liable for the rent of the
next agricultural year unless the landlord arranges for the cultivation of the
land by someone else. Except with the consent of the landlord a notice of
relinquishment must apply to the whole of the lease land. If the tenant thinks
it desirable for his own security. He can give notice to the landlord through
the tahsil.
60. Notice
of ejectment of yearly tenants. A landlord who wishes to eject a tenant at will can apply to a naib
tahsildar or tahsidar for the issue of a notice. The application must be made
in time for service to be effected on or before the 15th of
November. Subject to that qualification, the application can be lodged at anyy
time after the beginning of the agricultural year. The above date is a very
suitable one as it falls before the chart crop has been completely cleared off
the ground and before the winter rains. The tenant therefore gets notice before
ploughing for the harvests of the next agricultural year begins.
61. Contents of notice. The notice requires the tenant to
give up the landbefore the 1st of May and informs him that if for
any reason he disputes his liability to ejectment, he must bring a revenue suit
for that purpose within two months from the date of service. It also warns him
that, in the event of his having any claim to receive compensation for improvements
or disturbance before ejectment. He must, within two months, present an
application to an Assistant Collector of the first grade. The circumstances
under which such a claim arises will be discussed later. It is enough to say
here that if it is established ejectment must be styed until it is satisfied.
62. Ejectment order. The tenant may obey the notice and
relinquish the land before the 1 May. If without instituting a suit to contest
liability to ejectment or lodging an application for payment of compensation.
He simply remains in possession, the tahsildar, on being satisfied that the
notice has been served passes an ejectment order. If compensation is claimed
the order must be issued by an Assistant Collector of the first grade. An
ejectment order is enforced in the same way as a decree of a civil court for
the possession of land. It can only be executed between the 1 May and 15 June.
Falling execution at the proper time the tenant is entitled to keep the land
for the next agricultural year. Applications for compensation on account of
improvements or disturbance should bedealt with promptly. It is unfair that a
landlord should be kept out of his rights by the dilatoriness of a revenue
officer.
63. Protection
of standing crops.
If, when the order is executed. It is found that the tenant has crops standing
on any part of the land he must not be ejected from that part till they ripen
and he has had a reasonable time for harvesting them. On the landlord’s
application, the revenue officer who ordered the ejectment may fix a fair rent
to be paid by the tenant for his extended use of the and or the may value the
crop and allow the landlord to take possession on paying the amount into his
office. Where the tenant has prepared land for sowing but has not sown it he
may ask the revenue officer to determine what amount is due to him from the
landlord on that account. His right to receive anything is contingent on his
having acted conformably with local usage in the method of tillage adopted.
64. Ejectment
of tenants for a fixed term and occupancy tenants. So far we have been dealing with the method by
which a landlord can get rid of a yearly tenant. The law as regards the
ejectment of occupancy tenants is briefly described in paragraph 213 of the
Settlement Manual but it will be convenient to state it more fully here in
connection with that which governs the case of tenants for a fixed term
exceeding one year under a lease or a decree or order of a competent authority.
A tenant of the latter calls may throw up his holding at the end of the term
without giving any notice to his landlord. Till then he is like an occupancy
tenant protected from ejectment by any summary process. A landlord seeking to
outset him must bring a regular suit against him.
65. Order for ejectment of occupancy tenant
failing to satisfy decree for rent. There is one case in which summary process can
be used against an occupancy tenant but not apparently against a tenant for a
fixed term exceeding one year. An Assistant Collector of the 1st grade
can order the ejectment of an occupancy tenant when a decree for an arrears of
rent has been passed and remains unsatisfied. But he must first give the tenant
an opportunity or satisfying the landlord’s claim by warning him that ejectment
will be ordered unless within 15 days he pays the amount due into the Assistant
Collector’s Office. These provisions , if worked mechanically may cause
hardship where there is much difference between the amount of the arrears and
the value of the tenant right. It must be borne in mind that the tenant is
often a very ignorant person. A
considerate revenue officer will in such a case summon him to receive
the written notice in his presence and explain to him the result which will follow
on failure to pay within the appointed time. There is no legal objection to
granting a short extension of time for payment for the issue of ejectment order
may be deferred if good cause is shown for so doing. The assistant Collector
should also ascertain whether the tenant has any claim to compensation for
improvements or for disturbances. If he has it must be gone into before any
further action is taken. Where an ejectment order is passed it can as rule as
in the case of a tenant at will only executed between the 1st May
and 15th June. But where this limitation would be unfair to the
landlord, as it might be for example where the tenant had delayed matters by a
basses claim for compensation execution can be allowed at any time.
66. Remedy
of tenant dispossessed before receipt of compensation due. If by any accident or mistake a
tenant entitled to compensation for improvements or disturbance or for the
value of unharvested crops or the preparation of land for sowing is ejected
before the amount due has been determined he will not be reinstated but he can
within one year from the date of his dispossession, apply to the court which
decreed or to the revenue officer who ordered his ejectment to fix the sum due
and require the landlord to pay it. An order passed on such application has the
same effect as a decree for money.
67. Grounds of action for ejectment and
reinstatement. The
grounds on which an action for ejectment may be brought and the circumstances
under which a tenant who considers that the has been wrongfully dispossessed
may sue for reinstatement or for compensation
will be dealt with in the chapter on Revenue courts.
68. Nullity
of entries in records of rights or agreements increasing landlord’s power of
ejectment. Any
clause in a record of rights whenever made or in an agreement made after the
passing of Act XVI of 1887 empowering a landlord to eject a tenant otherwise
than in accordance with that enactment is void.
69. Leases
current when new assessment is introduced.
Provision is
made in section 34 of the Act for the avoiding of leases whose term is still
running when the revenue is altered at a general reassessment, failing a
revision of terms made with the assistance of a revenue court and accepted by
the tenant, when the assessment has been raised and by the landlord when it has
been reduced. Leases for the term of settlement continue in force until a
revised assessment actually takes effect unless a contrary intention clearly
appears in the agreement.
70. Improvements
- The question
of “Improvements in tenants holdings may
occasionally cause some little difficulty for no very broad line of distinction
can be drawn between the simplest kinds of improvements and some of the
operations carried out by tenants in the ordinary course of tillage. An
exhaustive explanation of the terms as applied to a work executed on an
agricultural tenancy is given in section 4(19) of the tenancy Act. The
important point is that the work must be one by which the value of the tenancy
has been and continues to be increased. The term does not embrace every
operations which increases for a time the value of he holding. But only such
are outside the everyday course of husbandry and possess a greater or less
degree of permanency. The sinking of a masonry well to irrigate a field
hitherto dependent on the rainfall is obviously an “Improvement” So is the
making of a kacha well in stiffest soil for this involves a good deal of labour
and the well will last for several years. But
the digging of a shallow kacha
well of the ordinary type which waters a few bighas of crops in the rabi and
falls in the rainy season. Is not improvement.”
71. Improvements by
landlords. In a
country of peasant proprietors like the
The
Act permits the local Government to issue rules on the subject of landlords
improvements but none have been framed so far.
72. Improvements
by tenant at will - A
tenant at will can only make an improvement with the assent of his landlord but
consent may be assumed from circumstances. The courts have now given a number
of ruling which are of value as guides. It must be remembered that the question
of improvements by tenants is only of importance when compensation is demanded
by the tenant.
73. Compensation
for disturbance. In
any case every tenant “who has cleared and brought under cultivation waste land
in which he has not a right of occupancy
is entitled to compensation great or small . If he is ejected before he
has got a full return for his expenditure compensation for disturbance must in
no case exceed five years rent of the land and would in many
cases probably be far less. If a substantial and lasting improvements
has been made the recant will receive compensation for it in addition to
compensation for disturbance. A village proprietor tilling part of the common
land of the estate or one of several co-sharers cultivating the joint holding
cannot claim compensation for disturbance on ejectment. Where rent is paid in
grain or by a money rate on crop (Zabti) or by a cash rent consisting only of
the land revenue and cesses the rent for the purpose of calculating compensation may be taken as
four time the land revenue. The same rule applies where no rent at all has been
paid. As the land was ex-hypothesis
waste when the tenant got it it will in many cases not be assessed to
land revenue. In such a case the above provision must be interpreted as meaning that the rent may be assumed to be
equal to four times the land revenue
reduced by applying to the holding the rate at which similar cultivated lands
in the same estate are assessed .
74. Improvements
by occupancy tenants.
The little of occupancy tenants to make improvements on their own holding is
asserted in the 63rd section of the Act. But, when the
75. Provisions
of the Tenancy Act as to tenants improvements. The first Punjab Tenancy Act. XXVIII of 1868
put the law to tenants improvements substantially on its present footing except
that the provisions of that enactment on
the subject could be overridden by
written agreements or properly attested entries in the records of a regular
settlement. This has now been altered. An entry in a record of fights whenever
framed or condition in an agreements made after the passing of Act XVI 1887
which purports to limit the rights of tenants to make improvements or to
receive on ejectments compensation for improvements already made or for
disturbance. Is null and void. A tenant is however free covenant to pay an
enhanced rent on account of an improvement made or to be made by his landlord.
A written agreement made before the 1st November, 1887, restraining
a tenant at will from making improvements is a bar to any claim for
compensation. But with this exception improvements made before the Act came
into force are deemed to have been made in accordance with the Act.
76. Ejectment and enhancement of rent barred
till tenant has received compensation - A tenant who starts an improvement after his
landlord has used for his ejectment, or caused a notice of ejectment to be
served upon him, does so at his own risk and has no claim for compensation if
he is turned out of holding. But subject to that reasonable exception a tenant
who has improved his holding is protected both from ejectment and from
enhancement of rent till he has received compensation from his landlord.
77. Calculation
of compensation. In
estimating compensation the points for consideration are---
(a) (a) The amount by
which the value or the produce or the tenancy or the value of that produce is
increased by the improvement.
(b) (b) The conditions of
the improvement and the probable duration of its effects;
(c) (c) The labour and
capital required for the making of such an improvement;
(d) (d) Any reduction or
remission of rent or other advantage allowed to the tenant by the landlord in
consideration of the improvements; and
(e) (e) In the case of
a reclamation or the conversion of urinated into irrigated land the length of time during which the tenant has had the
benefit of the improvement.
78. Compensation
by grant of lease or reduction of rate of battle. Compensation must be assessed and paid in
money unless the parties agree that it should be made in whole or in part by
the grant of a beneficial lease of land or in some other way. It is always open
to a landlord and a tenant to settle any claim for compensation by the offer
and acceptance of a twenty years lease at the existing rent or at any other
rent that may mutually agreed upon. Where a well has been sunk a reduction of
the landlord’s batal share in consideration of the extra expenditure incurred
and required is a very suitable from of compensation. When crops are divided,
it is quite common to find the customary rate for well crops lower than for rain
crops.
ASSIGNMENTS OF LAND REVENUE
79. Importance of Land revenue assignments in
the
80. Assignments under Native Government - The Government which preceded our own found it
convenient to secure the swords of brave and the prayers of pious men to pacify
deposed chiefs and to reward powerful servants, by assigning to them the
ruler’s share (hakimi hissa) of the produce of the land in particular villages
or tracts. This was an easier mode of payment for the State than the regular
disbursement of salaries or cash pensions and it was much more gratifying to
the recipients. The amount which a jagirdar could take as the ruler’s share was
only limited by his own judgment of the capacity of the cultivators to
withstand oppression by force or to escape from it by detrain, and he enjoyed
in practice most of the rights which we now regard as special evidences of
ownership. Large assignees of land revenue also exercised within their own estates the power over life
and limb, which is sometimes regarded as the peculiar mark of sovereignty. The
system referred to above was too deep rooted for the new administration to
destroy . Prudence dictated its continuance, but demanded the limitation of the
drain on the resources of the State which it involved, and the removal of the
encroachments which the jagirdars had made on the prerogatives of Government on the one hand and on what we
conceived to be the rights of landholders on the other.
81. Subject
must be tested separately for different tracts - In treating of the subject it will be
convenient to deal separately with.
(a) (a) the
territories included in the
(b) (b) The Cis-Sutlej
territory the plains portion of which was taken under our protection in 1809
and the hill tract in 1815. This includes the present districts of Simla ,Ambala ,
(c) (c) The
82. Assignments under the Sikh Government. In the first
83. Insecurity of tenure of assignments under
Sikh Government -
There was of course no security of tenure. Each grant was held at the leisure
of Maharaja which usually meant for so long as the recipient was worth
conciliating. More especially every assignment was in practice open to
reconsideration on the death of the holder and when renewed a fine or nazrana
was often exacted which sometimes equaled the collections of several years.
84. Position of assignees under Sikh Government - Assignees were entitle to the
States’ share of the Produce and took it, as the State usually did in kind that
is by actual division of crop or by appraisement. Where the grants consisted of
whole villages the grantee exercised the right of extending cultivation by bringing in tenants
to break up the waste. He sunk wells and planted gardens and if he was strong
enough turned out existing cultivators who fell under his displeasure. The
larger jagirdars also held the powers comprehensively described as faujdari
that is to say they carried out so far as their power of their disposition led
them the rude system for the exaction of fines or the lopping off of limbs as a
penalty for crime or the enforcement of arbitration in civil cases which then
constituted criminal and civil justice. They in their turn made grants within
their own estates to the men who fought for them in the field or prayed for
them at home.
85. Assignments in districts annexed in 1846. The territory ceded by the Lahore Darbar in
1946 was known in official literature as the “Trans Sutlej States”. In the hill
tracts the jagirs were held by the Rajput Rajas who had been deposed by Ranjit
Singh and who were not restored to independence when we took their country. The
Rajas of Mandi and Suket were never reduced to the status of Jagirdars by the
Sikhs though the former suffered much at their hands and their territories
continued to be separate chiefdoms under the suzerainty of the British
Government. In the plains the Kapurthala Chief occupied a similar position for Ranjit Singh’s ally. Sardar Fateh Singh
Ahluwalia had managed with difficulty to maintain his rights But the other Sikh
Sardars between the Beas and the Sutlej had been reduced to subjection like
their brethren to the west of the
86. Orders
issued by Lord Hardinge - Lord Hardige’s orders regarding the treatment of revenue free tenures
in the Trans-Sutlej States may be reproduced as they were adopted with some
modifications in the instructions given by Lord Dalhousie to the Board of
Administration after the annexation of the rest of the
1st –All grants for the
provision or maintenance of former rulers deposed or former proprietors
dispossessed to be maintained on their present tenures in perpetuity.
“2nd – All endowments , bonafide
made for the maintenance of religious establishments or buildings or buildings
for public accommodation to be maintained as long as the establishments or
buildings are kept up.
“3rd – All persons
holding villages or portions of villages free of rent or money payment and for
which no service was to be reddened by grants made by Maharajas Ranjit Singh
Kharak Singh or Sher Singh to be
maintained in their holding free of rent during their lives each case to be
open to the consideration and orders of Government on the death of holder to be
decided according to its merits.
“4th – All persons
holding land or grants as above, subject to a payment of nazrana, peshkash or
the like to hold for their lives subject to the payment of quarter jama and on
the death of the holders the land to be resumed or assessed at full jama.
“5th – All persons
holding land for which service of any kind was to be rendered to the Sikh rules
including Bedis and Sodhis who were expected to perform religious services for the benefit of the donors
to hold for life subject to a payment of ¼ jama the case of each such tenure to
be reported for the consideration of Government on the death of the holder.
“6th – Grants made by
persons not having authority to alienate the Government revenues to be resumed.
“7th- Where no sanad
exists a holding for three generations to constitute a title and entitle the holders to have his
case adjudicated by the foregoing rules.”
87. Treatment
of Jagirs in tract between Beas and
“I – That no window shall succeed to
a jagir share.
“II – That no descendants in the
female line shall inherit.
“III- That on failure of a direct
male heir a collateral male heir may succeed, if the common ancestor of the
deceased and of the collateral claimant was in possession of the share at or
since the year of primary investigation of the jagir tenure which in theTrans
–Sutlej States in ordinarily 1846.
“IV – That allegation by the
Jagirdar of portion of his holding whether to his relations or strangers shall
neither be officially recognized nor officially recorded.
“V – That one or more sons of a
common ancestor in possession at the period of the first investigation being
entitled to the whole share possessed by such common ancestor shall be held and
be declared responsible for the maintenance of windows left by deceased
brothers who had they lived would have shared with such son or sons.
The
Jagirs of the hill Rajas of Kangra were upheld in perpetuity .
Assignments in territory west of the
88. Treatment of assignments in territory
west of Beas - When
the annexation of the Punjab was proclaimed on the 30th March, 1849
the members of the newly constituted Board of Administration were instructed by
Lord Dalhousie that “the very first object to which they should direct their
attention was the determination of all questions affecting the validity of
grants to hold land rent free.” It was obvious that annexation must be followed
by a great reduction in land revenue assignments . The British Government had no need of the military contingents of the Sardars
and it paid its servants by drafts upon the treasury. But it was also a fixed
part of Lord Dalhousie’s policy to lower the position of great Sardars and to
trust to the contentment of the common people and to the presence of a
sufficient military force to secure the peaceful development of the new
province. Of the two great brothers who were the leading members of the Board
of Administration sir Henry Lawrence accepted with reluctance a policy which
differed widely from his own views while Sir John Lawrence welcomed it because
he was himself convinced of its soundness. This is not the place to discuss the
merit’s of the course which was actually followed. It is enough to note that
the settlement made was not in fact an illiberal one. It is also the case that
men’s faith in this , as in some other
parts of Lord Dalhousie’s policy was a good deal shaken by the events of 1857
and that in many cases the original conditions of the Jagirs grants to leading
families in the Punjab have been revised as opportunity offered in generous
spirit.
89. Lord Dalhousie’s Views. Lord Dalhousie laid down
emphatically that by our occupation of the country after the whole Sikh nation
had been in arms against us . We have acquired the absolute right of conquerors and would be justified in
declaring ever acre of land liable to Government assessment.” He ordered the
resumption without exception of grants held by men who had taken up arms against
the British Government, whether by choice or compulsion . He repeated Lord
Hardinge’s description of the insecurity
of the tenure of jagirs under the Sikh Government and of the increased value
which the decision of the British Government would give to any assignment that
was maintained. Every assignee whose tenure was upheld was to give up all deeds
of grant which he held from former Governments and to receive instead a sanad
from the Board declaring that the assignment was the free gift of the British
Government. Except in a few special cases the Jagirdars were to be deprived of
all policy powers and every assigned estate was to be assessed “so that the
jagridars or other holder should not be allowed to rack rent his tenants or
derive more from the land than would be taken by the Government whose place he
occupies.” Where grants held on condition of service were maintained a cash
commutation for the aid which was no longer required was to be fixed.
90. Rules issued by Lord
Dalhousie - Loard
Dalhousie reproduced Lord Hardinge’s seven rules with some modifications and
added one of his own . In the first flue for the words “on their present tenures in perpetuity” the
words “ on their present terms subject to future diminution after the death of incumbents” were substituted . This
alternation was not without significance. To the second rule a rider was added
providing for the reduction of endowments which appeared to be exorbitant and
it was remarked that when grants of great value have been conferred for the
maintenance of the State religion…. They should be restricted to a smaller
amount from obvious motives of political
expediency.” An addition was made to rule 3 to the effect that long occupancy
would of course receive the consideration of Government. The alterations in the
other rules were only verbal. The additional rule was as follows :-
“8. Where chiefs or other hold lands
rent free which were not granted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh or any other ruler
but won by their own swords they will deserve consideration and their cases
should be specially reported to Government with the Board’s Recommendation in
each case. Any particular cases not provided for in the foregoing rules to be reported
separately to government for special orders.
Land Dalhousie added :-
“Should cases of individual hardship arise from a strict observance of these rules
whether from indigence infirmity age or sex the Governor –General on such being represented will be happy to
relax the severity of the rules or confer a pension upon the object.”
91. Instructions of Board of Administration - In circulating these
instructions the Board of
Administration remarked :-
(a) (a) with reference
to (Rule 2) that religious endowments should be upheld in perpetuity subject to
the good behavior of the grantees and conditional on the income being devoted
to the objects originally proposed by the grantor :
(b) (b) that the third
rule should usually be held to apply to grants made by thethree Maharajas
mentioned before their accession or by other Chiefs before their time :
(c) (c) with reference
to the 6th and 7th rules that assignments unsupported by
sanads or held under invalid sanads granted by kardars nazims and the like
should nevertheless be maintained for the lives of the present occupants where
possession was of long standing and that
unbroken occupation of 20,25 or 30 years whether by one individual or for two
or more generations should entitle the holder to a life interest :
(d) (d) that grants of
recent date should when the occupants were old or infirm or for any other
reason objects of charity be maintained for life :
(e) (e) that there a jagir had been confiscated
because the Jagirdar had borne arms against the British Government all grants
made by him to his dependents should at
once be resumed . But in cases of small assignments of long standing special
recommendations to maintain for life might be made if the holder appeared to be
entitled to this indulgence :
(f) (f)
that grants of land free of assessment enjoyed by the headmen of Villages if
supported by sanads were to be upheld. If they had been enjoyed for many years
and the amount was not excessive they were to be maintained for life or at any
rate; until the revised settlement even though no sanad could be produced;
(g) (g) that lands
held revenue free by village servants if the amount was moderate were to be
upheld until the revised settlement;
(h) (h) that the
tenures under which gardens were held were to be liberally dealt with and if
supported by valid sandals or possessed by several generations were to be
recommended for maintenance in perpetuity . If resumption was resolved on
settlement was to be made with the ex mafidar at the ordinary village
rates and not at garden rates . Where
the grant was new and the garden existed before it was made. It was to be
resumed and the land assessed to the best advantage.
92. Chaudhris inams. Shortly after the Board directed
that inams or money allowances enjoyed by leading members of village
communities before annexatin should be upheld for life subject to good
behavior. On the death of the inamdar the inam was to be continued to his son
or resumed as might seem expedient. The inam was to be considered as
remuneration for service to Government and to the village community and the
possession of it entitled the holder to be called chaudhri.
93. Grants to takiyas -Lord Dalhousie’s second rule put
religious establishments and buildings for public accommodation on the same
footing and directed the maintenance of their endowments for as along as the
establishment or buildings were kept up. In 1853 the question was raised whether these orders applied to
Hindu dharamsalas or to the small roadside takiyas occupied my Muhammadan
fakirs. Sir John Lawrence ruled that except in special cases grants in support
of such buildings should not be released in perpetuity . The reasons he gave
are characteristic and are worth quoting –
“5th- The Chief
Commissioner cannot admit that he existence of such grants does not encourage
mendicancy but further considers that the existence of these takiyas has often
a mischievous effect. Doubtless men who’re now fakirs will for the most part
remain such; their idle habits will prevent their taking to any honest or
respectable mode of livelihood. But there will no longer exist the same
inducement for the young and active to Join such people and the number of their
disciples will at once fall off. The abolition of monasteries in Protestant
countries caused that class of men to disappear in a few years and so will a
similar system operate on the commentates of fakirs. In the North – Western
Provinces where such endowments are
rare, the number of this class bear no proportion to those existing in the
“6th – The people are
very zealous, no doubt for the support of such endowments because they cost
them nothing but if their zeal is genuine and sincere they will support the
takiyas themselves Government have sacrificed much revenue in reducing the land
tax, in abolishing customs and giving up vexatious cesses of various kinds
which the people are well aware of . We can there fore afford that they should
murmur a little at the loss of their takiyas.
“7th – The Chief
Commissioner himself has never looked on these places with fervor. He has had
personal experience of their gross abuse. As a magistrate and criminal judge,
he has often known them to be the resort of thieves , robbers and murders. The
whole class of fakirs he believes to be bane to the country.
“8th- The Chief
Commissioner, moreover does not understand how a takiya of the character of
that in Chamyari could afford to feed travelers; eight rupees per annum would
not go far in this way. He believes that the hospitably of the occupant fakir
is almost always lives that the hospitably of the occupant fakir is almost
always limited to the feeding of his own
class and that he does not do more for other travelers than give them a little
water or perhaps in special cases a few whiffs of his hukah. Such being the
Chief Commissioner’s deliberate opining he cannot advocate the release of the
land in Chamyari nor agree to reconsider
similar cases of the kind in the Jalandhar Doab.”
94. The Jagir Enquiry. The enquiry regarding all service
grants all Jagirs consisting of one or
more estates was carried out by a special officer Captain Becher. The final
order in these cases were passed by the Governor General. This which
politically speaking was the important part of the in concerning the smaller
grants should be conducted by District and Settle meant Officers and the work
was mainly done by the latter . It proved a lengthy business but was nearly
complete except as regards the frontier districts in 1860.
95. Mafis in Jagir estates. It was found that in jagir estates
there were piots of land for which revenue was paid neither to the jagirdar not
to Government. The Chief Commissioner ruled in 1854 that all such tenures
should be investigated and orders passed
for release or resumption. When any such grant lapses the benefit accrues to
the jagirdar and not to Government. There are some exceptions top this rule,
which will be noticed later.
96. Classification
of Sikh grants. In
the first Punjab Administration Report which was issued in August 1852 the
revenue free assignments and cash pensions which had been enjoyed under the
Sikh Government were classified as follows:-
Section 1- Service grants
1. 1.
Military
2. 2.
Civil
3. 3.
Feudal
4. 4.
Household
Section II – Personal grants
5. 5.
State pensioners
6. 6.
Royal Ladies.
7. 7. Family
Provision
8. 8.
Allowance to influential landholders
Do III – Religious grants
9. 9.
Endowments
10. 10. Charitable
11. 11. “Holy men.”
97. Treatment of different classes of grants. The board described the manner in
which they had dealt with the different classes of cases.
“For those grants which in cash of in land are allowed in consideration of
long service the following rules have been adopted :-
From twenty –five to thirty years
service. Entitles the party to one fourth of his emolument: thirty to
thirty-five years, to one-third :thirty five years to forty and upwards, to
one-half: but the first named period, viz. Twenty –five to thirty years, has
generally been diminished to fifteen years. In favour of jagirdars
“In the classified schedule of
grants, with regard to classes 1 and 2 namely , grant for military and civil
service, it will be remembered that
previous to annexation these grants were chiefly in lieu of salaries: when the
late Darbar tropes were disbanded by the British Government some few of the
recipients were taken into British employ and the remainder were pensioned off
on one-fourth, one third or one half the grant as the case might be. If the
grant was found to be superannuating allowance it was maintained in full. The
same principle obtained with the household grants held by the attendants of the
sovereign. The feudal grants (class No. 3), were held by the great barons and
the dignitaries of the State. These grants are partly feudal and partly
personal. That portion of the grant which was conditional on the furnishing of
a contingent would be resumed and the horsemen would be generally discharged
and pensioned under the rule already given. But a portion of the grant was
generally on allowance personal to the feudal chief and this portion would be
maintained to him for life and a portion to his legitimate male issue in
perpetuity either in virtue of prescriptive possession or of the grantor’s
authority or on special considerations of family influence and antiquity or of individual character and
services. With regard to State pensions (Class 5). The grants were maintained
for life of incumbents subject to diminution after death. In case of royal
ladies, mostly windows of Maharajas Ranjit Singh Kharak Singh and Sher Singh,
the landed grants were not maintained , but a money commutation for their lives
was effected . The family (class No. 7) are allowances to the heirs or
relatives of deceased chiefs. Soldiers or servants of the State granted by our
predecessors and confirmed by ourselves. The y are subject to resumption or
reduction after demise of recipients. Among the grants which come under the
general denomination of personal may be noticed “the inams” (class No. 8) .
This term was under the Sikh rule applied to certain deductions made from the
revenue of an estate in favour of some village chief called a chaudhri who by
local knowledge aided the revenue officers in ascertaining the resources of the
village and in collecting the taxes and also in the preservation of order and
harmony. The agency thus secured and the influence thus enlisted on the side of
the local authorities were important. The grants have been generally maintained
during the life-time of the grantee upon the condition of general service. In
the conducting of the new system of settlement which chiefly works through
popular agency the chaudhris have made themselves most useful and their
services may for the future be turned to good account in the detection and
prevention of crime in the management of disorganized estates in the
arrangements for the public convenience such as the furnishing of supplies and
carriage repair of roads and the construction of useful works.
“The endowments mentioned in class
No. 9 are both secular and religious for the support of tempies mosques places
of pilgrimage and devotion schools
village inns for the reception of travelers paupers and strangers generally of
a monastic character. These institutions are ornaments to the villages: they have
some architectural pretension and being embossed in trees are often the
only shady spots in the neighborhood.
They add much to the comfort of rustic life and keep alive a spirit of
hospitality and piety among the agricultural people. The endowments though
occasionally reduced in amount have on the whole been regarded with liberality
and in confirming them the officers have mainly regarded the utility and
efficiency of the institution. Such grants when insignificant in amount have
been maintained even though the original grantor might have been the headman of
the village.
The grants to objects of
charity or to persons of sanctity have
frequently been paid in cash and in such cases have been brought under the
denomination of pension. In regard to the charitable grants indeed with regard
to all grants the tenor of paragraph 56 of the Government letter has been
observed and the rigous of the rules has been relaxed in favour of parties who
from indigence informally age or sex might be fitting objects of special
indulgence.
98. Social
effects of policy adopted. It is interesting to observe the view taken by Sir John Lawrence a year
and a halter of the social effects of the policy described above.
“The settlement of the country is by
the present date assuming its solid and permanent proportions; the transition
is well high complete and the country is becoming the
“The priestly classes have also
every reason to bless their new masters. The Sikh holy places have been rested
. The shrines Dera Nanak Amritsar , Tarn Taran, Anadpur, retain a large portion
of the endowments which a sikh
Government had lavished on them. Liberality has indeed been extended to all
religious characters even to mendicant fraise and village ascetics. The thousands
have allowed these people to retain their petty landed grants on a life tenure.
There is hardly a village mosque or a rustic temple or a shaded tomb of which
the service is not supported by a few
fields of rent free cultivation. These
classes, though they will not become extinct will yet greatly fall below
their present numbers when the existing generation shall have passed away. In
the meantime they are kept contended and
their indirect influence on the mass of the population is enlisted on the side
of the Government.
“Among the agriculturists the influence of the
chaudhris is on the decline. They are a species of local chiefs or principal
resident gentry who under the Sikh regime aided in collecting the revenue and
enjoyed many privileges and immunities. Many of their privileges are maintained
to them but as their services are no longer required their power is on the
wane. The undue power of the headmen also over the village communities has been
curtailed but their legitimate position as representatives of the brotherhood
has been strengthened and defined.
99. Grants in perpetuity provided for
continuance to “male heirs”. In 1852 the Governor –General ruled that when a grant was assigned in
perpetuity it lapsed to Government on the failure of legitimate male issue in
the line of the original grantee that is of the person to whom the British
Government had confirmed the grant . Unfortunately the original orders
releasing these jagirs provided for their continuance in favor of “male issue”
or male heirs” or “lineal heirs”. The
fact the this might involve the frittering away among numerous shareholders of
a revenue which undivided might have
sufficed to uphold the dignity of the head of great family was either unnoticed
or disregarded. The efforts which were subsequently made to correct this mistake concern all large jagirs thought
the province and before referring to them it will be convenient to describe the
origin and peculiar features of the jargirs of the Cis-Sutlej and
Assignments in Cis-Sutlej States.
100. History
of Jagir of Cis-Sutlej peculiar. The Jagirs tenures of the districts formerly known as the Cis-Sutlej States have a history
of their own. No. better account of their origin can be found than that given
by Mr. Kensigton in the “Ambala Gazetteer” , which is reproduced in the
following paragraphs:-
The Sikh Conquest - The storm burst at Las in 1763 . The
Sikhs of the Manjha Country * *
* * * combined their forces at Sirhind routed and
killed the Afghan Governor Zain Khan and * * * * * occupied the whole country
to the Jamna without further opposition. ‘Tradition still describes how the
Sikhs dispersed as soon as battle was
won and how riding day and night each horseman would throw his belt and
scabbard his articles of dress and accouterment until he was almost naked into
successive villages to mark them as his. The chiefs hastily divided up among
themselves and their followers the whole country to the Jamna and asserted
themselves as rules of the people. I a very few cases such as those of the
Saiyyid Mir of Kotaha and the Raipur and Ramgarh Rajput sardars of Naraingarh
and the Baidwan Jat sardars of Kharar the indigenous leaders of the country
were strong enough to hold their own
after a fashion and to assimilate their position to that of their conquerors.
Elsewhere the Sikh rule was supreme and the experience undergone by the people
of the district at the hands of these merciless invaders has left its mark on
the country to the present day.
State of country before the Chiefs
were taken under British protection. “The history of the next forty years is
made up of the endless petty warfare of these independent Sikh Chiefs among
themselves except when a common danger banded them to resist the encroachments
of the more powerful States of Patiala
and Manimajra on the north and Ladwa, Kaithal and Thanesar on the south.
Each separate family and each group of
feudatories strong enough to standout family and each group of feudatories
strong enough to stand alone built
itself a strong fort as a center
from which it could harry the whole neighborhood. Many of these are still in
existence and a marked feature of the district recalling the extraordinary
lawlessness of period when literally
every man’s hand was turned against his brother. No attention was paid to the
country by the British Government , which had fixed the Jamna as the furthest
limit for political enterprise and it is believed that profoundest ignorance
prevailed both as to the constitution. The rights and the political strength of
the supposed rulers.
“From 1806 to 1808 the position
rapidly changed . On the one had the Cis-Sutlej chiefs themselves were panic
struck at the sudden danger threatened to them by the rise of Ranjit Singh’s
Power from beyond the
“ It is impossible to read the history of these transactions without
seeing that the Government were reality taking a most important step almost in the dark . Instead of finding
the Ambala territory under the control of a few central States they soon
realized that they had given it over forever to hordes of adventures with no
powers of cohesion who aimed only at mutual
aggression and whose sole idea of government was to grind down the
people of the country to the utmost limit of oppression. The first point was
easily settled by a sharp reminder given in a supplementary proclamation of
1811 that every man would have to be content with what he held in 1809 and that
the British Government would tolerate no fighting among themselves . It was
however found that as a fact the so-called Cis-Sutlej Sovereign States were
represented as far as Ambala was concerned by some thirty petty rulers with
estates ranging from 20 to over 100 villages and by a host of small fraternities
comprising many hundreds of the rank and the file among the followers of
the original conquerors who had been quartered over the country with separate
villages for their maintenance and who were all alike now vested with authority
as independent rulers by the vague terms of the proclamation of 1809 . Published
works have nowhere every clearly
recognized how sorely the Government repented of its mistake but there seems no doubt as to the facts and
it is not be wondered at that Sir David Ochteriony should have privately
admitted to the Governor General in 1818 that the proclamation of 1809 had been
based on an erroneous idea.
From 1809 to 1847 persistent efforts
were made to enforce good Government through the Political Agency at Ambala
Among the endless semi-independent State. The records of the time bear witness to the hopeless
nature of the undertaking . They teem with references to the difficult
enquiries necessitated by the frequent disputes among the principalities by
their preposterous attempts to evade control and by acts of extortion and
violent crime in their dealings with villages. Year by year Government was
driven in self-defense to tighten the reins
and every opportunity was taken to strengthen its hold on the country by
enforcing its claims to lapse by escheat
on the death without lineal heirs of the possessors of 1809 or their
descendants . It was thus that the British
district of Ambala gradually grew up
each successive lapse being made the occasion for regular settlements of
the village revenues and the introduction of direct British rule. At the same
time Government scrupulously observed the engagements of 1809 and with the
exception of the prohibition of internal
war by the proclamation of 1811 . the powers and privileges of the
Chiefs remained untouched. Each Chief great and small alike had within his own
territory absolute civil criminal and fiscal jurisdiction subject only to the
general authority of the Agent to the Governor General. No tribute was taken
from them and though they were required in the case of war to aid the
Government. Yet no special contingent was fixed. The right of escheats was the
sole return for its protection which the Government demanded . Throughout a
long period of peace during which while north of the
“ In 1846-47 a fresh step had to be
taken owing to passive obstruction for open hostility on the part of the chiefs
when called on the assist the Government with supplies and men during its
campaign against the Trans-Sutlej Sikhs in 1845. No occasion had occurred for
testing their gratitude for the benefits secured to them until the declaration
of the first Sikh war and the
“Having thus already lost the
confidence of the Government, the Sikh Chiefs in the
Thereafter the chiefs have ceased to
retain any refits of their former powers. They have sunk to the position of
jagirdars but as such retain a right to the revenue assigned to them in
perpetuity”.
Commentary
The Cis-Sutlej Jagir is not
abolished by land revenue payable on small holdings . The State Government is
liable to pay compensation to Jagirdars.
101. Commutation
for military service. The Commutation for military service required by the 5th
clause of the proclamation of 3rd
May , 1809 was fixed at Rs. 16
per mensem for every horseman and Rs. 6 mensem for every footman. This however
was changed in 1852 into a drawback of 2 annas per rupee of revenue in jagir
estates. This is the general rate but in some cases 4 annas and 8 annas are
taken and in a few jagirs the commutation was reduced to one anna on account of
service rendered in the Mutiny.
102. Peculiar status of Cis-Sutlej Jagirdars. The jagirs in the Cis –Sutlej
States are not the gift of the British Government as are those in the part of
103. Classification of
Cis-Sutlej Jagirs - Their
Jagirs are of three classes :-
(a) (a) Large
estates
(b) (b) Pattidari
Jagirs
(c) (c) Zaildari
Jagirs
There is no difficulty as to the general meaning of these terms though
questions have arisen as to whether a particular Jagir should be put in the
second or third class an no authoritative list of large estates has ever been
drawn up.
104. Meaning of large estates pattidari jagir
and zaildari jagirs.
Large estates are Jagirs possessed by individual Sardars of their descendants
and include a large or smaller number of villages. The pattidari and Zaildari
Jagirs are held by fraternities consisting of the descendants of bodies of
horsemen who overran the country when it
was first conquered or who were called
in later to help of original conquerors to hold it. These fraternities
divided amongst themselves the villages which they seized in horseman’s shares.
Where they maintained or acquired a
position independent of the great Sardars their tenures are known as pattidari jagirs. Where their holdings were
subordinate to those of the Sardars who claimed the right to lapses of heiress
shares they were called zaildari jagris.
105. Customary law emulating the succession to
tenures of Cis-Sutlej Chiefs before 1851. The best source of information as to the rules
governing the succession to the estates acquired by the Sikh conquerors of the
Cis-Setlej territory before we reduced them to the status of jagirdars is sir
lepel Griffin’s Law of Inheritance of Chief ships as observed by the Sikhs
previous to annexation of the Punjab” Published
in 1869. IN the stormy years before 1809 individual ambitions sometimes made short work of
hereditary titles. But the conclusion to be drawn from the facts which sir
Lepel Griffin recorded is that the real
rule of succession was identical with that
prescribed by the customary law regulating the descent of landed property in the Punjab . It was but
natural that peasants who suddenly found themselves princes should apply to
their conquests the only law of inheritance with which they were familiar . It
is note worthy how often between the date of conquest and 1847 the title of a
sonless widow to succeed to the enjoyment of wide possessions and authority was
admitted when the right was overridden this was frequently managed in a
perfectly legal way still customary throughout large parts of the Punjab by
means of a karewa marriage between the widow and her deceased husband’s
brother. Information regarding customary law was much more meager when Sir
Lepel Griffin wrote than it is now. Had it been otherwise he would probably
have modified many of the expressions and some of the conclusions in his book
and distinguished more clearly between successions which took place before the
date of protection and those afterwards enforced by the conflicting decisions
of our political Officers. Definite rules have been made to regulate the
succession to pattidari and zaildari jagirs but “The Law of Inheritance to
Chiefships can still be profitably referred to when question arise as to the descent of large estates.
106. Pattidari Jagir rules to be first described. The pattidari rules will first be
explained and the matters in which the tenures of zaildars and of the holders
of “large estates differ from that of
pattidars will then be noticed.
107. Succession
to pattidari Jagirs. In
1851 the Government of India laid down the three following rules to regulate
successions to horsemen’s shares in pattidari jagirs :-
(1) (1) That no widow shall
succeed.
(2) (2) That no descendants
in the female line shall inherit
(3) (3) That on failure of
direct male heir a collateral male heir may succeed if the common ancestor of
the decease’s and the collateral claimant was In possession of the share at or
since the period 1808-09 when our connection with the Cis-Sutlej territory first commenced.
Lord Dalhousie added “Though the
rule now laid down may be at variance with the course which has been actually
taken in many cases , The Governor General would by no means disturb the
decisions which have been given. All parties who have received possessions from
a British Officer should retain it for their lives, except females who should
receive pensions instead.” This referred to a proposal by the Board that widows
and daughters should be given money pensions not exceeding half their husbands’
or father’s share in 1853. The government of India decided that a title in per
petty could not be acquired through females . but that males who had
interrupted through females would be
left in possession of their shares for life.
108. Rules not applicable to part of
Cis-Sutlej Territory. The rules do not apply to the
conquests on the right bank of the Sutlej made by Maharaja Ranjit Singh or his
dependent Fatteh Singh Ahluwalia of Kapurthala before March 1808 which they
retain after the first Sikh War and presumably the rules referred to in
paragraph 87 apply to them as well as to conquest jagirs in the tract between
the Beas and the Sutlej which was ceded by the Lahore Darbar at the same time.
109. Remarks on the rules. The first of the rules of 1851 was
seemingly not in accordance with custom which would have given a sonless widow a life interest in her
husband’s share. But if any injustice was done, it was redressed by the Board
of Directors who in 1854 ordered that widows who had been dispossessed should have their pensions raised so as to
equal in value the jagirs which they had lost, and that widows still in
possession should not be disturbed unless they agreed to take pensions in lieu
of their jagirs. The second rule in quite consonant with customary law . It
appears that political officers had in some cases contrary to that law recognized
the succession of daughters and daughters sons. The third rule was that
proposed by two of the three members of the board Sir John Lawrence and Mr.
Mansel . The President , Sir Henry Lawrence preferred the principle which had
been followed in deciding the succession to the large estates of Jind and
Kaithal namely that without any reference to the state of possession in 1808-09
a male descendant of the first conqueror or occupant should inherit all that
had been acquired by the head of the family before the collateral branch split
off from the main stock and became master of a separate estate.
110. Family custom upheld when not inconsistent
with the rules.
Family custom is unhealed as regards succession when it does not conflict with
these rules . The custom regulating division between sons by different mothers
known as chundavand will for example, be followed where it is shown to prevail
in the particular family concerned.
111. Subsidiary rule sanctioned in 1852. As the enquiry proceeded it Became
evident that the three rules sanctioned in 1851 did not completely cover the
ground and eight subsidiary rules
proposed by Mr. Edmonton the
Commissioner of the Cis-sutlej States were sanctioned by the Board in 1852.
These are reproduced in Appendix III to Barkley’s Directions for Settlements
Officers. It is only necessary to quote four of them here:-
(a) (a) That a
specific order of a Government even though opposed to the principles and rules
now prescribed shall avail in fervor of the party concerned and his lineal male
heirs.
(b) (b) That the official and recorded declaration of the
Political Agent as to the person in
possession 1808-09 shall be accepted without questions and succession continued
accordingly.
(c) (c) That
allegations by a Jagirdar or pattidar of portions of his holding whether to his
relations or strangers shall neither be officially recognized nor officially
recorded.
(d) (d) That one or
more sons of a common ancestor in 1808-09 being entitled to the whole share
possessed by such common ancestor shall be held and be declared responsible for
the maintenance of widows left by
deceased brothers who had they lived would have shared with such son or sons.
112. Investigation of pattidari jagirs at 1st regular settlement of Cis-Sutlej States. To ensure the carrying out of the
third of Lord Dalhousie’s rules the settlement officer of the Cis-Sutlej States was
ordered to investigate the state of possession in 1808-09 and to draw up
a genealogical tree of every family in occupation of a share
of a pattidari Jagir tracing the
descent of existing holders from the persons in possession at that period
“Family” when used in connection with a Cis-Sutlej Jagir means a group
consisting of the male descendants of the holder of the Jagir in 1808-09
113. Revision of Jagir registers of Ambala and
Karnal at revised settlements. At the revised settlements of Ambala and
tahsils . Thanesar and Kalthal and pargana indri of Karnal made by Mr. Kensington and Mr. Duie the jagir
register of these two districts were
scrutinized and new registers in a more compact and convenient form were drawn up . These include all the three
classes of Cis-Sutlej Jagirs the conditions of each jagir with a reference to
the order determining them and the rate
of the commutation paid to Government were noted. A genealogical tree of each
family showing all existing descendants of the person in possession in 1808-09
or other date which determines the right of succession and a list giving the
name of each of the shareholders of 1888 with the fraction representing his
share and the value of that fraction in
money are included in the registers and
a simple method of regarding successions and lapses has been provided . The
rule of succession followed where there are sons by two or more wives
will be found recorded in the registers.
114. Rules regarding Zaildari jagirs - As already indicated the only real
difference between a pattidari and a zaildari jagir is that lapses in the
former benefit Government, while lapses in the latter accrue to the holder of a “large estate”. It was
ruled in 1852 at Mr. Edmonstone’s suggestion:-
(a) (a) That the
inquiry then being made into pattidars jagir tenures should not extend to the
possessions of the zaildars or dependants of
an individual Sardar during the lifetime of such Sardar.
(b) (b) That on the estate
of that Sardar lapsing the possession of his zaildars should be enquired into
ascertained and recorded and that from and after the date of the lapse of the Sardar’s estate lapses of
the zaildars shares and successions to the same should follow the first and
second of the rules prescribed by the orders of Government No. 461, dated 12th
February 1851.
115. Meaning of second-rule. The wording of the second of these
rules is not very explicit but it seems clear that Mr. Edmonstone’s meaning was
that in the case of zaildari jagirs dependent on a large estate” the enquiry
should only go back to possession as it
stood at the time when the large estate lapsed and extend to successions which
had taken place since. This was the course actually adopted in the case of the
zaildars of the Dialgarh State which lapsed about the time when Mr. Edmonstone
made his proposals they were given the status of 1852. The intention of the
rule was either overlooked or misunderstood for at the first regular
settlements of Ambala and Thanesar the zaildars of several lapsed estates were
given the status of 1808-09 and it has been decided that the orders then passed
shall not be distributed.
116. Status of 1847 given to zaildars of large
estates in existence in 1854. In 1854 , the Chief Commissioner at the suggestion of Mr. Edmonstone
who had become Financial Commissioner modified the two rules relating to
zaildari tenures quoted above and decided that 1847, the year in which the
Sardars were deprived of their sovereign powers should be assumed as the basis
of adjudication in all disputes between Jagirdars and zaildars as to the shares
of the latter. It is clear from the correspondence which took place at the time
that the reason for taking the date 1847 instead of 1809 was to protect the
zaildars from harsh claims on the part of the Sardars. It was felt that endless
disputes and claims would arise if the status of 1808-09 were taken as defining
the tenure of the former. It was soon seen that the new rule cut both ways and
would in the further be prejudicial to the zaildars and in 1856 the
Commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej States tried to have the rule modified but
without success. All zaildars of “large estates” still in existence in 1854
have therefore the status of 1847.
117. Peculiar rules regulating succession in
case of Jagirs of Maharaja in Ferozepur. The numerous peasant jagirdars of Maharaj and
Bhucho in Ferozepore who claim kinship with the great Phulkian houses own the
jagir holdings and have peculiar rules of their own Government has given up it
right to lapses in consideration of a petty increase in the rate of commutation payable and succession
follows the law of inheritance applicable to the landed estate. Hence widows
enjoy their husband’s shares so long as they refrain from a second marriage.
118. No absolute rule prescribed to regulate
succession in large estates. In the orders passed in 1`851 Lord Dahousie stated that he did “not see any necessity for establishing
an absolute rule in the case of large estates. Each case may without any
difficulty and with great advantage be determined upon it own merits as it
arises. His Lordship would however remark genially that consideration of the
custom of families should have a preponderating influence in the decision of
such cases. Such estates were therefore
excluded from the enquiry which the Settlement Officer was directed to
make regarding pattidari jagirs and the Board ordered that each demise should
be reported with a statement of the custom of the family.
119. Meaning of Large estate Some difficulty was
felt in determining what was and what was not a large estate. Mr. Emonstone wrote to the Board:-
“Presume
that the term large estate was meant to comprehend such estates as Buria,
Shahzadpur, Manimajra, Sialba, and others which are held not by fraternitites
of pattidars as the pattidars of Bilaspur , Sadhara, Thirwa, Ambala an Boh, for
instance in fractional horsemen’s shares but by an individual Sardar, as the sardar
of Buria or by the descendants of one or more Sardars as the Singhs purias. I
find it difficult to propose any definition of the term large estate and am
compelled therefore to exemplify my meaning . If the Board concur with me in
thinking that the term is not exclusively applicable to the nine sovereign
states, it might be sufficient to declare generally that the orders
communicated with your letter above referred to are applicable only to estates
which are held by fraternities of pattidars and in which the distribution of
the holding according to horsemen’s shares is recognized leaving any cases
which may admit of doubt after the declaration of this principle to be
specially reported. Under this rule the estates of Buria and Raipur in regard
to both of which I have receive d separate references from Mr. Wynyard would be
considered large estates and exempt from enquiry into the status of 1808-09.
The Board accepted as correct Mr. Edmonstone’s view.
120. Status of 1808-09 how far applicable in
case of large estates.
It is stated in Mr. Barkley’s Directions to Settlement Officers:-
“In practice the status of 1808-09
though not absolutely prescribed for guidance by Government, has almost
invariably been referred to as governing claims of collateral’s to succeed to
rage estates the custom of the family being referred to only to determine
whether the estate shuld descend integrally or be divided among the nearest
heirs. Either unequal or unequal shares, what provisions should be made for
windows and other points of the like nature.”
121. Fe precedents available. As early as 1859, we find the
commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej states in a letter dealing specially with large
estates writing that we have taken the
status of 1809 A.D. and have declared all jargirs separately held at
that date as separate fields inheritable only in a direct male line. But it
seems doubtful if the question whether the status of 1808-09. Does or does not
govern succession to large estates has often been discussed. Very few “large estates
have lapsed in default to direct heirs” though it is notorious that in some
cases the present jagirdars are unrelated either to the original conqueror or
to the sardar in possession in 1808-09. No shame has been felt in foisting on
Government suppositious heirs when the succession to a jagir was endangered by
want of issue.
122. Date to be adopted in deciding question who
was in possession in 1808-09. No question in likely to arise in the case of pattidari Jagirs as to the
exact date referred to in the phrase-“ the status of 1808-09” . The record of
the persons in possession in `1808-09 made at the first regular settlement
would be treated as finally deciding from whom a claimant must trace descent in
order to inherit a share . But large estates were exempted from enquiry in 1851
an if the status of 1808-09 is taken as determining the succession to a large estate it may be
necessary to decide who was in possession at a particular date in the period
loosely described as 1808-09. In such a
case the best date to adopt in March 1808 that being the month in which some of
the principal Cis-Sutlej Chiefs formally applied for the protection of the
British Government.
123. Family custom governs succession in case of
large estates. In
dealing with the succession to a large estate. Lord Dalhousie directed that
special attention should be given to family custom. Primogeniture will be
follwed where it is the established custom as it is in the case of the Pathan
Nawabs of Kunjpura and in the Rajput jargirdar family of Raipur. IT is probable
that among Jat or Khatri Sikh Jagirdars no family will be found in which
primogeniture is really customary. But in some families it is undoubtedly the
rule to give a particular son a share larger than that allotted to his brethren
under the name of Sardari to mark the fact that he is the head of the family.
Where any such custom is shown to prevail, it should be enforced.
The issue of a ayah or sacramental
marriage with a virgin and of a karewa or informal marriage by chadar-andazi
with a window are equally legitimate and when the rule of division between sons
prevails stand on the same footing. It was ruled in the case of Kheri Jagir in
Ludhiana that legitimate sons would always exclude illegitimate in the
succession to “large estates”.
Whether
illegitimacy as we understand the term is a bar to succession when there is no
legitimate offspring is a question to be decided if possible by the custom of
the family concerned . The sons of handmaids (khwas) have succeeded to
independent Rajput Chiefships in the
absence of children by wedded wives, and if a similar custom is pleaded in
connection with any Cis-Sutlej jagir, the claim can not be set aside at once as
preposterous for the customs of Jats of the Punjab as regards marriage and
legitimacy resemble those of a primitive Eastern Society as depicted in the books of Genesis and Ruth
rather than the law of European countries in the case of the Sohana Jagir which
belongs to a Jat Sikh family indigenous to the Ambala district, it was lately
held that the Sardar’s son by a Jat window of good family living in his house
and whom he could have espoused, but
with whom no ceremony of chadarandazi had been performed, is entitled to
inherit . The reason given was that a similar case had occurred in the family
years before. The issue of an adulterous connection with a married woman would
of the course be excluded.
124. Maintenance to widows and others. The amount of the maintenance to be
given to widows of deceased holders should be decided mainly with reference to
past practice and this also applies to the allowances to male members of a
family in which primogeniture has been established by custom or agreement.
125. Jagirs shared by Jat Sikhs from the Manjha
and influential local chiefs or families. When the Sikhs overran the country between the
Sutlej and the Jumna, They found some chiefs and families who were to strong to
be disposed. Hence we find among the Cis-Sutlej jagirs some large estates held
by Rajputs like the Raos of Raipur or Pathans like the Nawab of Kunjpura. Some
influential families were conciliated by being allowed to retain a share of the
revenues of conquered villages . A case of the kind is that of the chaudhris of
Kharar who have a seventh share of the revenue of 42 estates. They were put on
the same footing as regards lapses and commutation as other Cis-Sutlej
Jagirdars except that the succession was limited to heirs male of the person in
possession in 1853, when the above orders were passed. In the same way in the
Jagadhri tehsil of Ambala a Rajput Family has a share in the Leda Jagir and the
Afghans of Khizrabad divide the revenues of eleven British and some kalsia
villages with Jat Sikhs and have always been treated as ordinary Jagirdars.
126. Chaharami tenures in tahsil Thanesar of the
Karnal district. There is a strong analogy between these mixed
jagirs and the chaharmi tenures in the Thansesar tahsil of Karnal described in
the 96th paragraph of the Karnal –Ambala Settlement Report. But they
have not been treated in quite the same way. The chaharami knows are for the
most part full owners or have superior proprietary rights in the lands of which
they enjoy a share usually half but sometimes one–fourth or one fifth of the
land revenue. The shares are often extremely small and lands subject to the
chaharami right have not infrequently been sold or mortgaged the chaharami
passing with the land to the transferee. No final decision as to these tenures
was arrived at the first regular settlement and the conditions on which these
peculiar assignments are held were only finally settled in 1889. There was it
was allowed no real analogy between chaharamis and zaildari jagirs but Sir
James Lyall considered that it had been the intention of the Settlement Officer
at the first regular settlement to treat them as on the same footing. He
accordingly gave the following ruling.
“According to this view the
chaharami holding in each village will be treated as zaildari holding created
by the original sikh Jagirdar conquerors of the village and so long as in each
village a part of the Sikh Jagir remains un resumed so long these holdings will
not be resumed . Whenever in any village the whole of the Sikh Jagir has lapsed
The whole of the Chaharami grants will be resumed at once. Till then in
accordance with the analogy of Rule 12(V) of the supplementary rule for
jagirdars alienations will not be treated as a good ground for resuming
part of a chaharami grant.
The
contingency of the whole of the shares held by Sikh Jagirdars in the chaharami
estates lapsing is probably a very remote one but it may be pointed out that it
is not a feature of the zaildari tenure that the shares of zaildars should
lapse to Government when the major jagir escheats of which they are dependents.
127. Mafis Cis-Sutlej khalsa estates. Ordinary mafls in khalsa estates in
the cis-sutlej territory are governed by the same rules as those in the Punjab
proper. The case of mafls in jagir and shared estates will be noticed later.
Assignments in Delhi territory
128. Mr.
Barkley’s remarks on assignments in the Delhi territory. It is stated in Mr. Barkley;s
Directions for Settlement Officers published in 1875 that “Investigations in
the portions of the (province) which were formerly under the Government of the
North Western Provinces made prior to their annexation to the Punjab took place
under the Regulations XXXI and XXXVI of 1803 and tenures released in perpetuity
under these regulations descend by the ordinary law of inheritance and are
transferable. Where any limitation was imposed by the terms of the grant either
upon the succession or upon the right to transfer the tenure this of course
does not apply and the Punjab rules are applicable to the fullest extent to
grants made after 1857.” This statement of the case requires some amplification
and correction.
129. Regulations XXXI and CCCVI of 1803. Regulation XXXI of 1803 declared
what grants other than “royal” or “badshahi” grants should be considered valid
in the “ceded provinces and provided for their registration and for
adjudication upon them in the courts of law. Regulation XXXVI of 1803 enacted
similar provisions for “royal grants” i.e, all grants made by the supreme power
for the time being . The full definition of royal grants includes assignments
made by several authorities who were only nominally subject to the Delhi
Emperor, but probably all royal grants in the Delhi territory emanated direct
from the Emperor or from Daulat Rao Sindhia or one of his predecessors in
authority as Mayor of the palace.
130. Assignments confirmed under the regulations
regarded as private property and therefore transferable. The theory of the nature of a land
revenue assignment embodied in these two regulations is wholly opposed to that
has always been held regarding such grants in the Punjab. They were looked upon
as private property which could be transferred from hand to hand. Revenue free
tenures were classed as “hereditary” i, e.
perpetuity grants and “life” grants. “Hereditary” grants were
transferable by gift , sale or otherwise, but in the case of life grants the
only alienation permitted was a mortgage of the revenue for the life of the
grantee. It is needless to describe what under these regulations were declared
to be sufficient grounds for accepting a claim to hold land revenue free. It is
enough to note that assignments of land
not exceeding then bighas. In extent and bona fide appropriated as an endowment
for temples or for other religious of charitable purposes were put on a specially favourable
footing in this respect . Certain unfamiliar terms which are met with in discussions regarding assignments in the
Delhi territory, altamgha , aima, madad m’ash, taiul are explained in the
glossary.
131. The regulation law not strictly applicable
to the Delhi territory - The Delhi territory formed no part of the “ceded province” which came
under British rule in 1801 and to which the above regulations alone applied. It
was part of the conquered provinces annexed after the battle of Laswari in
1803. Regulation VII of 1805 which extended these and other regulations to the
“conquered provinces” excepted the Delhi territory from their operation . But regulation V of 1832 which
abolished the office of resident at Delhi and annexed the Delhi territory to
the jurisdiction of the sadder Board and courts of Justice at Allahabad
enjoined the Commissioner of Delhi and all officers under his control ordinarily to conform to
the principles and spirit of the regulations.
In their civil , criminal and revenue administration . In 1838 and 1841 the
sadr Board issued orders regarding the investigation of revenue free tenures
which were not in exact accordance with the regulation law.
132. Orders passed in 1880. The question of the conditions on
which as signments in the Delhi territory made before its annexation to the
Punjab was carefully gone into in connection with the revenue free tenures of
tahsil Panipat and Pargana Karnal of the Karnal district, a report on which was
furnished by Mr. Ibbetson in 1880. It was then held.
(a) (a) that the
regulations were never actually in force in the Delhi territory . while
therefore any orders which the revenue authorities of the day passed in
accordance with the regulation law should be upheld Government was also free to
maintain orders, if any, passed by them in special cases which were not in
accordance with that laws ;
(b) (b) that “hereditary”
grants were alienable as similar grants under the regulation law were, but that
they lapsed to Government on entire failure of heirs of the original grantee
notwithstanding any intermediate
alienation;
(c) (c) that the
condition “continued until further orders” found to be attached to some of the
assignments was analogous to he condition during the pleasure of Government “
common in the case of grants in the Punjab , It was not equivalent to a
grant in perpetuity though the contingency of the grant being really a
perpetual one was not definitely excluded in the case of an order
sanctioning an assignment during the
pleasure of Government which implies an absolute decision that a perpetuity
title has not been made out;
(d) (d) that it was the
intention that orders passed by a
Settlement Officer confirming assignments of less than ten bighas as an
endowment for temples or other religious or charitable purposes should be final
and that the assignments should be released in perpetuity;
(e) (e) that the Board
of Revenue of the North –Western Provinces had no power to sanction release in
perpetuity. Where an order of the Board is the only sanction for such a
release, the confirmation of the Punjab Government is required . Final sanction
not having been given in the case of such assignments before 1858, they are not
transferable.
133. Succession to perpetuity grants. Being regarded as private property
assignments made before 1858 in the Delhi territory descend by the rule of
inheritance applicable to landed estates to which the grantee’s family is
subject. Any express condition of grant , however which conflicted with this
rule would prevail.
134. Istamrar
grants- The revenues
free tenure known as istamrar is not wholly confined to the Delhi territory.
(The Khattak Nawab of Teri holds a large tract in the Kohat district in
istamrar.)But as the lage Mandal grant in connection with which the incidents
of this tenure have been chiefly discussed is situated in the Karnal district, it will be well to
explain the term here. An istamrar is simply an assignment for life or
perpetuity of the right to receive the revenue
of a tract of land, subject to the obligation to pay to Government a
lump sum of money year by year. This sum is sometimes loosely described as a
quit rent. It is really a nazrana of fixed amount. The istamrardar may also be
sole proprietor or may have the right of a superior owner of talukdar in the
assigned tract. But, whatever may have been the real origin of any such rights
which he may possess, they are under our revenue system viewed as something
entirely apart from the istamrar. Except as regards cesses imposed in addition
to the land revenue, Government neither gains nor loses by the reassessment of
estates held on an istamrar tenure an any loses due to remissions fall on the
istamrardar.
135. Sukhlambari grants in Hissar. The sukhlambari grants in the
Hissar district are grants of land revenue free for three generations made to
troopers and officers of regiments of irregular cavalry disbanded after the
conclusion of the pindari campaign in 1818 or 1819. As revenue free assignments
they are now nearly extinct and are only interesting as an early experiment in
the colonization of waste lands.(For details see paragraphs 259-61 of Mr.
Willsons Sirsa Settlement Report and Hissar Gazetteer, Pages 160-161.
136. Inams of Biloch Tumandars 136 . The history of the jagirs or inams
of the Biloch tumandars of the Dera Ghazi Khan district present some peculiar
features and is also deserving of notice on account of the emphatic way in
which the principle that jagris involve an obligations of service has been asserted and enforced. An
excellent account of it is given in the 98th paragraph of Mr.
Diack’s Settlement Report, from which the following extracts are taken :-
“ The greater part of the assigned land
revenue is enjoyed by the chiefs of Biloch tribes and is well repaid by the
important administrative and magisterial functions which they discharge. It was
not until the last settlement that any considerable amount of revenue was
assigned to them. From annexation up till then they occupied the position of
mustajirs that is to say, they collected in kind from their tribes the share of the produce
varying from one-seventh to one-third which was under native rule taken by
Government and they paid into the treasury the cash land revenue assessed upon
the villages of their tribe. At the regular settlement of the district it was
decided that assignments of land revenue should take the place of the profits
which, owing to mild cash assessment increase of cultivation and rise of
prices, they derived from this arrangement. The cash value of the assignment to
each Chief was fixed with reference to his previous income from this source to
his expectations and to his responsibilities. But although the value of the
assignment was calculated in cash the power of collecting in kind was not
withdrawn but was merely limited to selected villages whose cash assessment
made up the sanctioned amount of the chiefs inam. The power of collecting
assigned revenue in kind was legalized by Frontier Regulations No. VII of 1874,
the custom of collecting in kind had fallen into abeyance in two tribes. Those
of Kasranis and the Khosas and was not revived in the former tribe but was in
the latter to the extent of one-fourth of the revenue . The share of the
produce to be taken by the Chief was to be fixed so as not to exceed that
portion of the produce which might be
deemed fairly to represent the Government demand.
All the grants were conditional upon good and loyal
service to be rendered by the tumandars on occasions of importance whenever
called upon by the district officer and in connection with this condition it
was stipulated that sowars should be supplied by each Chief to a certain value
, the sowar’s pay being fixed at 4 annas a day any sowars required in addition
to the number making up the fixed value to be paid by Government. The
assignments were made for term of settlement and subject to reconsideration on
its expiration The grants have had an
excellent effect in improving the condition of the Chiefs and through them of
their tribes which are generally in excellent control, and there was no question
at this settlement of discontinuing the allowances to the Chiefs. The working
of the system by which they are allowed power to collect in kind was
however considered very carefully with
reference to the provisions which had been made at the regular settlement that
the power would be enjoyed only during the pleasure of Government and would be
liable to be withdrawn should such as course be deemed to be expedient. The
conclusion arrived at was that the system should be continued except in the
Khosa tribe.(Punjab Government letter No. 40, dated March 1897.)
The
decision to continue the privilege in the case of the other Chiefs who had
hitherto enjoyed it necessitated a
reconsideration of the cash value in the inams for in villages which have
improved during the period of the late settlement the share of the produce
taken by the tumandar is the equivalent of the cash assessment as now enhanced
and while the amount received by the tumandars is the same as in recent years
his inanam expressed in terms of the Government cash revenue is greater than it
was.”
In sanctioning the inams for the term of the
new settlement the supreme Government remarked(Government of India , Foreign
Department No. 2847-F dated 31st October 1899) :-
The
Government of India cordially endorsee the views of the lieutenant Governor as
to the importance of maintaining the position and influence of these Chiefs. *
* * * * The inams are subject to the same conditions of loyalty and service as
hereto fore**** The Government of India entirely concur in the decision. * * *
* to permit collections in kind to continue in all cases (except that of the
Khosa inam) in which they had hitherto
been authorized . It is very important in the interests of good
administration on this part of the border to prevent as far as possible any
weakening of the tie between the
tumandar and his tribesmen.”
136 –A . Abolition of batia jagir system in
Dera Ghazi Khan district -The revision of settlement in the
Dera Ghazi Khan district was begun in 1916 and was concluded in 1920. Fresh
sanction then became necessary to the continuance of these inams which had been
sanctioned for the term of settlement.
There
was during the course of settlement operations a vigorous agitation against the
continuance of the batal jagir system
and it lost none of its force after the conclusion of the settlement.
After full consideration of the advantages and disadvantes of the system.
Government gave an undertaking in the Legislative Council in 1925 to abolish it
within the next five years. In fulfillment of that undertaking Government
reported early in 1928 (Punjab Government letter No. 527-R dated 8th
January 1928.) to the Government of India its proposals for the substitution of
cash inams to the turmandars in place of the old batal inams. The latter
Government gave their general assent (Government of India letter No. 117-F-28
dated 10th September, 1928 .) to the proposal but declined to
contribute anything towards the extra expenditure involved by conversion.
The
system was consequently abolished (Punjab Government letter No. 5844-R dated 4th
December, 1928. )with effect from kharif The old batal inams were translated
into cash inams for the term of settlement.
Strictly according to terms of 1899, there was
no obligation devolving on Government to supplement the old batal inams on
their translation into cash. Nevertheless, the outstanding liberality with
which the tumandars had been treated in the past made it undesirable that the
abolition of collections in kind should bring about any substantial loss in
their emoluments . The Governor in Council accordingly decided as an act of
grace to award supplementary cash inams to the tumandars in addition to the
cash value of their batal inams for the term of settlement or for life whichever period may be shorter.
Both
the converted and supplementary inams are grants for services rendered and to
be rendered both in the plains and in the tuman areas within the hills and are
conditional on loyalty and active assistance to Government as well as on the
maintenance of the traditional
hospitality expected from the Chiefs . Government retains the right of
reducing or confiscating the inams at any time . if it is of opinion that the
conditions are not being satisfactorily fulfilled.
137. Kasuras in Dera Ghazi Khan. The “Kasur” Assignments of the Dera
Ghazi Khan district are identical in origin with the “chahanams” referred to in
paragraph 82. The principal “kasurs” are in the territory held by the Mazari
tribe about half the revenue of which is releases in this form
They are held by the family of the
Chief of the Mazari tribe of Blotches and by the other leading families of the
Balachani section of the tribe to which section the Chief belongs . Those
Balachants hld among them assignments of
land revenue in all the villages of the most Mazari Country though they are not
landowners in all of them . Most of the assignments are of half the Government
share of the produce though some are of a smaller fraction and it is from their
being of a fractional nature that they have derived the name kasur (the Arabic
plural of kasur) by which they are locally known. The appear to have been
granted from time to time by the rulers who established their authority in this
neighborhood. The Nahrs of Sitpur the
Makhdums who succeeded them and the Amirs of Sindh and were a proof of the
strength and turbulence of the tribes and
the weakness of the rulers control. ( Punjab Government No. 62 dated 7th
August 1900.)
Consequent
on the abolition of the batoi jagir system the question of kasurs which were bound up with
collections in kind was reconsidered. It was decided (Punjab Government letter No. 3018-R dated 11th November 1930.)that the
‘A’ class kasurs (i,e. remission of half land revenue) of the Mazri , Karmani,
Mistakeni and Gulsherani families should be continued on their ancestral
proprietary lands, subjects as before to the condition of loyalty and good
service. The kasurs are inalienable and liable to resumption under orders of
Government. The other kasures in the Mazari tuman were converted into forty
–three cash inams of Rs. 40 each per annum to be paid out of the treasury . The
grantee is to be selected by the Deputy Commissioner in consultation with the
tumandar and the tenure of the inam is ordinarily to be five years.
138. Military rewards grants. A very common way of rewarding
Indian officers for distinguished war services has been to gave them grants
of Government waste land revenue –free
for a certain number of years , with a
promise of ownership when the lands had been brought under cultivation . Many
such grants were made in the Punjab. Owing to the diminution in the area
available it was decided in 1888 that they should be limited to a flexed number
yearly(Government of India , Military Department , resolution No. 2525-B dated
1st December 1888). The above
conditions are not necessarily applicable in all cases .It is left to
the local Government to arrange the grant as it chooses , provided its
capitalized value is equal to 25 times the annual value specified in the order
making it ( Government of India ,Military Department No. 1271 (B. dated 12th
April 1901.) and at the same time the terms on which they should be held were
laid down as follows:-
(Government of India resolution No.
867-B dated 17th February , 1893)
(a) (a) The land to be
held subject to payment of revenue assessed upon it or (if it is not assessed
to the payment of revenue subject to the payment of revenue at the rates at
which land in the immediate vacinity is assessed provided that if the land is
waste land requiring clearance the grantee will be allowed the ordinary
concession which would be allowed to
vendees at public auctions of Government
land of two harvests frees of land revenue.
(b) (b) Canal rates and cesses
to be paid in full by the grantee from the beginning of the lease. He shall
also pay malikana at the rate in force in the tract concerned provided that no
malikana will be charged in the case of grant which does not exceed one square
or rectangle.
(c) (c) The grant to
be leasehold for the first ten years and proprietary rights to be given after
the end of the that term if the land has been properly brought under cultivation and the grantee has
made good use of his grant.
(d) (d) All grants are
subject to the loyalty and good behaviour of the grantee.
(e) (e) When a grant
of irrigable land is under contemplation reference must be made to Irrigation
Department before any promises of irrigation are given to the grantee. If the
Irrigation Department decide that irrigation is not possible the grantee should
be informed and an acknowledgement obtained from him that he agrees to take the
land on the understanding that irrigation cannot be extended to it.
139. Jagirs may be
substituted for grants of waste land. The matter was reconsidered in 1893, and it
was settled that where it was inconvenient to make grants of waste land the
reward might take the form of a jagir . At
the same time the maximum value of a grant of land was fixed at Rs. 400 per annum clear of
all deductions.
“When the Local Government is prepared to provide a
grant of land and the grantee accepts this form of reward it will be open to
the Local Government to arrange for the bestowal of the privileges connected
with the grant in such a way that the difference between the value of the grant
on the terms given and the market value may amount approximately to 25 times
the annual value specified in the orders of the Government of India on each
case, such value being limited to the maximum of Rs. 400 as noted above. Should
the Local Government not be prepared to give land or the grantee be unwilling
to accept his reward in this form, the grantee will be given an assignment of
revenue from any village or estate that may be selected . If an assignment of
revenue be given such assignments will be for three lives only , the maximum
amount of revenue assigned to the original grantee being Rs. 600 to the first
heir Rs. 300 and to the next heir in succession Rs. 150. The method in which
the assigned revenues are to be paid i.e, whether from the state treasury or by
the land owners direct will be left to Local Governments to decide but the
amount should be flexed in cash and not in terms of the land revenue. When the
grantee is a landholder the assignment may take the form of remission of a specified amount of the
revenue due from himself. (Government of India, Military Department, resolution
No. 867-B, dated 27th February 1893. Also see paragraph 58(6) and
(7) of Financial Commissioner’s Standing
Order No.7.
The financial Commissioner at the
time pointed out the objections which existed to the creation of new jagirs
except: -
(a) (a) When the
jagridar is owner of the land of which the revenue is as signed:
(b) (b) When he stands in
the tribal relation to the revenue payers and the recognition of his status is
in accordance with their ideas:
(c) (c) In the absence
of the above conditions , when he has nothing to do with the collection of the
revenue , which is paid to him through the tahsil. (Financial Commissioner’s
No. 11-C, dated 25th May 1893.
The Local Government acquiresed in
these views.(Punjab Government Nos. 343-S., dated 1st July 1893, and
758, dated 24th August, 1902.) In practice no difficulty has arisen
for in all jagirs of this class hitherto created in the Punjab the assignee
receives the revenue through the tahsil.
The rule of decent in the case of these
military jagirs is as follows :-
On
the death of the original holder one-half of the grant should descend
integrally to a single heir. The heir will be selected by the district officer
, but will ordinarily be the eldest male heir in the eldest branch of the
deceased’s descendants. On the death of the selected heir one quarter of the
original grant will descend integrally
to one of his heirs similarly chosen by the district officer. The selection
made by the Commissioner of the division”.(Government of India, Military
Department , No 3293-B, dated 24th October , 1893.
Note :- The rule that grant should
descend integrally to a single heir may be relaxed at the discretion of the
local Government and the reduced grant i.,e the grant after the death of the
original grantee may be distributed among several heirs in such
proportional as may seem most suitable,
provided that the proper proportion of the original grant is not exceeded.
(Dispatch from His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India , No. 50-Fin., dated
20th December , 1918.”)
139. A Substitution of cash payment in place of jagir or special pension.
Towards the close of 1930, the Government of India. Army Department,
decided (Army instruction (India )No.102, dated
16th September, 1930.) that with effect from 1st
January 1931, cash payments amounting to Rs. 600 per year should be granted in
place of jagirs in the form of assignments of remissions of land revenue and of
the special pensions granted to Indian Officers
resident in Indian States . The cash payments which will like Jagirs, be
for three lives reducible by half on each succession will be known as “Jagir
allowances” and will be paid by the military authorities themselves without any
reference to the civil authorities this change in no way affects the form of ,
or the status and dignity attached to jagirs granted before the passing of
these orders.
139-B. Scheme for
giving retired Indian Officers the option of taking an assignment of land
revenue in lieu of pension - A scheme approved(Government of India Army Department letter No.
17869-1 (A.G. 10)dated 9th February 1914. and introduced by the Local Government in 1914, whereby retired
Indian Officers of the Indian Army when they belong to the agricultural classes
have the option of taking an assignment of land revenue in lieu of pension , is
also in operation. 139 –C Special Jagirs . In 1917 a scheme for the creation of
new jagirs was sanctioned (Government of India, Department of Revenue and
Agriculture letter No. 887-205-2 dated 30th October, 1916.) by the
Secretary of state in accordance with which jagirs are granted by the Punjab
Government for the life of the original holder, half of the sum assigned being
continued for the next generation. Only a single descendant in the mainline of
descent of the original jagirdar living at the time of his death can be selected as his successor and the orders
of the Governor in Council are required in each case. Attached to all such
grants is a definite condition of “Continued good conduct and steadfast loyalty
to His Majesty the King Emperor and active good service to the public or to the Government established
by law in British Indian rendered to the best of the Jagirdar’s ability and
power.”
140. Jagirs
granted after 25th November, 1859 heritable by a single heir - As already stated a marked change
of feeling is observable after the mutiny as to the value to the State of a
class of men holding a privileged position and fitted thereby to act as leaders
of the people. In 1859 the Lieutenant –Governor, Sir Robert Montgomery proposed
that as a rule the heirs of jagirs enjoyed by families of importance should be
declared subject to selection by Government.”(Punjab Government No. 678 dated 4th
Oct. 1859) Lord Canning replied that he did not see how such a declaration
could be made in regard to existing jagirs . He added , however :-
“With regard to jagirs which may
hereafter be granted His Excellency has no objection to impose the general
condition that the estate shall be inherited integrally. * * * As to the one single heir His Excellency
is disposed to think that it will be quite enough for the Government to require
that his inheritance shall need confirmation or recognition by Government before
it is considered complete and to
make it known that this recognition may
if cause should arise be withheld.”
The letter containing this order was
dated 25th November , 1859 and all jagirs subsequently granted are
unless the contrary is clearly expressed in the grant , heritable by a single
heir whose succession required to be confirmed by Government.” ( Government of
India No. 476, dated 25th November 1859
141. Proposal
to introduce primogeniture in case of the principal jagirs - Before these orders were issued the
Lieutenant-Governor had proposed to consult the principal Sardars in the
Cis-Sutlej and Trans-Sutlej divisions as to the propriety of abolishing
chundavand where it existed and also marking primogeniture the rule of decent
for their jagirs. In advocating primogeniture the Cis-Sutlej Commissioner , Mr.
Barnes had written :-
“I should desire in all feasible
cases to institute the law of primogeniture as was recently done in the case of
ramgarh and thereby to secure a powerful and influential aristocracy who with
such guarantees would doubtless be as loyal
and as useful to Government as
they proved to be during the recent rebellion.”
142. Proposal agreed to by Lord Canning. Chundavand and been denounced as
immoral and as encouraging polygamy. Lord canning wisely brushed that argument
aside. But as regards primogeniture his reply was encouraging. The proposal to
consult the leading Sardars regarding it was approved but anything like
arbitrary legislation on the subject was deprecated and it was laid down that
“no alternation in the rule of inheritance should be made in a family unless
with the consent of its head and of the chief members interested.( Government
of India. No. 1718 , dated May 1860. Paragraphs 2,4,5,6 of circular letter No.
246-252, dated 6th April 1861.)
143. His reasons - The reasons given by Lord canning for his
decision are worth quoting :-
“It is politically desirable that
primogeniture should be encouraged. The governor-general believes that a more
unfortunate prospect cannot be before a people, especially a people amongst
whom society is of a feudal form , than that of the gradual dissolution of all
their wealthy and influential families into numerous poor and proud descendants.
His excellency also believes that the task of governing such a people in
contentment becomes more and more difficult as this change progresses. “
144. Instructions issued in 1861. The enquiry which followed seemed to
show that a number of the larger Jagirdars were ready to elect for
primogeniture and in April 1861 the following instructions were given to
Cis-Indus Commissioners:-
“Those jagirdars holding in
perpetuity whose revenue exceeds Rs. 250
per annum and who wish the succession of their jagirs to be regulated in
future by the rule of primogeniture must executor a deed to that effect . You
will explain to them that this deed when confirmed by Government will hereafter he binding on
their successors in the jagirs for all generations . Where such a deed has
already been taken it need only be reviewed
with reference to the instructions now conveyed.
“4. The deed will regulate the
succession only to jagir lands not to malguzari lands or other real and
personal property.
“5. The jagirdar executing the deed
should be invited to record separately the nature and amount of the maintenance
which he would propose to assign to the younger branches of his family. The
custom regulating such maintenance in the case of the younger brothers of
chiefs in whose families the rule of primogeniture has been long established
will serve as a guide for other jagirdars.
“6. It should be explained that the
rights of collateral’s are in no respect affected by the introduction of the
rule of primogeniture.”
Informing the Government of India of
the action that had been taken the Lieutenant- Governor remark :-
“One
important point only remains to be adverted to namely the force of the deed executed by the jagirdars declaring
that primogeniture shall be the rule of succession to their jagirs.
This point however will be discussed
at length when the reports of the several Commissioners and the deeds
themselves shall have been transmitted to this office.”
145. Negotiations
prove abortive - The
number of deeds executed was forty seven. Many of these declared that
primogeniture should thereafter be the rule of succession and fixed a rate of
maintenance for younger sons. Others provided for division among sons, but
allotted a larger share to the eldest of fittest son. By some mischance these deeds were never confirmed by
Government but several have since been
accepted and where the circumstances of each case were consistent with the
provisions of sections 7(1)(b) of the Punjab Jagirs Act, V of 1941 mentioned in
paragraph 157 a rule of primogeniture has been notified.
146. Reasons
why evil results have no been worse - The failure to carry the negotiations with the
leading jagirdars to a successful conclusion is much to e regretted. The matter
was not dealt with again comprehensively for whole generation during which
sub-division went on unchecked . The resultant evils would be even more
apparent than they are but for the fact that many of the large jagirdars at
least in the Cis – Sutlej territory have found it difficult to perpetuate their
families at all and have considered themselves fortunate when they have had a single son to inherit
their family honors. As regards the important political jagirs in the tarns-
Indus districts little difficulty has arisen for most of them were granted or
confirmed after 1859 and in the case of some jagirs of earlier date the
succession of a single heir is either provided for by the original order of
release or has been established by subsequent decision or family agreement.
147. Remedy applied in case of Hazara Jagirs. In
Hazara the jagirs granted at
annexation were made subject to certain limitations of the successions proposed
by Major James Abbott. Further jagirs were granted for service in 1857 without
any similar reservation. Among the Hazara settlement rules to which legal force
was given by Regulation XIII of 1872 were two dealing with assignments of land
revenue.
“18. The settlement Officer shall
ascertain for each class of revenue assignments granted for more than one life
or for the period of settlement or for each
of such cases where necessary what rule is best calculated to secure to
Government the attainment of the object for which the grant was given. The
result of his enquires shall be submitted for the sanction of Government.
“19.
All cases in which orders of succession contrary to the orders to be laid down under Rule 18 have been
passes shall be reported to the Commissioner who is hereby empowered to revise
the previous orders in the spirit rule 18, or in such modified way as the
peculiar circumstances of such cases may call for.”
Under the first of these rules the
Lieutenant- Governor passed the following general order :-
“All jagirs and political pensions
released for more than one life or for term of settlement shall devolve
integrally ordinarily to the eldest son.
“the succession shall not
necessarily be maintained in the direct course should the immediate heir be
devoid of merit or deficient in the necessary qualifications of character,
Influence control over his tribe and family or good disposition towards the
British Government. ( Punjab Government No. 1706, dated 22nd
December 1873.
In the case of certain jagirs Government
reserved the option of dealing with the succession in the above manner, or
dividing the jagirs among the male issue of a deceased grantee(For list of
these see page 282 of Captain Wace’s Settlement Report of Hazara. . In Hazara,
therefore , the matter of succession to jagirs has been put on a thoroughly
satisfactory footing.
148. Section 8 of Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872. It was provided by section 8 of the Punjab Laws Act IV of 1872 , that :
“In all cases in which Government has declared
any rule of descent to prevail in any family
or families of assignees of land revenue such rule of descent shall be
held to prevail and to have prevailed amongst them from the time when the
declaration was made”.
In 1890 the Government of India refused to make
use of this section in connection with a proposal to declare the rule of
succession in the Raipur Jagir family in the Ambala District to be
primogeniture on the ground that it had no retrospective effect. ( Government
of India. No. 4156 dated 8th December 1890. The local Government
nevertheless ordered that the rule of primogeniture should be applied on the
ground apparently that it had been actually adopted in several successions and
it was also probable that such a rule would exist in the case of an ancient
Rajput family. Moreover in 1861 the jagridar in possession had executed an
agreement providing that the eldest son should inherit the jagir. )
149. Attitude of Government of India on question of right to regulate
successions. The Government of India have never asserted a right to
regulate successions after the conditions of a grant have been laid down in the
order of release. But on a few occasions they have decided that the rule of
succession in a particular jagir restricts descent to a single heir.
150. Primogeniture introduced in case of Ramgarh
jagir. In a letter
No. 1490, dated 1st April 1859, Lord Canning sanctioned
primogeniture as regulating in future the succession of the jagir enjoyed by
one branch of the Ramgarh family in Ambala “as this proposal has emanated from
the younger sons themselves.” The family is a Rajput one connected with the Raja
of Bliaspur.
151. Case of the Chachi Jagir. In 1862 the Government of India declined to sanction
a deed respecting the devolution of his jagir executed by Sir Nihal Singh,
Chachi on the ground that as the Sardar has more than one son Government has no
power to fetter or unfetter the Dardar as to his old estates , his power over
which must be decided should any dispute arise by the ordinary law applicable
to such estates in the Punjab.”
In 1874, however Sir Henry Davies
then Lieutenant –Governor of the Punjab declared that as Sir Nihal Singh who
had died in 1873, had never revoked the wish expressed in 1862, the law of
primogeniture was applicable to the whole jagir which therefore descended to
his eldest son. Amrik Singh . These orders were plainly inconsistent with the
view taken by the Government of India in 1862. But in 1902 in passing orders
upon the succession which had again opened out on the death of Amrik Singh
leaving no children the Government of India took the view that “section 8 of
the Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act. 1900 relates to declarations in fact issued,
irrespective of their authority and that the deliberate employment of the term
Government “ which includes a “Local Government has placed the two letters
(i.e. Government of India letter No.
1156 dated 11th December 1862. and Punjab Government letter No. 250 dated 29th
January 1874)” for the purposes of that particular enactment on the same
footing . Having therefore two separate but inconsistent
152. Succession
of a single heir in case of (a) jagir of Shahzada Jamhur - The jagir of Shahzada Jamhur,
Saddozai, in the Kohat district was originally released in favour of the
grantee and his male issue in perpetuity.” In 1877, the Government of India
agreed to a modification of the terms providing for its devolution on “the
heir, being a descendant of the original grantee, whom Government might
select.” ( Government of India No. 383-F, dated 27th July 1877.)
153. (b)
The Makhad Jagir -
In the case of Makhad jagir in Rawalpindi where the grant provided for descent
to “legitimate male issue, “but the Financial Commissioner held that a quasi-
custom of primogeniture had been proved to exist , the Government of India in
1881 sanctioned the succession of the eldest of four sons subject to the condition
of fitness. This ruling also applied to the Shakardarra jagir in Kohat held by
the same family.
154. (c)
Jagir of Raja Sir Sahib Dial - In 1882 the Government of India allowed one of Raja Sir Sahibdial’s
Jagirs released in 1854 in favour of himself and “his legitimate male issue for
two generations” to descend to his
grandson, his sons being passed over for reasons stated in the
correspondence. (Government of India No. 256, dated 22nd November
1882.
155. Proposal
of Punjab Government to introduce primogeniture authoritatively - In 1898 the Punjab Government urged on the Government of India the
necessity of taking measures to put a stop to the sub-division of jagirs, and
the gradual deterioration in consequence of may of the leading families in the
province.(Punjab Government No. 261-S dated 16th June 1898.) The
history of the question in the Punjab was reviewed and the various orders of
the Government of India referred to in the preceding paragraphs were cited. The
conclusion drawn was that in the Punjab assignments of land revenue had always
been regarded from a standpoint different from that adopted in some other parts
of India, and that the principle had been asserted that assignees have ,in
virtue of the grant of a share of the revenue
of the State, public duties as well as private rights . it was a natural
deduction from this that Government had an inherent right to regulate the
course of secessions from time to tome as occasion requires and so to maintain
the capacity of the Jagridar to do public service . Sir Mackworth Young quoted
with approval a dictum of the officiating Financial Commissioner ., Mr. Ogilvie
that all assignment are from the
essential nature of their tenure held subject to the pleasure of Government
unless the contrary be distinctly stated in the deed of grant . It is a great
mistake to regard and treat these deeds of grant like the title deeds of an
estate the general provision that the grant shall descend to direct heirs male
does not debar Government from the exercise of its inherent right to regulate
the succession between recognized heirs.” The lieutenant governor therefore
proposed to introduce authoritatively by executive order the rule of descent to a single heir in
the case of all jagirs of a yearly value of Rs. 250and upwards.
151. Case of the Chachi Jagir. In 1862 the Government of India declined to sanction
a deed respecting the devolution of his jagir executed by Sir Nihal Singh,
Chachi on the ground that as the Sardar has more than one son Government has no
power to fetter or unfetter the Dardar as to his old estates , his power over
which must be decided should any dispute arise by the ordinary law applicable
to such estates in the Punjab.”
In 1874, however Sir Henry Davies
then Lieutenant –Governor of the Punjab declared that as Sir Nihal Singh who
had died in 1873, had never revoked the wish expressed in 1862, the law of
primogeniture was applicable to the whole jagir which therefore descended to
his eldest son. Amrik Singh . These orders were plainly inconsistent with the
view taken by the Government of India in 1862. But in 1902 in passing orders
upon the succession which had again opened out on the death of Amrik Singh
leaving no children the Government of India took the view that “section 8 of the
Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act. 1900 relates to declarations in fact issued,
irrespective of their authority and that the deliberate employment of the term
Government “ which includes a “Local Government has placed the two letters
(i.e. Government of India letter No.
1156 dated 11th December 1862. and Punjab Government letter No. 250 dated 29th
January 1874)” for the purposes of that particular enactment on the same
footing . Having therefore two separate but inconsistent
152. Succession
of a single heir in case of (a) jagir of Shahzada Jamhur - The jagir of Shahzada Jamhur,
Saddozai, in the Kohat district was originally released in favour of the
grantee and his male issue in perpetuity.” In 1877, the Government of India
agreed to a modification of the terms providing for its devolution on “the
heir, being a descendant of the original grantee, whom Government might
select.” ( Government of India No. 383-F, dated 27th July 1877.)
153. (b)
The Makhad Jagir -
In the case of Makhad jagir in Rawalpindi where the grant provided for descent
to “legitimate male issue, “but the Financial Commissioner held that a quasi-
custom of primogeniture had been proved to exist , the Government of India in
1881 sanctioned the succession of the eldest of four sons subject to the
condition of fitness. This ruling also applied to the Shakardarra jagir in
Kohat held by the same family.
154. (c)
Jagir of Raja Sir Sahib Dial - In 1882 the Government of India allowed one of Raja Sir Sahibdial’s
Jagirs released in 1854 in favour of himself and “his legitimate male issue for
two generations” to descend to his
grandson, his sons being passed over for reasons stated in the
correspondence. (Government of India No. 256, dated 22nd November
1882.
155. Proposal
of Punjab Government to introduce primogeniture authoritatively - In 1898 the Punjab Government urged on the Government of India the
necessity of taking measures to put a stop to the sub-division of jagirs, and
the gradual deterioration in consequence of may of the leading families in the
province.(Punjab Government No. 261-S dated 16th June 1898.) The
history of the question in the Punjab was reviewed and the various orders of
the Government of India referred to in the preceding paragraphs were cited. The
conclusion drawn was that in the Punjab assignments of land revenue had always
been regarded from a standpoint different from that adopted in some other parts
of India, and that the principle had been asserted that assignees have ,in
virtue of the grant of a share of the revenue of the State, public duties as well as private
rights . it was a natural deduction from this that Government had an inherent
right to regulate the course of secessions from time to tome as occasion
requires and so to maintain the capacity of the Jagridar to do public service .
Sir Mackworth Young quoted with approval a dictum of the officiating Financial
Commissioner ., Mr. Ogilvie that all assignment are from the essential nature of their tenure held
subject to the pleasure of Government unless the contrary be distinctly stated
in the deed of grant . It is a great mistake to regard and treat these deeds of
grant like the title deeds of an estate the general provision that the grant
shall descend to direct heirs male does not debar Government from the exercise
of its inherent right to regulate the succession between recognized heirs.” The
lieutenant governor therefore proposed to introduce authoritatively by
executive order the rule of descent to a
single heir in the case of all jagirs of a yearly value of Rs. 250and upwards.
156. Proposal
modified by Government of India. This proposal was rejected by the Government of India which held that
the end in view could only be reached by legislation and that the consent of
the jagirdars in possession was essential to the introduction of primogeniture.
In the letter conveying this decision it was remarked that :-
The Governor- General in Council is
in entire accord with His Honour the Lieutenant Governor as to the political
expediency of preventing the larger jagirs from being parceled our though a
recurring process of sub –division . But
having given the most careful attention to the subject he is satisfied that the
decision come to in 1860 by lord canning that though jagridars might very
properly be consent of the head to any family in which it has not hitherto
prevailed is correct and should be substantially maintained . That the
Government when granting or confirming
an assignment of land revenue possess an absolute power of regulating the
succession at the time of such grant or confirmation is undoubted. But when
once the conditions of a grant have been prescribed and the grant has actually
been made this absolute power is lost . This is the well –recognized rule of
English law governing grants from the Crown and is founded on principles of
equity and common justice. There no doubt exists a distinction in kind between
an estate in land an assignment of land revenue. But taking an assignment of
land revenue as analogous to a pension. The State by the principles of English
law has no inherent right to regulate or vary at its pleasure, after the
assignment or the pension has been granted the order of succession in either
the one case or the other . Nor is the Governor- General in Council satisfied
that if such powers were assumed they would meet with the hearty approval of
the jagridars.
“ An examination of the various
orders passed between 1850 and 1860 by the governor –General shows that great
care was taken to protect decision already given. Thus, in 1851 when a certain
rule as to collateral descent was laid down decisions already given in
particular cases to a contrary effect
were allowed to stand . Again at a later date in the case of the Ramgarh jagir,
substitution of succession according to primogeniture for division among the
heirs was only sanctioned because the younger sons of the jagirdar themselves
applied for it.
“ In paragraph 13 of your letter
other instances are cited in which the Government of India have interfered,
since Lord Canning’s declarations of policy in 1860, to regulate successions.
Examination of these cases shows that there was no real deviation from the
policy of 1860. In the first case cited the terms of the grant were revised on the occasion of the amount of
the grant being increased and apparently with the assent of the grantee. In the
second case the custom of primogeniture was proved to exist in the jagridar’s
family. In the third case the terms of
the grant were modified with the consent of the original grantee.”
157. Punjab
Jagris Act V of 1941.
In accordance with the decision of the Punjab Government an Act No. V of 1941
repealing section 8 of the Punjab Lawa Acts , IV of 1872, was passed by the
provincial Legislature and received the assent of the Governor of the Punjab.
The main provision of the Act is as follows :-
“(7(1) Where Government has
heretofore declared or at any time hereafter declares that any rule of descent
in respect of succession to any jagir shall prevail in the family of jagirdars,
such rule of descent shall be deemed to prevail in the family of jagirdars,
such rule of descent shall be deemed to
prevail , and to have prevailed from the time when the declaration was made
anything in any law or contract to the contrary notwithstanding:
Providing that no such declaration
shall here after be made unless and until-
(a) (a) Government is
satisfied that the rule of descent to be so declared actually prevails in the
family and has been continuously and without breach , or observed in all
succession (if any) to the jagir since it was made ; or
(b) (b) The jagirdar or his
successor in interest for time being has by written instrument duly executed by
him either before or after the passing of this Act, signified on behalf of
himself and his family acceptance of the rule of descent to be so declared and
either no succession has taken place since such acceptance the jagir has in
fact not devolved otherwise than it would have devolved had the said rule of
descent been in force.
(2) Any declaration made under
sub-section(1) may be amended, varied or rescinded by Government , but always
subject to the proviso thereto”.
Where the rule of descent declared
to prevail involves the devolution of the assignment of land revenue to a
single person as impartible property, it cannot be attached by order of Court
(section 11). In declaring the rule of decent Government may attach to it the
following conditions:-
(a) (a) that each
successor to the jagir shall be approved and accepted as such by government ,
and
(b) (b) that he shall ,if
required by Government , make such provision as Government deem suitable for
the maintenance of the widows and other
members of the family of the last or any previous holders of the jagir [section
8(a) and (b)].
The Government is bound approving of a
successor to accept the nearest their according to the declared rule who is not
unfit (proviso to section 8).”
157-A. Principles to be observed in fixing
maintenance allowances out of the assignment - The main object of the Punjab Descent of
Jagirs Act is to maintain the importance of the family through the principles
of primogeniture and impartiality. Grant of allowances should therefore, be
permitted to defeat this object. The following
principles should be borne in mind when making recommendations:-
(1) (1) Section 8-A
(b) of Act IV of 1872 gives to Government the power of enforcing on a
succession to a jagir which comes within the scope of the provision , suitable
maintenance for the widow or windows (if any ) and other members of the
family of any previous holder of the assignment . The direct descendant of any
previous holder is included in the term ‘member of the family.’
(2) (2) At the same,
Government have full discretion in the matter, and exercise of its powers must
depend on the circumstances of each which include inter alia the allowances
already in existence. As a general rule, and subject to principle No. (5)
below, no allowance should be made to a member of the family who is not in need
of it, having due regard to the standard of living which he may be expected to
maintain.
(3) (3) No hard and
fast rule can be laid down in regard to adults , in particular where previous
practice is in their favour.
(4) (4) As a general
rule, subject , of course, to exceptions
, there should be good reasons for stopping or reducing , on a new succession ,
allowances already in existence . A ground for reduction, which would however,
require careful consideration , might be the fact that a new succession
involved additional allowances constituting serious encroachment on the total
value of the jagir, if existing ones were maintained at their full amount.
(5) (5) Government
would be reluctant to intervene where family arrangements are proposed and are
not clearly unsuitable.
158. Interpretation
of successions to heirs male - An important ruling is contained in Punjab Government letter No. 108,
dated 13 December, 1893, determining the interpretation of the conventional
expression “Succession to heirs male” when used in the original order conveying
sanction to grant. Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick held that “the rule applicable to
grant of this sort in the Punjab is that it descends to a single heir, unless a
different rule of succession is specially prescribed.”
Several subsequent decisions have
been based on this view and the grants notified under section 7(a) of the
Punjab Jagirs Act, No. V of 1941” accordingly.
For the purpose of this ruling the
term “male issue” may be taken to be the equivalent of “heirs males”.
This ruling applies only to cases
which under the general orders of 1859 (see paragraph 140) are inheritable by a
single heir.
159. Succession
of single heirs prescribed in case of small grants for service to be performed
- To prevent the
splitting up of small grants made in consideration of service to be rendered to
village communities, it was ruled in 1865 that small grants given in lieu of
service to be performed or responsibilities to be fulfilled should be held from
generation to generation by one individual only . * * * * Ordinarily this
individual should be the eldest heir of the deceased incumbent, but where special reasons exist for superseding him, it will be within
the discretion of the local authorities so to arrange, provided this be in
accordance with the wishes of those interest in the service to be rendered.”(Punjab
Government No. 414 dated 30th May 1868.)
The occupation of existing holders
was not be disturbed but advantage was to be taken of future successions to get
rid of the joint enjoyment. (Financial Commissioner Book Circular No. 13 of
1865.)
160. Grant
of right of adoption to ruling chiefs - In some parts of the Punjab great families are
perhaps in more danger of extinction by entire failure of heirs than of
degradation by partition of their estates among a numberous progeny. When the
current of opinion changed after the mutiny the privilege of adopting an heir
in the event of their having no sons was conferred on may ruling Chiefs in the
Punjab and elsewhere. In the case of Sikh Chiefs it is hardly possible to
represent this as the restoration of a right which ought never to have been
denied. Sir Henry Lawrence (Paragraphs 345 and 45 of postscript to Major H.
Lawrence’s Report on this summary Settlement of kaithal)and Sir Lapel
Griffin(Rajas of the Punjab Pages 225 and 226.) both stated quest of the
Phulkain Rajas to be permitted to adopt ion the ground that the concession
would be an innovation on the custom which had always prevailed among the
Chiefs of the Cis-Sutlej territory.” Rajas of the Punjab Pae 228.)
161. Grants
of adoption sanads to selected jagirdars - In 1862 adoption Sanads were conferred on two
important jagirdars , Raja Tej Singh and Sardar Shamsher Singh, Sindhawalia who
before the annexation of the Punjab had been members of the Lahore Council of
Regency. No other Jagirdar enjoyed the right down to the year 1888, when it was
given to Sardar Lal Singh , Kailainwala. In connection with Lal Singh’s case
Sir Charles Aitchison proposed to the Government of Indian that the right of
adoption should be bestowed from time to time on carefully selected jagirdar
families. He remarked :-“it would be necessary to make a very careful selection
of the jagirdars deemed worthy of the right of adoption . Each case would be
weighted on its own merits, and the concession would be allowed as an honour and
a reward . In the work of selection regard would be had to the influence,
position , history, and services of the family ; to its loyalty and activity in
the cause of good government in times of
peace; and the reputation of the jagirdars for kindness towards dependents and
to the landholders and other living on the jagir. In this way , the
Government would always have in its
hands a powerful incentive to good and loyal services; and those not granted
the concession in the first instance might hope in time to win it by proved
deserts . it might further be provided that the privilege should be liable to
forfeiture for disloyalty or other misconduct which might be defined.
“It may be asked what would be the
advantages of the concession to the public and private but of such a nature
that the Government , acting in the public interests, could fairly take them
into view? It is well known that the grant of adoption sanads to Chiefs has not
operated to increase the number of adoptions, but to allay disquietude of mind. Many cases that have come before the
Lieutenant- Governor have convinced him that the practice of declining to
consider grants till the death of grantees gives the grantees much unnecessary
anxiety in their decline in years. It is natural and laudable on the part of
heads of families to desire before they die to know that heir houses will
survive them and their relations will be provided for. The lieutenant –
Governor knows that much anxiety
prevails in this matter which it is within our power to remove and one measure
which would tend to set these painful uncertainties at rest would be the grant
of adoption sanads to selected jagirdars holding in perpetuity.
“ It may be admitted, however that
the purely public advances would be much more important . The measure in
contemplation would give great political strength to the Government. In the
Punjab in particular the boon would be a proper recognition of the loyal and
faithful services , in peace and war of the most prominent men in the British
territories of this part of India – Services rendered in most cases with
unswerving zeal and praiseworthy alacrity for more than a generation. The men
who have thus served us are the men who
stood by us in the storm of the Mutiny; and we know by the heartfelt offers
made during the Afghan War and later at the time of the Panjdeh incident, that
the spirit which animated them and their fathers thirty years ago still lives.
We desire its perpetuation; we desire that the families who have aided us in
the difficult task of continuous administration and have proved themselves our
friends in time of need shall not diew out of the land. We need leaders of the
people and times may come again in which
the diminution of that class would be felt as a serious public calamity. The
measure proposed would tend directly to
the attainment of these objects and would invigorate and cheer the performance
of those duties of which it was there ward and or the continued performance of
which it would be a security” (Punjab Government No. 224 , ½ dated 3rd
March 1887).
The Government of India accepted the
views put forward by the Lieutenant- Governor, but considered that the objects
aimed at would “be best attained by selecting from time to time in individual
cases the jagridars to whom it is proposed to give the privilege of adoption.”
162. Grants
of adoption sanads - This
opinion, however has since been reconsidered . it was represented that the
grant of merely personal sanads of adoption went but a little way towards
furthering the policy of the Punjab Government in regard to the maintenance
of their jagirdars as source of real
political strength . It was urged that the need for men of good family who have
influence in the country and are ready to use it on our side certainly had not
diminished in the yards which and elapsed since Sir Charles Aitchison put
forward his views in the official pronouncement quoted above : that on this
ground alone it was to our interest to preserve the old families whose
influence was naturally greater than that of new grantees could be ; and that,
this being admitted, it was on the assumption
that suitable adoptions could be made a matter of no consequence to us
whether the successor was an adopted son or a son of the body.
“We have in fact an aristocracy of
high traditions, and sentiment apart, we ought to uphold it in our own
interests…… We wish to preserve the families of our great jagirdars in order
that they may be useful to us : that they may help us in ordinary times in the
suppression of crime and support us with their own strength in the country in
times of trouble….. What they want and may well have, if I rightly apprehend
the policy is an assurance that Government
does not desire the lapse of their Jagirs. The present concession rather
suggests that Government is not prepared to forego the fiscal gain of
occasional lapses.
”(Extract from a note by Hon’ble Mr.
C.L. Tupper, C.S.I. Financial Commissioner dated 9th December 1900,
forwarded to the Government of India with Punjab Government letter No. 17,
dated 26th February 1901.These arguments were supported by the
Government of India and accepted by His Majesty’s Secretary of State, the
rules(Financial Commissioner’s circular No . 4951, dated 22nd
September 1902.
(1) (1) The privilege
contained in the grant of an adoption sanad shall be an heritable one.
(2) (2) Such a Sanad shall
only be granted to jagirdars who are found specially worthy of the honour, and
they shall be selected with reference to their possession of the qualifications
already laid down as necessary by Sir Charles Aitchison in the passage already
quoted in paragraph 160 above.
(3) (3) Its grant shall be
subject to the following conditions: (a) The acceptance by the jagirdar of the
maintenance conditions specified in section 88 of the Punjab Jagirs Act, No V
of 1941 and (b) the sanctions of the Government of India.
(4) (4) An improper or
unsuitable adoption may be vetoed by the Local Government.
(5) (5) The succession shall
be regulated by a rule of integral descent to a signal heir usually the rule of
primogeniture.
163. Use
of adoption sanad in connection with Descent of Jagirs Act.- It will thus be seen that the
grant of an adoption sanad while conferring a valuable privilege upon the
grantee is also useful as furthering the policy enunciated in the Punjab Jairs
Act, No. V of 1941 limiting succession to a single heir and of preventing the
minute sub-division of jagirs with its consequent loss of prestige and
influence to the Jagirdar.
164. Perpetual
Jagris declared inalienable - Unless assignments of land revenue are incapable of transfer by the
grantees and of attachment by order of Court their public uses may easily be
destroyed . In 1852 the Government of India ordered the insertion in sanads
relating to perpetual grants of a clause prohibiting allegation. (Government of
India No. 2990, dated 27th August 1852. The letter refers to jagirs
in the Punjab north and west of the Sutlej.) It will be remembered that one of
the subsidiary succession rules sanctioned 1853 in the case of the Cis- Sutlej
jagirs declared that (past alienation’s whether to relations or strangers
should not be officially recognized or recorded.(See paragraph III) In 1857
Lord Canning sanctioned a proposal that each successor to a Cis-Sutlej
perpetual jagir should receive it unencubered by any liability for the debts of
his predecessor if he refrained from appropriating any of his real and personal
estate apart from the Jagir. (Government of India No. 109 , dated 9th
January 1857. The additional rule which allowed the heir, while repudiating the
debts toredeem the family mansion and the jagir land held in proprietary right
(Financial Commissioner’s circular No. 65 of 1857) Could not now be legally
enforced.)This order was declared applicable to all perpetual jagir in the Punjab by Financial Commissioner’s
circular No.8, dated 3rd February 1857. The court of Directions to
whom the order was communicated expressed surprise that it should have been
thought necessary to issue it, and remarked–
“We should have supposed that there could be
no necessity for notifying this as a rule since it follows from the very nature
of a jagir, which cannot be alienated and can only be attached for the life of the holder”.
(Dispatch, Political Department No,51 dated 30th August 1858, quoted
in Financial Commissioner’s Book Circular No. XXXVII of 1858.)
165. Mr.
Cust’s Revenue Manual declares all jagirs and mafis to be inalienable- Probably the Directions only
referred to grants for more than one life. But in his consolidated circular on “Jagirdars and
M’afidars” issued in 1860 and again in his revenue Manual published in 1866,
the Financial Commissioner, Mr. Cust wrote –
It is scarcely necessary to remark
that the jagirdar or m’afidar has no power of sale mortgage , gift or sub-lease
of his revenue assignment , except under special circumstances which must be
proved. Contracts of this kind will not be recognized by the revenue Courts, and the parties in
possession on those pleas will be considered only the private agents of the
holders with no legal rights.”(Cust’s Revenue Manual , Page 15)
166. Assignment
may be treated as inalienable except in Delhi territory - It is to be regretted that no
distinct legal provision exists declaring assignments even for a term
inalienable . Section 12 Act XXIII of 1871 (an Act to consolidate and amed the
lay relating to pensions and grants by Government of money or land revenue)
refers only to pensions , and in the preamble to the act a distinction is drawn
between pensions, and grants of land revenue. There are , however,
judicial decisions to the effect that a
pensions may take from of a land revenue assignment. Be that as it may it is
clear that under sections 4 to 6 of the Act no. Civil Court can take cognizance of any claim to a grant of land
revenue based on an alleged transfer unless the collector gives a certificate
permitting it to do so. In deciding whether to issue such a certificate and in
his action generally with respect to assignments a revenue officer is as a rule fully justified in treating
private transfers of the right to receive a share of the revenue due to the
State as a breach of the conditions of the grant. In the case of m’afis for the
support of institutions it is obvious that if the manager mortgages the income
on account of his private debts, the conditions are broken. Unless arrangements
can be made for the speedy removal of the encumbrance the remedy lies in
resumption or in suspension of payment tile the persons interested in the
institution can arrange for the appointment of a new manager, who would feel
himself under no obligation to continue the diversion of the endowment from its
proper uses. Probably this would hold good as regards grants for the
maintenance of institutions even in the Delhi territory, though assignments in
that part of the praline are ordinarily transferable(paragraph 130).
167. Early
authorities declare assignments to be capable of attachment. The law regarding the attachment
of assignments by decree of court is in a somewhat doubtful state. In the dispatch
quoted in paragraph 164 the Court of Directions wrote that Jagirs can only be
attached for the life of the holder “ Mr. Cust remarked: -
Jagir and m’afi holding are liable
to attachment under decree of the civil and Revenue Courts . The revenue will be
collected by the tahsildar and paid to the parties holding the decrees . With
the death of the life holder all claim of the creditor expires. Grants to
institutions are not liable for the personal debts of the manager. ( Cust’s
Revenue Manual , Page 15)
This practically assumes that
assignments are private property in which the existing holders have life
interests. It ignores the view that the possession of them involves public
duties.
168. Doubtful
state of the law.
Section 11 of Act XXIII of 1871 provides that “no pension granted or continued
by Government on political considerations, or on account of past services, or
as a compassionate allowance shall be liable to …..attachment….. in
satisfaction of a decree or order of any…. Court. Political pensions are exempted from attachment by
section 266(g) of the Civil Procedure Code. In one case (C.R. 137 P.R.,1890)
the Chief Court of the Punjab held that, though a grant of land revenue may be
and no doubt often is a distinct thing from a pension, there is no reason why a
pension should not take as the mode of payment , the form of an assignment of
land revenue. In a latter case (C.R. No. 47 P.R.:of 1893) the former Punjab
rulings on the subject were considered
and the law summed up as follows:-
“These cases are sufficient to show
that while some jagir income may be liable to attachment, other jagir income
may not.”
169. Duties
of Collector in connection with attachment of assignments. Assigned revenue is an “interest in
land” and an order or its attachment made by any Civil or Criminal Court must
be addressed to the Collector.(Section 141, Act XVII of 1887) and must direct
the person by whom the revenue is payable to pay it to the Collector and the
Collector to hold it subject to the further orders of the Court."”(Section
142 Act XVII of 1887) IN execution proceedings the Collectors is the agent of
the Court and must obey its order
without demur. But after the attachment has been made , he would be justified
in pointing out to the Court any reasons why in his opinion it should be
withdrawn . It is for the Court to decide whether the reasons are valid. If the
matter were properly represented, it seems probable that a Civil Court would
hold that revenue granted for the support of an institution should not be
attached in execution of a decree on account . of the private debts of the
manager.
170. Provisions
of section 8(3) of Punjab Act, IV of 1900. In 1898 the Punjab Government proposed the
amendment of section 11 of Act XXIII of 1871 so as to protect all assignments
of land revenue from attachment. ( Punjab Government No. 86, dated 24th
August 1989.) The government of India held that it would be enough to exempt
those jagirs only in respect of which primogeniture has been, or shall be,
declared to be the rule of descent. (Government of India No. 341-A 277.2, dated
9th February 1899.
171. Questions
regarding successions.
Questions of succession do not as a rule cause much trouble . The terms of
truant usually indicate clearly who the successor or successors must be.
172. Registration
of heirs to jagirs. Every shareholder in a Cis-Sutlej
Jagir is required to report the birth of a sons within a week of its occurrence
in order that the necessary entry may be made in the genealogical tree. No
Investigation , public or private, should be instituted into the truth of the
relationship of the child to his reputed father, when there are kinsmen in the
line of succession to the jagir unless they have moved in the matter in their
own interest . If there are no such kinsmen it may become necessary to make
some private enquiry , but only if rumours of fraud have reached the ears of
the collector. If private enquiry seems needful, the Collector must obtain the
sanction of the Commissioner before making it, and report the result for
orders. Alleged posthumous births will usually require verification ,
especially if the Collector has received no notice that the widow declares
herself to be pregnant. Such declarations are often not to be trusted and
enquiry to be effectual must be made before the birth takes place or is ,
according to the widow’s statement, due . In such access it may be advisable
with the Commissioner’s sanction to arrangement due. In such cases it may be
advisable with the Commissioner’s sanction to arrange if possible , for the
service of a competent lady doctor for the personal examination of the widow.
173. Succession
to small grants for service. The rule limiting the succession to a single heir in the case of small
grants for service to be performed has already been noticed (paragraph 159).
174. Succession
to small grants assigned to several persons for their lives- When the revenue of a plot has been
assigned to two or more individual’s collectively without specifying that the
share of each shall lapse on his death of the last of them the whole will
lapse. This rule only refers to petty grants.(Punjab Government notification
No. 1386 dated 27th October 1873.)
175. Successions
to grants for religious institutions. The cases of succession which cause most
difficulty are those relating to endowments for the support of religious
institutions . Unfortunately the death of the head of a monastery or of the
guardian of a tomb or shrine is often followed by a dispute among his disciples as to who shall occupy the vacant
seat. It is no part of Collector’s duty to settle such matters. It is the
policy of Government , as laid down in Act XX of 1863, to abstain from
interference in the management of religious institutions and five years before
that Act was passed the same principle was clearly stated in Chief
Commissioner’s Circular No. 23 dated 25th August , 1858. If the
succession is contested the Collector should either pay the revenue to the
claimant who is actually in possession , or suspend payment altogether till the
dispute is settled. He should adopt the latter course when litigation is
protracted and it is clear that funds intended for religious or charitable
purpose are being diverted into the pockets of lawyers.
176. Resumption
for breach of conditions. An assignment may be resumed when the conditions attached to it are
broken. These condition s may be either
expressed or implied.
177. Breach
in case of assignments for support of religious institutions. Fishing inquiries as to the
disposal of the income of grants made for the support of religious or
charitable institutions are unwise. But if the building is falling into ruins
or has been deserted, or if the endowment is clearly being misapplied,
interference is necessary. It is equally so if the guardian notoriously a man
of bad character, and complaints reach the Collector’s ears that a house of
prayer has become a den of thieves or gamblers, or that respectable women can
no longer visit it for purposes of worship. A time can set within which the persons
interest in the institution must arrange for the repair of the building or the
remedy of the abuses, which have infected its management failing which
resumption will be proposed.
178. The
condition of loyalty and good conduct - Many grants are by their terms expressly
conditional on loyalty and good conduct. The form of a sanad sanctioned for
perpetual assignments in 1870 declares that the grant is held on the above
conditions during the pleasure of Government. This as an expression of the
policy of Government announced to the grantees when they received their sanads
is important. But in deciding what the terms of old grants are it is necessary
to look to the original order of release rather than to the wording of a
general form of sand prescribed many years later.
179.
Every assignment really liable to forfeiture for flagrant misconduct - But whether the original grant
stipulates for good conduct on the part of the grantee or not, Government is
justified in holding that there is a point in the case of every assignment at which the misbehavior
of the assignee will justify an order of forfeiture. What that point is must
depend largely on the history of the grant . Considering the origin , for
example of may of the jagirs in the Cis-Sutlej and Delhi territories it would
be wrong to mete out the same measure to them as to assignments which have
sprung simply from the bounty of the British Government.
180. Assignment
forfeited if grantee is guilty of treason’s or of a capital offence. The title of any person to hold or
to inherit a jagir or a share in a jagir is forfeited when he is convicted of a
crime involving a death sentence. If he is in possession , the jagir will lapse
entirely . If his interest in the jagir is contingent, it will cease as regards
himself, but survive as regards his children or other heirs. The Government of
India ruled in 1856 that the share which the criminal would in ordinary course
have inherited should be confiscated entirely when the jagirdar whose heir he
was died.(Government of India No. 4170, dated 8th August 1856) but
the court of Directions refused to accept a ruling which involved the doctrine
of corruption of blood”
They remarked: -
“Forfeiture of the whole property of
a convicted felon is one of the punishment prescribed by law, and for this
there may be sufficient reasons, no with standing the hardship which results to
his innocent offspring. But in the present case you have pronounced a
prospective confiscation of landed rights which have never vested in the offenders,
but which would have legally descended to them on the death of their father who
still survives, thus adopting the principle of corruption of blood, own to the
ancient law or this country, but long stigmatized by the best authorities and
condemned by the opinion of the present age. We cannot sanction this principle
and we direct that the children of Nihal succeed to their father’s share on the
death of their grandfather in the same manner as if their father had died in
the course of nature.”
(Dispatch No. 44m dated 18th
August 1858.)
A grant is also forfeited by the
commissioner of any act of treason or disloyalty. (Financial Commissioner’s
Book Circular No, L III of 1860.)
181. Ruling
of Punjab Government in 1883. In 1883 the cases of two shares in trans-Sutlej conquest jagirs, who
had been convicted respectively of attempted burglary and of receiving stolen
property were brought to the notice of Government. It was then ruled that “When
the deed of grant contains nothing which reserves to government the power that
“When the deed of grant contains nothing which reserves to Government the power
of resumption (perpetual ) grants …..can only become liable to forfeiture for
treason or when the holder commits an offence for which under the ordinary law
the court could pass a sentence of forfeiture of all the property of the
offender.” (Punjab Government No.194, dated 23rd April 1883.)
182. Later
attitude of Punjab Government - It is very doubtful whether this doctrine which treats a right to a
share of revenue due to the State as standing on the same footing as private
property, would now be accepted . It is inconsistent with the view of the
nature of assignments in the Punjab which was put before the government of
India in 1898. ( See paragraph 155.)In a recent case belonging to he Peshawar
district a perpetuity jagir was, on the death of he holder converted with the
sanction of the Government of India into the perpetual cash pension of much
smaller amount because of the failure of the deceased jagirdar to show active
loyalty or to treat the local representatives of government with proper
respect. In recommending this action Sir Mack worth young remarked that he
supported it” not so much because the grant was originally one of Rs. 1000 and
was increased subject to government service as well as good conduct, though
this might …… perhaps be argued, but on the broad ground that every assignment
of land revenue is held on the understanding that the assignee maintains a
loyal attitude towards the government and failing this is liable to have his
grant confiscated.” (Punjab Government No. 506 dated 30th July
1901)” A few years ago a jagridar belonging to one of the leading families in
the Punjab was warned that “Jagirs are granted for public objects and that with
respect to the condition attached to his grant circumstances might arise in
which Government might be compelled reluctantly to resume it.” (Punjab
Government No. 949-S, dated 25th August 1898.) In that case the
sanad stated that the grant was conditional on good conduct and loyal service.
183. Lapses
in favour of Jagridars - In some cases the benefit of a lapse accrues to a jagirdar and not to
Government. The circumstances under which this takes place are described in
paragraph 23-25 of financial commissioner’s Standing Order No. 7.
184. Settlement
made in some cases with ex-mafidars or their heirs. When an assignment lapses the person entered
in there cord of rights as landowner usually becomes responsible for the
payment of the land revenue to Government. In technical phrase “ the settlement
is made with him” But it may be found that the connection of the late mafidar
with the land really amounted to a proprietary or sub-proprietary or
sub-proprietary tenure and in that case he or his heirs is entitled to claim
the settlement. This subject, which in practice is somewhat difficult one, is
dealt with a paragraphs 182-185 of the Settlement Manual.
185. Treatment
of assignments at settlement - When a general re-assessment of district takes place it is the business
of the Settlement Officer to examine and attest all existing assignments of
land revenue. Some remarks on the subject will be found in paragraphs 568-575
of the Settlement Manual.
186. Duties
of Collector in connection with assignments. The main duties of the collector of a
district in connection with revenue-free grants are: -
(1) (1) as regards term
–expired grants to see that laps are enforced without delay or a recommendation
made for a reconsideration of the original order should resumption appear
undesirable;
(2) (2) as regards other
assignments-
(a) (a) on the death
of the existing holder to pass order
promptly about the succession
(b) (b) to satisfy himself
that the conditions of the substantially fulfilled by the assignee.
The discretion of the Collector to
resume of his own authority assignments of which the term has expired is not
unfettered. In a few cases he has been forbidden to do so and as regards other
lines of policy have been laid down to which the must conform. These duties are
discharged by the Collector even when the district is under settlement ; but
all cases should be reported to him for orders by the settlement Officer, to
whom also the orders should be communicated in order that proper effect may be
given to them in the records, and that Settlement Officer may be able to carry
out the duty imposed on him by paragraphs 568 et seq. Of the Settlement Manual.
187. Grants
for service in 1843 and during the Mutiny. Grants on account of services rendered in
1848 or during the mutiny originally made for a term may not be resumed without
reference to the Financial Commissioner.(Punjab Government Nos. 104 dated 30th
August 1889 and 141 dated 6th December 1889) there are strong
reasons for showing liberality in such
cases , which are well explained in the following remarks by Sir James
Lyall”(Punjab Government No. 192-S dated 6th July 1889)
“4. In certain cases which came
before him as Financial Commissioner Sir James Lyall recorded an opinion that
it was good policy to maintain in perpetuity grans for services rendered at the
mutiny on the ground that such grants remain as evidence of the result of
loyalty and have a considerable political
effect. To these views Sir James Lyall still adhere and is strongly of
opinion that in the case of the small jagir or m’afi grants , which were made
to the best of the Sikh and Punjabi Muhammadan
native Officers in 1859 and 1860
in recognition of their having obeyed our call and joined our standard at a
critical time and distinguished themselves as soldiers, it would generally be
good policy and well worth the money to continued to show itself loyal and well
disposed and ready to do service. The money value of these grants is small ,
but the value put on them is great as in this country of peasant proprietors
they give the family which holds them a high social status in the eyes of the rural population ,and mark it out for
recognition by the Officers of Government.
It is these land holding families better off
though they be than the mass of peasantry, but still only what may be termed
yeomen proprietors, which furnish the men who are the flower of the present
cavalry and infantry of the Indian Army and who make the best Native Officers,
They have some ancestral military traditions and feelings of gentility and also
a certain small amount of capital. They serve more for the love of the thing
than for profit and eventually retire and live on their lands. It is in Sir
James Lyall’s opinion a great object to keep alive the spirit which induces men
of this class to serve in our Army, and
which might die out any day. The continuance of small grants in their villages
to the heirs of the men who joined our standard in 1857 and then much
distinguished themselves will be one way of keeping alive this sprit and of
encouraging future generations to follow the example if similar critical times
ever occur again.”
188. Bedi
and sodhi grants - One
of the rules prescribed by Lord Hardinge and Lord Dalhousie provided for the
re-consideration on the death of the holders of assignments conferred for
service of any kind to be rendered to Sikh rulers, including grants of Bedis
and Sodhis which were originally confirmed only for the service of any kind to be rendered to Sikh
rulers, including grants to Bedis and
Sodhi’s, which were originally confirmed only for the lives of the incumbents.
This instruction was reproduced in the rules under the first Punjab Land
Revenue Act, XXXIII of 1871. Definite directions have since been given for
heresumption of Bedi and Sodhi revenue – free grants on the deaths of existing
holders and grant of cash pensions to their male descendants, windows and
daughters. These directions make the following rules, which were originally
drawn up for the case of deceased Bedi and Sodhi pensioners. Applicable also to
the cases of deceased holders of revenue free grants who are members of those
two clans. In applying the rules in the first instance on the decease of such
free grant holders the words “pensioner”
and “pension” are to be treated , where necessary as including the deceased
holder or a revenue –free grant and the amount of that grant, respectively .
Except as so applied to such deceased or to his grant, the words must be
interpreted in their strictly literal sense . Thus the heirs of a deceased
revenue – free grant holder are pensioners in the strict sense of the word and
their heirs after them. The pensions go on diminishing generation by generation
till they lapse by commutation or by death or by marriage.
The directions also lay down that Collectors can dispose of these cases
in accordance with the rules without reference to higher authorities.(Punjab
Government Nos. 197 dated 5th December 1884 and 87 dated 4th
July , 1889 and Punjab Government letter No. 5 (revenue) dated 8th
January 1914.)
“(1) On the death of any male
pensioner one –half of his pension will
be continued to his direct male heirs, and divided among them according to the
ordinary custom of inheritance; provided that all pensions of not more
than Rs. 50 per annum climbable under
this rule shall be compulsorily commuted at the ordinary rates.
“(2) On the death of any male
pensioner, one half of his pension will be continued to his window (if any) or
(if there are several widows) divided among his widows in equal shares ;
provided that , if the deceased pensioner leaves motherless and unmarried daughter or daughters, the share of his pension to be allotted to his widows or
widow shall be calculated as if the mother or mother’s of such daughters or
daughters were alive.
“(3) On the death of any male
pensioner, other than the head of the house for the time being , leaving
motherless and unmarried daughters , the said daughters of each mother shall receive in equal shares one-half of the pension to
which their mother would have been
entitled under rule-2, in case she had survived her husband.
“(4) On the death of any widow in
receipt of a pension under rule 2, one-half of such pension shall be continued
to her unmarried daughters (if any) upon
equal shares.
(“5) Pensions to widows under rule 2
are life pensions . Pensions of daughters under rule 3 and 4 cease upon death
or marriage of the pensioners; but when they cease for the latter reason the
pensioners are eligible or dowries under the ordinary rules.
(“6) All pensions are held during
the pleasure of Government and subject to the usual conditions of good behavior
, loyalty and service. The local
Government may refuse to grant any pension climbable under these rules, if the
claimant appears to be an unfit recipient of Government bounty.”
189. Pensions
of Anadpur Sodhis.
These rules are applicable to the pensions of the well-known Sodhi family of
Anadpur, in Hoshiarpur , for which indeed they were originally framed.
(Government of India, Foreign Department
No. 1992-G dated 16th October 1884.) But the head of that
family for the time being is in each generation entitled to receive a cash
pension of Rs. 2400 a year. Hence in applying in rules to the Anadpur Sodhis
they must be read with certain additions, “other” being inserted before “male
pensioners” in rule I and “other than the head of the house for the time being”
after “male pensioner” in rule 2.
190. Powers
of collections with reference to Bedi and Sodhi grants. Collections will accordingly be
able to dispose on their own authority of all cases of lapsing Bedi and Sodhi
pensions and jagirs and mafis, only reporting for order of higher authority
cases in which they consider that pensions should be refused or that more
liberal pensions should be allowed, or in which for special reasons they think
that a lapsing grant in the form of a jagir or mafi should be continued in that
form. Cases in which more liberal pensions than the rules allow can properly be
recommended will be extremely rare. But it is probable that some cases will
occur in which it may be advisable to propose continuance, in its original form
of a lapsing life tenure Sodhi or Bedi jagir or mafi grant. Such a proposal
should not however be made unless the release of the grant can be recommended
for some term other than life, such as during the pleasure of Government, in
the case of a very ancient grant held by
a family of some distinction, or during maintenance of a religious or
charitable building or institution , or a roadside garden where such building
or garden is found to exist in connection with the grant and to be worthy of
support. (For further instructions see paragraph 8 of Financial Commissioner’s
Standing order No. 7).
191.191.Policy of Government with
reference to grants in favour of religious and charitable institutions. It
has always been the policy of Government to be especially liberal in
maintaining the grants made by native rulers for the support of religious and
charitable institutions. The orders of Lord Hardinge and Lord Dalhousie on the
subject are given in paragraph 86 and 93, and the rule in force in the Delhi
territory is noted in paragraph 132(d). Orders issued in 1860 required district
officers to regrain from resuming life grants in favour of a mosque or temple,
if the institution was valued by the people and resumption was likely to prove
distasteful to them. Such cases were to be reported for orders . The same
course was to be followed as regards life grants for the support of
dharamsalas, takiyas or khankahs, if resumption would cause “serious
dissatisfaction”.
These injunction were repeated in
more general form in the rules under the Land Revenue Act, XXXIII of 1871, and
in 1881 Settlement Officers were told that grants to religious institutions
released originally for the term of the first regular settlement should be
continued for that the revised settlement , if there were no new or special
reasons to the country. ( Punjab Government No. 447 dated 13 april 1881, and
Financial Commissioner’s circular No. 251 of 1st August 1881. The
same policy is embodied in the more detail in the more detailed instructions
drawn up by Mr. Lyall as Financial commissioner in 1883 quoted below. These
related in the first instance to the treatment of land- revenue assignments in
the Una tahsil of Hoshiarpur which was
under settlement, but they were reproduced in a circular of the Settlement
Commissioner.
192.192.Instructions issued by Mr.
Lyall in 1883. The principles laid down by Mr. Lyall were as follows:-
(i)
(i)
Where the grant is attached to a dharmsala or takiya which still exists, and is
served in the same fashion as at least settlement, the grant should be
maintained subjected to revision by Deputy Commissioner on the death of present
holders, notwithstanding that the building may be only kacha, and that the
grant in value or area may be very petty
and may have originally been granted by the villagers only.
(ii)
(ii)
Where the grant is attached to a thakurdwara, shiwala or khankah consisting
of a mosque or tomb containing a chapel
for prayers it should be maintained for another term of settlement, if the
building be a real religious edifice still kept up as place of worship, whether
in the same village or district or not.
(iii)
(iii)
If the thakurdwara to which the grant is attached is merely the residence of a
Brahmin with a Thakur in some room of it, it should generally be resumed if the
grantee of last settlement is dead and the present holder is not a fit object
of charity.
(iv)
(iv)
Where the grant is not supposed to be attached to any building which worshipers
can enter, but to small erections of the nature of Muhammadan graves, Hindu
cenotaphs , Sarwar Sultan makans, platforms of pirs or devis, & c., the
grant should generally be resumed.
(v)
(v)
Where the grant was given by the villagers to Brahmins for service as pandit ,
pandha , parohit, or acharaj, or to artisans and amins for village service it
should be resumed or at most be only continued for life to old men or women out
of charity.
(vi)
(vi)
If such a grant as that last described was made by a Raja or ruler to a
respectable family of Brahmin parohits as a subsistence grant, it may be
maintained for another term of settlement, if the family is still respected and
engaged in religious offices.
(vii)
(vii)
If the grant was made either by a ruler or by the villagers to men for keeping
a school or for supplying water on a public road to travelers, it should be
treated as a grant for public rather than for village service, and should be
maintained, unless it appears that the original purpose is not fulfilled.”
Where grants were resumed the
villagers we to be given an opportunity of excluding the land from assessment
in distributing the revenue of the estate over holding.
193.193.Proposal to adopt a less
liberal policy as regards petty village mafis. In 1886 the Financial
Commissioner represented that these instructions were too liberal as regards
“petty village muafis”. They wished to draw a broad distinction between
institutions, which benefited only the village in which they were situated and
those, which were places of general, resort. The proposed to resume assignments
in favour of the former so far as Government was concerned, leaving it to the
landowners to continue them, if they pleased, as grants from themselves in the
way described above. They therefore, drafted a circular on “petty village
muafis, of which the second paragraph may be quoted:-
“In general such grants when made
for the term of settlement or for some period not precisely defined (but not
for a life or lives) should be resumed from the date of the introduction of a
new assessment except in cases in which some distinctly public convenience is
secured by their existence. Thus grants to the more important takiyas and
dharamsalas which are situated on roads frequently used by travelers would in
most cases be maintained. The same remarks apply to all schools which are
fairly well managed, even though their pupils may be drawn from single
villages. But grants attached to Muhammadan graves, Hindu cenotaphs, makans of
Sarwar sultan, platforms of pirs and devis and other similar objects are
useless so far as the public good is concerned and should as a general rule be
withdrawn. Similarly grants made to village priests or religious teachers, or
to village menials and artisans should not be continued, nor should grants to
mosques and temples, which are not places of general resort. In fine, the
principle to be borne in mind is the grants in connections with purposes of
general public utility, whether material social or moral should be maintained
but grants in connection with purposes which are either useless or benefit
individual villages only should be resumed the former recipients being left to
the beneficence of those interest in the performance of their functions.
194.194.Rejection of proposal by Mr.
Lyall. 195. Mr. Lyall who was now Lieutenant Governor objected strongly to
the change of policy suggested and refused to sanction the draft circular in
which it was explained. He remarked(Punjab Government No. 70, dated 20th
July 1887)
“His Honor sees no reason for any
change of policy and considers a change
in the direction of less liberality very inexpedient. Any change now-a-days
should be in the opposite direction, as the work reducing the inordinate amount
of revenue assignments in the province has been accomplished and the amount
left is not very great. Mr. Lyall thinks that Settlement Officers and Deputy
Commissioners are apt to be influenced somewhat unduly towards the resumption
of petty grants because they give trouble and because they are, so to speak,
anomalies and awkward exceptions from general revenue rules. But we ought not
be led to adopt a severe and unpopular line of policy by such considerations.
It is well known that m’afis are valued much beyond their worth by the people ,
and sympathy with this feeling should be shown when the money value involved is
not serious.
“The general principle stated in
paragraph 2 of the draft circular that petty village m’afis should as a rule be
resumed from the date of introduction of new assessment, except in case in
which some distinct public convenience is secured by their existence, appears
to His honour to be wrong in itself, a departure from past practice, and
politically very in expedient; and Mr. Lyall thinks that the proposal to extend
this principle to grants made to village priests and religious teachers, or to
village menials and artisans, and to mosques and temples which are not
places of general resort, is far too sweeping . The rule given in paragraph 34 of
appendix III to Barkley’s Directions to
Settlement Officers, page 38 is still substantially in force as indicating the
right policy that is to say it is
expedient that all endowments bona fide made for the maintenance of religious
establishments or buildings are kept up, provided that when such grants are of
great value they should be restricted to such smaller amounts as it may be
thought politically expedient to grant. Where the terms of the original orders
were release during maintenance or during the pleasure of Government “ The
settlement Officer or Deputy Commissioner can only propose an alteration if he
finds the establishments or buildings not kept up for their original purposes.
When however, the original order was for release for the term of settlement,
the case is different. Such cases are provided for by paragraph 2 of this
office letter No. 447, dated 13th April 1881, published with
Financial Commissioner’s circular No. S.IX/25-S of 1st August, 1881.
“in the case of all grants for life
or lives, except Bedi and Sodhi grants, the Deputy Commissioner or Settlement
Officer can resume in the ordinary course in accordance with the original terms
of release. But the case of grants for the term of settlement is peculiar as
the meaning of these orders was not that the grants should be resumed at the
end of the term of settlement , but merely that they might be reconsidered at the end of that term , and the intention
was no doubt that expressed in paragraph 2 of the letter of the Punjab Government above referred to
viz, that in default of special reasons or new orders such grants would ordinarily be continued if
no material change in character had occurred.
“As regards resumption of life
m’afis on lapse, no new orders are necessary in the case of purely personal
grants, which do not purport to benefit
other persons than the holders; but it is advisable that the Settlement Officer
should take the opportunity of the settlement to review the case of all life
m’afis which appear to have been granted in return for service of any kind to
the public or to the people of the village, or to be connected with any
institution such as a school, temple , mosque dharamsala , or takiya. The
original orders sanctioning for life only were very hurriedly made ,and in many
cases were treated differently in different districts; in some the release was
ordinarily allowed for life of the
holder ; in other s for the term of settlement . Hence it has been the practice
to permit and encourage reconsideration’s in such cases on lapse. But this is
very troublesome and inconvenient and tends to very unequal treatment. Hence it
is advisable that the Settlement Officer should generally review such cases,
whether lapse had occurred or not and if he thinks the grant should be
continued for a longer term that the life of the incumbent, he should enter the
case in a register for report, and should generally propose to release for the
term of settlement as that is safest and
allows reconsideration’s.
“In respect to purely village
service or village institution m’afis, of which the sanctioned term is for the
period of settlement or for life, the
Settlement Officer should be empowered in the case of petty grants of not more
than 3 acres in extent to practically resume at settlement , so far as
Government is concerned (without , however , actual imposing any assessment or
bringing the land into calculation in fixing the jama of the village) by
recording orders in the m’afimisl and
the fard lakhiraj that the grant shall be struck off the fard lakhiraj and the
registers, and the land be included at the bachh in the maiguizari area, with
permission, however , to the azmindars if the majority so wish to exclude the land from the bachh
during their pleasure . In such cases, if the zamindars decide to exclude the
fact will be noted in the bachh rubkar and the land will be held revenue free
from the azmindars only but as far as Government is concerned , will be
considered as khalsa. The adoption of this procedure will place a number of these petty grants in
their proper position of grants held from the zamindars . They were originally
allowed by the Government at the request of the zamindars but by granting them independently of the zamindars
wishes and authority we have altered their character in an undesirable way ,
the exclusions of the grants from there gestures will save much trouble at a
very slight loss to Government , which loss will only be for the term of the settlement. But this
procedure should not be followed where
there are clearly no grounds for continued. In life tenure m’afis of this kind,
where the term has not yet lapsed, the
case cannot , of course be so treated , but the order may be passed that
at the death of the holder the m’afi will be assessed and the revenue will go to the village malba.”
195.195.Special treatment of village
grants of an annual value not exceeding Rs. 20. The special treatment
sanctioned for village m’afis of not more than three acres really met the
wishes of the Financial Commissioners to
a large extent, for may of the grants with which their circular dealt were very
petty, the limit has since been raised
from “three acres “ to “an annual value of Rs. 20 must be extremely small.
196.196.Existing orders as to small village grants . the orders of Sir James Lyall quoted in paragraph 194 had later been interpreted by Government as involving a distinction between (a) m’afis for the maintenance of “religious establishments or buildings for public accommodation” and (b) m’afis of the annual value of Rs. 20 or less for the maintenance or other institutions or for village services, and the collector’s power to enforce the lapse of term-expired grants of the former class had been withdrawn. A decisions whether an establishment is really religious or not will often be facilitated by application of the principles contained in sections (ii), (iii) and iv of paragraph All grants of class (a) should on expiry of the term of release be reported for the orders of the Financial Commissioner. If the establishment or building concerned is properly maintained , the m’afi should usually be recommended for continuation for another term of settlement under paragraph 51 of standing Order No. 7 If it is proposed to enforce the lapse of the assignment the grounds for resuming e.g., failure to maintain the establishment or building should be reported and the orders of the Financial Commissioner obtained. In case of grants of class (b) the existing order are :-
“The Settlement Officer is empowered to adopt either of three courses ;-
(1) (1) In the case of unexpired life m’afis he may either record that on expiry they should be resumed and assessed in the ordinary way or he may report them to Financial Commissioner for sanction to maintain them for the term of the new settlement , should that be longer than the life term already sanctioned;
(2) (2) In the case of m’afis for term of settlement only , he may either resume and assess in the ordinary way; or
(3) (3) He may resume as a grant from government but leave the land assessed for one period of settlement in order to see whether the zamindars will agree to continue the m’afis as a grant from themselves by kharij parta arrangement.
In the letter case orders will be recored in the m’afi misl and the fard lakhiraj that the grant shall be struck off the fard lakhiraj and there glisters and the land be included at the bachh in the maiguzari area, with permission, however , to the zamindars, if the majority so wish to exclude the land from the batch during their pleasure. The object of these instructions is to put these small m’afis on their original footing of lands released by the zamindars. In order to effect this change more smoothly and with as few resumption’s as possible on the part of the villagers , the Government agrees to give up for one settlement the revenue which might have been assessed on these resumed m’afis. By this procedure it costs the villagers nothing to continue the grant as one from themselves and they are therefore more likely to adopt this course. At the same time if they do elect to assess these plots it becomes clear that the assessment is their work and not ours. “
It is of course open to the Collector of a district to propose that a life m’afi for village service or in favour of a village institution the term of which has expired by the death of the holder should be continued for the period of the current settlement of the district.
197.197.Assessment of lands of which the revenue is assigned. The law and practice as regards the assessment of lands of which the revenue is assigned are explained in paragraphs 180-81 of the Settlement Manual . It is rarely necessary for the Collector to make a new assessment when a grant is resumed. The following orders which were previously Land Revenue rules 214 and 215 and issued under section 59 of the Land Revenue Act provide that :-
(a) (a) When in any district or tahsil an assignment of land revenue’s is resumed , if that land revenue was assessed in the same from and by the same method as that in and by which land revenue paid to government on the same estate or on adjacent estates was assessed at the last general assessment , no new assessment of the resumed assignment shall be made until a general re-assessment of the district or tahsil is undertaken.
(b) (b) If the land revenue enjoyed by the assignee was not so assessed , or if where the assignee was himself the landowner no assessment of his land has hitherto been made the Collector shall assess land revenue on the land of which the revenue has been resumed in conformity with the principles and Instructions on which the current assessment of the tahsil or district was made.”
“Care should however, be taken that the land revenue imposed on such land does not raise the total assessment of the circle in which it is situated to more than one fourth of the net assets of the circle. If the land forms parts of an estate and is not excluded from the provisions of section 51(3) by section 51(4) of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 , this object can in most cases be secured for all practical purposes by providing that the average rate of incidence on such land does not exceed the average rate of the estate in which it is included . Any case in which this is not suitable , as for example of specially valuable land should be referred for orders . If however, the land consists of a fresh estate, the rate of incidence of the assessment imposed thereon should not be such as to raise the existing average rate of incidence of the assessment circle beyond the limit prescribed in section 51(3).
198. Revisions of assessment and suspensions and remission. The owners of land of which the revenue is assigned are entitled to exactly the same treatment as regards revision of assessment and suspensions and remissions on account of calamities of season , as the proprietors khalsa lands. (Financial Commissioner’s Book circular No. LIII of 1860. Special vigilance is required in enforcing this principle where a jagridar is still allowed to collect the revenue direct from the landowners.
199. Jurisdiction of civil courts as regards assignments barred between annexation and 1867. Lord Dalhousie’s declaration that “by our occupation of the country , after the whole Sikh nation had been in arms against us we have acquired the absolute right of conquers and would be justified in declaring every acre of land liable to Government assessment” has already been quoted (paragraph 89) Commenting on this in the case of sardar Bhagwan Singh versus . The Secretary of State (Punjab Record, 1875, No. 1), the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council observed –
It appears to their Lordships that by these directions to the Board it was contemplated by the Governor –General to make what may be called a tabula Rasa of tenures of this kind and to re-grant them on terms entirely at the discretion of the British government the Government no doubt intending to act with allfairness and consideration, especially to those who appear to have been not unfaithful to them , but at the same time in a manner which appeared right and just to themselves and which they did not intend to be inquired into or questioned by any Municipal Courts.”
The Board of Administration ruled in 1853 that the civil courts should not take orgnizance of claims of relatives to participation under the general laws cognizance of claims of relatives to participation under the general laws of inheritance in rent free holdings which have been conferred on particular individual by orders of government .(Board circular No 5 of 1853.) . And by sections 1 –10 of first part of the Punjab Civil Code, punished in 1854 , the jurisdiction of these courts was barred as regards “any matter relating to jagir rent-free tenures , or tenures of other grants made by Government * * * * * or to the succession thereto , or to the shares , rights and interest theirin * * * * *but, if the jagirdars or m’afidars shall have farmed those rents or revenues to a third party , possessing no proprietary rights in the estate, then suits between the jagirdar or m’afidar and such third party may be entertained by the courts “
The first Code of Civil Procedure was extended to the Punjab from 1st October , 1866 and between 1867 and 1871, when the Pensions Act was passed, the Chief Court claimed and in a few instances exercised , jurisdiction in jagir cases.
200. Provisions of the pensions Act, XXIII of 1871. The matter has been finally settled by sections 4 to 6 Act XXIII of 1871 which provide that :-
“4. Except as hereinafter provided , no civil court shall entertain any suit relating to any pensions or grant of money or land revenue conferred or made by the British or any former Government , whatever may have been consideration for any such pension or grants and whatever may have the nature of the payment , claim or right , for which such pension or grant may have been substituted.
“5. Any person having a claim relating to any such pension or grant may prefer such claim to the Collector of the district *** or other officer authorized in this behalf by the Local Government and such Collector ** * * *or other officer shall dispose of such claim in accordance with such rules as the Chief Revenue Authority may subject to the general control of the Local government from time to time prescribed in this behalf.
“6. A civil court, otherwise competent to try the same shall take cognizance of any such claim upon receiving a certificate from such Collector * * * or other officer authorized in that behalf that the case may be so tried, but shall not make any order or decree in any suit whatever by which the liability or Government to pay any such pension or grants as aforesaid is affected directly or indirectly.”
201. 201. Cases in which a certificate may be granted. Rules 8 and 9 issued under section 14 of Act XXIII of 1871 (Financial Commissioners notification No. 22 dated 3rd February , 1910 , and Punjab Land ) provide that :-
8. When a claim relating to a hereditary pension or grant of money or land revenue is preferred to a Deputy Commissioner under section 5 of the Act, and the inheritance of any other property or of a share in the property of a Hindu joint family is in dispute between he parties, the Deputy Commissioner may with the sanction of the Financial Commissioner certify that such may be tried by a civil court . Such certificate shall be forward by a civil court having jurisdiction in regard to the other property in dispute.
“9. When a claim relating to a hereditary pension or grant of money or land revenue which is according to law or by the terms of the grant , transferable, is preferred to a Deputy Commissioner under section 5 of the Act. The Deputy Commissioner may certify that such claim may be tried by a civil court.”
The second rule refers to assignments in the Delhi territory made before its annexation to the Punjab (paragraph 128-133)
202. 202. Recovery of cost of assessment from jagirdars. The rules regarding the recovery from jagirdars of the cost of the assessment of 2nd of which the revenue is assigned will be found in appendix XIX of the Settlement Manual.
BOOK II
ORGANIZATION FOR
PURPOSES OF LAND ADMINISTRATION
203. Revenue divisions, districts and
tahsils. For the
purposes of revenue management, the Punjab divided into 29 district, each in
charge of a Deputy commissioner or Collector. These districts are grouped into
five divisions, each under a commissioner. The commissioner exercises control
over all the revenue officers and courts in his division and is himself subject
to the general superintendence and control of the Financial Commissioner, who,
under the Revenue Member of Government, is the head of the revenue
administration. At the headquarters of a district there are in addition to a
large ministerial staff, several officers appointed by the local Government who
exercise executive and judicial functions under the orders of the Deputy
Commissioner. They are known as assistant commissioners if they are members of
the Indian Civil service, and as Extra Assistant Commissioners if they belong
to the Punjab civil service. One of these assistant or Extra Assistant
Commissioners , chosen for his special aptitude for revenue work, and called
the Revenue Assistant, devotes almost the whole of his time to business
connected with land administration. A district is divided into several tehsils,
to each of which a tehsildar and naib-tehsildar are appointed. The Poisson of
the naib-tahsilder with reference to the tahsilder are appointed. The Poisson
of the naib-tahsildar with reference to the tahsidar is like that of an
Assistant Commissioner with reference to
the head of the distrait. Tahsildars and naib-tahsildars exercise
administrative and judicial functions
within the limits of their own tahsils.
In the few there are two naib-tahsildars. In such cases the one who possesses
the larger experience sometimes has a definite part of the tahsil assigned to
him as a sub-tahsil within the limits of which he resides. In the saw way in
some districts one or more thrills are formed into an outpost or sub-division,
and put in special charge of a resident Assistant or Extra Assistant
Commissioner. Within his own sub-division such an officer performs all the
duties usually entrusted to a Revenue Assistant.
204. Villages and zails - The unit of revenue administration
in the Punjab is the estate or mahal. Which is usually is enticed width the
village or mauza. Of these estates
,large and small, a tahsil as a rule, contains from two to four hundred . each
of them is separately assessed to land revenue which it is the business of the
duty commissioner to collect and has a separate record of rights and register
of fiscal and agricultural statistics , which it is his duty to maintain. All
its proprietors are by law jointly responsible for the payment of its land
revenue, and in their dealings with Government they are represented by one or
more headmen or lambardars. The bound which unites the proprietary body may be
a strong and natural, or a weak and artificial, one. At the one end of the
scale are the compact village communities of Rohtak and Karnal, whose
landowners are held together by real or assumed ties of kinship; at the other.
The estates of the south-western Punjab. Which are often mere collections of
independent well holdings. While in the new colonies there is little bond
beyond such similarities of tribe, religion and home of the original colonists
as the colonization officer may had been able to secure. No deputy commissioner
can rightly perform his duties without a full knowledge of the land tenures of
his district. A careful perusal of the gazetteer ,and the reports of past
settlements, will supply the foundation, but the superstructure must be built
up by personal observation and enquiry and by the examination of village note
books and records of rights. The village system of north western India,
properly organized and wisely worked forms a powerful engine of administration.
To make it still more effective clusters of villages which are quitted by the
bond of tribal or historical
association, or of common interests, are usually formed into circles or zails
over each of which the appointed a zaildar chosen by the Deputy commissioner
from among the leading village headmen. The jaildars receive their emoluments
from Government by the deduction from the land revenue, the headmen are paid by
the communities which they represent by the surcharge of five percent on the
revenue. Together they form the valuable unofficial agency, through which the
deputy commissioner and the tahsildar convey the wishes of the government to
the people and secure the carrying out of their own orders.
205. patwaris’ and kanungos’ circles. But there is also an official chain
connecting the village which the tehsil for the purpose of the maintains
of revenue records and agricultural
statistics, estates are grouped into small circles to each of which a patwari
or village register is appointed. About twenty of these circles form the charge
of a field kanungo, whose duty it is to
supervise the work of the patwaris.
Kanungos are servants of Government .
206
206
The director of land records. To aid
deputy commissioners and commissioners in the maintenance of records of rights
and revenue registers, and to advise the Financial commissioners and Government
on these matters and on measures for the promotion of agricultural efficiency,
an officer known as the director of land
Records, is appointed. He has no administrative functions; his business is to
inspect, advise, record or lesson the powers and responsibilities belonging to
Deputy commissioners and commissioners and to the financial commissioners in
connection with every batch of revenue administration.
207. Duties of Director of land Records. Among the principle duties of the
director of land Records are-
(a) (a) the supervision of
the patwari and kanungo agency and the inspection of the records of rights and statistical records compiled
through its means. The posting of settlement kanungos and maps. His duties with
regard to settlements and defined in appendix vi-B of the Settlement Manual;
(b) (b) the control of the income
and expenditure of mutation fees and of all expenditure on contingencies
connected with the kanungo and patwari establishment and with the revenue records;
(c) (c) crop, price and
weather reports, return of wages and of agricultural statistics, crop
experiments by district officers and cattle census;
(d) (d) rain-gauges
The director of land records brings to the notice of the deputy
commissioner or commissioner any failure to carry out properly the provisions
regarding these matters contained on the land revenue Act and rules or in
administrative instructions issued by the Financial commissioners. On points of
detail his recommendations should usually be accepted as those of an expert
charged with duties of a technical character. But all doubtful and important
questions should be referred by the
director for the orders of the Financial commissioner. when a districts under
settlement., or when special measures adopting taken for the bringing of maps and records up to
date as preliminary to re-assessment, the Director will make this reports to
the Financial commissioner. He must not himself issue instructions to the officer on charge. Any orders which the
Financial commissioner may issues will be sent through the commissioner. In
other cases reports by the Director of Land Records on his inspections of the
land records if any distract are submitted to the commissioner of the division.
The Director of Land Records is also inspector-General of Registration.
208. Duties of Director of agriculture. In order to promote the technical efficiency
of Agriculture a separate department has
been consisted under a director. The director of agriculture has charge of the
following subjects.
(a) (a) agricultural
education and research at the Punjab agriculture college and research
institute, Lyallpur, and at the agricultural farms.
(b) (b) Experimental seed and
demonstration farms.
(c) (c) Agricultural
engineering, including well- boring lift irrigation, implements etc.
(d) (d) Measures for encouraging the adoption of improved seed,
implements methods of cultivation, and for controlling plant diseased, insects
pests etc.
(e) (e) Agricultural
associations , competitions, exhibitions and produce shows.
(f) (f) Rural industries ,
silk, bees, lac and poultry.
(g) (g) Crop experiments
when carried out by officers of the department.
(h) (h) The Lawrence gardens,
Lahore.
(i) (i) Administration
of the cotton ginning and pressing factories act of 1925.
(j) (j) Crop forecasts.
208-A. Development of agriculture Department. The need for more attention being
paid to the application of science to agriculture was repeatedly brought to the
notice of the Government of India , and in 1871 a department of revenue, agriculture
and commerce was established. In the provinces the subject of agricultural
improvement was similarly allotted to the revenue department, but little was
done beyond the organization of a system of agricultural statistics and few attempts at the introduction of
implements and seeds from abroad. The famine commission of 1880 made a through
review of the whole agricultural situation and recommended, amongst other
matters, the constitution of an agricultural department each province with a
director at its head; this departments main functions were to be agricultural
enquiry and improvement and famine
relief. The next ten years saw many conferences and the position in the
provinces was carefully investments to the royal agricultural society , to
advise as to the best methods of applying to Indian agriculture the teaching of
agricultural chemistry and his recommendations were later embodied in his book
“ the improvement of Indian agriculture .” shortly after the government of
India began to recruit of its first experts, but little progress in this
direction was made in the provinces until the famine commission of 1901
recommended the strengthening of the expert stead in the provinces; Lord
curzon’s government took speedy action on these recommendations, and the
dispatch to the secretary of state of 1905 led to the inauguration of a
separate department of agriculture in 1906. Previous to this, the only attempt
at experiment on modern lines had been confined to the farm of 56 acres opened
at Lyallpur . in 1901 which was staffed with agricultural assistants trained at
cawnpore. The first deputy director of agricultural was sanctioned in 1904, and
about the same time the province shared an economic Botanist with the united
provinces.
The
dispatch to the secretary of state above mentioned(no. 16, dated 12th
jan.1905)enunciated the following policy:-
“in
a country s largely agricultural as India, a government which owns the largest
landed estate in the world, should do far more than we are now doing for the improvements
of local agriculture. The ultimate aim, which we set before ourselves, is the
establishment of an experiments farm in each large tract of country , of which
the agricultural college, teaching up to a three years course in each of the
larger provinces, and the provision of and expert staff in connection with
these colleges for purposes of research as well as of education …. These
establishment of seed and demonstration farms will certainly form part of our
program.”
In the same year the government of India
announced their policy of setting aside annually a sum of twenty lakhs of
rupees, subsequently increased to Rs. 24 lakhs, for the development of
agricultural research, experiment, demonstration and education in the
provinces. The aim was to establish agricultural colleges, with expert staffs,
for instruction and research under a whole time director and the experts were
provided for by the constitution of an imperial agricultural service 1906.
Progress along the lines prescribed in 1905 continued steadily, except for the
interruption caused by the war, until the introduction of the reforms.
With
the inauguration of the reforms scheme in 1921, agriculture became a
transferred department under the charge of a minister. The functions of the
department are divided into three main heads:-
(1) (1) education;
(2) (2) research and
investigation;
(3) (3) demonstration and
propaganda.
Education:- the Punjab agricultural college,
Lyallpur, was opened in September, 1909. Its main object is to give such
training in scientific agriculture as will enable the student to promote the
progress of agriculture in the providence on the most approved modern lines. In
1917 the institution was affiliated to the Punjab university , and since then
it has had a four years degrees course. Combined with the college is a well
equipped research institute which is the main center of agricultural research
in the province.
The botanical section of the
research institute works on improved types of wheat’s, cotton, grams, barleys,
millets oil seeds, fodder crops, etc. and also deals with fruit cultivation and
mycological problems.
The chemical section undertakes
analytic work on soils, manure’s, fodders, etc. the determination of the
nutritive value of crops and other animal foods work on the reclamation of bara
lands; bacteriological research, including seed inoculation, etc.
The entomological section conducts
researches on insect and other animal pests, and studies means to combat them.
It also deals with sericulture
apiculture and lac-culture.
The engineering section so engaged
on the preparation of schemes for lift irrigation, the augmentation of water
from ordinary wells and the installation
of tube wells . it also conducts research work on well boring machines
strainers, agricultural implements etc.
Investigations conducted outside the
Lyallpur institution –there are experimental farms at Gurdaspur, Hansi, Sirsa,
Lyallpur, multan, montgomery, rawa;pindi and sargodha, in addition to various
seed and demonstration farms. The experimental farms carry out experiment with
different types of crops in order to ascertain their suitability to particular
tacts, to show the effects of different methods of cultivation, irrigation and
manuring, and to test the relative usefulness of different types of
agricultural implements. They also afford demonstrations to the zamindars who
visit them.
Demonstration and propaganda – this
work is conducted by means of demonstration plots established on cultivators
fields throughout the provide, also by demonstrations of implements and
exhibition of crop produce at fairs and other gatherings of farmers, sale of
seed from department, district lectures, ploughing matches, campaigns for the
eradication of crop pests, agriculture; association, department publications etc.
209. Duties of the director of veterinary
services. In order to encourage all possible measures for the prevention of
cattle disease, the cure of sick or injured animals and for the improvement of
the breeds, a separate veterinary department has been constituted under a
director of veterinary services, the director, veterinary services has charge
of the following subjects;-
(a) (a) veterinary education
at the Punjab veterinary college Lahore.
(b) (b) Veterinary research.
(c) (c) Treatment of cattle
disease throughout the province , and of equine disease in the “non selected”
districts.
(d) (d) Cattle breeding throughout
the province, and horse breeding in the “non selected districts.
(e) (e) Supervision of horse
and cattle fairs and shows.
(f) (f) Control of the veterinary
arrangements in Delhi and north –west fronter provinces.
(g) (g) General control of
veterinary dispensaries and buildings.
209-A. General
development of the civil veterinary department. Cattle –breeding far at Hissar has an area of
42,000 acres, and is thus the largest of India: it was originally established
in 1809 for camel- breeding, but work was the supply of artillery and ordnance
bullocks. In 1899 the charge of the farm was transferred to the civil
veterinary department of the government of India and on the abolition of the
post of inspector general . it was transferred by the government of India to
the Punjab government. Since then it has been the largest single source of
pedigree bulls in the province, and has produced over 4,000 of these for
service in villages. It is estimated that over 3,000 of there are still
available and the number turned out at Hissar is sufficient to replace
casualties and added to the total bull- power of the province. Most of the
bulls are supplied to district boards at confessional rates.
Liberal grants are given annually
for the improvements of the Dhanni and Hariana breeds of cattle to the
following district boards on suitable conditions:-
Attock, rawalpindi,
jhelum, shahpur and mianwali district boards, for the improvements of the
dhanni breed of cattle.
Hissar, rohtak and
gurgaon district boards, for the improvements of the Hariana breed.
In accordance with the
policy of the department to concentrate attention on certain areas best suited
for cattle- breeding, the above system of grants was introduced for the dhanni
cattle tract in 1919-20 and for the hariana cattle tract in 1924-25.
Five cattle farms of a total area
about 15,300 areas have been allotted to grantees in the lower Bari Doab Canel
Colony. Out of these , 2 are intended for pure-breed Montgomery cattle and the
remaining 3 for Hissar cattle. In addition, a grantee dairy farm comprising an
area of 485 acres, has been started in the town of Montgomery. Besides, there
are in the neighborhood of shergarh, district Montgomery,” shergarh small
holders grants” comprising 218 ½
rectangles of land in 7 different chaks. The condition on which the grants are
allotted is that the grantee must maintain two cows of the Montgomery breed
approved by the veterinary department for each rectangle of 25 acres.
209-B. Erosion. Erosion is the collector’s worst enemy. It occurs in both cultivated and in
uncultivated land and an instance of the disastrous effects it can have. Will
be seen in chapter vi (728 and following paragraphs)
(1) Cultivated land- When rain falls
on sloping land, it will, unless checked. Flow away down hill carrying with it
part of the top-soil and leaching out valuable chemicals form the rest of the
top-soil. In addition so much water which might have soaked into the ground to
reinforce the sub-soil moisture and so keep the field moist till the next
shower, is utterly lost. The top-soil contains most of the fertility to the
soil and as both manure and rain are all too limited in many parts of the Punjab,
they must be most carefully preserved noticed either by the cultivator or by
the revenue staff.”
The
next stage is “gully erosion” the surface of sloping cultivation is generally
uneven and is characterized by longitudinal depressions which even if they are
barely perceptible, draw off water from the land on the both sides of them.
Water flow from the higher ground into these drainage lines increasing the
volume and speed. The result is increased erosion align the depressions : the
water cuts downwards and backwards into the fields, forming gullies which
increase in size according to the steeples of the slope and area and promote
desiccation by acceleration the drying out of the sub-soil moisture. This form
of damage, called gully erosion, is fortunately obvious to everyone.
Practically all land in the Punjab
lies on slope, almost imperceptible in
irrigated fields, but generally noticeable in barani lands, irrigated land is
usually protected by the banks called wats of dauls made for retaining the irrigation
water. Unirrigated lands require the same kind of protection and require also
to be leveled so that rain water shall be evenly on them and not of top soil.
Careful owners terrace and embank their fields, thus increasing the available
moisture in the soil and conserving fertility by preventing the valuable
top-soil from being eroded. but many landlords are careless and neglect this
duties to the land. Both gully and sheet erosion occur in sloping fields and in
fields which are not embanked or where the banks are neglected and allowed to
break. Much land can be lost in a very short time and once gone can never be
recovered. At the best, the top-soil, instead of being improved by farming, as
it should be, steadily deteriorates through erosion. Where conditions of slope
and soil however are favourable for such a
thing to happen, heavy rainstorms may wash away the shoal of the
top-soil ,leaving the farmer to start allover again, with only the criss-cross
marks of the plough tip on top of the hard sub-soil to remind him of his
precious labours.
Land well terraced and embanked does not erode, and wherever the
slope is appreciable fields must be labeled and embanked. The principle is that
where rain falls there it must stay until it has either soaked in or the
cultivator has done with it there is ordinarily no harm in bringing sloping
ground under cultivation if this observed; but the indiscriminate breaking up
of slopes means the rapid destruction of
their value and must be resisted by all means possible.
The hard
surface of follow land resist the absorption of rain water and contributes
largely to the amount of run –off from a given area. Recently ploughed land
will absorb rainfall and therefore the breaking up of stubble’s by dry
proughing if necessary, as soon s possible after harvest, should be given every
encouragement.
Unassored storm water standing for
long in terraced fields with clay soils is, however, harmful to certain crops,
and where conditions indicate the necessity for it the field system should be
such as to ensure the draining await harmlessly of the surplus water.
Water gathering volume and force as
to flows and soon becomes uncontrollable, making it offer impossible for the
landowners lower down the slopes to protect their fields till the water has
been brought under control higher up. This implies collective action on the
part of the zamindars, and soil conservation, therefore, requires organization
and is eminently suited to co-operative enterprise; but all cases the attention of the revenue staff
will make it easier to accomplish and to maintain.
Consolidation of holdings can often be of
great assistance giving each landholders control of as much as possible of the
catchment area of his fields, sitting the boundaries of the holdings along the
contours and enabling drains to be provided for surplus storm water.
Where holdings are large, the fields
at a distance from the abide are often very much neglected, and being in the
hands of temporary tenants with no interest in improving the soil, they suffer
most from erosion.
(2) Uncultivated land:- it is
unusual to terrace and embank uncultivated land and therefore it must be
protected from sheet and gully erosion by
adequate cover or mat of vegetation, either grail, bushes or trees or a
mixture of all there. If left to itself, nature will maintain a balance and
there will be no serious erosion, but if grazing, browning, and the feeling and
lopping of trees are uncontrolled, both sheet and gully erosion will start
causing all the harm described above. The technique of erosion is simple. The
removal of vegetation exposes the soil, the feet of the animals break it up and
the rain washes it away. The top soil goes, the good grasses die out, the trees
are unable to reproduce themselves , the hillside becomes dry and unstable.
Landslides start, and those who depend on the hillsides, both man and beast,
find their livelihood reduced. Storm water, no longer impeded and restrained by
vegetation, rushes down the slopes to the streams and fails to percolate into
the soil, with the result that the sub-soil water level sinks both in the hills
and in the plains below, the violence of the floods in the plains is increased
fertile land is covered with sand, fields and villages are cut away, vast
quantities of silt choke the canals and river beds, the hillsides and hill
streams quickly dry up after the monsoon, and the run –off of the rivers during
the dry seasons is seriously reduced.
There are several ways of dealing
with uncultivated land. Where there is no valuable tree crop the shamilat may
be partitioned with advantage, when every owner puts a dry stone wall or a
thorn fence round his share and protects it from outside men and beasts.
Panchayats of co-operative societies with expert supervision may organize the
preservation and utilization of common grazing grounds and forests or
government may use the chos act of the forest act to exercise control through
its own servants. A hillside yields most grass, timber and other produce when
there is no gracing or browing , when the grail is cut with a sickle the trees
felled when mature and the fodder trees are lopped in rotation, and timber cut
no faster than it can be replaced by fresh growth. The interest of both
government and villager, therefore, are best served by strict preservation of
the hillsides and the stall-feeding of cattle. In certain circumstances,
however and under strict control, grassing and browsing are harmless but they
can only be safety done under the guidance of experts and where the fertility
of the locality is such that the rate of recovery of the grass and bushes
equals or exceeds the rate of their consumption by animals.
Where erosion is serious, whether in
cultivated of uncultivated land, the result is the formation of board sandy nullahs,
which are continually widening at the expense of the cultivated lands on both
banks, and cause increasing devastation throughout their course. Although these
torrents-such a torrent is called a chain the siwaliks and a has in the salt
range-often take their rise in the hills, they usually get most of their water
from cultivated lands. Once counter erosion measures have begun to take effect
in the catchment area of a kas of cho, reclamation of the cho-bed itself can
start and the co-operative method is particularly helpful in this work.
The people themselves have a shrewd
knowledge both of the evil and of its cure. Good cattle are never driven on to
a hillside to graze. They are tied up and stall-fed. When shamlat land has been
partitioned, may owners carefully protect their own share. In general however,
the people are disorganized and what is every men’s care is no one’s. moreover,
the people treatment of hillsides and grazing grounds involves a complete
changing of the whole routine of work and life and in what country will
villagers adopt new methods willingly? The menace, however is insistent. The
top-soil of an agricultural country is its principal capital asset and those
who left it be washed away are not only losing their own livelihood but are robbing
posterity and the nation. Nothing therefore must be left undone to enable the
best use to be made of the rain to preserve the soil and to increase its
fertility. The revenue staff is expected to do everything possible to ensure
that methods of cultivation and pastoral habits and practices shall be such as
to secure the stability of the soil both in fields and pastures. It is the duty
of the collector to study the land fr which he is responsible, to in list the
goodwill and co-operation of the villagers, and with the assistance of the
forest and other departments to apply whatever methods are best suited to the
people and the locality for the checking of erosion and the conservation of the
soil both in cultivated and in uncultivated land.”
CHAPTER V
210. Revenue officers under the land revenue and
tenancy acts. The
Deputy commissioner as the head of the revenue administration of his district
is known as the collector, and his assistants, including tahsildars and
nain-tehsildars as assistant collectors of the first of second grade. Under the
land revenue and tenancy acts there are the sane classes of revenue officers,
and a revenue officer of any grade so deemed to be a revenue court of the same
grade. The powers of the collector and assistant collectors as revenue officers
are described in the next chapter, and their jurisdiction as revenue courts in
chapter XXIII On first appointment , assistant commissioners and extra
assistant commissioner, exercise ex-officio the powers of assistant collectors
of the second grade. As soon as they have been invested with second class
magisterial and civil powers, they become ipso facto assistant collectors of
the first grade. Tehsidars and naib-tehsildars,as such are assistant collectors
of the second grade but the former may be appointed assistant collector of the
first grade. The deputy commissioner is a collector by virtue of his office,
under the acts and so it is not necessary to gazette him such powers but the
local government nay confer all of any of the powers of a collector on any
other revenue officer in the district. When a general reassessment is in
progress, it is usual to give to the settlement officer all the powers of a
collector under the land revenue act, except those which relate to the
collection of revenue. Instruction as to the division of work between the
deputy commissioner and the settlement officer will be found in appendix vi of
the settlement manual.
211. Revenue officers also magistrates. The collectors and his assistant’s
are also magistrates. This concentration in a single hand of executive and
judicial functions has been a subject of controversy. The advantages resulting
from it were thus set forth by Thomason-
“the influence and the opportunity of beneficial exertion which result
from this are great . it is essential to the advancement of the public
interests, entrusted the collector that complete security of life and property
should exist throughout the district. It is essential to the development of
industry that all lawless violence should be repressed, and so repressed as
least to interfere with the comfort and welfare of the peaceful and well
disposed. The strong establishments in the revenue department may be made the
efficient agents for strengthening and regulating the police, and the
magistrate, in the discharge of his duties as collector, will have opened out
to him channels of information and sources of influence which when duly
improved, cannot fail to exercise a most beneficial effect.”
212. Relations of
deputy commissioner with officers of other departments. Thomson’s remarks on the many-sided
character of a deputy commissioner’s work are also worth quoting-
“nothing can pass the district of
which it is not the duty of the collector to keep himself informed and to watch
the operation. The vicissitudes if trade, the administration of civil justice,
the progress of public works, must all affect materially the interests of the
classes of whom he is the constituted guardian. Officers interference in
matters beyond his immediate control must be avoided, but temperate and
intelligent remonstrance against anything which he sees to be wrong so one of
his most important duties.” !
if he shows tact and discretion, and cultivates personal relates
with officers of other departments employed in his district, he will usually
find that they are ready to attend carefully to any representations which he
finds it his duty to make to them. The administration of civil justice is no
longer within his orbit, but even here it is his duty to report to his
commissioner matters affecting the welfare and contentment of the people.
213. Cancelled.
214. Qualification
required for successful district administration. To manage a district successfully require qualities rarely
found united in a single person. No man can properly represent government to
the people who is lacking in sympathy or in the power of conversing with them
easily in their own tongue. But to these qualities must be added patience and
promptitude, tact and firmness, accessibility without familiarity, a Sherwood
appreciation of knowledge of the details of all branches of his duty and great
capacity for personal exertion, with a willingness to hand over to trustworthy
subordinates a large share of the work, while maintaining complete control over
the machinery of administration. One great secret of success is the power of
making full use of assistants in all
grades. The collector who insists on doing everything himself is sure to
leave many things undone and to fritter away on small details time that should
be devoted to more important matters. At
the same time ,he is responsible for and bound to control, all the doings of
his subordinates ,and there is nothing they more readily believe then that this
or that official, whose duties bring him much in contact with his master has an
unique influence over him. The work should be carefully laid out the part of it
which is entrusted to each officer and the limits within which he may act in his
own authority being explained to him. No one can do this who has not himself a
thorough acquaintance with every branch of district work and of the powers and
capacities of his establishment it may be said that much of the success of
district administration depends on accuracy of judging of how much may suitability be left to others
and how much must be done by the deputy commissioner himself.
215. Aids to rapid
acquisition of knowledge of a district. Every deputy commissioner is bound, when
making over charge, to hand to his successor a confidential memorandum calling
his attention to the most important features of the district administration and
supplying him with notes as to the chief matters which are pending and as to
the character and capabilities if his principal subordinates. Much information
regarding the district lies ready to hand in the gazetteer and on settlement
and assessment reports. If these sources of information are supplemented by
diligent personal enquiry and systematic touring, it is possible to
obtain a real grasp of the work in a comparatively short space of time.
216 216 Cancelled
217. Extra assistant commissioners and
tahsildars. The
efficiency of a collector’s administration depends greatly on the extent to
which he can get good work out of his colleagues and subordinates and this in
turn depends to large extent on his own conduct towards them. Under the
peculiar social difficulties of the country, the accurate estimate of character
obtainable from the confidences of private intercourse is difficult to secure,
and it becomes ass the more important to give free access to them in all
official matters and to take every step to inspire them with confidence in his
judgement , rectitude and impartiality. Unwarranted suspicion may be as fatal
as unwarranted confidence. These officers are the expectants of the collector’s
orders, they must be in great measure, the exponents of his will, and should be
to some degree his confidential advisers in cases of difficulty. It will be
found good policy to consult these who are best able to give advice, and to
weight their expressed opinions impartially and dispassionately.
218. Clerks and readers. The sympathetic treatment of clerks
and readers is usually well repaid by better quality of work; forcing upon them
irregular hours, keeping them waiting at the officer’s house, or insisting upon
their standing for long stretches of time is apt to interfere with the
rendering of full reduced.
219. Training of
assistant commissioners. The responsibility of deputy commissioners towards assistant
commissioners under them is if a very special character in view of the fact
that they may themselves in a few years be placed in charge of districts.
It is of great importance that they
should receive a thorough training in the different branches of district
administration, and the following orders have recently been issued on the
subject:-
During his first year the newly joined officer
should-
(a) (a) pass the
departmental examinations in all subjects, including urdu and Punjabi;
(b) (b) familiarize himself
with the people os the Punjab,
especially the villagers, so that he may be able toured stand their dealings
with each other and relations with Government;
(c) (c) do enough magi’s
magisterial work to be able that a fairly early date after passing his examinations to perform the duties of ill
was magistrate, or even sub-divisional officer, with confidence;
(d) (d) acquire a working
knowledge of elementary revenue work, both as a revenue officer and as a
revenue court; and
(e) (e) undergo training in
treasury, office work and general administration.
It is a mistake to give newly joined
officer routine executive work during their first six months of service. The
average assistant commissioner arrives without any experience of essentials. He
hopes and expects to be given work at once, and is only too pleased to take
over a “subject” such as passports of the licensing of motor vehicles. His
request for work is sometimes difficult to resist , but if it is acceded to, he
is almost certain to be deceived by his clerks and may learn habits of
inaccuracy which he will later regret.
It should be recognized that newly
joined officers are for at least six months merely pupils in executive matters
and should have no independent responsibility.
2. The following considerations
should be borne in mind with regard to the matters mentioned in the preceding
paragraph:-
(a) (a) Departmental
Examinations- the learner must read booked in his own time. The main difficulty
is with the languages. A pass in the examination does not always mean that a
candidate is intelligible in the field. Assistant commissioners under training
should speak nothing but undue to the tahsildars and revenue assistants with
whom they tour, and these officers should have orders to correct their
mistakes. Urdu and Punjabi are best learned from selected court readers, who
are less prone to “talk down” to their pupis than the illqualified professional
teacher usually available in small stations. Urdu should be passed in may and
Punjab in October.
To fulfil the language test so far as that relates to judicial work,
officers should make a practice of reading through an easy petition or other
simple vernacular record every day from the time they commence to study the
language with a munshi, and should seek to acquire as quickly as possible a
knowledge of the translation of the translation of the commoner terms used in
the principal acts which they have to take up, and in rules under them,
particularly those under the land revenue and tenancy acts. Parts of these
should be read with the court reader and a careful record should be made of the
translation of all terms as they are met. As soon as a knowledge of these has
been acquired, officers should commence to practice themselves in re-writing
translations of as judgements, etc, which they will translate from the
vernacular as explained above.
Junior officers should take every
opportunity of mixing and talking with all classes of Indians, and especially
the agricultural classes. No one should ever be discouraged at slow progress in
speaking the language. Even in the case
of those who find special difficulty in picking up a language
colloquially, experience shows that if only one struggles on persistently,
fluency is bound to come in the long run. It is a good plan to note under
various heads for ready reference all new words that one heads, and it is an
excellent plan for acquiring the accent and run of the language to repeat over
to oneself the words spoken by others as exactly as possible whether they
intend to go in for language reward examinations or not, all junior officers
should make a point of carefully reading through a certain number of good urdu
books vocabulary. Those offices, who, while studying the language , will take
the trouble to acquire some facility in oriental penmanship will find that they
will never regret the spent on this accomplishment.
(b) (b) Contract with the
people—a knowledge of the people and their ways can be acquired only by
systematic touring. Newly joined officers should be told to keep their eyes
open on tour and to add questions about everything that they do not understand.
Administration matters such as crime, medical relief, education, the
co-operative movement, communications, agricultural improvement and public
health should be borne in mind and studied.
(c) (c) Magisterial work—as
regards training in judicial work, the best plan at first if for a junior officer to sit some
hours daily in the court of another magistrate or judge for a week or two, and
with his codes in his hand learn for by observation something of the actual
practice of procedure and get a flair for the method of reasoning which an
intelligent magistrate employs in arriving at his decisions. In learning this
he will probably also pick up a number of the terms of procedure. He should at
the same time begin to work through evidence and the proceedings as he does so,
and afterwards using these translations for re-translation into the vernacular.
After two weeks of such work an officer will probably have gained sufficient
experience to enable him to try very simple cases which the district magistrate
into ordinary matters. Every officers should continue for some methods to
translate his English judgements into the vernacular so as to acquire increased
facility in this respect.
(d) (d) Revenue work—a
properly arranged program should give the assistant commissioner a general
outline of the routine revenue work of a district. Form his third month the
learner will do 2nd grade revenue court work. From his seventh or
eighth month he should be given the work of one or two kanungo’s circles. He
should propose the mode of partition in a few partition grade work in the
circle selected including revenue court work.
(e) (e) Training in
treasury, office work, and general administration—treasury training is best
done in the summer, whether in the plains of hills. The outlines of office
organization should be taught early-say, in the second month; no independent
office work should be given to a pupil until about the eighth month. The best”
subject” to be entrusted to him then are local bodies and or exercise. Both
these subjects involve the application of acts and rules; vernacular
correspondence with subordinate authorities; and formal English correspondence
with superiors. By “general administration” is meant those administrative
matters which cannot be grouped under any one head, but which occupy much of a
depute commissioner’s time, e.g. crime, the activities of the beneficent
departments, elections, political unrest and the like. The learner can best
inform himself on these matters by discussions with his deputy commissioner. He
should also spend some days in the
office of the district board, which, when the deputy commissioner is chairman,
is not under the officer-in-charge of local bodies. These several matter
require attention on tour and the assistant commissioner should be instructed
accordingly when orders for each tour are given to him.
220. Tahsil may be made over to assistant
commissioner. After
a time it is a good plan to put an assistant commissioner in charge of a
particular tahsil, and to make him spend in it a large part of the cold
weather. If this is done, he will take an interest in the welfare of his
charge, and exert himself to become fully acquainted with all that concerns it
and to prevent the occurrence of anything that is wrong. He will have an
opportunity of gaining a knowledge of every branch of his duty which will fit
him to manage a sub-division or a district when entrusted to him. An assistant
in charge of a tahsilhas an excellent opportunity, while refraining from any
undue interference with the tahsildar, of making himself familiar with the
daily routine of the work of a tahsil office, which is sure to be of great use
to him in the future.
221. Assistant commission not to assume
authority. An
assistant commissioner is subject to the control of the deputy commissioner in
all his work and should not, without his permission, issue orders making
important changes, lying down rules of practice or censuring or punishing
officials but he may recommend such measures to the deputy commissioner. He
should not correspond with the deputy commissioner by official letter or
robber, as through his office were separate and distinct, but by demi-official
letter and personal conference, or by sending up the vernacular file which
leads to the reference, usually with an English memorandum prefixed.
222. Settlement
training of assistant commissioner. A certain number of assistant commissioner are
deputed, as opportunity offers, for a four months course of training in tracts
in which a general reassessment of land revenue is in progress. Rightly
employed, this period is long enough to give an intelligent man a competent
knowledge of survey and record work, and also of the board features of
assessment work. If a newly-joined assistant is sent for settlement training,
it is usual to give him two months training in his fist cold weather and two in
a later year. The instructions as to the nature of the training ti be given
will be found in standing order no.8. as the opportunity for settlement
training is now less frequently available, officers are being sent to a revenue
training class in the cold weather.
223. Appointment of extra
assistant commissioners. Extra assistant commissioners are appointed partly by selection by
selection of men who have done approved service in lower appointments, partly
by competitive examination and partly by the direct appointment of young men of
good family. The rules on the subject will be bond in the punjab government
notification no.9490, dated 19th 1930. Candidates who obtain the
post of extra assistant commissioner by competition or by direct appointment
are on probation for two years. For the first nine months of this period they
receive training in a district under settlement or they may be sent to the
revenue training class.
224. Revenue assistant. An assistant or extra assistant commissioner is posted to
every district, except shimla, as revenue assistant. An officer in charge of an
outpost os the revenue assistant for his own sub-division, and during a general
reassessment the extra assistant settlement officer is generally considered to
be the revenue assistant of the district.
225. Duties of revenue assistant. The revenue assistant disposes of
whatever share of magisterial work the district magistrate thinks fit to allot
to him. But the bulk of his time must be given to the revenue business of the
district, that is to say speaking broadly to the classes of work subscribed in
this book. He is not available for the duties of treasury officer or
subordinate be judge, and should never be given any share of civil judicial
work.
226. Tours of deputy
commissioners.
Obviously a deputy commissioners cannot manage with success the great committed
to his care without an intimate personal knowledge of every part of it. Much of
the work, moreover, that is carried on can only be effective supervised by him
on the spot. Above all it is impossible to keep in touch with the people unless
he seeks frequent opportunities of that informal and frank intercourse with
them which is only possible in camp. A deputy commissioner is therefore expected
to pass a considerable part of each cold season on tour and to visit as far as
possible, every part of his charge no. 67 nights. The work which must be
performed at the headquarters of the district should be so arranged as to make
this feasible.
227.227. Tours of deputy commissioners. Obviously a deputy commissioners
cannot manage with success the great committed to his care without an intimate
personal knowledge of every part of it. Much of the work, moreover, that is
carried on can only be effective supervised by him on the spot. Above all it is
impossible to keep in touch with the people unless he seeks frequent
opportunities of that informal and frank intercourse with them which is only
possible in camp. A deputy commissioner is therefore expected to pass a
considerable part of each cold season on tour and to visit as far as possible,
every part of his charge no. 67 nights. The work which must be performed at the
headquarters of the district should be so arranged as to make this feasible.
228. Tour of assistant and extra assistant
commissioners.
During each touring season every assistant commissioner should be sit into camp
in turn ,and as far as possible, extra assistant commissioners should be given
opportunities of going into camp. The revenue assistant must spend the greater
part of the cold weather in moving through the different tahsils, and it is
essential that he should be on tour in the months during which the crop
inspections of the spring and autumn harvests are in progress. Unless there are
special reasons to the contrary, he should normally spent at least 120
days(including 90 nights) away from the headquarters during the year, of which
84 days should ordinary be between 1st October to 31st
march and 36 days between 1st April to 30th September.
229.229.Tour of assistant and extra assistant commissioners. During each
touring season every assistant commissioner should be sit into camp in turn
,and as far as possible, extra assistant commissioners should be given
opportunities of going into camp. The revenue assistant must spend the greater
part of the cold weather in moving through the different tahsils, and it is
essential that he should be on tour in the months during which the crop
inspections of the spring and autumn harvests are in progress. Unless there are
special reasons to the contrary, he should normally spent at least 100
days(including 50 nights)away from the headquarters during the year, of which
63 days should ordinary be between 1st October and 31st
march and 27 days between 1st April and 30th September.
230.230.Instructions to be given to assistant going on tour. It rests with
the deputy commissioner to arrange what parts of the district an assistant or
extra assistant commissioner should visit, and to indicate the subjects, to
which he should specially direct his attention. Before he starts he should be
given a good detailed map of the tact through which he is to pass with a
skeleton map on which to mark the line of his route, and a written memorandum
of instructions. The last may be very brief, except in the case of a
newly-joined assistant. It should contain among other things, a detail of the
expenditure on public works and takavi had of wells, the assessment of which has been remitted under the rules given
in paragraph 558 of this manual, during the past year in the tract to be
visited so that the works which have been constructed, or repaired or fallen
out of use may be inspected. The first tour of a young assistant commissioner
is the best in the company of the deputy
commissioner himself and later he should be sent on short tours with the
revenue assistant and tahsildar and then alone.
231. Chief object of tour. The chief object be to kept in view
by an officer when in camp s to become acquainted with the people himself, and
to give them an opportunity of becoming acquainted with him. For this purposes
it is necessary to see the people in their own villages, to encourage their
visits and talk with them frankly so as to ascertain their thoughts ans.
feelings, the matters in which they are chiefly interested and the manner in
which they regard them.
232. Advantage of local enquiry in revenue
cases. It is
generally adjustable to decide many revenue cases on the spot. When these are
mere matters of the routine, and present no difficulty, they are perhaps better
settled in office then elsewhere. But there are many cases, for example
contested partitions, which for their right decision nay depend almost entirely
on local peculiarities, and these can obviously be investigated better on the
spot then elsewhere. As regards disputes about land and rent, while it is
difficult, owing to local feuds, to get at the truth anywhere there is most
hope of doing so in the village than in the district court house.
233. Inspection of alluvian and dilution returns
and of village records. The inspection of alluvion and diluvion returns, and of the village
records prepared by petwards and kanungos should be done locally. Attention
should be directed to the questions weather the prescribed paper and registers
ave been prepared in accordance with the rules and circular orders on the
subject, whether they are complete to the date and whether the entries
correctly represent the facts to which they relate.
234. Enquiry into management of government
forests. Where
there are government forests, their condition should be ascertained, the
methods of management should be enquired into and attention should be paid to
the relations between the forests establishment and the people. Forest
management is often regarded by the people as a grievance, and there are
undoubtedly many points of detail in which local enquiries alone may bring
proper understanding. But all matters of this kind require to be very carefully
and discreetly handled and should not be taken o without sufficient reason. All
roadside groves and avenues should receive attention.
235. Ascertainment of characters of Indian
subordinates. It is
a matter of great importance to learn what character is borne by the tahsildar
and naib-tahsildar and by the subordinate Indian officials in the tahsil. As
regards subordinate officials, there is usually no harm in making direct
enquiries from respectable persons. But great care must be taken to preserve
the dignity of an official of the rank of a tahsildar, and to question the
people of his own tahsil as to his conduct would generally be indiscreet. But,
if an officer is freely accessible to people of all classes, hints will be
dropped and matters will be brought to his notice from which he can gradually
form a very good idea of the estimation in which the tahsildar is held.
236. Enquiry into general state of tract
visited. The
general condition of the tract should come under review. The principal points
for enquiry are the following:-
(a) (a) crop-are
those on the fraud and good condition? What has been the history of previous
three or four harvests ?have any new varieties been introduced /
(b) (b) cultivation and
irrigation- are they contracting of expanding? Is takavi freely taken for
the construction of wells?
(c) (c) People- is
the population increasing of falling off? What is its conditions as regards
health ? are owners holding becoming unduly small by sub-division? is much land
changing hands ? if so, what is the reason ? and who are the principal
purchasers and mortgagees ?
(d) (d) Lives stock – is it
increasing of diminishing ? and what is its condition ? how are the well cattle
proured ? and what do they usually cost if not home-bred ? is there any sale of
surplus stock ?
(e) (e) Land revenue-what
proportion does the assessment bear to the value of the produce? is its
distribution over estates and holdings equitable ? are collections easily made
or are coercive processes necessary ? have there been any large remission and
suspensions ? and, if so, why ? what is the prospect of recovering the land
revenue under suspension ?
237. There
are many other matters which an officer has to look into when on tour which do
not fall within the scope of this manual, such for example as education,
co-operation, sanitary measures, vaccination, the state of crime and the
conduct of the people, the exercise arrangements and the extent to which
smuggling and illicit distillation prevail. All than as, dispensaries and
schools should be carefully inspected, and roads, rest-houses, sarais and
encamping-grounds should be examined, and their condition noted. If there are
co-operative societies their working should be enquired into.
CAUTION : Read separate para
for Punjab and Haryana
238. Inspection of tahsil officers. When an officer halts at the
headquarters of a tahsil, he should inspect the tahsildar’s office. Every
tahsil office should be thoroughly overhauled every six months. The deputy
commissioner should himself inspect it at least once a year. If he cannot make the
second inspection himself, he should direct the revenue assistant, or some
other experienced assistant or extra
assistant commissioners, to make it for him. The scrutiny should include
all branches of work-judicial treasury, stamps, excise, takavi, land revenue
and the kanungo’s record. Special attention should be given to the examination
of the records of rights and the agricultural registers and of the accounts
relating to the deferent branches of revenue. As to the latter, the inspecting
officer should ascertain whether they are regularly kept up and without any
unnecessary resort to coercive processes. The causes of all outstanding
balances should be traced. Particular attention should always be paid to the
running register of miscellaneous revenue. A searching scrutiny of tehsil
accounts on the spot os far more likely to detect irregularities and prevent
their recurrence than fifty calls for written explanations from the district
office. Even if an officer had no other duties to perform, it would be difficult
for him to overhaul the work of a tehsil thoroughly in a single day. A
perfunctory inspection is worse than useless and will merely encourage the
establishment of continued irregularities and malpractice’s which have escaped
detection. A tour should therefore be so arranged as to allow of a halt of
several days at the headquarters of a tehsil. If this is not possible, it is
best to take up one or more branches of work and examine them thoroughly, and
to leave the rest for a future occasion. Tehsil in section can sometimes be
done most thoroughly in the hot season. Through ordinary camping is out of the
question, there is nothing to prevent an officer from spending some time at
each tahsil headquarters.
239. Inspection of tehsil officers halts at the
headquarters of a tahsil, he should inspect the Tehsildar’s office. Every tahsil office should be
thoroughly overhauled every six months. The sub divisional officer(civil)will
cinduct inspetion of the tahsil office under his charge after close of Kharif
harvest while that of the other tahsil of the same dialect after the close of
Rabi harvest of the same year. The Deputy commissioner should himself inspect
to at least once a year. If he cannot make the second inspection himself, he should direct the Revenue
assistant, or some other experienced Assistant pr Extra Assistant Commissioner
to make it for him. The scrotum should include all branches of work-judicial
treasury, stamps, excise, takavi land revenue and the kanungo’s record of rights and the agricultural
registers and of the accounts relating to the different branches of revenue. As
to the latter the inspecting officer should ascertain whether they are
regularly kept up and whether the
amounts due to Government are punctually realized, and without any unnecessary
resort to coercive processes. The causes of all outstanding balances should be
traced. Particular attention should always
be paid to the running register of miscellaneous revenue. A searching
scrutiny of tehsil accounts on the spot os far more likely to detect
irregularities and prevent their recurrence
then fifty calls for written explanations from the district office. Even
of an officer had no other duties to perform ,it would no difficult for him to
overhaul the work of a tahsil thoroughly in a single say. A perfunctory
inspection is worse than useless and will merely encourage the establishment of
continued irregularities and malpractice
which have escaped detection. A tour should therefore be so arranged as to allow of halt of several
day sat the headquarters of a tahsil. If this is not possible, it is best to
take up in or more branches of work and examine them thoroughly and to leave
the rest for a future occasion. Tahsil inspection can sometimes be done mone
thoroughly in the hot season. Though ordinary camping from spending some time
at each tahsil headquarters.
240. Diaries of
assistant and extra assistant commissioners. Assistant commissioners, European Extra
assistants and Indian Extra Assistants under training who know English
sufficiently well, while on tour, are required to keep a diary. It must be
written up in the spot from day to day, or every short intervals during the
tour, and must not take the shape of a report or narrative prepared at the and
of the tour. The order will be chronological and not by
Subject. The diary should be written on
half-margin, and attention should be paid to the legibility of the writing. In
order that it may be really useful, and that my practical suggestions contained
in it may receive due attentions, it should be as concise as possible, and all
unnecessary discussions on the theoretical subjects and remarks on the ordinary
incidents of travelling should be avoided. Marginal references starting the
subject matter of each paragraph should be inserted. The dairy should be
forwarded weekly to the collector of inspection and remarks. At the close of
the tour the memorandum furnished by the collector should be attached to it,
and a rough sketch map of the route taken should also be appended. The
conclusions drawn from the materials collected should be embodied in a brief
general note on the state of the tracts visited, which should be form an
appendix to the diary. The papers, thus put together, and submitted to the
commissioner, who forward, for the perusal of the financial commissioners, and
diaries which he considered deserving of special notice, and the financial
commissioners lay before government those which in their opinion are worthy of
special commendation. The commissioner is empowered to exempt senior
assistants, who have held charge of a district, and assistant commissioner in
charge of sub-divisions, from keeping up a diary while tour, but this exemption
should rarely be made in the case of young officers as the necessity of writing
a dear develops powers of observation. Indian extra assistant commissioner not
under training should keep such notes of the work done while on tour as the
deputy commissioner may prescribe.
241.241.Time-scale pay of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars. The time scale pay of tahsildars is RS. 200-10-270-10-350, with an
efficiency bar at Rs. 270. There is also a selection grade of tour posts at Rs.
400 and of eight posts at Rs. 375 per mensem each. The time-scale pay of
naib-tahdsildars is rs.80-5-140—7 ½-185 with an efficiency bar at Rs. 140.
242.242.Appointment, etc., of tahsilders and
naib-tahsildes, Tahsildera are appointed by the financial commissioner and
naib-tehsildars by the commissioner of the division. Tahsildars may be
dismissed by the Financial commissioner and naib-tahsildar by the commissioner.
For full instructions as to the qualifications required, the examinations which
canidares muster pass, promotions, etc. the Financial commissioner standing
order No.12 may be consulted. The local Government may direct to the financial
commissioner to appoint a person not eligible under the rules to be either a
tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, but it is a concision of such an appointment that the haled shall, within two years, pass the prescribed examination.
243.243.Settlement
training of naib-tahsildars and naib-tahsildar can-didates. Any naib-tahsildar who has passed
the tahsildar’s examination may be sent by the commissioner of the division for
a year’s training in a district under reassessment. The commissioner may also
require any candidate for the past of naib-tahsildatr to undergo the practical
training in revenue work prescribed by paragraph 7 of financial commissioners
standing order No 12 in a district under settlement.
244.244.Duties of
tahsildar. The
duties of the tahsildar within his tahsil are almost manifold as those of the
Deputy commissioner within his district.
He is not expected to hear any civil suits, but his magisterial work is
important. In all matters of administration he must be, within his own charge
,the Deputy commissioner’s principal agent and his power for good or evil is
very great. His revenue duties are so important that there has occasionally
been a tendency to make them all in all. But it must be admitted that his
efficiency, more than that of am other affaire in the district, except the
Revenue assistant, depends on capacity for revenue work. No degree of
excellence in other respects can alone for failure properly to direct and
control the patwari and kanungo agency, to collect the revenue punctually where
the people are climate of season, which renders suspensions of remissions
necessary, and to carry out, within his own sphere the other duties connected
with land administration which are described in this book.
245.245.Division of tahsil
for inspection work.
For inspection work and the attestation of mutations in records, the estates of
each tahsil are divided yearly between the tahsil date and the naib-tahsildar.
The portions if the tahsil allotted should be changed every year on October 1st
so that the responsibility of the tehsildar for the whole of his charge may not be impaired. It is within
the direction of the deputy commissioner to postpone redistribution for special
reasons, such as the prompt disposal of pending revenue work.
246.246.Extra
naib-tahsildars for mutation work. In the cold weather extra niab-tahsildars are sometimes posted to
districts where mutation work is very heavy. These men should not be employed
as general assistants to the tahsildar, but should be required to devote the
whole of their time to the attestation of mutations. At the same time, the
tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should not be relieved of all their mutation
work. The best plan is to transfer the whole mutation work of certain zails or
kanugo’s circles to the extra naib-tahsildar.
247.247.Tours of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars. Tahsildars and naib-tahsildars should spend alternate fort nights in
camp during the seven months from the beginning of October to the end of April.
During the rest of year systematic touring is impossible, but an active
tahsildar will take opportunities management of his charge cannot be efficient
unless he has a through knowledge of his village.
248.248.Plan of tours
should be drawn up.
A plan of cold –weather inspection work should be drawn up, through the duties
of a tahsildar are so multifarious and he is liable to so many unexpected calls
upon his time that it is impossible to adhere to it strictly. If the work is
properly laid out beforehand, the tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should be
able in the seven months of camping to make between them a through security of
every kanungo’s and patwari’s work and to visit most of the estates in the
tahsil. Deputy commissioner should impress on their subordinates that
perfunctory inspections are worse than useless, and that a man who has done his
best will not be blamed because he has failed to see every village. A task
which in many cases, is impossible. The tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, when on
tour, should always carry with him a small-scale sketch map of his charge,
showing village boundaries and sites, main roads, and canals, and the limits of
zails and of kanungos and patwaris circles. He should also have with him a list
of all takavi loans grante in the tract to be visited.
249.249.Inspection of
estate. On visiting
on estate the tahsildar should attest the mutations. He should also inspect the
village site and lands, if he is not already familiar with them, and should
examine the village revenue registers and note points for enquiry. He should
then discuss the condition and circumstances of the estate with the land
owners, the village officers, the zaildar and the kangungo paying special
attention special attention to the cause of any large amount of alienation and
the reasons for any difficulty experienced in collecting the revenue. He should
take the opportunity of seeing any works for which takavi has been given. The
tahsildar’s hairiest inspection work is referred to in chapter ix
250.250.Revenue work to be
dealt with in village to which it legates. In order to avoid taking agriculturists away
from their homes, all revenue work, especially disputed partition, lambardari
and muafi cases should, as far as possible, be dealt with at the village to
which they relate. By this means the attendance of all the parties will be
secured, and the facts of each case will be easily ascertained. In the case of
estates for which a detailed jamalndi is to be drawn up during the agricultural
year mutation work must be disposed of in the village itself. In there cases,
the naib-tahsildar or tahsildar, if he cannot conveniently visit the estate,
may pass orders on its mutations at any other place within the patwari’s
circle.
“Revenue officers should attest mutations according to priority based on
the date of try of report in the patwari’s diary. In cases where a mutation
cannot be attested interim orders must in variably be recorded.”
Powers of revenue officers
251.251.Powers of revenue
officers. There are
five classes of revenue officers: the financial commissioner, the commissioner,
the collector, the assistant collector of the 1st grade, and the
assistant collector of the 2nd grade. The deputy commissioner of a
district is by virtue of his office its collector a revenue officer who is transferred
from one district to another retains the powers with which he was invested in
the former district.
252.252.Powers of
financial commissioner. There are many matters on which the financial commissioner is empowered
by the land revenue and tenancy acts to make rules, but these do not take
effect till they have been sanctioned by the local government. There are also a
number of executive proceedings regarding which his special orders required.
For example he fixes the amounts and dates of the installments by which land
revenue is paid, and if, to recover an error, the extreme step of annulling the
assessment of an estate or holding, or of selling it outright has to be taken
his sanction must first be obtained.
253.253.Power of
commissioner. While
the land revenue and tendency acts confer ample powers of general control on
commissioners, there is practically no particular matter which they can legally
deal with on their own initiative, or for the very few exception is that sales
of immovable property for the recovery of arrears are not complete will they
have received their confirmation.
254.254.Powers of
collector and assistant collection. The land revenue act declares that certain
things must be done and certain orders must be passed by the collector and that
other things may be done, and other orders may be passed, by “a revenue
officer” there are but two cases in which any difference between the powers of
the two grades of assistant collectors is mentioned in the act. Section 126
provides that proceedings relating to the partition of land must be taken an
assistant collectors of the 2nd grade do not of compelling parties
before them to submit certain matters to arbitration. But by section 10 the
local government has power ,where the
act does not expressly by what class of
revenue officers any function to be discharged, to determine the matter by
notification, and this was done soon after the enactment came into force. The
class of revenue officer which can dispose of the enactment came into force.
The class of revenue officer which can dispose of the various applications and
proceedings which arise under the tenancy act is stated in its 76th
section. It will be observed that in the distribution of business, there is
given no distinction made between the powers of a collector and those if an
assistant collector of the 1st grade. But the application of a
landlord for leave to take an improvement on the holding of a tenant with a
right of occupancy must be presented to the collector, and he alone can enhance
the rent after the improvement has been made and reduce it again after it has
ceased to exist.
255.255.Enquiries by subordinate officers.
It would be absolutely impossible for superior revenue officers, and especially
for the deputy commissioner, to dispose of the numerous matters on which their
orders are required, if the proceedings from first to last had to be held
before themselves. Provision has therefore
been made that “a revenue officer may refer any case which he is
empowered to dispose of ….to another revenue officer for investigation and
report, and may decide the case upon the report” this useful power must be
exercised with discretion. In matters of any importance the parties who will be
directly affected by an order should be present when it is passed, and should
be head as far as is necessary. However unpalatable a decision may be to a man,
it loses half its sting if he feels that his case has been fully understood and
carefully considered.
256.256.Exclusion of
jurisdiction of civil courts. Civil courts have no jurisdiction in respect of any matters of which
revenue officers are empowered by the land revenue and tenancy acts to dispose
of.
257.257.Execution by
revenue officers of certain orders of civil courts. On the other hand, any order which a civil or
criminal court issues for the attachment, sale, or delivery of land, must be
executed through the collector or a revenue officer appointed by the collector
for that purpose. The rules on the subject will be found in the financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 64 and the rules and orders of the high
court, volume 1, chapter xii-order xxi, civil procedure code. When the produce
of land is attached no obstacle must be placed in the way of the person to whom
it belongs reaping, gathering or storing it, and every care must be taken for its preservation. As executing
of the orders of civil and criminal courts the function of a revenue officer is
purely ministerial. He is not concerned with the priority of the order passed.
But if it is on the face it illegal, if, for example, it directs the collector
to sell land belonging to a member of an agricultural tribe, he will be
justified in pointing this out to the civil court and, if necessary, to the
commissioner.
258.258.Functions of
collector under section 72 of the civil procedure code. Under the provisions of section 72
of the civil procedure code (act v of 1908) a court may authorize the collector
to arrange for the satisfaction of a decree by the temporary alienation or
management of land belonging to a judgement-debtor. The rules on the subject
are quoted in the financial commissioner’s standing order no. 64. Any
alienation approved of would naturally take the form of one or other of the
kinds of the mortgage allowed by act xiii of 1990. Where the judgement –debtor
is deprived of cultivating occupancy of the transferred land enough should be
excluded from the transfer to furnish at least a bare subsistence for himself
and his family.
259.259.Procedure of
revenue officers.
The produce of revenue officers is mainly governed by sections 18-23, 127-135
and 152 of the land revenue act, and by a law rules issued under various
sections of the land revenue and tenancy acts. Any number of tenants
cultivating in the same estate may be made parties to proceedings under chapter
iii of the tenancy act, but no order or decree must be made affecting any of
them who has not had an opportunity of appearing being heard.
260.260.Arbitration. Sections 127-135 of the
land revenue act relate to arbitration which may be employed with the consent
of parties in any proceeding, and in a few proceeding without their consent. A
revenue officer is not bound by the reward, but may modify it or reject it
altogether. Whatever his decision may be, it is open to appeal, just as if
there had been no arbitration. There are no provisions about arbitration in the
tenancy act, but a rule under it has made the provisions on the subject in the
land revenue act applicable to most of the proceedings under the tenancy act.
261.261.Legal
practitioners.
Legal practitioners may appear in proceedings before revenue officers, and law
present applications on beheld of their clients. Through a person chooses to be
represented by a pleader his own attendance may also be required, and no formal
pleading will be head except in lambardari, zaildari, mafi, mutation, and
partition cases. A revenue agent cannot, without the permission of the
presiding officer, take any part in the examination of witness, or address to
him any argument on behalf of his client. The fees of a legal practitioner are
not allowed as costs in any proceeding without an express order of the revenue
officer passed for reasons which he is bound to record. Legal practitioners
cannot appear in proceedings under the Punjab alienation of land Act. (xiii of 1990)
262.241.Appointment, etc., of tahsilders and
naib-tahsildes, Tahsildera are appointed by the financial commissioner and
naib-tehsildars by the commissioner of the division. Tahsildars may be
dismissed by the Financial commissioner and naib-tahsildar by the commissioner.
For full instructions as to the qualifications required, the examinations which
canidares muster pass, promotions, etc. the Financial commissioner standing
order No.12 may be consulted. The local Government may direct to the financial
commissioner to appoint a person not eligible under the rules to be either a
tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, but it is a concision of such an appointment that the haled shall, within two years, pass the prescribed examination.
263.242.Settlement
training of naib-tahsildars and naib-tahsildar can-didates. Any naib-tahsildar who has passed
the tahsildar’s examination may be sent by the commissioner of the division for
a year’s training in a district under reassessment. The commissioner may also
require any candidate for the past of naib-tahsildatr to undergo the practical
training in revenue work prescribed by paragraph 7 of financial commissioners
standing order No 12 in a district under settlement.
264.243.Duties of
tahsildar. The
duties of the tahsildar within his tahsil are almost manifold as those of the
Deputy commissioner within his district.
He is not expected to hear any civil suits, but his magisterial work is
important. In all matters of administration he must be, within his own charge
,the Deputy commissioner’s principal agent and his power for good or evil is
very great. His revenue duties are so important that there has occasionally
been a tendency to make them all in all. But it must be admitted that his
efficiency, more than that of am other affaire in the district, except the
Revenue assistant, depends on capacity for revenue work. No degree of
excellence in other respects can alone for failure properly to direct and
control the patwari and kanungo agency, to collect the revenue punctually where
the people are climate of season, which renders suspensions of remissions
necessary, and to carry out, within his own sphere the other duties connected
with land administration which are described in this book.
265.244.Division of tahsil
for inspection work.
For inspection work and the attestation of mutations in records, the estates of
each tahsil are divided yearly between the tahsil date and the naib-tahsildar.
The portions if the tahsil allotted should be changed every year on October 1st
so that the responsibility of the tehsildar for the whole of his charge may not be impaired. It is within
the direction of the deputy commissioner to postpone redistribution for special
reasons, such as the prompt disposal of pending revenue work.
266.245.Extra
naib-tahsildars for mutation work. In the cold weather extra niab-tahsildars are sometimes posted to
districts where mutation work is very heavy. These men should not be employed
as general assistants to the tahsildar, but should be required to devote the
whole of their time to the attestation of mutations. At the same time, the
tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should not be relieved of all their mutation
work. The best plan is to transfer the whole mutation work of certain zails or
kanugo’s circles to the extra naib-tahsildar.
267.246.Tours of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars. Tahsildars and naib-tahsildars should spend alternate fort nights in
camp during the seven months from the beginning of October to the end of April.
During the rest of year systematic touring is impossible, but an active
tahsildar will take opportunities management of his charge cannot be efficient
unless he has a through knowledge of his village.
268.247.Plan of tours
should be drawn up.
A plan of cold –weather inspection work should be drawn up, through the duties
of a tahsildar are so multifarious and he is liable to so many unexpected calls
upon his time that it is impossible to adhere to it strictly. If the work is
properly laid out beforehand, the tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should be
able in the seven months of camping to make between them a through security of
every kanungo’s and patwari’s work and to visit most of the estates in the
tahsil. Deputy commissioner should impress on their subordinates that
perfunctory inspections are worse than useless, and that a man who has done his
best will not be blamed because he has failed to see every village. A task
which in many cases, is impossible. The tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, when on
tour, should always carry with him a small-scale sketch map of his charge,
showing village boundaries and sites, main roads, and canals, and the limits of
zails and of kanungos and patwaris circles. He should also have with him a list
of all takavi loans grante in the tract to be visited.
269.248.Inspection of
estate. On visiting
on estate the tahsildar should attest the mutations. He should also inspect the
village site and lands, if he is not already familiar with them, and should
examine the village revenue registers and note points for enquiry. He should
then discuss the condition and circumstances of the estate with the land
owners, the village officers, the zaildar and the kangungo paying special
attention special attention to the cause of any large amount of alienation and
the reasons for any difficulty experienced in collecting the revenue. He should
take the opportunity of seeing any works for which takavi has been given. The
tahsildar’s hairiest inspection work is referred to in chapter ix
270.249.Revenue work to be
dealt with in village to which it legates. In order to avoid taking agriculturists away
from their homes, all revenue work, especially disputed partition, lambardari
and muafi cases should, as far as possible, be dealt with at the village to
which they relate. By this means the attendance of all the parties will be
secured, and the facts of each case will be easily ascertained. In the case of
estates for which a detailed jamalndi is to be drawn up during the agricultural
year mutation work must be disposed of in the village itself. In there cases,
the naib-tahsildar or tahsildar, if he cannot conveniently visit the estate,
may pass orders on its mutations at any other place within the patwari’s
circle.
“Revenue officers should attest mutations according to priority based on
the date of try of report in the patwari’s diary. In cases where a mutation
cannot be attested interim orders must in variably be recorded.”
CHAPTER VI
Powers of revenue officers
271.250.Powers of revenue
officers. There are
five classes of revenue officers: the financial commissioner, the commissioner,
the collector, the assistant collector of the 1st grade, and the
assistant collector of the 2nd grade. The deputy commissioner of a
district is by virtue of his office its collector a revenue officer who is
transferred from one district to another retains the powers with which he was
invested in the former district.
272.251.Powers of
financial commissioner. There are many matters on which the financial commissioner is empowered
by the land revenue and tenancy acts to make rules, but these do not take
effect till they have been sanctioned by the local government. There are also a
number of executive proceedings regarding which his special orders required.
For example he fixes the amounts and dates of the installments by which land
revenue is paid, and if, to recover an error, the extreme step of annulling the
assessment of an estate or holding, or of selling it outright has to be taken
his sanction must first be obtained.
273.252.Power of
commissioner. While
the land revenue and tendency acts confer ample powers of general control on
commissioners, there is practically no particular matter which they can legally
deal with on their own initiative, or for the very few exception is that sales
of immovable property for the recovery of arrears are not complete will they
have received their confirmation.
274.253.Powers of
collector and assistant collection. The land revenue act declares that certain
things must be done and certain orders must be passed by the collector and that
other things may be done, and other orders may be passed, by “a revenue
officer” there are but two cases in which any difference between the powers of
the two grades of assistant collectors is mentioned in the act. Section 126
provides that proceedings relating to the partition of land must be taken an
assistant collectors of the 2nd grade do not of compelling parties
before them to submit certain matters to arbitration. But by section 10 the
local government has power ,where the
act does not expressly by what class of
revenue officers any function to be discharged, to determine the matter by
notification, and this was done soon after the enactment came into force. The
class of revenue officer which can dispose of the enactment came into force.
The class of revenue officer which can dispose of the various applications and
proceedings which arise under the tenancy act is stated in its 76th
section. It will be observed that in the distribution of business, there is
given no distinction made between the powers of a collector and those if an
assistant collector of the 1st grade. But the application of a
landlord for leave to take an improvement on the holding of a tenant with a
right of occupancy must be presented to the collector, and he alone can enhance
the rent after the improvement has been made and reduce it again after it has
ceased to exist.
275.254.Enquiries by subordinate officers.
It would be absolutely impossible for superior revenue officers, and especially
for the deputy commissioner, to dispose of the numerous matters on which their
orders are required, if the proceedings from first to last had to be held
before themselves. Provision has therefore
been made that “a revenue officer may refer any case which he is
empowered to dispose of ….to another revenue officer for investigation and
report, and may decide the case upon the report” this useful power must be
exercised with discretion. In matters of any importance the parties who will be
directly affected by an order should be present when it is passed, and should
be head as far as is necessary. However unpalatable a decision may be to a man,
it loses half its sting if he feels that his case has been fully understood and
carefully considered.
276.255.Exclusion of
jurisdiction of civil courts. Civil courts have no jurisdiction in respect of any matters of which
revenue officers are empowered by the land revenue and tenancy acts to dispose
of.
277.256.Execution by
revenue officers of certain orders of civil courts. On the other hand, any order which a civil or
criminal court issues for the attachment, sale, or delivery of land, must be
executed through the collector or a revenue officer appointed by the collector
for that purpose. The rules on the subject will be found in the financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 64 and the rules and orders of the high
court, volume 1, chapter xii-order xxi, civil procedure code. When the produce
of land is attached no obstacle must be placed in the way of the person to whom
it belongs reaping, gathering or storing it, and every care must be taken for its preservation. As executing
of the orders of civil and criminal courts the function of a revenue officer is
purely ministerial. He is not concerned with the priority of the order passed.
But if it is on the face it illegal, if, for example, it directs the collector
to sell land belonging to a member of an agricultural tribe, he will be
justified in pointing this out to the civil court and, if necessary, to the
commissioner.
278.257.Functions of
collector under section 72 of the civil procedure code. Under the provisions of section 72
of the civil procedure code (act v of 1908) a court may authorize the collector
to arrange for the satisfaction of a decree by the temporary alienation or
management of land belonging to a judgement-debtor. The rules on the subject
are quoted in the financial commissioner’s standing order no. 64. Any
alienation approved of would naturally take the form of one or other of the
kinds of the mortgage allowed by act xiii of 1990. Where the judgement –debtor
is deprived of cultivating occupancy of the transferred land enough should be
excluded from the transfer to furnish at least a bare subsistence for himself
and his family.
279.258.Procedure of
revenue officers.
The produce of revenue officers is mainly governed by sections 18-23, 127-135
and 152 of the land revenue act, and by a law rules issued under various
sections of the land revenue and tenancy acts. Any number of tenants
cultivating in the same estate may be made parties to proceedings under chapter
iii of the tenancy act, but no order or decree must be made affecting any of
them who has not had an opportunity of appearing being heard.
280.259.Arbitration. Sections 127-135 of the
land revenue act relate to arbitration which may be employed with the consent
of parties in any proceeding, and in a few proceeding without their consent. A
revenue officer is not bound by the reward, but may modify it or reject it
altogether. Whatever his decision may be, it is open to appeal, just as if
there had been no arbitration. There are no provisions about arbitration in the
tenancy act, but a rule under it has made the provisions on the subject in the
land revenue act applicable to most of the proceedings under the tenancy act.
281.260.Legal
practitioners.
Legal practitioners may appear in proceedings before revenue officers, and law
present applications on beheld of their clients. Through a person chooses to be
represented by a pleader his own attendance may also be required, and no formal
pleading will be head except in lambardari, zaildari, mafi, mutation, and
partition cases. A revenue agent cannot, without the permission of the
presiding officer, take any part in the examination of witness, or address to
him any argument on behalf of his client. The fees of a legal practitioner are
not allowed as costs in any proceeding without an express order of the revenue
officer passed for reasons which he is bound to record. Legal practitioners
cannot appear in proceedings under the Punjab alienation of land Act. (xiii of 1990)
282.261.Administrative
control.
Administrative control is exercised over all the revenue officers in a district
by the collector, in a division by its commissioner, and in the whole province
by the financial commissioner. If any of the powers of a collector under the
land revenue act are conferred on an assistant collector, he exercise them
subject to the control of the deputy commissioner, unless government otherwise
directs. Every controlling officer has authority to withdraw a case from any of
his subordinates, and either hear it himself or refer it for disposal; to some
other officer under his control.
283.262.Review of orders. Revenue officers of all grades
large powers of reviewing their own orders and those of their predecessors,
provided no appeal against them has been lodged. In the case of assistant
collectors, however, the exercise of this power is in every case subject to the
previous sanction of the collector. If the latter wishes to review any order
lower class, who has left no successor in office, he must obtain the commissioner’s
permission. The commissioner may, like the collector, review his own order, but
without the leave of the financial commissioner he cannot reconsider an order,
passed by a former commissioner. The power is not subject to any such
restriction. Applications for review can only be entertained when they are
presented within ninety days of the date
of the order to which exemption is taken, but apparently there is no legal
limitation of the time within which a revenue officer may review an order of
his own motion. Of course, persons who will be affected by the modification or
reversal of an order must be given an opportunity of being heard in its
support. There is no appeal from an order refusing to review, or confirming on
review, a previous order.
284.263.Revision. The only officer who can revise an
order not passed by himself, or by one of his predecessors in office is the
financial commissioner. But any controlling officer may call for the file of a
case pending before, or disposed of by, any of his subordinates in order to
satisfy himself of the correctness of any final or intermediate order which has
been passed, if the commissioner or the collector thinks such an order ought to
be altered, he can submit the file to the financial commissioner with a statement
of his opinion. No proceeding or order should be modified or reversed in such a
way as to affect any question of right between private persons without giving
them an opportunity of being heard.
285.264.Appeals. The law of appeal is very simple,
original orders passed by assistant collectors are applicable to the collector, and original orders of the
collector to the commissioners. An order confirmed on first appeal is final,
and under no circumstances, can there be more than second appeal. The only cases
which can come before the financial commissioner on appeal are those in which
commissioners have modified or reversed original orders passed by collectors.
286.265.Limitation in
appeals. The period
of limitation is thirty days, when the appeal lies to the collector, sixty when
it lies to the commissioner, and ninety when it lies to the financial
commissioner.
Patwaris and Kanungos
287.266.Patwaris and
Kanungo staff before 1885. The term village officer, as used in the land revenue act means a headman,
a chief headman, and a patwari. In this
chapter we are only concerned with the patwari or village register and
accountant, and with his immediate superior, the kanungo. No efficient revenue
administration of a district is possible unless the patwari stases strong,
properly trained, and strictly supervised by the kanungos, tahsildars, revenue
assistant, and deputy commissioner.
288.267.Object of reforms
initiated in 1885. In the course of years effective
measures have been taken to secure the proper performance by the patwari of his
three chief duties:
(1)
(1)
the maintenance of a record of the crops grown at every harvest:
(2)
(2)
the keeping of the record of rights upto date by punctual record of mutations;
and
(3)
(3)
the accurate preparation of statistical returns embodying the information
derived from the harvest inspections, register of multatins, and record of
rights.
These duties will be described in the 9th, 10th ,
and 11th chapters of this book.
289.268.Principles of revenue policy sound,
but machinery for carrying them out wanting. The revenue policy of the Punjab
from the beginning was founded on the principles laid down in the Thomson’s
valuable treatise, the “Directions for settlement officer” and the “Directions
for collections.” But the official machinery was too wake to secure effective
compliance.
290.269.Canceled.
291.270.Canceled
292.271.Canceled.
293.272.Canceled.
294.273.(1) Indian famine commission 1880
proposed-foundation of agricultural department in each province. In spite of
efforts to secure improvement the revenue statistics of the province remained
incomplete and unreliable until late into last century. But the lessons learned
in the famine of 1877-78 made it impossible to leave things where they were. In
the report of the Indian famine commission, which was laid on the necessity of
creating in each province a special agricultural department. The concerned
remarked:-
“such an office in each province would have
charge of all the records of past famines, and take note of all that is being
usefully done or learnt in neighboring provinces, so that the gathered results
of past experience might be collected and made accessible, which has hitherto
been hardly possible. Through this office should be bought together the more
comprehensive and exact record of the agricultural, vital, and economic
condition of the people to the urgent necessity of which we have already drawn
attention. Especially, when a famine is thought ot be impending would such an
office become important, as it would supply the government with all statistics
bearing on this subject, and would be responsible for working out from them the
conclusions on which the decision as to future action would mainly rest. When a
famine is in progress, all the information relating to relief measures, that
extant, their results, would be collected in it and presented in a uniform and
intelligible manner, and through it all orders of the local government relating
to famine administration would be issued.”
274 (2) Reform of patwari and kanungo agency. “ the efficiency of such a special
department, as we have proposed will depend mainly on the completeness and
accuracy with which the agricultural vital, and economic statistics with which
it has to deal are collected in each village and compiled in each sub division
and district throughout the country” * * * * “ the revenue system in the
greater part of British India is such as o present unrivalled means of
ascertaining, in the fullest manner, all necessary facts relating to
agriculture, and to the different incidents of landed tenures in every village;
but those means gave nowhere een completely utilized and made as efficient as
they might be. We recommend that the body of village accountants should everywhere
be put on a sound and satisfactory footing as responsible public officers, with
a clearly defined set duties, but with their own villages.” “* * * *” over the
villages accountants there should be a staff of active sub-officers employed in
keeping them to their duty, inspecting their work, visiting each village in
turn, and checking the accuracy of all the items recorded concerning it.”
274 (3) appointment of revenue assistant in each
district. “ above
these there should be special officer in every district who would be, as a
rule, of the rank of deputy collector,
and whose nail or only duty should be to take charge of all matters connected
with the economic condition and well-being of the people. He would test and
compile the agricultural returns and examine the market prices and ascertain
from these and other data the relative value of each year’s crop, according as
it is below or above the average. From such a continuous record of the harvests
he would obtain data for judging weather the landed classes were in the
depressed or a prosperous condition, and how far they were prepared to meet a
climates season. It would be this object to obtain similar information as to
all sections of the population, and to learn what are the causes of depression,
and what classes would be the first to succumb under the pressure of declare
and high prices. The accurate regulation of vital statistical, and the
investigation of the causes of any abnormal mortality, would lie within his
province and he would be the gainer of the health officer of the district for
the purpose of scrutinizing the record of births and deaths. The extent of the
good stocks, the ebb and flow of local trade, the current rate of interest
charged on loans to different classes, the deficient or superabundant supply of
any kinds of labour and the customary wages paid to each kind, these and other
kinds of labour and the customary wages paid to each kind, these and other
kindred topics on which information is at present far from precise, would fall
within the scope of his enquiries. These officer, while generally subordinate
to the collector, would be specially under the orders of the agricultural
Department in respect of the system on which their returns are to be prepared
and checked.
274. (4) Appointment
of Director of Agriculture in each province. ”A Director of agriculture should be appointed
in each province as executive head of this Department, chosen for his knowledge
of the condition of the people and particularly of the agricultural classes. He
would directly control the special statistical officers, and would be the
adviser of the local government on all matters relating to agriculture and
statistics. In ordinary times he would discharge these duties and superintend
all measures designed to improve the agriculture of the country : and in times
of famine he would be the officer responsible for warning the government as to
the agricultural outlook and for preparing such a forecast as should guide it
in issuing instructions and setting on foot measures of relief.”
295.274.Introduction of
reforms in Punjab.
The measures proposed by the commission therefore embraced
(a) (a) the reform of the
patwari staff;
(b) (b) the provision of a
sufficient staff of supervisor or kanungos;
(c) (c) the appointment of a
revenue assistant in each district;
(d) (d) the appointment of a
director of agriculture in each province.
It fell to colonel wace, first as settlement commissioner and later as financial commissioner ,to carry out these reforms a task which he welcomed with enthusiasm . to enable him to deal with the matter effectively he was appointed in 1882 director of agriculture while retaining the post of settlement commissioner . in 1883 a revenue assistant was appointed in each district except simla. In the same year colonel wace prepared a scheme for the reorganization of the kanungo staff. Which was sanctioned with some modifications next year, and carried out in 1885. Hitherto, the estab lishment in each district had consisted of a sadar kanungo at headquarters on Rs 60 per mensem, and a kanungo on Rs. 25 with an assistant of rs. 15 of each tahsil.the staff was now doubled. The kanungo at the tahsil head quarters became the office kanungo and a staff of field kanungos was provided to supervise the patwaris work in their villages. The pay and prospects of kanungos were much improved. A director of land records was appointed in 1885.
276. Object of reforms in land record agency and procedure. These changes and the procedures connected with the reformed of record embodied in a now code of patwari and kanungo rules, the object of which was explained to be the securing of –
(a) (a) real efficiency among the patwaris and kangos;
(b) (b) improved field-to- field
inspection, and record of the results of each harvest;
(c) (c) the continuous record
in convenient tanks of the total results of each harvest and each years
husbandry, these tables being kept first by villages, secondly by assessment
circles, and thirdly by tahsils
(d) (d) the punctual record in
attentions of all mutations of rights and there prompt incorporation in the
jamabandy.
(e) (e) The cessation of the
practice, under which in numerous cases mutation orders where passed in the
absence of the parties, or after calling them away from there village to the
tahsil office;
(f) (f) The release of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars from a large amount of revenue case work. witch
under the procedure hitherto prescribed for such work. Tied them to their
tahsil offices and overboard. Ended their small office establishment with
clerical duties; and
(g) (g) As a consequence, the
systematic visiting of each village, either by the tahsildar or naib tasildar.
277. Effects of reforms. The new system was embodied in the Punjab Land Revenue act of 1887 and the rules issued under it. Since it was introduced it has been modified in some of its details. But on change affecting its main features has been made, and the soundness of the scheme has been proved by a steady improvement in the work of the patwaris and in the revenue administration of the districts.
278. organization of patwaris and kanungo staff reconsidered at set. Telnet. The organization of the patwari and kanungo staff is carefully reconsidered when a district is being assessed, and it rarely necessary to make many changes in the interval between two settlements. The limits of patwaris’ circles are matters for the commissioner to decide. The number, grading and pay of patwaris also the revision of the limits of field kanungos’ circles, require the sanction of the financial commissioner.
279. Points for consideration in forming patwaris’ circles. In fixing the limits of a circle, the chief points to consider are the number of fields to be worked over at the harvest inspections, and the number of owners’ holdings and cultivation’s’ holdings for which entries have to be made in the record of rights. The number given to each field in the village map is known as the khasra number, that assigned to each owner’s holding in the record of rights a called the jamabandi number, and that allotted to each cultivator’s holding the khatauni number. A patwari should usually be able to keep up the record of a circle contacting from 4,000 to 5,000 khasra and 1,200 to 1,600 khautani numbers, but regard must be paid to the distances the patwari will have to travel, the nature of the country, the simplicity or complexity of the land tenures, and the inclusion in the circle of estates subject to river action or under flucuating assessment, and the degree of fragmentation or consolidation of holdings. A circle generally consists of several adjoining estates, but some large estates require the whole services of a patwari and few have more them one.
280. Grading patwari. Before 1885 there was a separate patwari cess, and each patwari received the amount levied in the village of his circle. A man with a small circle of rich highly cultivated estates drew much more pay than his fellow incharge of a much larger and more difficult circle containing village where the precariousness of the crops had enforced a light assessment. Now the patwaris of a district are distributed into grades with varying rates of pay. Patwari are graded as under:-
1st grade, on Rs. 26 per mensem…… 20 per cent
2nd grade on Rs. 23 per mensum…..40”
3rd grade, on Rs. 20 per mensum…40”
281. Village officers cess . Section 29 of the Punjab land revenue Act. XVII of 1887, provided for the lavy of a cess at a trait nor exceeding 12 ½ per cent on the land revenue and canal owner’s rate for the remuneration of village officers, that is to say, headmen, chief headmen, and patwaris. The balance used to be available for the remuneration of the patwari staff, but in 1906,the liability of the landowners for the pay of the patwari staff was abolished. The change made was incorporated in the land Revenue Act by the Repealing and Amending (Rates and cesses)Act, 1907, which limited the cess to a maximum rate of 6 ¼ per cent on the land revenue and cana; owner’s rate, restricted the expenditure to purposes directly connected with the maintenance of the agency of headmen and chief headmen. The headmen retains a surcharge of 5 per cent on the land revenue and owner’s rate which he collects, and 1 per cent is payable to the chief headman, if there is one.
282. Assistant patwaris. It is usual to have a few assistant patwaris receiving Rs. 15 monthly. Assistants should be used to help patwaris whose work is very heavy of to fill temporary leave vacancies. Except on the latter case ,they should not ordinarily be independent charge.
283. Payment of patwaris. Salaries are drawn monthly and care should be taken be that they are punctually disbursed. Besides their pay patwaris receive a two- fifth’s share of the fees levied for the entry of mutations in the record of rights, and allowed and giving certified extracts. It is a rule to which no exceptions are allowed that pay and all the fees must be given to the person who actually performs the duties of patwari.
284. Appointment, punishment, and dismissal of patwaris. No revenue officer below the grade of collector can appoint, punish, of dismiss a patwari. With this exception that the Revenue Assistant may impose on a patwari a fine not exceeding Rs.2 and a Tahsidar a fine not exceeding Rs.1 on any one occasion. But the deputy commissioner should keep the power to sanction appointments and dismissals in his own hands. Recommendations should be received from the Revenue Assistant, and where he is and impartial and sensible man, they should usually be accepted. Upon him mainly depends the efficiency of the patwari and kanungo staff. He cannot have the proper amount of authority over it or be expected to work worth zeal if his subordinates are given any reason to suspect that he has not the support and confidence of his chief.
285. Patwari candidates. A register of patwari candidates is kept up for each tahsil. In most districts it is now possible to exclude men who have not passed the Middle school examination. Neat and clear handwriting in the undue character and the power to work out simple sums in arithmetic quickly and correctly are essential, and no candidate, however well qualified otherwise should be accepted who has not good physique and health and good eyesight, candidates must be between the age of 15 and 25 years, it is undesirable that a large proportion of the candidates should belong to the money lending or trading classes, and the sons of agriculturists should be encouraged to come forwarded as candidates. A clever and well educated lad who enters government services as a patwari has a very fair chances of promotion to higher posts. The appointments of tahsil revenue accountant (wasilbaki navies) and siyaha navis are, whenever possible, received for them, and two thirds of the kanungo must be promoted patwari. Once he becomes a field kanungo a patwari may hope to climp still higher on the official leader. Patwaris are also eligible for the post of tahsil judicial muharrir.
286. Patwari school. Every candidate must attend the patwari school and appear at the patwari examination. His name should ordinarily be struck off the register if he fails to pass with in three years. The patwari school in each district should be opened on the 15th of April and closed at the end of august. Before joining the school the candidate should be required to attend for instruction at the sravi girdawari. The principal subjects taught with the aid of books are arithmetic and menstruation, on which special menials have been written for the use of patwaris, and the directions contained in the financial commissioners’ standing orders nos. 15,16,22,23,24 and appendices vii. Viii. Ix. And xxi of the Punjab settlement manual. But the teaching should be of a thoroughly practical character and a great deal of it should be given in the field. In survey work a pound of practice is worth a ton of instructions. A candidates who passes the examination held at end of the school term, attends the kharif gridawari for further practical instructions, and unless he does so, he is not entitled to a pass certificate.
287. Filling up of vacancies. The most “suitable” candidate must be selected, and relationship to the former patwari confers no claim. But the deputy commissioner is bound to consider any representation made be the land owners of the vacant circle, and , if it is evident that they really wish for the appointment of a relation of the late incumbent, who is fit of the post some regard should be had to this in weighting claims. The fact that the candidate is already resident of the circle and has the confidence of the properties, has a strong bring on his “suitability.” However well qualified he seems to be a candidate should not be chosen if any of his near relation land money in the circle.
288.288.Residence of patwari in his circle. Every patwari is bound to reside in his circle and must not leave it without permission. Where a suitable patwarkhana exists, the patwari must keeps his records in it live in it with his family, and repair it when necessary. Landowners must not be asked to spend any part of common village fund (malva) in building or maintaining patwarkhanas, and only in special circumstances will be expenditure on these subjects be met by governments. Where no patwarkhana exists the patwari must make his own arrangements, but reasonable help in enabling him to do this will be given to him by the revenue authorities.
It is the intention of government to provide additional patwarkhanas steadily year by year.
289.289.Disabilities of patwaris. A patwari is forbidden to engage in trade, or to have any interest whatever in the landing of money to agriculture and he must be not tout for any legal practitioner or borrow from any agriculturists in his circle. He cannot acquire in his circles, except by inheritance, and if he possessed any interest in land anywhere he must report the fact to the tahsildar, nor can he purchase, or bid for either agricultural land or land for building sites in colonies without the section of the local government previously obtained. A patwari sometimes tries to evade these rules by buying or taking mortgage in the name of one of his sons, but transparent subterfuges of this sort are easily brushed aside. He is not permitted to write, attest, or witness deeds or private individuals. He may be dismissed if he is deeply in debt, as will as for misconduct, neglect of duty or incompetence. As soon as he becomes unfit through age or chronic will health to do this work properly he must be relieved of his office. Small rewards are payable on retirement to well-conducted patwari who have served for a long time.
290.290.Employment of patwari on other, but his proper duties forbidden. Care must be taken that no patwari is employed on any duties except those laid down in the financial commissioner’s standing order N0. 15, which are amply sufficient to occupy his whole time. The chief branches of his work, the registration of the crops, the maintenance of the record of rights, and the writing up of the statistical register of each estate, will be described in latter chapters. But the other duties which he has to discharge may be briefly noticed here.
291.291.Miscellaneous duties of patwari. It is his business to report at once all serious calamities affecting the land or the crops, and all severe outbreaks of disease among man and beast. He must bring to the notice of inspecting officers encroachments of government lands, the deaths of pensioners and assignees, the emigration or immigration of cultivators, and the unauthorized cultivation of groves held revenue free on condition of the preservation of the trees. He must allow any one interested to inspect his records, and , if required, give certified extracts from them.
292.292.Patwaris’ diary. He keeps up a diary and a work-book. The first part of the diary, which is renewed annually, should contain a record of all facts of importance regarding the cultivation of the land, the state of the crops, the condition and relations of landowners and tenants, and the interests of government. The entries should be made on the day on which the events come to the notice of the patwari. At the end of each sambat month of careful general note on the crops and the cattle of the circle should be added. Orders received by the patwari from kanungo or from any revenue officer should also be entered in part 1 of the diary. Where , however an order consists of directors of a general nature it should be interested in part ii which is not renewed every year. The diary, like all other revenue record, is kept by the agricultural year beginning on 16th bhadon, corresponding to the 1st September.
293.293.Kanungo staff. The Kanungo establishment consists of field Kanungos, office Kanungos, and a district Kanungo. Its strength in each district can only be altered with the sanction of the local government. Ordinarily there is one field Kanungo for twenty patwaris, an office Kanungo at each tahsil, and a district Kanungo with at least one assistant at headquarters.
294.294.Duties of field Kanungo. The Kanungo should be constantly moving about his circle supervising the work of the patwari on the spot, except in the month of September, when he stays at the tahsil to check the jamabandis received from the patwari.
295.295.Duties of office Kanungo. The office Kanungo is the tahsidar’s revenue clerk, his chief work, the maintenance of the statistical revenue records, will be described in a later chapter. He has also charge of the forms and stationary required by patwari, keep the account of mutation fees, records in rainfall, and maintains the register of assignees of land revenue and other miscellaneous revenue registers. He is custodian of all the records received from patwari, and a well- ordered Kanungo’s office is an important factor in the revenue management of a tahsil.
296.296.Duties of district Kanungo - The district Kaungo is responsible for the efficiency of the both the office and the field Kanungos and should be in camp inspecting their work for at least fifteen days in each month from 1st October to 30th April. He is the keeper of all records received from Kanungos and patwari, maintains with the help of his assistant copies of the prescribed statistical registers for each assessment circle, tahsil and the whole district. It is necessary, as already noted to give him one or more assistants for office work. The pay of a sadder Kanungo is Rs. 75-5/2-100 per mensum, and his assistant received Rs. 60 per mensum, except in simla where he receives Rs. 50-5-75 per mensum, while special Kanungo entertained in connection with the scheme for making the contents of revenue records more ready accessible to litigants in civil and revenue courts are paid at Rs. 65 per mensum.
297.297.Kanungo to be employed only on their proper work. All Kanungos must be strictly confined to their own allotted work. It would be example, the improper to allow the district kanungo to be used by the revenue assistant as a reader. Nor should a tahsil office kanungo be used for case work.
298.298.Grades and pay of Kanungo. Field and office kanungos are graded on a single list, office kanungo being chosen from among the older field kanungos. On first appointment a field kanungo receives Rs. 40 per mensum. His appointment is on probation pending the obtaining of a certificate of efficiency from the director of land records. No kanungo is confirmed unless and until he has obtained this certificate, and if he does not obtain it within 2 years of his first appointment, his name is struck off the list of kanungos and he received to his original post, if any. No longer remaining a kanungo candidate. Field kanungo in the highest grade, or one month of the whole number draw Rs. 50 monthly. Al field kanungos receive Rs. 20 per mensum as horse allowance. Settlement kanungo are paid at the same rats as field kanungos on the district staff” field kanungo not employed in settlement work get a stationary allowance of Rs. 1 per mensum. Tahsil office kanungos receive rs. 60 per mensum.
Note-: for the purpose of this paragraph is the whole number be one less than a multiple of 4/e.g. 19,23 etc.) it should be considered to be a full multiple. This where there are 19 field kanungo 5 would be entitled to draw pay of rs. 50 per mensum. Punjab govt. letter no. 8 rev. dated Jan., 1914
299.299.Kanungo candidate. A register of accepted candidates for the post of Kanungo is maintained. Patwari on the district establishment and settlement patwari drawing Rs. 53 or more per mensum are eligible for this register, provided they have passed the middle school examination, but a lower educational qualification may be accepted in special cases, with the sanction of the financial commission obtained through the director of land records. Most of the candidates should be drawn from this class, as two third of the vacancies of the among kanungo must be given to patwaris. A few men below the age of twenty five who have passed the matriculation examination of the Punjab university may be accepted. But such candidate must not be given appointment till they have served two years as patwaris or as apprentices learning patwari work. No one should be accepted as a candidate who is not of active habits and able to ride. There is no such thing as a hereditary claim to a kanungos post, and the caution given as to the case of patwaris applies equally to that of kanungo. candidate must appear at the local examination held by the director of land records. On passing it and giving evidence that they have received a proper practical training they are entitled to certificates of efficiency.
300.300.Claims of kanungos to higher posts. Great care should be taken in choosing kanungo candidate, and there is not much difficulty in getting suitable men. The post itself is a respectable one as regards pay and position, and it carries the appointment of district revenue accountant or a naib-tahsildar. Any kanungo who have served govt. of five years including at least two years approved service as field kanungo may be selected as a naib tahsildar candidate. The commissioner’s register should always contain some names drawn from the kanungo’s list. It is true that few promoted kanungo’s are likely to rise above the rank of naib-tahsildar by becoming tahsildar. They are usually, at least when they have started as patwaris, made naib-tahsildar too late in life to do so. But their previous training fits them to do very good work as naib-tahsildar, and the post of 1st grade naib-tahsildar is sufficiently honourable and well paid to satisfy the ambitions of most men of the class from which the kanungo staff is mainly drawn. A permanent or officiating district kanungo is entitled to appear at the naib-tahsildar examination, and, if he passes, his name is put on the register of candidate. A district kanungo of not less than two years standing may be selected by the financial commissioner as a candidate for the post of tahsildar.
301.301.Kanungo in districts under settlement. When a district is being reassessed, the kanungo work under the orders of the settlement officer who finds it necessary to employ in addition a number of extra or settlement kanungos. He also becomes responsible for the training of candidates. At the end of the settlement he ought to leave in the district a thoroughly efficient kanungo staff with a number of qualified candidates.
302.302.Training of kanungo candidates in settlement work. Where posible the director of land records arranges to give kanungo candidates from districts not under settlement a practical training in settlement work.
303.303.Filling up post of district kanungo. A vacancy in the office of district kanungo must be filled by the promotion of an office or field kanungo. The post is one which can only properly be filled by a well educated man of active habits, of good natural ability and sufficient acquired experience. A fair knowledge of english is an indispensable qualification for appointment. No particular examination test has been prescribed but ability to read and write english reports interlligibly and fairly quickly is demanded.
The deputy commissioner should consult the director of land records demi-offcially when a vacancy in the post for six months or more is to be filled. If they do not agree as to the person to be appointed, each should state his case for the consideration of the commissioner of the division, who will make the final selection. An appeal from his decesion will lie to the financial commissioner.
304.304.Disabilities of Kanungos. The rule regarding rsidence is the same mutatis mutandis for field kanungo as for patwar , and kanungos are under the same regulations as patwari as regards trading, borrowing and lending, holding land, writing and attesting documents.
VILLAGE HEADMEN,
INAMDARS AND ZAILDARS
305.305.Value of unofficial agency. In the last two chapters the strong body of government servants, of which the deputy commissioner is the head, has been described. It is a powerful piece of administrative machinery, but, as links between the higher officers and the communities for whose welfare they are responsible, its inferior members have the defects which belong to purely official agency. They have therefore been supplemented by representatives of the landowners in the shape of village headmen inamdars and zaildars.
Commentary
Where lambardar fails to perform his
duties, the recovery can be effected from his or his estate.
306.306.Convenience of dealing with
village communities. It is obviously convenient for the state to deal with
bodies like village communities through headmen. The internal affairs of such
communities used to be and in some places still in a measure are, managed by
informal councils or panchyats. But these have fallen into decay, and in any
case their constitution was too loose for them to serve as intermediates
between the rules and the land owners. The sikh govt. like own, found it useful
to have such intermediaries. The chaudhris and mukaddims through whom it
dealtwith the people corresponded roughly with our zaildars and lambardars.
307.307.Duties of headmen. The
headmen of a village act on behalf of the landowners, tenants and other
residents in their relations with the state. They are bound to attend when
summoned by officers of govt., and to aid them in the execution of their public
duties. Their important functions as regards the prevention and detection and
detection of crime do not fall within the scope of this work. Their chief
duties are set forth in some detail in a vernacular memorandum which is given
to each headmen on his appointment. Those connected with land administration
may be summarized as follows:-
A duties government-
1. 1. to
collect and pay into the treasury the land revenue and all sums recoverable as
land revenue.
2. 2. To report
to the tahsildar-
(a) (a) the deaths of
assignees and pensioners ,and their absence for over a year
(b) (b) encroachments on, or
injury to, government property.
3. 3. to aid-
(a) (a) in carrying out
harvest inspections, surveys, the record of mutations and other revenue
business;
(b) (b) in providing, on payment,
supplies or means of transport for troops and officers of government.
4. 4. to render
all possible assistance to the village postman, while passing the night in the
village, in safeguarding the cash and other valuables that he carries.
B. Duties to landowners and
tenants of estate-
1. 1. to
acknowledge every payment received from them in their parcha books.
2. 2. To
collect and manage the common village fund, and account to the shareholders for
all receipts and expenditure
The duties of headmen as regards the
collections of revenue (a 1 and b 1 on page 128 and above) are dealt with in
chapter xv. Those which fall under heads a 2(a) and (b) and A 3(a) call no
remark. The financial commissioner’s standing order no. 58 deals with transport
and supplies for troops. As regards the village malba (B), the 93rd
and 94th paragraph of the settlement manual may be consulted.
Commentary
Lambardar under rule 20 of the
Punjab land revenue is duty bound to recover land revenue and other sums which
are due to the state, if money due to paid to the lambardar the liability of
the person concerned stands discharged. On failure of the lambardar to deposit
the amount or account for it, the lambardar is the person liable to the state
and not the person for whom it was originally due. Government if recovers money
from person originally liable to pay despite having his paid the amount to the
lambardar, such person is entitled to
decree against lambardar as also the state.
308.308.Remuneration of headmen.
The manner in which headmen are remunerated for their service has already been
noticed. The pachotra or surcharge of 5 percent on the land revenue to which
they are entitled is calculated not on the demand, but on the amount collected.
A suspension or remission of the land revenue therefore involves the suspension
or remission pachotra, it may be doubted whether this rule is always carried
out, but in case of dispute, it must be enforced. Headmen usually receive an
allowance of 3 percent on account of collections of canal occupier’s rate.
309.309.Appointment and dismissal in
districts under settlement. When a
district is under settlement, headmen are appointed by the settlement officer.
When the question of dismissing a headman arises, the settlement officer deals
with the matter if the malfeasance was connected with work under his control, otherwise the deputy
commissioner is the final authority. The officer with whom the actual decision
rests should consult his colleague before passing orders.
310.310.Headman must be landowner of
village. The headman or headmen must be chosen from among the landowners of
the village. In the case of govt. estates , or estates in which govt. owns considerable share, he may be one of the
govt. tenants.
311.311.Too many headmen often
appointed at 1st regular
settlement. The existing lambardar arrangements in most villages were made
when they were first brought under a regular settlement. It was often found
that a considerable number of the owners had in fact received a share of the
pachotra, and that there were many claimants for the office of headman. The
original arrangements can be recast and the number of headmen reduced with the
sanction of the financial commissioner. When a readjustment of the pachotra is
advisable for any reason, the collector can take action under land revenue rule
21(iv)
312.312.Matters to be considered in
making new appointment. In making new appointments, as distinguished from
the filling up a vacancies in existing posts, the chief matters to consider
are---
(a)
(a)
the constitution of the community to be represented.
(b)
(b)
The family claims of the candidates.
(c)
(c)
The extent of their landed property and their freedom from debt.’
(d)
(d)
Their character ability and personal influence.
(e)
(e)
Any services render to the state by themselves or the families to which they
belong
The first point is important in deciding how
many headmen are required. The number should be as small as possible, having
regard to the claim of each principal branch of the community to have its own
representative.
313.313.New appointment of headmen.
New appointment are now a days exceptional, save in the case of estates carved
out of the govt. waste. Where such an estate is leased to a single lessee, he
become ipso facto headman for the period of his lease. In the village which
have recently been planted in hundred on state lands brought under cultivation
by means of the upper and lower chenab, the upper and lower jhelum, the lower
Bari Doab and the sutluj valley chanals, the lambardari arrangements are
governed by the constitution of the groups of colonies who have occupied the
new settlements. In an ordinarny district new appointment are only necessary
when the family, in which the post is hereditary, becomes extinct; when after
the resignation or dismissal of a headman the collector finds that he must be
pass over all the heirs under the vrious provisions of sub-rule(ii) of land
revenue rule 17; or in the rare cases in which an increase in the number of
headmen is sanctioned by the commissioner. The importance and implications of
the doctrine of primogeniture are elaborated in the Lahore Law times xviii,
page 43.
314.314.Ordinarily headman must
perform duties himself. A headman once appointed holds officer for life
unless the Deputy commissioner dismisses him or accepts his resignation. No man
should ordinarily be retained in office who either does not, or cannot, carry
out the duties efficiently. But in some cases whether inability to do so is of
a temporary nature, and in others where it aprings from unavoidable
circumstances, the lambardar is allowed to retain the title and even in some
cases a share of the emoluments, while a substitute is appointed to do the
work.
315.315.Appointment of substitutes in
certain cases. The commonest instance of a temporary inability is that of a
headman being too young to act. In that case, the appointment of a substitute
is imperative. Another instance is absence
from the village with the Deputy commissioner’s consent for a period not
exceeding one year. Old age or physical infirmity is a disability which it
might savoir of harshness to treat as a ground of dismissal. A wide dissection
is left to the deputy commissioner for he can allow a substitute or sarbarah
not only in the circumstances maintained above, but in any case in which “ good
cause” can be shown fir the lambardar’s unfitness to do the work himself. (land
revenue rule 27) an absentee landlord owing a whole estate may nominate for the
approval of the deputy commission any of the residents to be his substitute. As
a rule, he will have an again on the spot whom he will naturally put forward.
Should he fall to nominate to a fit person the deputy commissioner choses one
of the resident tenants.(land revenue rule 26(1) ) where in an estate owned by
more than on person an absent headmen the responsible either individually or as
a representative of other absence for more than half of the land revenue the
deputy commissioner may appoint any resident owner or tenant to be dabbed. In
this, and indeed in all cases in which substitutes are appointed for a
lambardar whips is not a minor, the wishes of the substantive hold of the
office should be put on record and fully considered, other things belong equal,
the best plan, when the headman has become unfit to do his work, is to choose
as his substitute the man who would naturally succeed him in the office in the
event of his death. If this is his son, he will usually not be a “landowne” but
this is no obstacle, for “egad shall be had to the properly which of the
candidate will inherit form the person he is intended to represent in like
manner as if he has already inherited it.” (land revenue rule 29 iii) in the
case of minor lambaradare, their mothers often he is ineligible because he owns
no land in the village, and in any case it is generally much more in the
accordance with local sentiment to select a near relative of the boy’s father.
315-A. appointment in canal colonies. In the
colonies it has been the practice from trthe foundation of each estate to
restrict the number of lambadars to on
two. Where service conditions exist, as, for instance, in the horse-breeding
chaks of the lower jhelum canal colony it is usually considered preferable to
have only one lambardar. These posts are si much converted that the ordinary
objection against having too few lambardars does not hold good. Hereditary
claims need not be regarded since the landholdes suitable landholder. In the
news colonies, where service conditions do not exist, two lambadars ae
ordinarily appointed.
In making such appointment care
should be taken to ensure that the lambardar appointed resides, or will reside
personally in the chak. It must be remembered that the post of lambadar has
been created in order to the ensure the performance of services necessary for
the efficiency of the administration of the province and the district. These
posts are no treated to add to the prestige and influence of influential
and wealthy landowners, who have no
intention of fulfilling the obligations of the post. An additional objection
that o the appointment of such person as lambardar, to all intents and
purposes, would be performed by a servant and that landholders of considerable
social standing, such as retired commissioned military officers, would occupy a
position of subordination to the sarbarah lambardar a state of affairs to which
they naturally have a strong objection. The land revenue rules with regard to
the appointment of substitutes should therefore be most carefully observed. The
only concession which can properly be made to influential and wealthy non
resident landholders is that they should be appointed lambardar’s of the land
which they hold themselves. In such cases they should not be permitted to have
any hand in the management of the land allotted to the menials of the village.
316.316.Division of pachotra - It
is permissible to divide the pachotra
between the headman and his substitute. If it is intended to do so the
arrangement must be noted in the order of appointment, otherwise the substitute
will receive the whole on the principal that the man who does the work should
get the pay. In any case the substitute’s
share must not be fixed at less than oneself (land revenue rule 30)
317.317.Removal of substitute -
The deputy commissioner may remove a substitute for any reason which would
justify the removal of the headman himself or for any other sufficient reason.
(land revenue rule 29 iv)
318.318.Resignation of headman -
When a headman resigns, he generally ask for the appointment of his son to
succeed him and in other to give him the
land owners qualifications, officers to transfer a share of his holding to him
by gift. Arrangements of this sort being apt to lead to quarrel’s over the
division of the family holding after the father’s death should be discouraged.
Where the lambardar has done nothing to merit dismissal, it is better to retain
him as nominal headman and to appoint his son to be his substitute.
319.319.Dismissal of headman -
The chief grounds on which a headman may properly be dismissed are four-
(a)
(a)
loss of the states of landowner in the estate,
(b)
(b)
poverty
(c)
(c)
persistent neglect of duty,
(d)
(d)
crime ( land revenue rule 16)
the
first calls for no remarks. Dismissal in such a case is imperative.
320.288.Poverty as ground of
dismissal. As regards the sequin, the collection of the dues of the State
cannot safely be entrusted to a man who is himself insolvent. If a headman has
mortgaged his own holding, and has ceased to be the person from whom its
revenue is due to govt. he ought to be dismissed unless he can make arrangement
to pay off with a short time the whole mortgage debt or so much it as will
suffice to release so much of the holding as will be sufficient security of the
govt. revenue which passes through his hands. In such a case the headman may be
allowed a reasonable period within which to recover himself if meanwhile he
can furnish security of the payment of
the revenue and the discharge of his other duties. But make shift arrangements
of this kind should not be continued for any length of time. A headman, who is
defaulter in respect of his own holding, ought not to be kept in office. The
mere fact, however, that one or other of the minor processes referred to in
paragraphs 520 and 521 of this manual has been employed against his need not
necessarily in tail dismissal. If the estate or sub division of the estate
which the headman represents has had to be attached on account of areas, the
deputy commissioner may dismiss the lambardar and the same course may be
followed of the attachment is made by an other of any court of law proof that a
headman is heavily in debt or that the amount of unencumbered land remaining in
his possession is very small at once
raised the question of his fitness to retained office. In these cases much
depends on the cause of the mans difficulties and the likely hood of his being
able to surmount them. If the revenue is paid in punctually, no readiness should be shown the harass a
headman and gratify his rivals by fishing enquiries into his private affairs.
The practice which have prevailed in some places of encouraging patwari’s to report cases of
indebtedness is very objectionable. No tahsidar who exercises proper control
over the land revenue collection, and who moves freely among the people, has
any need of such written a reports , and the acceptance of then puts the
patwari in a position with reference to headmen which he has no right to
occupy.
321.289.Punishment for neglect of
duty. Neglect of the duty which is either gross or persistent, should be
followed removal from office, minor breaches or rules or acts of negligence nay
be punished-
(a) (a) by the
forfeiture of the whole or part of the pachotra; or
(b) (b) by suspension
from office for a term not exceeding a year.
Orders attaching the pachotra usually only relate to that due at the
next harvests, and in no case should the Peachtree of more than two harvests be
declared forefeet. A substitute may be appointed to do the work of a headman
under suspension.
322.290.Commission of criminal
offences as ground of dismissal - Considering that one of the chief if a
headman is to aid in the prevention and detection of crime, he ought to be
removed from office if convicted of any serious offence. If he is sent to jail
for a year or more, the deputy commissioner has no choice be must dismiss him;
otherwise he has a discretion. Every petty breach of the criminal law need not
be magnified into a ground for dismissal. The conditions of life in a Punjab
village are such that a man is very liable to be hauled before a magistrate for
acts, or alleged acts, which are offences under the Indian penal code, but
which it is an abuse of language to quality as crimes. The only rule that can
be laid down is that , if the facts proved against a headman indicate that he
is unfit jot be entrusted worth the duties of his post, he should cease to hold
it. If he is shown to be dishonest, or to consort with bad characters,
obviously he should be dismissed. A conviction of theft or cheating proves him
unfit to face charge of public money; and order to give security to be of good
behavior or trustworthy evidence of convidenance with relied on for help in
suppressing crime or in enforcing the excise laws.
323.291.Filling up of vacant posts -
Where the office of headman become vacant. It is the duty of the tahsildar to
report without delay regarding the appointment of a successor. It is convenient
to use a tabular form for such reports as information on certain points is
required in every case, and any special features of a particular case can be noted
in the brief remarks explaining the recommendation of the tahsildar.
323-A. Appointment to vacant posts should
not be delayed - In view of the importance of the duties performed by
village headman, it is imperative that when a post falls vacant, it should be
filled as quickly as possible. In cases where the decease’s is to be succeeded
by his heir, under land revenue rule 17(ii), and no other candidate is
forthcoming, no reference need be made to the collector as the appointment is
sanctioned by the assistant collector, 1st grade. It is advisable,
however, that the sanad of appointment should be signed by the collector
himself as this emphasizes the importance of the post and enhances the value of
the sanad.
In cases of disputed succession, the
appointment is made by the collector and subordinate officail have no direct
responsibilty with regard to the appointment other than the provision of such
accurate information as will enable are chiefly or wholly owned by government
and hereditary claims carry but little weight, the emoluments of lambardar are
very considerable because of the large sums of land revenue and water-rates to
be collected. The value of these posts os still further enhanced in peasant
chakd by the allotment of a lambardari square or half-square, it is therefore
all the more desirabble that such cases should not be delayed than of two
months be permitted to occur between the occurrence of the vacancy and the
placing of all the papers before the collector for his decision. The practice of
subordinate officials sending repeatedly for all candidates, to examine them
with regard to their claims and qualification, opens the door to opportunities
of patwari to the tahsidar. An early date should then be fixed by the tahsidar
or naib-tahsildaron which he will consider and investigate all the applications
for the vacant post. He should, if possible, arrange to hold the investigation
in or
near the estate concerned. The claimants should be given an other
claimants. A report should be called for from the local police station as in no
circumstances should the candidates be called upon to attend the police station
for the investigation for other claims or other objections to other claimants,
the papers should record his opinion in the file from his own personal
knowledge and from the material already collected. He should not delay the case
by sending for the claimants. The papers
should be then be laid before the collector should fix a date for the decision
of the case, notify all the claimants and have the date proclaimed in the
estate concerned. Meanwhile, he should forward the papers to the superintendent
of police for and expression of that officer’s opinion. That opinion should be
given by the superintendent of police from the material already collected on
the file, and from his personal knowledge of the claimants.
In the case of succession to
lambardari in an estate or sub-division of an estate owned chiefly or
altogether by government to which land revenue rules 17(1) as amended by
correction slip no. 44 dated 4th December, 1937 applies, a period of
3 months should be allowed within which papers should be placed before the
collector for his decision.
324.292.Hereditary claims. Expert
in estates chiefly or wholly owned by government, much weight is attached to
hereditary claims. The eldest fit son of the late labmardar should ordinarily
be appointed, and, when there is no son, the nearest collateral relation,
according to the rule of primogeniture. Where there are no near collates, the
necessity of regarding hereditary claims disappears.(land revenue rule17 ii a).
the nearest heir may of course be set aside for any reason which would justify
his removal from office if the were a headman(land revenue rule 17 ii c)
whether the claims of sons should be considered where a headman had been
dismissed depends on circumstances. If he ground of dismissal has been
insolvency, the son will be subject to the same disqualification; if is
innocent of any share in his father’s misdeeds, he will generally be under his
influence. If the other reasons for excluding him seem insufficient, the mere
fact that he owns no land during his father’s lifetime does not bar his
appointment. The property which he will inherit on his father’s death may be
taken into account as if it was already his own (land revenue rule 17 ii b)
325.293.Votes must not be taken.
Even where hereditary claims have to be set aside, the votes of the landowners
must not be taken as a mans of deciding between rival candidates. (land revenue
rule 17 iv)
326.294.Appointment of females.
Females are ordinarily ineligible. But a woman who is sole owner of an estate
may be appointed and special reasons nay occasionally exist in other cases for
departing from the general rule. ( land revenue rule 17 ii d)
327.295.Appointment when hereditary
claims are set aside. Where hereditary claims do not exist, or have to be
set aside, the considerations governing appointments are those mentioned in
paragraph 312 (land revenue rule 17 iii)
328.296.Claims of transferees.
Where a headman is removed because his own holding of the whole estate or
sub-division of the estate for whose revenue he is responsible has no account
of arrears been transferred to a solvent co-sharer, put under direct management
, or leased that a farmer, the transferee, manager or farmer may, if the deputy
commissioner thinks fit be appointed lambardar (land revenue rule 19 1) where a headman loses office because he has
mortgaged his holding, the mortgage has usually no claim whatever to succeed
him. But he may at the deputy commissioner’s discretion, be allowed to do so
where the revenue of the transferred holding so more than half of the whole
revenue for the payment of which the
late headman was, as such, responsible (land revenue rule 19 ii) the appointment refereed to in this paragraph
are not in their nature permanent. When the temporary alienation’s from which
they spring come to an end, the transferee, manager, farmer or mortgage must
lay down his office. A fresh selection is then made by the deputy commissioner,
having regard to the regards stated in paragraph 312.
329.297.Reduction in headmen when
number is excessive difficult. Reference has already been made to the
inconvenience by the needless multification of headmen’s posts at the first
regular settlements. Substantial men as heads of villages are among the most
necessary instructions of a vigorous revenue and criminal administration. The
framing of a general scheme of reduction requires a large amount of local
knowledge, and a patient enquiry into the history of past appointments in every
estate affected. The files relating to the arrangements made at the first
regular settlement and those dealing with subsequent appointment must be
scrutinized, and the enquirer must obtain a clear idea if the constitution of
each estate and must trace the origin of its sub-division by examining the
village administration paper( wajib-ul-arz)(see paragraph 295-96 of the
settlement menual) and genealogical tree (shajra-nasab)( see appendix viii to
the settlement manual). The time for making such an enquiry is hard to find in
the throng or daily duties which he requires can be collected and put into
shape for him by his officers, but, even so, the task is a heavy one.
330.298.General schemes of reduction
-(1) when a district is brought under re-settlement and the settlement
officer finds that a reduction in the existing number of headman is required in
the interests of good administration in a considerable number of village
throughout the district or in any particular tahsils, he should in consultation
with the deputy commissioner; prepare a scheme for effecting the necessary
reductions gradually as vacancies occur.
(1) (1) the main positive
ground for reduction of a lambardari in an estate is that the existing number
of lamberdar is excessive for the purposes of administrative efficiency, while
the existence and degree of this excess will generally appear from the fact
that the panchora of the post which it is proposed to reduce is insignificant
as a remuneration for the duties to be discharged. It is difficult to lay down
a standard figure for the whole province as much must depend on local
conditions, but any individual pachotra less than Rs. 20 per annum may as a
rule, and in the absence of special circumstances, such as the insignificant.
The commissioner should prescribe a suitable general standard for each district
in his division and in some cases it may be advisable to fix such standards for
particular tahsils. It is not, however, by any means intended that every
lambardari of which the pachotra os below the prescribed amount should
necessarily be proposed for reduction apart from the other modifying
considerations, of which some are noticed below .on the other hand, where the
pachotra the amount received in respect of canal occupier’s rates(paragraph
308) should be neglected.
(2) (2) In determining what
appointment should be retained and what abolished special attention should be
paid to the composition of the village proprietary body, to the circumstances
under which existing appointment became vested in certain families and to the
present position and influence of these families. No proposal for reduction can
be fully satisfactory unless it takes sufficient account of the origin and
history of the lambardari which is proposed for reduction. For instance, it is
generally desirable to reduce the lambardari held by the junior branch of a
family, rather than that held by the senior, and, in order that secure this, it may be advisable to forego an
otherwise suitable occasion for reduction and defer the latter step until the
occurrence of a more appropriate vacancy.
(3) (3) In estates
homogeneous as regards casts and tribes, reductions may properly be made more
freely than in those where there is considerable diversity in these respects.
(4) (4) Reduction is not generally advisable where its effect
will be to place any considerable number of proprietors of one religion, tribe
or caste under a lambardar of another patti or sub-division of a different
religion etc.
(5) (5) As a rule, it is
better if the conditions permit to reduce the post of second lambardar of one
tariff, patti, or other sub-division of an estate, rather than that of the sole
lambardar of another taraf, etc.
(6) (6) The proposals of the
settlement officer and the deputy commissioner should be embodied in a register
in the form prescribed in paragraph 5 of standing order no. 20 village headmen.
They should not be announced to the villages, nor will they be submitted to
higher authority for sanction. But, if there is any difference of opinion
between the settlement officer and the deputy commissioner, the register,
together with any connected papers relating to any lambardari about which there
is such disagreement shall be forwarded to the commissioner, who will decide whether
such lambardari shall or shall not be retained in the register. The register
will then be made over to the deputy commissioner, with whom it will remain.
(7) (7) Whenever a vacancy
occurs in a lambardari which has been recommended for reduction in the register
prepared at settlement, the deputy commissioner will, subject to what is subject to what is said in the
next sentence, send up the case to the commissioner, with an extract from the
register and other papers required by standing order no. 20 in the case of
causal proposals, whether he agrees with the recommendation made in the
register or not, but he should not, save in very exceptional cases, send up
cases in which the settlement officer’s proposal would result in either the
total number of lambardars in the village being reduced to one or in the
passing over of an heir in the direct line, especially a minor. In the above
contingencies the financial commissioner will not generally sanction a
reduction. In other cases if the deputy commissioner thinks that effect should
not be given to a reduction proposal in the scheme, in the special
circumstances of the vacancy which considers that the occasion is not
appropriate for reduction, the case may be disposed of by his order, but in the cases in which he considers that
reduction should be made a reference should be made to the financial
commissioner and the procedure prescribed in paragraph 332(3),(4) and (6) below
will be applicable to them.
(8) (8) A similar scheme
may, at any time, for sufficient reason, be prepared by the deputy commissioner
of a district not under settlement with the financial commissioner’s previous
approval.
(9) (9) To ensure that the
recommendations made in a scheme prepared by a settlement officer or deputy
commissioner are not over-looked, deputy commissioners of districts in which a
register has been prepared should require ahlmad in charge of lambardari cases
to note on all files of appointment to a vacant lambardari whether the vacant
post has been recommended for reduction or not.
331.299. Canalled.
332.300.Causal proposal for reduction.
(1) Causal
proposals for the reduction in the number of headman in an estate should be
made by transmission of the files in original through the vernacular office,
together with an English abstract in the tabular form given in paragraph 6 of
financial commissioner’s standing order no.20 and a skeleton abstract of the
shajra-nasib, showing the origin of each of the pattis or tarafs of the
village, the revenue paid and the number of revenue payers in eaxh, and the
relationship of the sun division of the village, the lambardaro of which it is
proposed to reduce, to the sub-division in which it is propoesed to be absorbed
as regards lambardari arrangements.
(2) the mere absence of a properly qualified
hereditary successor to a vacant lambardari, through it may help to render the
vacancy a suitable occasion for a reduction desirable on other grounds, is not
alone and of itself an adequate ground for reduction. Much should reduction be
proposed solely as a penalty for delinquencies measures are available. The
principles laid down in paragraph 330 should also be followed in making causal
proposals for reduction.
(3)when
a collector decides to propose a causal reduction, he shall intimate that fact
to all the parties interested, viz; these whose names are entered in columns 5
and 6 of the form, and shall give them sufficient opportunity to bring to his
notice any objection of them may think fit to urge against the proposed
reduction. He shall cause his proceedings in this connection to be recorded in
the vernacular files in detail, and shall also cause a detailed record to be
made of such objections as are made to him. Where the collector is not himself the deputy commissioner f the
district, he shall forward the file to the deputy commissioner, who shall
return it with his opinion.
(4) (1) The collector, after
completing his proceedings, shall, in a case of which he considers reduction
desirable, forward the papers prescribed above to the commissioners for orders.
(5) (2) If the commissioners
is of opinion that a reduction is not appropriate, he shall record his order on
the papers and return them to the collector.
(6) (3) In other cases the
commissioner shall ordinarily retain the papers on his file till the expiry of
two months from the date of the collector’s proposals; and, if any person has
objected to the proposals, he shall give the objector or objectors an
opportunity of being heard, and shall record the objections urged by them. He
shall then complete the papers by
recording an opinion in which he shall deal with the objections made to the
proposal, and shall forward the papers to the financial commissioner for
orders.
333.301.Chief headmen. A device
which was formerly adopted in order to lessen the inconvenience caused by the
excessive number of lambardars appointed at the first regular settlement was
the institution of the office of chief
headmen(ala lambardar) in estates with several headmen. It is generally admitted
that the office of chief headmen has served no useful end, and, later a large
number of ala lamberdari posts were reduced. In 1909 the gradual abolition of
the ala lambardari system in the districts in which it still obtains was
orders. In future, vacancies will not be filled, and the ala lambardiari of any
man who is dismissed or is granted a zaildari or other inam will be resumed.
All existing ala lambardiari will enjoy their present emoluments for life
unless they become resembles as above. In addition to this ordinary pachotra on the revenue of the sub-division which he
represents as headmen. The ala lambardar receives one percent, on the revenue
of the whole estate (land revenue rule 24) orders to be carried out by a
headmen may, if thought desirable, be addressed to the chief headman, and the
latter is responsible that any orders issued are properly executed, and should
carry them out himself if the headman responsible fails to do so.
334.302.Zaildars. As already
remarked. Zaildars represent the chaudhris of former times. The existence and
value of chaudhris was recognized at the time of the annexation of the Punjab.
But the measures taken to maintain the influence of men of this class were not
sufficiently definite and practical, and the position of chaudhri fell into
decay. The credit of revising it and of belongs mainly to Mr. Prinsep. Almost
everywhere in the Punjab, and even shoulders above the ordinary headmen, and
whose influence extends not to one, but to a number of villages. If the proper
men are found, and the higher officials of the district know them well and use
them wisely, the work of administration is greatly assisted. In his zaildars
the deputy commissioner has a ready means of getting into touch with his
people, of understanding revenue and administrative work in which he can
utilixw the services of the zaildars, and, above all, he has in them a powerful
engine for the prevention and detection of crime.
335.303.Formation of Zails. In
the closing paragraphs of the settlement manual the measures connected with the
first introduction of the zaildari agency into a district and the principles to
be followed in grouping estates into jails are described.
336.304.Duties of zaildars. The
duties of zaildars are set forth under seven heads on the sanads (see financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 21, paragraph 15, and rand revenue rule 9)
which they receive on appointment. Their functions with regard to crime are
within their larger spheres similar to those of headmen within their villages.
They are of very great importance, but this is not the place to describe them.
Like lambardars, they are bound to aid
in all sorts of revenue work, and to report when geovernment buildings, roads
or boundary marks are out of repair. when called to do so they notify
throughput their zails all govt. orders, and use their personal influence to
secure prompt compliance with them. While abstaining from personal interference
with the work of lambardars and patwaris, it is their duty to see that they
perform ir properly, and to inform the authorities of any failure to do so.
Forbidden to intermeddle of their own motion with cases pending in the law
courts, they can sometimes be employed with advantage as conciliators, or in
making preliminary enquiries into criminal complaints, which appeared to be
probably the exaggerated reflections of petty village or family quarrels. It is
incumbent on zaildars “ to see that the headmen ….. of the zail perform their
duties properly (see land revenue rule 9 ii) including of course the duty of
paying in land revenue promptly. But a discreet use should be made of the rule,
and zaildars ought not to be employed as if they were peons. More especially
they should neither be ordered themselves to collect any sums due to govt. nor
permitted to take land revenue collected by lambardars to the tahsil.
337.305.Duty of attendance on
officers visiting their zails. They must attend on govt. officers who pass
through their zails, this is a duty which is usually cheerfully performed, and
which should always be enforced. A deputy commissioner ‘s should try to see all
his zaildars at least once a year in or near their zails, and should encourage
them to visit him from time to time at headquarters. If they find that the
district officer talks freely to them on matters of local interest, and encourages
a frank expression of their views, they are sure to value these opportunities
of meeting him.
338.306.Percentage of land revenue
allotted for remuneration of zaildars an inamaders. For the remuneration of
zaildars a sum os set aside out of the land revenue amounting usually to 1
percent. If inamdars, as well as zailsars, are appointed an additional ¼ per
cent is allowed. This deduction is made from assigned, as well as from khalsa,
revenue. In the case of assigned revenue, the higher contribution that can
legally be taken is 1 ½ per cent. But the usual rate s 1 ¼ per cent as noted
above, and more than ¼ per cent should not be devoted to the remuneration of
inamdars. ( section 28 (2) of act xvii of 1887. Land revenue rules 3 and 11
financial commissioner’s standing order no. 21)
339.307.Methods of remuneration.
There are two ways of treating the sum devoted to thepayment of zaildars. Each
zaildars may receive 1 per cent of the land revenue of his own circle in the
form of an inam paid out of the jama of some particular estate, generally that
in which he himself is headman. Thus, if the zaildar is assessed at Rs. 24900
the inam will be Rs. 249, and the zaildar will keep back that sum when the
revenue of his village os paid to govt. a better paln is to have inams arranged
in different grades, the total being equal to 1 per cent, of the land revenue
of the tahsil or district. (land revenue rule 12)
340.308.Advantages of grade system.
The grade system gives the officer who fixes the limits of zails a much free
hand. It secures a fairer distribution when zaildars are first appointed for it
by no means follows that the zails which yields the biggest revenue is either
the largest in area or the most troublesome to manage. Above all it enables the
deputy commissioner to recognize good work by promoting deserving men on the
occurrence of vacancies and now and then to punish slackness by reducing a
zaildar appointed to fill a vacancy should always be put in the lowest grade.
Even where the plan of graded inams is in force, the zaildar gets his pay in
the shape of an inam out of the revenue of some village. The reason is that to
indian minds this seems a more honorable form of payment then the receipt of
many from the tahsil treasury.
341.309.Inam first charge on revenue
of village from which payable. The zaildar’s inam is a first charge in the
revenue of the estate from which it is paid. Partial sustentions or remissions
therefore do not affect the zaildar so long as the balance is large enough to
cover his inam. If it is not, the deficiency should be made up to the zaildar
from the revenue of some other village. ( Punjab govt. no. 222 dated 11th
November 1903-revenue proceeding no. 6 of November 1903)
342.310.Zaildar must as a rule be
headman. In choosing a zaildar, the field of selection is usually confined
to the headmen. Occasionally, the most able and influential man in a zail may
be a landowner or government tenant, perhaps a jagirdar or pensioned Indian
officer, who is not lambardar. On a vacancy occurring, such a man may be
appointed if the commissioner of the division has previously accepted him as a
suitable candidate(land revenue rule 4) care must be taken in putting forward
names that a pushing newcomer is not taken at his own valuation, and allowed to
thrust aside deserving men of the old
chaudhri class.
343.311.Qualification of candidates.
It is true that it is a settloed rule that “ in
the appointment of zaildar regard shall not be had to any alleged
hereditary claim” but, as two of the chief matters to considered are “ the
candidate’s personal influence and the degree in which he is by race or
otherwise fitted to represent the majority of the agriculturists who resale in
the zail” and the “ services rendered to the state by himself or by his
family,” it is obvious that questions of descent cannot be wholly excluded,
influence is very commonly hereditary in certain families, and a man who has
done nothing to forfeit the respect in which his ancestors have been held in
the countryside may assuredily be allowed to urge in his own behalf the
services they have rendered in the past as chaudhris and zaildars. The other
points for consideration are-
(a) (a) personal
character and ability.
(b) (b) Extent of property
in the zail, and freedom from debt.( land revenue rule 5)
344.312.Appointment of minor. It
sometimes happens that the only suitable candidate is a minor. It may be found,
especially in the hills, that to take the zaildar from any family but one
involves a breaking up of old ties and a weakening of the means government has
of influencing the people. In such a case, if the representative of the family
is a minor, one of two course may be followed. The minor may be made zaildar,
and a substitute nay be appointed to discharge during his nonage the duties of
the office, or, if it is through expedient, the post may be left unfilled for a
time.(land revenue rule 7)
345.313.Votes of headmen may be taken.
To assist him in deciding between rival candidates, the deputy commissioner
nay, if he thinks fit, have the votes of
the headmen taken in his own presence at some place within the zail
(financial commissioner’s standing order no. 21,paragraph 3.) this course,
through not suited for general application, may be usually and appropriately
adopted where there are two or more candidates of nearly equal marit. It may
also be followed in other cases of a special nature the circumstances of which
appear to demand it. Such cases will probably increase in number with the lapse
of time. Care, however should be taken that the special procedure for taking
votes is not so used as to encourage the
idea that the post of zaildar is one
dependent merely on popular fervor, and did not rather a distinction received
from the representative of government, and in this connection it should be
noted that the deputy commissioner is not bound to appoint the candidate who
secures most votes.
346.314.Inamadars. In many
districts ir has been throught expendient to supplement the zaildari agency by
setting up a class of inamdars or safedposhes. The servies required of an
inamdar are within his own sphere of the same type as typse remdered by a zaildar, but he receives a much smaller inam.
And has no defined group of estates put under his charge. He should clearly
understand that he is bound to assist in every possible
way the zaildar in whose zail he
resides. Occasionally services of a special kind are required by the condition
on which the inam was originally granted. the
or ders regarding appointment
loss of office and succession are the same for inamdars and zaildars
subject in the case of the former to any special conditions imposed by government
when the inam was first granted. in jhelum district and in the talagang tahsil of attack district which tahsll was
formerly a part of old jhelum district, special rules exist which will be found
in the land revenue rules. Some of the inams are of a seemi-hereditary nature.
Such inamdars, who sometimes are called ilaqadars of halkdarsw parform all the
duties of zaildars”.
347.315.Punishment and dismissal of zaildars
and inamdars and appointment of subsstitutes. The order regulating the
punishment and dismissal of zaildars and inamdars,and the appointment of substitutes to perform their duties, are
practically identical with the corresponding orders in the case of headmen. A
zaildar must be deprived of office when-
(a) he ceases to be a landowner in the zail, or has mortgaged his holding and
deliver possession to the mortgagee;
(b) His holding has been transferred, or its asseessment annulled, on
account of failure to pay land revenue;
(c) (c) He is
sentenced to imprisonment for one year or upwards.3
348.316.Zail books. Wherever the
zaildari agency exists, zail books `wherever the zaildari agency exists,zail
books should be maintained. One volume
should ordinarily be kept for each tahsil, and should contain in a pocket a map
of the tahsil showing the zails concerned. The book should be of foolscap size,
and a map of each zail should be bound
into the objet in the proper place , together with statistical tables showing
the information prescribed in the
Financial Commissioner’ s Standing Order No. 21. Whenever a new zaildar is
appointed, an abstract of the order passed by the candidates, and the reasons
why the collector has selected or reheated
them. The results of appeals should similarly be shown.
Zail
books should be treated as strictly confidential and kept in the
personal custody of the collector. copies of entries in the book should on account
but given other to the persons concerned or to anyone else. It will thus
be possible for the collector to record remarks in these books, expressing
frankiy his own opinion about the zaildar and various matters connected with
the zail. These remarks will be of the greatest use to his successors.
Ordinarily, the collector should arrange to record a note once a year about
each zaildar and inamdar so that the record may be kept up to date.
Are confidential official records
although they are allowed to remain in the custody of zaildars in order that all
authorized officers may be able to record notes in them. They are bit tge
orioerty of the persons to whom they are
given, and shoulsd be surrendered when thosee persons cease to hold the
appointment for which the books has been granted to them. The book should
contain a map of the zail and the statistical information required by financial
commissioner’s Standing Order No.21. where an inamdar has beeb made spcially
responsible for a portion of the zail, this should be noted in his book. An
abstractt of the order of appointment of the zaildar of inamdar should be
copied in to the book. The collector should insist on seeing all such books at
least once a year, and should make a point of recording an entry at elast once
a year in each book and should make a point of recording an entry at elasst once a year in each book and of
seeing that the Superintendent of police has had a similar oportunity of
recording his remarks. No entry should be made in the book by an officer below
the rank of an Excise officers, Deputy superintendents of police, assistant
registrars of Co-operative societies and Deputy Directors of Agriculture, and,
in hhorse-breeding circles, district remount officers should be
encouragedbciyraged to make entries in these books. Divisional and District
inspectors of schools may also wrte their remarks when a zaildar presents his
book for the purpose. They are not, however, empowered to call for these books
or to insisst on the attendance of zaildars. A zaildar should do all that he
can to co-operative witgh Educational inspectors in the development of schools.
Divisional inspectors of panchayata may also record remards in these books’.
Since the book is not the property of the zaildar of inamdar it
should be clearly explained to him that
he should not paste nito it any sanads or certificates. He should by warned not
to have copies made of remarks
recorded in the book without the express permission of the Deputy
commisseoner. He should also be strcty forbidden from showing the book ti any person
other hen an officer authorized to record his opinion in it.
BOOK III
Agricultural stateilstics and record of rights
in land\
HARVEST INSPECTIONS
349.317.Harvest inspections. It is one
of the chief duties of a patwari spect the crops of each harvest field by field
before they are cut. This inspection is known as the girdawari. It usually
begins on 1st October for the kharif, and on 1st march,
for the rabi, harvest, but the commissioner of the division can change these
dates after consultating with the director of land records when the special
circumstances of any district make others more suitable. When for any reason
the ripening of the crop is later than usual the deputy commissioner may
postpone the inspection for a period not exceeding fifteen days. A few crops,
chiefly melons and tobacco, are sown very alte in the rabi season and are
gathered some time.
After the other crops of that harvest are got in. in village where these
extra Rabi crops are grown a separate inspection of them is made about the
middle of April. In some districts a crop inspection intermediate between the
kharif and the Arabi Girdawati has been found necessary.
350.318.Object of harvest inspections
- The object of harvest inspections is to collect accurate information
regarding-
(a) (a) crops,
(b) (b) changes in rights,
rents and possession of land,
(c) (c) amendments
required iln the village map.
The first is indispensable for the
assessment and collection of land revenue in a province where half the land is
cultivated by the owners and the greater part of the remaining half by tenants
paying rent kind; the second and third are aids to the maintenance of a true
records of rights in the soil. Only such changes need be noted in the harvest
inspection register as must under the rules be embodied in the record of
rights. Others should be entered in the patwari’s diary.
351.319. Cancelled
352.320.Record of ailed crops essential.
It is essential to distinguish betwwen crops which ripen and those which fail.
The latter are classed as “ kharaba” the instruction regarding which as
follows:-
“when crop is sown and dries up, or
is destroyed by calamity, it should be returned as kharaba. Very careful
attention must be given to partially failed crops, that is, crops if which the
yield appears to be much below average. When the actual yield as a whole of the
crop grown in one khasra number no. is estimated by careful inspection to be
not more than 75 percent of the usual or average yield, then a deduction from
the whole area of the crop should be made ; for example, an inferior filed of
wheat, area 4 kanals, may be returned
as, but this should only be done when the actual yield of the whole crop ils
estimated to be not more than 75 per cent of the average, and the kharaba
allowed should be only as much as is necessary to raise the shole crop of the
area returned as under crop to the average of an ordinary harvest. The average
yield is that adopted by the settlement officer at the prvious settlement for
the assessment circle in which the village is included, unless some other yield
has been specially perscribed in the dastur-ul-amal or else-where. The crops
for which average yields are not fixed at settlement are generally unimportant.
The revenue officials concerned should judge for themselves what yield should
be regarded as separately in different portains of one shasra number the above
procedure should be applied separately to each of such distinct crops.
Deduction for kharaba made under this instruction should, unless some other
special local scale has been prescribed by proper authority, be enteed as far
as is reasonable practicable in accordance with the following scale taking 16
annas as the average yield of a crop:-
yield more than 12 annas no deduction
yield more than 8 annas but duduct ¼ of the
sown area.
not more than 12 annas.
Yield more than 4 annas but
Not more than 8 annas deduct ½
of the sown area.
Yield not more than 4 annas deduct whole sown
area.
Jowar which fails in the year should be entered
not as “ jowar kharaba” but as ‘chari pukhata’ the same details should be given
for failed crops as for matured crops.
353.321.Khababa in canal colonies.
In the lands irrigated by the upper and lower chenab. Upper and lower jhelum
and lower bari doab canals, and in lands under fluctuating assessment in some
tracts which have recently been resetted, new rule for the record of kharaba
have been introduced. Tables showing the ‘’standard’’yield of the croqs are
prepared. A croq which reaches that standard is called a sixteeen-anna crop.
Whether the standard is to represent an ‘’average ‘’ crop or a ‘’ good’’ crop
can hardly be said to have been yet decided. When seed fails altogether to
germinate or the crop is worse than a four-anna one, the whole area is returned
as kharaba. When it is equal to, or better than a four-anna, but wores than an
eight-anna crop half is entered as kharaba; no education is allowed when it is
equal to or beter than, an eight anna crop.
354.322.Checking of kharaba. The
entry of kharba is a matter which ra-quires both honesty and sound judgment on
the part of the recorder, and this branch of the patwari’s work should be carefully
tested by all supervs-ing officers. But where the record has been made with
care and is generally sound, it is well to refrain from making petty
alternations here an dthere which affect but slightly the main result. More
than ordinarly care is of course required in tracts under fluctuating
assessment, where the amoun to fthe demand at
each harvest depends directly on the area of matured crop. There are
specail rules as to the check to be exercised over the record of kharaba in
such cases.
355.323.The khasra-girdawari.
Entries respecting uncultivated soils. The harvest inspection book is known as
the khasra girdwari; in this register and in the record of rights uncultivated
land is classified as banjar jadid banjar kadim and ghair-mumkin. The exact
meaning pf each of these terms is explained in the 267th paragraph
of the settlement manual. Lan dwhich is not under crop. But which has not lain
fallow long enough( e.g. for four harvests) to be described as banjar jadild,
is called khali (empty)
356.324.Taradaddi. By a
fefinement, which serves no very useful purposes, another class is recognised
under the name of taradaddi, i.e. under tillage. This term is applied to a
field which bears no crop ceonging to be harvest under inspection, but “has
been ploghed for the next harvest, or is occupied by trees or plains, which
will fruit in the coming harvest.” Examples are fields of cotton or cane in the
rabi. Cane which is planted about march, and occupies the ground for ten or
eleven months, is treated for statistical purposes as a kharif crop. Land is
ploughed for cotton, another kharifstaple, in the cold weather, and, where
irrigation is available, the sowings also often take palce before the rabi
crops are cut. Orchars which fruit in spring are shown as taradaddi on the
kharif.
357.325.Classification of crops and
cultivated soils. The terms barani, sailab, abi, chani, nahro, by which
cultivated fields, and the crops grown on them are distinguished are explianed
in the 259th paragraph of the settlement manual. Where the moisture
on which the crop depends is derived from a double source, two of these terms
may have to be combined, e.g. chani-nahro, chahi-sailab.(see paragraph 442 and
451 of the settlement manual.) fields are classified according to their
permanent characters and crops according to the actual facts of their
cultivation in theharvest under insepction. For example, chahi fields are often
put uner barani crops, and the converse sometimes happens(see paragraph 260 of
the settlement manual)
358.326.Entries relating of wells.
As it is important to have a record of wells at work and out of use a remark
showing how the matter stands os entered against each field in which a well is
suited. When a new well has been sunk the fact is noted.
359.327.Entries of owners and tenants.
There are columns in the harvest insepction register in which to show the
ownership and cultivating occupancy of every field. Changes should be noted
with care. It is only through the khasra girdwari that alterations in
tenancies-at-well find their way into the record of rights.
359(a). The patwari should intimate to the gram panchyat concerned, within 15 days of finishing the girdawari, the following changes of cultivating tenancy made by him in khasra girdawari so that the latter should inform the persons concerned about these changes :-
(1) (1) when there is a
change in cultivation from a tenant that the landlord;
(2) (2) when there is an
addition of a tenant to the existing tenant;
(3) (3) where there are two
or more than two tenants and the name of one or more tenants is removed from
entry in the khasra gidwari.”
360.328.Changes In Fields. Where
one filed has been divided into two, or the boundry of a field has from any
cause undergone change, the patwari should make a rough measurement sufficient
for the crop entries, and put a red cross opposite the filed number in the
remarks column to remind him that a correction of the village map is required.
361.329.The crop abstract. When
all the entries for a village finished. The toals for each frop must be made out
and entered in the crop abstract of the estate before work is started in
another village. The uses of this very important statement will be descrived in
a later chapter(see chapter xvi of this manual paragraph 307 of the settlement
manual and paragraph 7 of the financial commissioner’s standing order no. 22) a
statement in the same form os the chief of the sateistical returns included in
the village revenue register or note-book. As soon as the crop abstract has
been checked and signed by the filed kanungo, the patwari copies the entries
into the corresponding form in this
reglister, and sends the original to the tahsil. Promotitude in filling these
returns is a matter of prime necessity, if any question regarding the
suspension of any part of the land revenue demand is likely to arise. The
kharif statements should, if possible, all reach the tahsil by the 1st
november, the rabi statements by the 1st of april, and the extra
rabi stements by the 1st of june.
362.288.Duty of kanungos as regards
crop inspections. Revenue officials of all grades should be made to
understand the importance of harvest inspections in land administaration. While
the dirdwari is going on filed kanungos of courosoe spend the whole of their
time in checking it. In the gilrdwari months the tours mande by the district
kanungo should be dovoted to the same work. In ordinary insepctions the field
kanungo accompanies the district kanungo, but during the girdwari the former
has to accomplish so much in a short period that the latter is forbidden to
call for his attendence.(see paragraph 60 of financial commissions’s standing
order no. 19)
363.289.Duty of tahsildar and
naib-tahsildars. The responsibility of tahsildars and naib-tahsildars
should be steadily enforced. The standard jto aim at is the inseption of every
estate by one or other of these officers at each harvest before the crops are
cut. But at present this is a counsel of perfection. Both officers cannot be in
camp at once, and the harvests last for too short a time to admit of theresults
being observed and the records of them checked in every village. It is far
better that the girdwari in one or two estates in each circle should be
thoroughly checked than that a nominal insepction of it should be made in every
village. The tahsildar and his deputy should so lay out theirwork that no part
of their repective changes remains unvisited. They should have a clear idea of
the state of the crops in every
assessment circle and in all important villages, and special attention sholud
be given to estes in which suspention of the demand is likely to be required.
In bad seasons other work must give way to a thorough examination of the
results of each harvest while it is still standiong on the ground.
364.290.Duty of superior revenue
officials. The revenue assistant must be on tour throughout the girdwari
months, and must then given most of his time to the checking of harvest
inspection work. The deputy commissioner should, if posible, help him by
sending at the same time into camp some
other mamber or members of the headquaters staff. In times of drought
especially, care must be taken to utilize assistant and extra assistant
commissioners to the fullest extent compatible with the carrying out of such
judicial and executive work as must be done at headquaters.
365.291.Duty of deputy commissioner.
The deputy commissioner’s own part does not consist so much in checking a few
entries in harvest inspection regilsters in the field, which is all he could
possibly accomlish, as in lying out the work of his subordinates, and obtaining
a good general idea of the results of the harvest in the different parts of his
charge by viewing the standing crops and examinig the crop returns of the
villages.
THE RECORD OF RIGHTS
366
366
CANCELLED.
367
367
Nature and contents of record of described in settlement manual. It is
needless to describe here the nature and contents of a standing record of
rights, which is usually drawn up at settlement, and of the subsequent revised
editions of it, whose legal description is “annual records” though in the great
majority of estates they are prepared only at intervals of four years. The reader os supposed to be
familiar with the fourteen chapters of the settlment manual, where these
matters are fully discussed.
Commentary
Mutation registers are records the title ( 49 plr 274: air 1947 lahore
147 : ilr 1947 Lahore 747)
368
368
Duty of deputy commissioner to keep record of rights upto date. The
settlement officer hands over to the deputy commissioner a record of rights for
each estate, the chief documents included in which are the village map or
shajara kashtwar and the jamabandi, that is to say, a list of owners and
tantents holdings, with a detail of the fields contain in each of the rent paid
by each tenant and of the trevenue due from owner. It is the business of the
deputy commissioner to keep both of these upto date. The provision contained is
saction 44 of the revenue act ( xvii of 1887) attaching an equal presumption of
truth to entries is standing record of rights and in annual records can only be
justify by the great care taken in preparing them. The instructions regarding
the keeping of the village map up to date in the interval between two
settlement will be found in part f of financial commissioner’s standing order
no. 16.
Commentary
Revenue
papers are merely ment for fiscial purposes ( 1970 PLJ 198: 1970 RLR 589: 1970
cu 341)
369. Law
as to change of entries in record of rights explained in settlement menual - The
law as to the circumstances under which the alteration of an existing standing
record of rights or annual record is
permissible is discussed in paragraphs 279-282 of the settlement manual, which
should be read as part of this chapter.
Commentary
Entries in revenue records show
changed sequence twice in long spell of about 92 years (1979 PLJ 102)
370. Revision of record when complete
re-mesurement is ordered. We are not here concerned with the elaborate
procedure for the revision of the jamabandi, which is carried out when a
complete re-measurement of an estate is ordered, for such remeasurement, as a
rule, only takes place in connection with a general re-assessment of the land revenue. Should, however, the
remeasurement of an estate become necessary at another time, the procedure will
be that laid down in the seventh appendix to the settlement manual.
371. Forms of jamabandi and of list of
revenue assignments. The forms of jamabandi
and of the list of revenue assignments and pensions, which is included
in the annual record, with instructions for their preparation, will be found in
financial commissioner’s standing order no. 23
372. Classification
of rights to be recorded. The rights of which the acquisition or loss gives
rise to an alteration in the record of rights, may be classified as follows:-
A. A. Rights of
persons responsible to
1. landowners
government for land revenue. 2. Mortage with
possession
B. B. rights of
persons responsible to land
3. Occupancy teants.
owners for rent.
4. Leaseholders.
5. tenants-at-will.
“leaseholders” in this connection
means persons holding land as tenants for periods exceeding one year on written
or oral leases.
373. Reports
of acquistition of rights to patwari’s. the first three classes are legally
bound to report to the patwari the right which they have acquired. If they fail
to do so within three months from the date of acquisition they render
themselves liable to a small fine. (section 39) assignees of land revenue and
mortageges without possession are also bound to report, but their rights are
not of a kind in which must be recorded
in the body of the jamabandi, through certain notes regarding them are made in
the “remarks column” of that document(for the procedure as regards revenue
assignments see paragraph 41 of financial commissioner’s standing order no. 23
and the instructions append thereto. For that relating to collateral mortgages, in which the
landowner remains responsible for the payment of the land revenue, see paragraph
17 of that standing order)redemptions of mortgage must be reported by the
landowners whose lands have been redeemed. For his knowledge of acquisition of
title by leaseholders and tenants-at-will the patwari must rely mainly on his
own observations and on the result of
inquiries as to the cultivating occupancy of land made at the harvest
inspections (see paragraph 359 of this menual) among the thiongs which he has
to enter in his diary are the deaths of tenents, owner, village officers,
pensioners, and revenue assignees, the ejectment, absconding, or setting of
cultivators and rightholders, the relinquishment, change, or renewal of any
tenure and the execution of any lease or agreement for cultivation.
Leaseholders and tenants-at-will are
undeer no obligation to report to the patwari, but like all other
persons whose rights are recorded in the jamabandi they are bound on demand to
furnish him and any revenue officer engaged in revilsing it with accurate
informatiom ( section 40) to aid in recording mutations is one of the duites
set forth in the memorandum given to village headmen on appointment,a nd the
lambardar of the patti in which a mutation takes palce is excepted to attest by
hisseal or signature the report made on it by the patwari for the orders of the
revenue officer.
CAUTION Read separate para for Punjab
and Haryana
374. Reports
of registed deeds. Registers and sub-registers send monthly to tahsildars
particular of all registed deeds which purport to transfer agricultural land.
The entries relating to each deed are made on a separate slip. The office
kanungo forwards these slips to the field kanungo of the circle, who
distributes them to the patwaris concerned(see paragraph 6 of fiancial
commissioners standing order no. 23)
374. Reports
of registed deeds. Registers and sub-registers send on the 15th
and last date of each month (substituted by financial commissioner punjab
correction slip no. 1(1982) dated 24.12.1981) to tahsildars particulars of all
registed deeds which purport to transfer agricultural land. The entries
relating to each deed are made in a seprateslip. The office kanungo forwards
these slips to the field kanungo of the circle, who distributes them to the
patwari concerned(see paragraph 6 of financial commissioners standing order no.
23)
375. Register
of mutations. The patwari keeps up a register if mutation in which he
records all acquisitions of rights of the kinds descrilbed in the preceding
paragraph, reported to him or which he “has reason to believe to have been
taken palce” except those relating to land revenue assignmets and undisputed
mutations of tenants-at-will,” as soon as they are acted on”the last words do
not occur in the act, but in a rule framed under it( see act xvii of 1887,
section 34(3), and financial commissioner’s standing orders no. 23 paragraph
2-13 of this manual). They were seemingly introduced to carry out the principle
that the revenue officer whis is revising a record of rights is concerned only
with rights actually enjoyed by the persons claiming them.(see paragraph 369 of
this manual) but a mere entry in the register cannot cause any elteration in
the jamabandi without an order by a revenue officer, and for the sake of
convenience the patwari enters are tranfers by registed deed, of which he has received intimation under the
procedure described in the last paragraph.it is the duty of the revenue officer
to refuse to refuse to sanction the mutation in such a case unless he is satisfied that the transfer has actually been
completed (see also paragraph 7 of financial commissionor’s standiong order no.
23)
376. Copy
of mutation register field with jamabandi. The forms of the mutaion
register with instructions regarding the making of entries in it will be found
in financial commissioner’s standing order no. 23, paragraph i. It is kept up
in duplicate, one copy being retained by the patwari and the other sent to the
tahsil to be attached to the jamabandi as an authority for the new entries with
it contains. The patwari’s report, the attestation of it by the field kanungo
and the order of the revenue officer are
wriiten only in the copy of the register to be field with the jamabandi. It is
enough in the patwari’s copy is show how the case was deposed of by entring the
briefest possible abstract of the order and this abstract should be written by
the revenue officer with his own hand.
377. cancelled.
378. Undisputed
entries relating to tenants-at-will. Most of the alternations in the
jamabandi which are the patwari can make of his own authority are undisputed
mutations of tenants-at-will. These are not entered at all in the register.
Whsen the new jamabandi is being compiled they are taken straight from the
khasra girdawari. (see paragraph 359 of this manual) disputed changes of
tenants-at-will are treated exactly like other mutations.
379. Orders
in mutation cases - Orders in mutation cases can be passed by an assistant
collector of either grade. In practice nearly the whole of the work is disposed
of by tahsiodar and naib-tahsildar. In the country of small peasant proprietors
the number of mutations be attested annually is very large, and it is found
necessary every year to appoint in some
districts one or more extra naib-tahsildar selected from the lists of excepted
candidates and to invest them with the
powers required for the disposal of business under chapter iv of the land
revenue act. An appeal of course lies to the collector against order
sanctioning or refusing mutation of names, and the minute proprotion witch the
number of such appeals bears to the number of mutations decilded is evidence of the general satisfaction with the
procedure.
380. Mutation
work largely done by officer of no grade standing of experience. It is
clear from what has been just said that much of the mutation work is done by
officers of small standing and little practical experince. It is also true that
the work has often to be carried out very rapidly, if the important object of
keeing the jamabandi upto date is to be attained. These are matters for
reflection considering that each jamabandi now possesses the same authority as
the record of rights drawn up at settlement(see paragrpah 368) fortunitely the
bulk of the work is exceedingly simple; there is no dispute as to facts, and no
opening for doubt at to the order that should be passed. But this is by no
means true univercally, and cases find their into the mutation regilster which require both care knowledge to decilde
correctly.
381. Supervision
of work by deputy commissioner and revenue assisant -When a deputy
commissioner or a revenue assistant is inspecting a tahsil,the mutation work of
the tahsildar,naib-tahsildar,and extra naibtasildar, who may have been employed
, should all be brought under review. With the jamabandi of an estate lying
open before him it is perfectly easy to pick out all the holdinds in which
changes have been made, for in sport of them refrence to the mutation regilster are always given.
If the inspecting officer looks up each case in the regilster, he can soon
satitfy himself as to the quality of the work of the reporting patwari and of
the assistant collector. Having done so, he can turn back to the jamabandi, and
see weahter the changes ordered have been corrctly made. If this process is
repeated for several estates in the circles of the tahsildar and naib-tahsildar
respectively the deputy commissioner cannot fail to gain a considerable insight
into the value of work done by both these officers, and by some of the
patwari’s and kanungos under their control. In examining mutation seats special attention should be paid to orders passed in
the absence of any of the patwari’s. no other should be passed effecting the
share of any right-holder who has not had an opportunty of appearing.
382. Mutation
to be attested on the spot. Tahsildar and naib-tahsildars are accepted to
deal with revenue work, and especially with cases relating to lambardars, land
revenue assignments, partitions, and mutations with in the estate in which the
cases have arisen. The extent to which this obligation may be relaxed with the
expressed permission of the deputy commissioner has been noted in paragraph
247.
383. Contents
of mutation s orders. Every mutation order should shoe on the face of it
the palac where and the date on which it was passed, and that all the parties
intrusted were present or, if any one was absent, the way in which his evedence
was obtained, or , if it was not obtained, but opputunity was given to him to
be present.no detailed recored of the statements of parties and witnesses is
required, but the order should note
brilefly is persons examined and
the facts to which they deposed.(land revenue rules 39,40 and 44ii and tenancy
rules 7 and 12 ii)
except in the case of killabandi
mutations (paragraph 15 of appendix xiv of settlement manual) no patwari or
kanungo or revenue officer should take the signatures or thumb-marks of parties
or witnesses on mutation proceedings.
The facts on which the order is
based should be stated succinctly but clearly, and the order must show without
any possibility of doubt weather the revenue officer accepts the new entry
proposed by the patwari as it stands, or, if it requires amendement, exactly
what the entry is which is to be made in the jamabandi.the order must always
show weather a share of the village shamlat has been included in the transfer.
Commentry
Interested parties have to be given opportunity of being present ans.
The mutation should be attested on the spot by tahsildar. Where neither notice
given nor party present before order in mutation was passed. The mutation order
set aside (mili saint david v. dulo 1986 PLJ 53) plea that the mutation was
sanctioned in the presence of general punlic is not abequate to fix the present
of the parties. (sudama ram v. ram dahn 1992 1 rrr 461).
384. Attendence
of parties. A person who, after receipt of notice by summons or
procalmation to appear before a revenue officer at some place within the estate
in which he ordinarily resides of qualities land, fails to present himself
becomes liable to a fine not exceeding Rs. 50 (saction 149) this provision can
suitably be put in force when the
default is wilful and contumacious. But, where a mans attendance would involve an amount of inconvience which under
all the circumstance could reasonably be regared as excessive, the proper plan
is to take his evildence by commission.
Commentry
At
the time of attestation of mutation the party was not present nor recorded in
the order the presumption is that the party has no knowledge. (sudaman ram v.
ram dham 1992 1 rrr 461)
385. Arbitration.
Disputed cases may be referred to arbitrtaion without the consent of the
parties. But little use is made of this provision of the act. Where it is
resorted to care must to taken to make the artitrators understands that they
must give a clear opinion as to the question whether the right claimed is
actually enjoyed. If the revenue officer cannot satisfy himself as regards the
fact of possession and thinks it inexpedient to refer the point to arbitration,
he is required to make a summary inquiry as to title and to direct that the
person who appers to have the best right to the property shall be put in
possion of it, and that his name shall be entered in the jamabandi. The
disappointed claimant must be referred to the civil courts for the establishment
of any right he conceilve himself to have.
386. Importance
of prompt disposal of mutation work. Mutation which have not been attested
before the end of the agrilcultural year (15th june ), or the date
approved by the director of land records are not incorpated in th jamabandi
them under prepartion. This in most cases means that they will not be brought
to record till more than four years after they have taken palace. This untoward
result can easily be avoided if tahsildars and naib-tahsildars lay out their
work properly, and pay special attention to the estate for which jamabandis are
about to be drawn up.
386-A. A
mutation pending over two years. Provision has been made in paragraph 7.4
of the punjab land records manual to ensure that specail precautions will be
taken be tahsildars and naib-tahsildars to decilde mutations as soon as
possible after the period of two yers has elapsed unless mutations are duly
attested within a reasonable time, litigation is held up and the culticators do
not settle down with clear minds with the cultivation of their lands.
Collections , and if necessary. Commissioner, should bear in mind any
remissness on the part of subordinate revenue officcers in his direction when
reporting on the these officers. Assistant collectors of the 1st
grade, in forwarding reports to th ecollector should bear in mind their own
esponsibility for the proper supervision of mutation work.
387. Jamabandi.
The chief work of th patwari between the completion of the rabi girdwari and the
beginning o fth kharif harvest inspectin is the complining of the jamabandi. It
is drawn up in duplicate and ought to showly whom the land is held as owner or
mortagage at the end of the agricultural year.all payment of rent and revenue
made up to the 15th of bhado, fwhich corresponds roughly to the end
of august, sholud be embodied in it. The copy should be filed in the tahsil by
the 7th september or any subsequent date approved by the director of
land records due to special circumstances, provide such date does not exceed 6
months from 7th september; the other being retained by the patwari.
388 Jamabandi
of most estates prepared quadrennally. The act conmplatewsd the farming of
an annual record of rights for each estate, but at the time it allows the financial
commissioner to dlirect its prepareation at or the shorter intervals. For many
years after the act was passed an attries being curtailed to some extent for
three consecutive years and given full length in the fourth. This plan of having
ebbreviated and detailed nabandis
caused useless trouble, and the present rule is to draw up a complete jamabandi
for each estate or part of an estate once is four years. Its are made showing
what record work the patwari’s are to do in each year.patwari has four or more
small villaes in his circle , it is easy to distribute work over the different
year. If the estates are fewer in
number, one or more of them may have to be split up into two or more parts for
this purpose. Each part should far as possible, consist of one or more complete
sub-division(parties or tarafs). In referring to the latest jamabndi of any
particulars vilage, the year to which the entries relate must be noted. If this
is not the last agricultural year, any changes which have occurred since the
jamabandi was compled can be ascertioned by turning to the mutation register.
389. Jamabandis
to be completed by patwari in his own circle. Patwari must not be collected
at the tahsil or anywhere else to write up jamabandis every man must od the
work in his circle. If it is not
finishsed in time, and the only way to get it done to have the patwari
under constant obserevation, he can be
brought into the tahsil for a short time in the month of september. On patwaris
coming to the tahsil to file their jamabnadis the office kanungo should detain
them there for as short a period as possible. Girowin work. Except invery
special circumstances, no patwari sholu be detained at the tahsil for more than
eight days.
390. Attestaion
of jamabandio field kanungo in village. The field kanungos check of the
jamabandis while they are under preparation should be constant and systematic.
He is responsible that all the mutation orviously, are correctly in corporated.
He must attest all the entries holding by holding in the presence of the
zamindars concerned. This work can be carried of pari passu with the progress of the patwaris
work. At each of his visits the kanungo can collect the landowners and tenants
whose holdings have been attested since his last visit and read out the entries
in their hearing.
391. Check
at tahsil by field kanungo. In addition to the attention work carried out
in the villages, field kanungos spend september at headquartes of the tahsil
and revote their attention during that time to the checking of the jamabadis
filed by the patwaris. The check carried out the tahsil is chiefly directed to
seeing that mutation have been proprerly incorpated, and that the statisticl
statements filed with the jamabandi or correct.
392. Check
by the tahsildar and naib-tahsildar. The tahsildar or naib tahsildar
incharge of the circle in which the village lies small make his final attention
in the sport and shall observe the follwing in insrtruction :-
(1) (1) at least 25 per cent
of the khatauni holdings should be read out on the spot and in the presence of
the assembled rilght –holders.
(2) (2) At least 25 per cent
of the mutation attached to the jamabandis should be compered with the khewats
concerned.
(3) (3) At least 25 per cent
of the khewat holding should be compered with the old jamabnadis.
(4) (4) At least 25 percent
of heewat entries in the original copy should be compred with the corresponding
entries in the patwaris of the jamabandi.
The number of the fileds, the tatima
shajaras of which have been attested, must be specified as also that of the
unattested mutations entered before the 16th june or the date
approved by the dirctor of land records; of these their should be as few as
possible.
393. Notes
at end of jamabandi should show amount
of check exercised. In the notes which they record at the end of thd
jamabandi the kanungo and the revenue officer must state exactly what they have
done in the way of scrutiny and check and they should each include in their
note a list of any amendments which they have made. The revenue officer must
include in his prescribe final attestation slip an dattach one two each of two
copies of the jamabandi. The degree in which the jamabandis last prepared are
really up to the date is matter to be tested at tehsil inspections.
394. Statistical
returns based on jamabandi. The statistical returns which are based on the
mutations register and jamabandi, and which form appendices to the latter
document, will be dealt with in the next chapter.
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS
395. Cancelled.
396. Cancelled.
397. Cancelled.
398. Village
notebook. For each of the estates in his circle the patwari keepw up a
vernacular register or note-book which conrains the following ten table:-
1) 1)
area stasement of milan rakba.
2) 2)
Kharif crop statement or hinxwer.
3) 3)
Rabi crop statement or hinswar.
4) 4)
Revenue account or hama wasil baki.
5) 5)
Statement of transfers of rights kof owners and occupancy tenants 5-A)
statement of sales and murtgages of ownership by classes lkof land.
6) 6)
Ststement of ownership, mortgages and revenue assignments.
7) 7)
Statement of clurivating occupancy.
8) 8)
Statement of rent paid by tenants-at-will.
9) 9)
Statement of agricultural stoch.
The forms of these statement with
detailed instructions for their perparation will lkbe found in Financial
commissiioner,s Standing order No. 24.
399. Remarks
in registers. In the first six entries are made hear by year in the next
three every foufrth year when a new jamabandi fothe estate is drawn up. The
return of agricultural stock is perpared quinqrennially, and embodies the
result of special enumeration made by the patwari in all the villages in his
circle every fifth year in the month of February. The originals of all these
statements are sent to the tahsil as soon as the figures have been copied by
the patwari in the corresponding forms in his village note-book. The field
kanungo is bound to help the patwari in compiling them, and is held personally
responsible for their accuracy.
400. Office
kanungis’ copy of village notebook. The tahsil pffice kanungo keeps up a
note-book for each village cintaining the ten tegisters mentioned above and an
eleventh telating to the assessment of the estate,the figures in which are
compiled ince for all at settlement. The other returns only differ form those
in the patwari’s village note-book in so far as the heading of the tegisters
are ptinted both in English and in vernacular and the entries are made in
English figures. In the 11th of assessment officer,or of both on the
estate are recorded, and it is the duty of the tahsildar to supplement these
by brief notes in the subsequent history
of the village in each year in which its jamabandi is drawn up. And ar other
times, whenever any event occurs which
seriously affects the well-being of dthe
estate. Such a note should always be made when it becomes necessary to suspend
the recovery of any part of the land revenue demand, and subsequent recoveries
or remissions and the teasons justifying them should also be recorded.
401. Assessment
circle and tahsil notebooks. The office kanungo also keeps up note-book for
each assessment circle and for the whole tahsil containing these ten tegisters.
There are blank pages at the end for entry by the tahsildar and Revenue
Assestant of general remarks applicable to the assessnent circle note-book. The
centers and the dates of report have been separately determibned for each
district. If any changes in these centres are subsequently found necessary for
any cause, reports suggesting alterations will be submitted through the
Director of land Records to the commissioner of the division by the collector.
In the case of districts under settlement the Settlement officer will similarly
send proposals for changes through the commissioner to the Financial
commissioner.
The financial commissioner in
districts under settement and the commissioner in districts not under
settlement, will decide whether the changes proposed ar e necessary.
The prices should be those at
which the produce of each harvest was
acrually diposed of. The field kanungos should fix the rates after careful
enquiry nfrom zaminders, sahukars,etc., and his entries shuould be carefully checked by the tahsildar and
Revenue Assistant and approved by the
collector. the rates goven by the field
kanungos for each circle should be compared with each other and large discrepancies enquired into.
In the case of rice and cotton jthe
price of “unhasked roce” “and” unginned corrton” Desi and American,” separately
should be quoted.
402. Importance
of regular record of notes on villages by tahsildars. Tahsildars should be
encouraged to record such remarks regularity. The deputy commissioner and
commissioner should discuss with him the contents of such notice at their
tahsil inspections. This is very practical way of testing his knowledge of his
tahsil and, provided the notes are good ones, of adding to ones own.
403. Assessment
circle, tahsil and district note books kept up by district kanungo. The
district kanungo keeps up for each assessment circle and tahsil, and for the
district as a whole registers in the
same form as those maintained by office kanungo at tahsils.
404. English
village notebooks drawn up at settlement. A copy of the english village
note book as drawn up at the last settlement containing the remarks of the
settlement officer on the estate and its assessment is kept at headquartes. It
is unnecessary to maintain the registers in this copy upto date. When he wishes
to study the agricultural statistics of the estate for the year during which
the current settlement has been inforce, the deputy commissioner can always
send for the tahsil copy of the village tahsil notebook. The origianal idea was
that the deputy commissioner should record his own remarks from time to time in
the english notebook kept at headquartes. But a more convenient place for
recording them is the abstract village note book introduced in 1896, and it is
now the rule for settlement officers also to enter there remarks in the
abstract and not in the detailed note book.
405. Abstract
village note book. The abstract village note-books co9ntain for each estate
the village inspection notes tecorded by the settlement officer his assessment
statements and its small scale map, and also a short statement in which the
chief agricultural statisties are
annually posted with quinquennial averages. Spare leaves for the entry of
remarks are appended to each sheet. The abstract for all the astates of a
fairly large assessment circle can be brought together in volume of moderate
size. All the figures un the abstract ard are taken straight from ine kof other
of the first seven registers in the vernacular village note-book. It is an
excellent plan to enter on a separate sheet at the district office in the
office of the district kanungo,and it is the business of the district kanungo
to make the necessary the ordinary form
to suit local conditions kis cindiedrred as each district comes
settlement.
406. Use
of abstract village notebook. When the deputy commissioner or any trained
assistant commissioner goes on tour he should take with him the volumes of
abstract village note-books belonging to the tract to be visited, and should
consultanty refer to them. But it must not be supposed to that these abstracts
superede the detailed village note-book. When any close inquiry into the
circumstances of an estate is required, the officer who makes it should have
both the abstract and the note-book before him. If he is in camp he can easily
consult the patwari’s copy of the latter, and, if he wishes to see the
assessment statistics embodied in statement ii, and the remarks of the
tahsildar and the revenue assistant, he can call for the office kanungo’s copy.
407. Entry
of remarks by deputy commissioner. It is the duty of the deputy
commissioner to enter remarks about any village in which circumstances arise
that are worht recording (the twenty-fifth chapter of the settlement manual may
usefully be referred to in this connection)
the ideal to the aim at is the maintenance if a continuous revenue
history of each estate to which the deputy commissioner of the day and the
settlement officer of the future can refer with confidence. Clear and concise
contemprary notice by an experienced revenue officer who has inspected an
estate and enquired into its circumstances either as part of the ordinary
routine of a tour or for any special reason, can not file to be valuable. Such
notice may be written by the district officer himself, or by the revenue
assistant , if he knows english, or by any assistant whom the deputy
commissioner consider to possess sufficient experience.
408. Duties
of commissioner with reference to agricultural statistics. Revenue
administration , as already remarked, depends very largely on the success with
which the records to which this chapter relates are kept up and made use of ,
and there is no subject ot which commissioners out to give more attention during there
inspection tours.
RIVERAIN LAW AND REASSESSMENT OF LANDS
AFFECTED BY RIVER ACTION.
409. Meaning
of riverain law. Riverain law is voncerned with the effect on rights in
land of river action. Which is usually qualified according to irs narure
by the rerms erosion, accretion and
avulsion.
Commentry
The definition of reverain action
given in the land administration manual is applicable only in the villages
subject to diluvion and alluvion.
410. Diluvion and alluvion. The two former afe applied kto the
process by which land is sucked into the channel kby the inset of a river at
one place and fresh land exposed at anokther by its retirement. The loss and
gain thereby carsed are respectively as dilucion and alluvion.
411. Avulsion.
The word avulsion is an unhappy one to describe what takes place in the punjab
when part of an estate is transferred in a recignizable cindition from the
right to kthe left bank of the main channel of a river of vice versa. There a
large river, after it has penetrated some way from the extreme limits of the
wanderings of the stream. The valley in seamed with channels, sime how druy all
klthe year round , except in heavy flods, some dry in the cold weather and
running in the hor, and some in kljthe case of sdkjthe largest rivers,containing
water throughout the year. the main channel(dhar kalan in the vernacular of
revenue officials) gradually gets silted up,and the force of the stream is
diverted in to some other bed,which in
its turn become the principal ine. This shifting of the stream from ome
bed to another may leave much of the land between them unaffected. Avulwion
means not the movement of land, but that of water.
412. Regulation
XI of 1825. These various kinds of river action afe all provided for in
Regulation xi of 1825, which was the law on kthe subject with which the first
administrators of kthe punjab had been familiar in the Bengal Regulations, but
twenty three years after annexation regulation XI of 1825 was expressly
extended to it by the third section of the punjab lawa act, IV of 1872, and iti
sstill in force.(as amended by section 4 of punajb act I of 1899, see paragraph
426.)
413. Custom
primary rule of decision. The regulation makes custom the rule of decision
in all "dispute relative to alluvial land” between private owners, “
whenever any clear and definite usage……. May have been immorially established.”
(section 2 of regulation XI of 1825) as an example of such a usage it cites the
deepstrean to be for the time being forms the boundry between the estates on oposite
banks of a river, and property in land changes with every alternation in its
course.
414. Rules
of decision in absence of custom. In the absence of well-established local
usages to rules of decision are raid down.
(1) (1) land
added gradually owing to the recess of a river is to be considered an increment
of the property of the person to whose holding or estate in has become annexed
(2) (2) when
a river
(a) (a) by a sudden
change in its course breaks thought or interescts an estate, or
(b) (b) by the violence of
stream seprates a consderable piece of land from one estate and joins it to
another, “without distroying the identity and preventing the recognition of the
land so removed,” theland is to remain the property of the original owner.
This may be called the
deep-stream rule modify to meet the case of
avulsion.
415. Islands.
Island thrown up in large and navigable rivers, the beds of which do not belong
ot private owners, are to be at the disposal of govt. if the channel between
the island and the river bank is unfordable throughout the year. If the channel
is fordable, the island is to become and accession to the estate on the nearer
of the two banks. In the case of small rivers, the property in whose beds and
the right of fishery have been rocognized as belonging to the a private owners,
the island is also to belong to him.
416.
416.
Cases not governed by rules. In other cases not governed by the rules
the courts are to be guided by the best avidence obtainable as to local custom.
Or , in default of such evidence by general principle of equity and justs.
417.
417.
Probable absence of definite custmer in punjab, the extent to which “ clear an
ddefinite “ and “immemorially established” local usages as two the effect of
rilver action on property in land existed in the punajb at the time of
annexation seems open to deubt in some cases the usage recorded in the first
settlements may have had a traditional basis: in others they no doubt
represented what the headmen, assisted by the officials consirded out the be
enforced for the future.
418.
418.
Deep strem rule pure and simple. The deep strem rule is expressed by
various verncular terms, has sikandari.kach mach, daryabanna , kishti banna,
machhi-sim. It probably existed in its most rigid form in some parts of the
province before 1845. Even where no such usage was of great antiquity it would
naturally spring up whenever the opposite banks of a river came to be held kby
river chiefs each eager to support the claims of his own subjects. It was
recirded as the prevailing custom,on the Beas where it forms the dividing line
between the Gurdaspur and hoshiarpur districts.
419.
419.
Deep-stream rule modified to meet case of avulsion. As a rule regulating
the ownership of land , it is so harsh in its working that it was universally
condemmed by british officers. It may be partly on this accoun that in the vast
majotrity of a estate else where in the punjab which are recorded as following
the deep-stream rule, it is declared ot be subject to the qualification that
transfer of land in an identifiable state by avulsion from one bank of a river
that another involves no change of ownership.
420.
420.
Rule of fixed boundaries. In some cases, for example, on the upper Ravi
in the gurdaspur and Lahore diltricts and on part of the Jhelum district, the
rule of filxed boundaries, known as warper, percails(see pages 1235, 1236,1240
and 1241 of selections from the records of the financial commissioner, new
series, no. 15 (LXIX). This volume contains much information on riverain law in
the punajb) it is the only ruleworthy of
civilized administration, but for its successful working it is necessary that
the channel should have been mapped, and that the patwari should be
sufficilently skillful ready to relay boundaries to obliuterated by rilver
action. In most of the older settlements of dilstricts separted by large
streams surveys were not carried across their beds, and it is only in recent
years that a really competent staff of patwaris has been formed.
421.
421.
Punjab riverain boundaries act, I of 1899. As long ago as 1867 sir James
Lyall prosposed the adoption of idxed boundaries everywhere( selections from
the records of the financial commissioner, new series no. 15 (LXIX), page
1203.) but the finacial commissioner of the day regarded the proposal as
impractilable because of the lack of skill in survey work among the subordiante
revenue staff(selection from the recorde of the financial commissioner, new
serioes No. 15 paragraph 16 of memorandum by Sir Robert Egertion on page 1227.
) this objection has been ceased to be valid, and the first act passed by the
punajb legislative counsil(punjab act I of 1899) was one enabling govet. To
order the substution of flixed for variong boundaries in estate subject to
river section. It added six sections. 101-a to 101-f, to the Punajb Land
revenue act, XVII of 1887, and made additions to section 158 of the same act,
and to the second and third sections of regulation XI of 1825.
422.
422.
Boundaries how fixed. The act requires that the “boundaries ine shall be
filxed with due regard to the history of the estate and the intereset of the
persons respectively owing them or possessing rights therein such manner as may
be just and quitable in the circumstances of each case( punjab government
revenue proceedings-general-no.29 of january, 1900.) the instructions issued by
the financial commissioner regarding the carring out of this provision of the
act provide(punjab govt. revenue proceedings-general-no. 29 of januray,
1900) that “the collecter should in the
first place try to get the villages concerned to come to an amenable agreement.”
Failing that, he “ must himself fix a line…… and, in doing so, should have
been, taking a long series of years together, if matters had been allowed to
continue under the existing law or custom. Among other things he would have to
bear in mind that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If, for example,
the river were making a dead set upon its right bank, which it was in a high
degree likely would continue for some years, some allowance would have to be
made for the fact that the riparian owners on the left bank would, by our taking
action under the act, be derived of land which would be pretty certain to have
accured to them for some years if we had left matters alone. On the other hand,
it should fbe born in mind that in all probability after some years the river
would begin to work back again, and whatever was reasonable should be allowed
per contra on this account in fixing the line. The object should be to draw the
line as far as possible so that neither party should feel that the other had
obtained a very clear advantage by our intervention.
423.
423.
Effect of relaying of boundry on private property. If the line adopted
transfer land from one estate to another, the proprietary rights in the land
are also transferred. But in the case of land which is ‘ under cultication, or
reasinably fit for the culticvation, or (which) yield any produce of
substantial value, “it is the duty of the collecteor to pass an order
suspending the transfer of private rihgts “unless and until the land……….. cease
to be reasonably fit for cultivcation or
to yield any produce of substantial value;” when any part of the land answers
the latter description, the transfer be, comes complete.(section 101-b(1) of
the punajb land revenue act, 1887). The effect of action taken nder the act is
to create a fixed boundry which will at once define the limits of estates and
ultimately in the majority of cases those private also.
424. 416. Immedilate
transfer of ownership on payment of compensation. The landowner or any of
the landowners of an estate in which has been included land whose transfer qua
propritary right has been suspended by order of the collector, may apply to him
cancel his order and award compensation for the loss of their rights to the
existing landowners it is within the collector’s discretion to accept or reject
such an application.(section 101-c of the punjab land revenue act, 1887)
425. 417. Exclusion
of jurisdiction of civil courts. By an addition to section 158 of the land
revenue act questions connected with proceedings for the determination of
boundaries under punjab act 1 of 1899 are excluded from the jurisdiction of
civil courts(section 158(xviii)(a) of the punjab land revenue act, 1887)
426. 418. Procedure.
The boundry in each case is laid down by the collector. in practice, the work
has been done by settlement officers or special officers invested with the
powers of a collector and working under the orders of the financial
commissioner. No boundry line is deemed to have been permantly fixed till it has been approved by
the financial commissioner.
427. 419. Amendment
of regulation XI of 1825. Additions made to sections 2 and 3 of regulation
xi of 1825 make thaat enactment of no effevt afrer a fixed boundary has been
laid down.
428. 420. Cancelled.
429. 421. Jursidiction
boundaries. In theory, there is no necessary connection between the
boundaries of privare property and those of jurisdiction. In the case of
the latter, three kinds of riverain
boundaries may be distinguished-
(a) between districts in the
same administration.
(b) between two administration.
(c) between british administrations
and indian States.
430. 422. Official
opinion formely favoured deep-streakm fule pure and simple. The recognition
of the iniquyity of the deep stream fule
pure and simple as applied to the ownership
of land was quite compatible with the emphatic assertion kthat it ought to be
enforced as between district and
district,and between and kthe punjab and indian States. The reason urged was
that the boundaty of jurisdiction must be one kljthat could be quickly
determine and easily recognized,conditions that were only satisfied by adopting
as the line of demarcation the main channel for the time being.
431. 423. Deep-stream
declared to kne the jurisdiction boundary along Sutlej in 1869.a
notification published in 1869 declared the deep-stream of the sutlej to be the
boundary between adjoining districts along its whole course. No similar
notification has been issued as regards any of the other rivers in the
punjab.the tendency in most places probably was to apply the same rule to the
detemination of ownership and jurisdiction.
432. 424. Assimilation
of boundaries of ownership and jurisdiction- The view that the deep-stream
rule pure and simple was the only suitable one for the determination of
district boundaries gained force from the difficulties and delays besetting the
dicision of boundaries disputes between the landowners of riverain estates
situated in the defferent districts. But it overlookd the inconvenience
landowners were bound suffer from having to pay part of ther revenue in one
district and part in anothr, and from being at the beck and the call of two
sets of judicial, revenue and police official. The punjab government, therefore
in 1889 accepted a proposal made by colonel wace to declare by notification
that the boundaris of dirticts separated by rivers followed the boundaris of
ownership in the boundary villages the deepstream being adopted where that was
the peactice followed for frgulating
proprietary rights, and the rule of fixed boundaries being observed
where the estates on opposite banks
defined their rights of ownership thereby. To the notification relating to the
different rivers, schedules were annexed giving the names of the boundry
estates on their right and left banks. When such a notification has been
published, action taken under Punjab Act 1 of 1899 to lay down fixed boundares
for riverain estates also establishes permanent boundaries between the
diatricts in which thay are situated.
433. 425. Boundary
between Punjab and united provinces. The boundaty along the course of the
jumma between the Punjab and the untied provinces is regulated by the
deep-steam rule pure and simple in the panipat and Karnal tahsils of the Karnal
district. But the boundary of jthe thanesar tahsil of Karnal, the jagadhri
tahsil lkof Ambala and the Gurgaon district are fixed.
156 REVENUE LAW AND REASSESSMENT OF LANDS
AFFECTED BY
434. 426. Boundary
of Punjab and Kashmir. The boundary
on the rivers Ravi and jhalum between the punjab and the Kashmir State is a
fixed one.
435. 427. Advantages
and defects of deep-stream rule pure and simple. But eisewhere the reasons
whch were held to require the adpotion of
the deep-stream rule pure and simple for the demaration of district
boundaries applied with double force to the boundaries of the province and
indian states. Assuming that the plan of fixed boundaries was impracticable, it
was the only rule which made it pessible to settle the boundaries in whch
indian States are cincered without endless trouble and interminable delays.
But, on the other hand, the hardships to
which landowners were sunjected by a divergence between tne rules
governing the limits of jurisdiction and private ownership were much increased
whin the land was transferred,not from one British district to another, but
from the punjab to an indian State.
436. 428. Deep-stream
rule in extreme form given up. At frist the deep-stream rule in its extreme
from prevailed. In accordance with it,eight astates were transferred in 1857
from the ferozepore district to the
Kapurthala State. But lord canning refursed to accpet Sir,john Lawrence’s
suggestion that the rule adopted in that particular case should be accepted as
a general one. In 1860 the Governor-Genral in council,in dealing with a case
which concerned Bahawalpur,rejected a proposal to apply the deep-stream rule
pure and simple,and declared that “it was incorrect to assume that as between
Sovereigns the only safe rule of pracitice is that the main river should be the
boundary, irrespective of all other considerations. The rule is such only in
cases of alluvion and not in those of avlusion……. When a boundary rivers to
sundally quits its and bed and cuts for itself a new channel,it ritory cut off
by the change in the river continues to
rule it.” This decision was approved by
her Majesty’s Secretary of stete,and was declared to govern all cases which had
occurred after the date,August 1860, at which it was given.
437. 429. Fixed
boundaries adopted in cases of Kapurthala and Bahasalpure. The boundaries of
indian States cannot be legally affected
by punjab Act1 of 1899. But since ot was passed, a fixed boundary has been laid
down by content between British orttitory and Kapurthala along the course of
the Beas and the
Sutlej and
a similer line has been demerited
between the punjab and Bahawalpur along the Sutlej and rhe indus. Thus a
content source of trouble has been
removed.
438. 430. Special
revision of assessment in riverain villages. The action of the seven great
rovers of the punjab and of the numerous torrents which issue from the hills
renders the assets of the estates on their banks very unstable. It is therefore
imperative that some means should exist by which the land revenue demand of
such villages can be revised form time to rime. It was ultimately found that in
some large tracts the changes caused by the rivers were so frequent and so
extreme that nothing would serve but the
abandonment of a fixed assessment altogether in favour of a fluctuating
one which involved the reassessment of the whole demand harvest by harvest. But
elsewhere it has been prossible to tetain the fixed demand providing for its
annual revision as regards those parts only of villages which have been lost
system prevailed throughout the province
ofr many years after annexation, and it is still in force in a large part of
it.
439. 431. Cancelled.
440. 432. Cancelled.
441. 433. Cancelled.
442. 434. Existing
order. The following orders have been issued for general guidance in
conformity with section 59 of the land revenue act:-
“(1) where land of an astate paying land
revenue is injured of improved by the action of water or sand, the land
revenue due on the astate under the current assessment shall be reduced of
increased in conformity with the instructions issued from time to time in this
behalf by the Financial commissioner.and
in every such caes the distribution fo the land revenue over the holding over
the holdinb of the astate shall be revised so as to similarly reduce of
increase the sum payable in respect of the halding in which the land that has
been injured of improved os situated.
443. 435. Supersession
of general by special local rules. The defects in the old assessment rules
are pointed out in the 455th paragraph of the settlement Manual.
These defects have led to their supersession in many districts by special rules
drawn up by settlement officers to suit the circumstances of each locality. The
main fearuers of these new rules are described
in the paragraph of the settlement Manual cited above. In the 26th
of the standing orders issued in 1910, general rules under section 59(c) of act
xvii of 1887 have been issued as instructions if the financial commissioner to
be followed where no special rules have been sanctioned.
444. 436. Close
supervision of alluvial assissments required. The special local rules not
only prescribe rates of assessment, but also explain the procedure to be
followed in bringing to record the loss and gain due to river action. But,
however perfect the system on paper, its working in practice must always remain a delicate matter,in which
the work of the tahsildar and has subordinates must be clisely supervised by
the superior revenue staff of the district.
445. 437. General
instructions. The measurements in which these yearly revision of assessment
must be based occupy a good deal of
time, and must be started in rivetain circles as soon as the patwari has
finkshed the kharif crop inspection, written up the mutations which have come
to light in the course of it and
perpared the annual bachh papers. Every village in which any change of
assessment is required must be inspected by the Deputy commissioner or by one
of has assistant or Extra assistant commissioners. Of course the bulk of this
work falls to the revenue assistant,but,where it is heavy,part of it sould be
made over tosome other mimber of the crop inspection, written up the mitations
which have come to light in the course of it and prepared the annual bachh
papers. Every village in which any change of assessment is required must ne
inspected by the deputy commissioners of by one of his assistant or Extra
assistant commissioners. Or course the bulk of this work falls to the revenue
assistant, but where it is heavy part of it should be made over to some other member of the headquarters staff the
final order as to each astate must be passed by an assistant collector of the 1st
grede and officers of higher class.
446. 438. Annual
returns. An abstract statement of the changes due to alluvion and diluvion
is sent to the commissioner in the middle of April. A divisional abstract
compiled from these district returns is submitted to the financial
commissioner. The orders passed on it are the authority for making the
necessary changes in the land-revenue roll.
PARTITIONS
447. 439. Cmmon land of village communities. It is an essential frature of the village community, at leasr in its original form, that the proprietary body should possess part of their loands in common. The village sites, the grazing lands over which the cattle wamdered and sometimes the wells from which the people drew their drinking water were held in joint ownership. Often each sub-division (taraf, patti, or paa) of the astate had also its own common land in addition to its share in the common land or shamilat of the whole community. This veature of communal village proprety was reproduced by our revenue offivers in those parts of the province in which the village systen was forcibly engrafted on a tenure of a very different chacter.
448. 440. Other
joint holdings. But, besides the large joint holdings in which all the
landowners in an estate or a sub-division of an estate have an interest. It
constantly happens that maby of the other holdings are jointly owned by several
sharehokders. According to indian ideas,land in north-western india, at least
wherever real village communities exist, belongs rather to the family than to
the individual. What may be called family bhalding were very common when our
first records of rights were framed, the tendency of our legal and revenue
system has been to substitute individual for communal holding. But holdings of
the latter type are still numerous. And holding owned by individuals are
constantly reverting to the cindition of joint holdings under the law of
inheritance,which gives to each son,or,falling sins, to each male collateral in
the name degree of relationship,an equal share in the land of a deceased
proprietor. A joint holding is also created whenever a landowner sells or
mortgages with possession a share of his holding,itstead of partocular fields
included in it.
449. 441. Tendency
to divide joint holdings. The increase of population and of the profits
derived from agriculture leads in time to large portions of the common waste of
the vo;;age pf patti being broken up by individual shareholders, with the
result that in the end a demand arises for its partition. Family quarrels and
the restraints and inconveniences which
spring frim common ownership conctantly make those who are interested in other
joint holding enxious ot divide the land.
450. 442. Vesh.
The custom of vesh,or the periodical redistrinution of village or tribal lands,
which is an intersting feature of promiktive land owning renures both in the
East and wist, is now nearly extinct in the punjab. But the land Revenue act
provides for its enforciment shere the custom still prevails.
451. 443. Private
partitions. Private partitions are frequently made, but there is always a
risk that sime shareholders will become dissatisfied and allege that the
division was only one for convenience of cultivation,and was not intended to be
of a prrmanent character. Landowners therefore,especially when the area keld in
common is largeand the share holders numetous, usually apply to the revenue authorities tomake the pertition for them. A private partition may
also by affirmed after due enquiry by as Assistant Collector of the 1st
grede on the application of any of the persons interested init. Although no
formal application has been lodged, the patwari is bound to record voluntary
partitioins for orders in the mutation register as soon as they have been acted
on. In passing orders on such cases,care must be taken not bo treat as partitions of proprietary
right arrangements which the parties did
not intend to ne permanent. Shareholders may be comtent for years to have in
their cultivating possession less than their forr shere of a common
holding without intening to give up any part of their right of ownership. Of any of them objects to the record of kthe alleged
partition and the attestiong officer considers the objection valid, he
should refuse mutation of names and
refer the party seeking it to proceedings under section123 of the land Revenue
act. But if he finds that the objection
is vexatious or frivolous, and that fair private partition has actually been
carried out he should record the objection and his proposed lorder disallowing
it, and other assistant collector of the 1st grade authorized by the
deputy commissioner to deal with these cases.
Commentry
No
report made to patwari and no proceedings taken under the act for finalisatio
of partirtion cannot be recognised.
452. 444. Complete
and incomplete partitions. Partirions are of two kinds:complete and
incomplete. Where a complete partition is made, there is a total severance if
rights liabilities. They have always been looked on with much disfavour in the
punjab, where they cannot be carriled out without the express consent of the
financial commissioner( section 110(1)-cf. Paragraph 1 of finan cial commissioner’s book circular no
xlviii ov 1860 and paragraphs 1 and 2 of chapter xiii of rules under act xxxiii of 1871). In
complete partitionas do not affect the foint liability of the shareholders for
the revenue of the divided holdings and still less do they operate to create
new estates. The former fact is not of
much practical importance. The officer who makes the partitions is requied to
distribute the revenue of the divided land over the new holding which have been
created. If in the case of a complete partition a fraudulent or erroneour
distrinution takes place, the local Government may, at any time within twelve
years after the discovery of the mistake,order a fresh distribution. For this
purpose the best estimate passible must be made of the assets of each astate at
the time of its formation.
453. 445. Property
which must, and property which may be excluded from partition. The village
site unless in the very rate case of its
being assessed to land revenue cannot be partitioned by proceedings under the
land revenue act. Even if it is assessed the assistant collector
may refuse padrtition and this
discrtetionary power may properly be held to extend to the
uncultivated land round a village
which os lused as standing ground for cattle or occupied by enclosures
for fodder and manure. Place of worship
and burial ground cannot be partitioned unless the parties record and file an
agreement assenting to their division. Any embankment water-course,well or tand and the land by the
drainage of which a tank is filled and
any grazing land may be exclided from partition. In arid tracts where the
people depend on tanks for their own drinking water and for the watering of their cattle it may be a matter of
importance to keep the waste atea which
feeds a tank free from dultivation though the land hunger is now so great tha
that maby of the owners may clamour to
have it divided. If any of thejoint owners afterwards encroadches on the
reserved land he may be ejected from it
on the application of any other co-shares. It deciding whther to use the
discretion given by section 112 (2) of the act, one must think not only of the
wishes and interests of the land owners, but also of the likelihood of the
partition causing inconvenience to other residentants of the village, as of
example, the menials who have been accustomed to use the common property. When
any of it is excluded from partition, the assistant collecter may determine the
extent and manner to and in which the co-shares and other persons interested therein may make use
thereof, and the proporation in which expenditure incurred thereon, and profits
derived therefrom, respectively, are to be borne by, and divided among those or
any of them.(section 119)
454. 446. Holdings
of occupancy tenants. A discretion is also left to revenue officers as
regards holdings of occupancy tenants. if tenants who have a joint right of
occupancy in a holding wish to partiton, it any objection that the landlord may
urge must be carefully considered, and, it is a reasonable one, partition may
be absoulately,disallowed(section 112(4) ) even when such a tenancy is divied,
the former co-shares do not except with the express consent of the landlord,
cease to be jointly liable for the rent of the original holding(section 110(2)
) again an occupancy tenant may well be unwilling to see his holding spilt up
among three or four ;andlords, to each of whom he must pay a sepreate rent. The
law therefore provides that such a severance of tenancy may be sufficien
treason for disallowing a cliam on the part of landowners for partition, so far
as ot wpould affect the holding of the tenant, unless the latter gives his
assent to the proposlas.
455. 447. Who may
apply for aprition - Any joint owner andy any joint tenant who has a right
of occupancy in his holding nay apply for partition if-
(a) (a) his share
entered in the last jamabandi, or
(b) (b) his right to a share
has been established by decree or court, or
(c) (c) his title has
been admitted in writing by all persons
interested in the admission or denial therof.(section iii see also financila
commissioner’s standinmg order no. 27)
the mere fact that a man is a landowner as
defilned in section 3(2) of the land revenue act does not entitle him to apply
unless he fulfills one or other of the above three conditions(the circumstances
under which a mortage in possession can claim partition of a jointholding are
dilscused in revenue judgement no. 4 of 1903.)
the mere fact thea a man is a landowner as
defined in section 3(2) of the land revenue act does not entitle him to apply
unless he fulfills on eor other of the above three conditions.
456. 448. Conduct of
perrtition cases. Pertition casers are decided by revenue officers of a
class not below that of assistant collector of the Ist grade and usually by the
Revenue Assistant. No officer who is not homswlf empowered to settle the case
should receive an application for
partition. A qualified officer to whom an application has been presented can
either cinduct the whole enquiry himself, or refer it for report to as Assistant Collector of the 2nd
grade that ia as a rule to a tahsildar or naib-tahsidar. The latter course os
generally the best to follos. But the officer before whom the case has been instituted isw
responsibkle for itsd proper conduct throughout, and should exercise close
supervision over the proceedings of the official to whom je jhas referred it
for onvestigation. An assistant
collector,who in a disputed pertition case is content to pass prders on
reports received from the tahsildar
wothout ever having the parties before himself,and without, if need be
inspecting the land to be divided, certainly fails in his duty
457. 449. Common
defects in partition cases. No branch of revenue work used in former days
to be worsen dine than pertition cases. Scandalous delays were allowed to occur. No proper care was
taken to lay down clearly the mode of partiton or to define accurately the
limits of the land assigned to each share holder, or to point these out on the
spot to the parties interested. Years after an elabolrate partition has been
made on paper it was notin frequently found that the existing facts of
possession in no way agreed with the allotmendts shown in the file. Matters
have improved of late years but much watch fulness on the part of assistant and
the deputy commissioner is required to prevent undue delays, and to secure that
partitions are fairly carried out and given effect to fully and promptly. The
points o which it is most essential to insist are that the cases are dealt with
by the investigation officer as far as possible in or near the village where
the land is sirtuted, (see paragraph 247 of this manual) that the proposed mode
of partition is clearly explained by him and that the orders passed by the
revenue assistant ar district and enter into sufficient detail to enable the
actual division to be carried out without any opportunity arising for further
duspute. In cases in which many shareholders are concrened, the first hearing
should invariably be in or near the village where the land is situated. A visit
to the village is equally necessary after the partition papers have been
prepared and objections to the partition are to be heard. All the shares in the
common land of a large village cannot be expeccted to attent at the tahsil on
the same day, nor can objections against the partition be decided without
seeing the plots alloted to each shareholders.
458. 450. How delay
may be prevented. The failure to ascertain fro the first what is the actual
contention of those who appose the partition is a fruitful cause of delays and
wrong decisions. An officer who begins by carefully amining the parties on the
spot is not likely to fall into this mistake. That complicated cases should
remain pending for a considerable time is of course inevitable. The best way to
check any tenency to procrastination is for the deputy commissioner, from time
to time, to examine a few of the pending files in each tahsil.
459. 451. Care
required to make equitable division. Officers are too ready to pass orders
of a general character, for example, “that division shall be made having regard
to the character of the land” if land descrived by the same name in the
jamabandi really differs much in value,
a durther classification is a necessary preliminary to a first division, and it should be made before
the mode of partition is determined. On the other hand, it is not always
equitable to give each man his exact share of each brought part of it under
irrigation by sinking a well or digging an irrigation channel, or may have
raised its value by embanking it. He ought,as far as possible, to be allowed to
retain the land, whose present value is due to his enterprise. A suitable
arangement often is to allot to him the land he has improved giving to his
co-shares a larger area of unimproved land. In this connection efforts should
be made to persuade co-shares to abstain from insisting on an exact application
of the rule of equal proportions where this would result in the formation of an
excessive number of small scattred plots or fields. It should be pointed out
that such a division of a holding has many disadvantages from the point of view
of agricultural efficiency. It entails waste of the cultivator’s time and
labour and adds to the work of his
bullocks by multiplying journeys to and from his land. It causes waste of
water, and even waterlogging, by involving the use of unnecessarily long,
tortuous or wells, drainage, leveling and other agricultural improvements more
difficult, while small fields nay often be an obstacle to the emploment of
improved agricultural implements and machinery. Should the parties neverthless
desire the application of the rule of equal propertions of each class of land,
the revenue officer has discretion, under section 118 of the land revenue act,
to refuse compliance if he thinks that the circumstances of the case render
that rule inappropriate and he may instead authorize duly specified deviations
from it.
460. 452. General
discretion to refuse partition. Certain special cases in which a revenue
officer has a discretionary power to refuse partition have been referred to
above. But, in addition, a general discetion to reject applications is given by
section 115 of the act, which provides that “after exemining such of the
co-shares and other persons as may be present……….. the revenue officer may, if
he is of opinion that there is good and sufficient cause why partition should
be absolutely disallowed, refuse the
application recording the grounds of his refual.” This discreation
should not be exercised in an arbitrary way. Ordinaralily the ground for refual
should be on eof those alreay mentioned on the 453rd and 454th
paragraphs. But the assistant colleccter is not debarred from rejecting an
application on other grounds if a sufficient case is made out by the opponents
of partition. If, for example, he finds that many of the new holdings which
would be created by the partition of the common land of a village would be so
minuute as to be useless to the right-holders to whom they would be allotted,
he may reasonably refuse to sanction a holding by holding partition, and wither reject the
application entirely or order a pattiwar partition, each patti being given
seprate possession of its share in the common land of the estate.
461. 453. Claims by
widows. The claims of widows for partition are often strongly opposed by
the other co-shares. Among agricultural tribes in the punjab a widow who has no
son inherits,as a rule, a life interest in her deceased husband’s land. Her
right is indisputable, but it is one that ils viewed with great jealousy by
ultimate heirs. Where her property consists of a share in a joint holding, they
are very laoth to allow her seprate possession from a fear, often well founded,
that she will manage it badly, and probably in the end attenate t. at the same
time, so long as the holding is undivided, the widow often finds it diffcult to
obtain her fair share of the produce. If the records of tribal custom prepared
at settlement are examined, it will generally, through not invariably, be found
that the widow’s right to claim partition is admitted, and it is clear that
under the provision of the land revenue act she is entitiled to apply for it.
But, if satifactory arrangements can be made to secure for her, due enjoyment
of her life interest without partition, it should be disallowed.
462. 454. Questions
of title. The officer to whom an application has been sent for report
sometimes finds himself confronted at the outset by an objection witch disputes
the title of the applicant to ask for partition. Fox example, the responant may
deny the correctness of the report of rights, or he may admit its correctness,
but assert that the applicant is not in possession of his share, and is
therefore not entitled to claim partition at all, oor is not entitled to do so
till he has had a settlement of account woth the responent. In such cases all
that the tahsildar can do is to record clearly what the points in issue are,
and return the case to the officer who is empowered to dispose of it. After hearing
the parties,has asked for partition procedding will give him an advantage over
the opposite party, has asked for partition in order to envade direct resort to
the civil court regarding a question of title which he knows to be disputed. In
that case he should file the proceedings, with leave to either party to apply
to have htem reopned on showing that the point at issue has been a decided by a
competent civil court. But if it appears that the applicant is acting in a
straight-for-ward manner, the revenue officer should invariable, unless there
is some special reassom to the contrary, deal with the dispute himself.
Generally speaking where landowners are concered, be question at issue will be
one over which a civil court jurisdiction. If it is so the procedure of the
revenue officer must exactly folow that applicable to the trail of an origianl
suit in a civil court, and the decree will for proposes of appeal, be treasted
as if it had passed by the subordiante judge if however, the questions is one over
which revenue court has jurdisction, the revenue offiver must proceed as a
revenue court. The neglect of this provision by revenue officer often causes
much trouble.
463. 455. Appeals.
The law regarding appeal in partition cases is a little complicatede, an dforms
a partial exception to the general rule that appeal from an assistant collector
of any grade lie to the collector, an order under section 115 of the land
revenue act absolutly disallowing a partition is appeable to the collector. but
if he does not reject the application abinitilo the assistant collector must
proceed ascertain the questions in dispute distinguishing between
(a) (a) question as to
title in the property and
(b) (b) question as to the
property to be divided or the mode of the making the partition.
The procedure in cases in which a
question of a title has to bne settle has been
explained in the proceeding paragraph. If the assistant collector has
acted as a civil court, and appeal will lie to the district judge,if as a
revenue court to be collector. but appeal from any order he may pass “as the
proprty to be divided or mode of a making a partition” are heard by the
collector.
ACQUESTION OF LAND FOR PUBLIC PUSPOSES
464. 456. Advanatages
and disadvanteges of acquestion by the private agreement - Land which is
required for the public purposes must be taken up through the collector if the
provision for compulsory acquestion contained in the act I 1894 are put
inforce. But engineers or the other officers of government who have obtained
permission from the head of there own department, can endeaviur to arrange for
the purchase of land private agreement, and in such cases deputy commissioner’s
out to supply them with perliminary estimates of value just as they would do in
case in which it was proposed to make use as of the act. But they must not
carry on private negotitiations for any other department unless of the
department acquiring the land has itself failed to acquire land by such
negotations. The advatage of the voluntry agreement is that the addition of
fifteen per cent to the market price, which the act allows as a solatium for
the compulsory nature of the
transaction, is saved. On the other hand under the statutory procedure therei perhaps
less risk of an extravagant valuation and comliance with the necessary for
malities ensure the vesting of the land “absolutely in the government free of
all encumbrance.” Where there is a faintest doubt regarding the title of the
person in person in possession, or where there is any reason of the fear that
the land may be encumbered to an unknown extent, private negotation is out of
the jab there is often no danger, at least in localities where the land tenure
is of latent defects of title. Where this is the case restore may be had to purchase
by private agreement if ir is likely to result in any appreciable saving to
time or money.
465. 457. Plan and
perliminiary estimate of cost. Whatever be the procedure proposed, the
first step to be taken is the preparaation of a proper paln of the land by so
officer of the department which wishes
to acquire it. Ordinararly the landowners will raise of objection to this
entring on their land and doing whatever is necessary for that propsose. The
act however, did not allow for an opportunty to be given to a person whose land
was to be acquired to protest that the porpose for which acquestion was bein
gordered was not fact a public purpose. To provide for this an amending act no.
XXXVIII of 1928, was passed. The effect of this act is that a perliminiary notifiaction
under section 4 is now essential in every case and provision for the lodgenment
of objections against any proposed acquestion with in a period of thirty days.
But if they do a notifiaction stating that the land is likely to be required
for public purposes must be issued in the gazette. When this has appeared, and
the deputy commissioner has publiced it locally, any officer authorised by
government may enter on the land any survery it. If any demage is done to be
land or the crops in the process, he must offer compentation to the landowners.
If it is not accepted he must refer them to be deputy commissioner, who
decision is final having made his plan, he must obtain form the deputy
commissioner data for a perliminiary estaimate of the cost of acquiring the
land. All that the district officer expected to give at this stage is the
ordinary rate per acre which land of the description fetches in the
neighberhood and a rough valuation of the trees building extra.
466. 458. Procedure
in cases if purchase by private agreement - The procedure to be followed
after the perliminiary estaimate has been sanctioned by competent authority in
cases in which purchase by private agreement is preferred to compulsory
acquestion is laid down in paragrah 21-27 of financial commissioner standing
order no. 28.
467. 459. Perliminary
action in case of cumpulsory acquisition - If the better course appears to
be to proceed under the act, a notification is published in the gazette stating
that the land is required for a public purpose and directing the deputy
commissionor to take order for its acquistion. If the area is very large, a
special officer is usually invested with the necessary powers and employed
instead of the deputy commissioner.
468. 460. Nature of
enquiry made by collector - The enquiry which th ecollector has to make in
these cases relates to three points, each of which must be dealt with in his
award. He must determine-
(a) (a) the true area
of the land of each class,
(b) (b) the amount of
compensation due, and
(c) (c) the
appointment of the compensation among the persons interested.
469. 461. Demarcation
of land. The first step is to have the land marked out and measured through
the tahsildar. The existance of small discrepancies between the areas and the
descriptions of land as found by the tahsildar and as stated in the
notification is no reason for staying proceedings.
470. 462. Notice to
parties interested. A general notice is next given to all persons
interested in the land to appear before the collector on a certain date and to
state the nature of their respective interests and the amount of compensation
which they claim.
471. 463. Tahsildar’s
report. Before the time fixed for the hearing, the collocror should receive
from the tahsildar a khasra or filed register and a statement of holdings. In
these statement particulars are given as to the areas, the rent, and the
revenue of the land, and the trees, crops, wells, and buildings on it, and the
estimated value of the last four items. The tahsildar also furnishes a report
giving the chief date from which the market value of the land can be deduced,
and his own opinion as to its proper price. The data of course include figures
relating to any recent purchases of land by government course include figures
relating to any recent purchases of land government or private persons on the
same village or neighbourhood. Information regarding the latter can be obtained
from the mutation registers and from the
books in the office of the sub-register, who is usually either the tahsildar
himself ir a non-official working at the headquartes of the tahsil. In using
the prices stated in deeds of sale it must not call for reports from patwaris
or kanungos as to the value of the land. In forming his own opinion he must
take into account the matters which the act required the collector to consider
in fixing amount of compensation, and must disregard those which it directs the
collector to disregared.
472. 464. Reperesntation
by departmental officer. It is important that the local officer who
represents the department for which the land is being acquired should have
ample opportunity to make any represented he thinks fit as to its market
value.the instructions in paragraphs 38-39 of financial commissioner standing
order no. 28 provide for this. Any representation he may make personally or by
agent or in writing should receive careful consideration. But the collector
must avoid all correspondence with him on the subject of the award, he must not
inform him of the compensation he proposes to assess until the award has been
pronounced.
473. 465. Examinatin
of parties. A little trouble taken before the right holders before him will
put the collector in a position to deal promptly with their objections, and by
questioning them to clear up any points. Which the tahsildar’s report has left
in doubt. A brief enquiry regarding any claims for compensation which they
present will usually be enough to show in what respects if any his own
perliminary estaimate of compensation requires to be modified.
474. 466. Preparation
for hearing of case. Before the hearing of the case the collector ought to
have studied the tahsildar’s report and to have estimated the compensation
which appears to be suitable. The tahsildar’s data as to the prices paid for
other land required by government can be checked by referring to th register of
lands taken up for public purposes maintained in every district office. If the
last settlement of the distirct is at all recent , valuable information as to
the market value of land of different kinds is sure to be found in the tahsil
assessment report.
475. 467. Award.
The next step is to record and announce the award. All posible care must be
taken in framiing it,for, as far as government is concerned, it cannot be
questioned. The record will as a rule enable the collector to determine at once
the first matter for decesion, namely, the true area of the land of each class
to be acquired.
476. 468. Market
value of land. In deciding he next point, the amount of compensation due,
he has in the first flace to settle what the market value of the land is land
to add to it 15 percent on account of compulsory acquisition. If he finds the amount to be much in excess
of the preliminary estinate referred to in paragraph 465, he should refan from
making an award and ask for further instruction.
477. 469. Consequential
damages. He must consider the persons interested in the land to be taken up
have any claim for consequential
(a) (a) loss of
standing crops or trees(section 23(1), second sub-head)
(b) (b) damage to other land
of theright holder by the taking up if the land required (section 23(1), third
and fourth sub-heads)
as the owner will rlieved of th eobligation to pay land revenue and cases, the demand of the harvest under these heads should be deducted from any compensation awarded for crops.
478. 470. Damage to
other land of rihgt-holder. Under the second head difficult questions
arise. If, for example, a canal is carried through the heart of a village, the
fields on one side ir the other are cut off from the homestead. To reach land
which in a direct line is only distanbt a few hundred yards may involve the
taking of ploughs and cattle three or four miles around. It is not always
feasible to build a second adadi acriss the canal. The land may all be
cultivated, or none of it may be common property. Again, if an embanked road or
a canal distributary is carried through the fields attached to a well, and the
area which ir can command is thereby dimished, the capital sunk in its
construction may cease to yield any return to thelandowner. It is difficult for
th epeople whi suffer to believe that a slight deviation from a strainght line,
which would have saved themselves much trouble, could not have been made. No
wise man will do anything to foster the idea that the administration wirks with
the unsympathetic rigour of a piece f machniry, for this reason, and to avoid
the expenses of consequential damages, governemnet has made consulting
engineers and the local revenue officers responsible that in qzquiring land for
railwys the fullest consideration is given to the convience of the landowners,
and has ordered slight alteration in the alignment tobe made, where this is
feasible, if annoyance to the people can be thereby obviated(govt. of india circular no. iv-railway, dated 4th
september, 1897) strrict orders exist on the irrigation department forbidding
the excavation of canal water course thrighland belonging to a well
“until-suitable pipe, culvert, or syphon is competed and the cultivatin of the
alignment, which would be cinvenient to the properties, would diminish the
usefulness or seriously increase the cost of
the work. It is the more desirable to avoid claims for consequential
damages where possible be cause it is a matter of great difficulty to calculate
the compensation which si fairly due.(if reasonable claims are made under the
head of severance, government amy direct the collector to acquire the whole
of the objector’s land49(2))
479. 471. Matters to
be excluded from sonsidertion in estimating market value. In estamating
market value, the condition of thalnd as it was at the tine the notifiacation
was issued declaring it to be required for a public purpose must alone be taken
into account. tHe urgency of the need government nothing to do with the question(section
24, first and second heads) the latter, whether it is great or small must be
taken as paid fir by the grant of fifteen percent over and abpve the market
value. The fact that the use to which the land is to be put will imcrese the
value of other land belonging to the right-holder is quite immaterial(section
24, sixth head) and so is any damage he may sustain which, if causes by a
private person, would not be a ground for a civil action(section 24,third head)
480. 472. Cancelled.
481. 416. Compensation
other than in money. Persons who are beiong deprived of their land for
public purpose would often prefer to take other and in exchange rather than
money compensation. The act allows an arrangement of the sort to be made with
the sanction of the local govt. but, in
the first instance, the compenstaion must be assessed by the collector in
money, and no one can be compelled to take land instead of cash. Another form
in which compensation may be given with the approval of the local government is
the reduction or remission of the land revenue payable on the remainder of the
right-hlder’s land. An objection to this plan is that it introduces some
complications into the revenue accounts and it is not desirable that it should
be larglely adopted.
482. 417. Appointment
of compensation. If the right-holders agree among themselves as to the division of the
compensation their agreement must be accepted and cmbodied in the
reward(section 29) where the right-holders are of different classes e.g. superior
owners, inferior owners, or occupance tenants, the collector will usually have
to apportion it himself. To do so is not always easy. The share of an occupance tenat would properly be
measured by the proportion between the price at which he sell his tenant right and that at which the
landowner could sell the land , if unencumbered by any subordiante
title.another way of approaching the question is to try to find out how the profits derived from theland are
divided. The land revenue is supposed to be equal to half the rent paid by an
ordinary tenant-at-will, but as a matter of fact ,it is usually much less. In
considering cash rents paid by between them and their landlords, the most
favourable assumptions to adopt, as far as the latter are concerned, are that
the assessment is up to the theortical standard, and that the rents are the
highest allowed by law for tenants should receive seven-eights of the
compensation. But, if he belongs to class which may be required to pay a
malikana equal to three-fourths of theland revenue, his share of the
compensation,as measured by the rent he pays, would be one-fourth. It will
probably be found that calculatons based on the rent paid by occupancy tenants,
at least in cases where the malikana is low, would give the landlord less than
village opinion generally would hold to be his due, entries as to the division
of compensation between land owners and occupancy tenants are sometimes to be
cound in village administration papers. Where the allotment there stated is not
palpably unjust, it is well to adopt it without further question. But it is
clear that , where all the
administration papers of the district contain an identical entry without any
dicrimination between different classes of occupancy tenants it cannot be
accepted without further enquiry.
483. 418. References
to civil court. Right-holders who object to the award of the collector as
regads any of the maters which it deternmines may require him to refer their
objections for decision to the district judge(section 3(d) and punjab
government notification no. 1791, dated 26th february 1883, section
18.)as soon as the award is announced, the collector should proceed to pay the
compensation to all who are prepareed to accept it, either willingly or under
protest(section 31(1). A right-holder who receives the money without protest
cannot afterwards demand a reference to the civil court(section 31(2) a list
must, therefore, be made of those who refuse to accept it or accept it under
protest, immediate notice of the award must also be given to all the
right-holders who have not appeared before the collector, so that no delay may
occur in making any references to the civil court which their objections may
render necessay(section12(2). For the period which applications for a reference
to the court must be lodged, see provision to section18(2)).
484. 419. Taking of
possession. As soon as the award has been made, the collector should
ordinaly take possession of the land, “which shall thereupon vest absolutely in
the government free from all encumbrances(section 16) he need his award. But,
if the amount of the cliams to compensation put in much exceed the sum awarded,
possession should not be taken without first refering to the authority
sanctioning the work until the period within which appication for a reference
to the court has elasped without any application being lodged(government of
india letter no. 503-c,w.b. dated 19th september 1898) one
possession has been taken, government is bound to complete the acquisition of
the land, whatever it may cost to do so. The fact that compensation has been
paid does not entitle the department officer toenter upon theland he must
receive possession of ir from the collector.
485. 420. Immediate
possession in urgent cases. The 17th section of the act makes it
lawfil for the collector in cases of urgency to take over land without the
assent of th owners and without waiting for the completion of the legal
formalities. But, before doing so, he must tender to the right-holders
compensation fir standing crps and trees and for any damage suffred by them on
account of sudden dispossession. Legal requirement nay also of course be waived
by agreement os really a voluntary one, and that the getting of immediate
possession is a matter of great importance(detailed instructions on this
subject will be found in paragraph 65-7- of financial commissioner’s standing
order no. 28) for when land is taken up in this way, it is difficult afterwards
to assess compensation for standing crops and trees, and it is hardly possible
to refuse to complete the acquisition, even through it becomes evident that
government runs a risk of having to pay an extravagent sum as compensation.
486. 421. Representation
of government before civil court. When he makes a referenc to the district
judge, the collector must inform the department officer that the has done os,
and must supply him with a copy of the right-holder’s application stating the
grounds of his objection to the award.
The proceeding before the civil court are of a judicial character(section 53).
Facts must be proved in a legal manner, and all evidence, whether oral or
dicuments in which the award is bases, must be produced. Unless the objection
nerely relates to the appointment of the compensation, its amount not being in
dispute, the district judge gives the collector notice fo the date of hearing,
and the collctor must arrange for government being properly repersented in
court by the govermnet pledger (see in this connection the ilnstruction in the
punjab law department manual). The latter msut in any case receive a copy of
the notice served in the collector so that he may have an opportunity of being
present at the hearing of the case.
487. 422. Appeal.
An appeal lies to the high court from decisions in land acquisitions cases
passes by a district judge.
488. 423. Reduction
of revenue. The reduction of the land revenue assessment consequent on the
taking up of land has effect from the harvest succeeding the last ine in which
the owners have been able to garner their crops.
489. 424. Compensation
to assignees. If the revenue is assigned, the capitalized value of the
demand may be paid to the jagirdar or mafidar. But the loss of the position of
assignee, or even the diminution of the income derived from an assignment, is
so unpalatable that, where possible, the necessary range for this being dine
where only part of the revenue. It is usually feasible to assigned, in other
cases, where the loss of revenue is very small, the jagirdar or mafidar must be
content to accept to one-fifth of the total land revenue enjoyed by the
assignee, the deputy commissioner may make a proposal for the grant of a
pension or of a new assignment. Such a proposal should not be made as a matter
of course, but only in favour of a deserving assignee who feels keenly the loss
of his jagir income (punjab government no. 549, dated 4th september,
1890. For the scale fo compensation in case of jagir revenue, see paragraph 53
of financila commissioner’s standing order no. 28.)
490. 425. Temprary
occupation of land. The local government may didrect the colector to take
up laid for any period not exceeding three years. In cases of temporary
occupation of this kind, no notification os published in the gazette. The
collector calls the rihgt-holder together an endeavours to come to an
agreement with them as to rent to be
paid. In fixing the amount, it must be remembered that the landowners will
remain liable for the land revenue. If the collector cannot come to an
agreement with the right-holders, he must refer the matter in dispute for the
decision of the district judge.(section 35)
491. 426. Compensation
for damage done during occupation. At the expiry if the term of occupation
the collector must offer compensation for any damage done to the land not
provided for by the agreement, and the right-holder may rquire government to
buy it out right if it has become permanatly unfit for the purpose for which it
was use immediately before it ceased to be in their possession. Any dispute as
to the condition of the land must be referred to the district judge.
492. 427. Taking up
of land for companies. What has been said above about the acquisition land
for the state applies equally to the taking up of land for a company under the
provisions of part VII of the act.
493. 428. Disposal of
land no longer required. Where land in the permanent occupation of any
departments of the punjab government is no longer required, it should be handed
over to the deputy commissioner of the district, who becomes responsible
for the disposal of it under the orders
of the commissioner. “it may not
however, be permanently alienated without the previous sanction of
government” there is no legal bar to its being put up to auction. But as the
matter of grace, government is usually willing to restore agricultural and
pastoral land to the persons from whom it acquired it or to their heirs in
their refunding the amount paid as compensation less the 15 percent granted for
compulsory acquisition. The price may be lowered, if necessary, on account of
deterioration, or enhanced in the rare case of land having been improved by the
use to which government has put it. The improvement must be must be one one
affecting the quality of the land. The fact that land which was unirrigated at
the time of acquisition can, when relinquished, be watered by a canal si not an
improvement of this sort. Considering how great the rise in the market value of
land has been, the terms stated above are very liberal. It is not necessary to
adopt them in their entitrety where the persons concerned are remote
descendants or relations of the original holders. And where the circumstances
of the case are at all out if the
common, when for example, no price, or when the rise on the value of land on
the neighbourhood has been exceptionally hlarge, these facts should be pointed
out when referring such cases for orders so that government may have suffcient
material before it to decide whether to offer any specail terms to the heirs of
the persons from whom that land was qcquired.
In the case of rendtion of
land under kassies and abandoned water channels such as those in multan and
shujabad canel divisions which came under the possession of the irrigation
department free of cost, the land should be restored to the original owners or their
heirs free of charge.
COMMENTRY.
Land
acquired project completed. The land no more required, hence ordered to be
auctioned but more came forward. The land leased for a long term by the
officers and leasee reclaimed it. In the meantime govt. decided to surrender to
land to its original owner, held the state is not bound by the decision of its
officers to lease and the govt. may recover
amount paid as compensation to original owners from plaintiff.( sadhu singh
v. state of punjab 1992(2) RRR 464.
494. 429. Case in
which prefernece should be given to owners of adjoining fileds. In the case
of plots which from their size or shape are practically of no value to any one
but the owners of the adjoining fields,
government will be prepared to consider proposals for giving these owners the
optin of purchasing at the market value. The mere fact that an outsider is
prepared to outbid them should not deter
the deputy commissioner from recommendeding to government the acceptance of any
fair offer which they may make.
495. 430. Action
when the heirs and neighbourhood proprietors do not wish to purchase. If
the heirs of the original owners cannot be traced, or if they or the
proprietors of adjoining land decline to accept the terms approved by
government, a further reference to government will be necessary if it is
proposed to alienate the land permanently in some other way.
495-A. Department concerned to be consulted
before land is actually sold. The department by which the land is
surrendered should be given an opportunity of criticizing the rendition price
to be demanded and of commenting upon any did or tender before it is accepted.
496. 431. Report to
commissioner. In negotiations for
the disposal of land no longer required, the deputy commissioner, must make it
plain that any therms he proposes are only tentative and need the sanction of
government. Cases should, of course, be submitted through the commissioner and
each reference should be a detailed one.
496-A. Transfer of land between governement
departments. For the procedure to be followed in cases of transfer of state
lands and building from the central government to a local governement of lands
in the possession of one department to another, and of lands owned by
manicipalities, reference should be made to part A of the financial
commissioner’s standing order No. 28
It will be noticed that in these
cases of acquisition the provisions of act I of 1894 are not applicable.
BOOK IV
COLLECTION OF LAND REVENUE AND LOCAL RATE.
COLLECTION OF LAND REVENUE.
497. 432. Taxation
the touchstone of good or bad administraiton. There is nothing on which the
happiness of subjects and the stability of government more depends than the way
in which revenue is assessed an dcollected. The old monarchy in france, which
at on etine had conferred great practical benefits in thast country, was
gradually underminded by its failure to limit the amount of its taxation, to
distribute it fairly over the different classes of the community and to collect
it without oppression, and at last fell with a crash which shool the whole of
Europe. The measures adopted by the british government in india to secure an
equitable assessment of the land revenue have been descrived elsewhere. We are
here only concerned with the regulations for its collection, a matter of equal
importance, and sometimes of even greater difficulty.
498. 433. Deputy
commissioner responsible for collection of land revenue and local rate. The
income of indian government, whether native or foreign, has always been mainly
derived from the share of the produce of the soil which the state claims as its own (see chapter I of the
settlement manual) it is one of the chief duties of the head of a district to
collect the land revenue and local rate.
The second charge is levied as a percentage on the land revenue and for
practical purposes, is hardly distinguishable from it. The deputy commissioner
is also the collector of the various taxes imposed by the government, but with
these this handbook is not concerned. It will be necessary, however, to notice
briefly his duties in connection with the realization the rates levied in many
districts for the use of canal water.
499. 434. And 500
cancelled.
501. Revenue
a first charge on produce of land. The land revenue of holding, or of an
estate, being a cash commutation of the right of governement to a share of the
crops grown upon it, is properly declared to be “ the first charge upon the
rents, profits and produce thereof (act XVII of 1887 section 62(1). The section
quoted in this chapter are sections of act XVII of 1887)” it is the deputy
commissioner’s business to safe guard this right. Withoput his consent no court
can attach the “rants, profits or
produce” untill the current land revenue
and any arrears that may be due have been paid (section 62(2)) orders issued by
civil and excluted by the revenue
department. (section 141)
502. Instalments.
It seemed at one time natural enforce the government line on the produce by
making the instalement of land revenue fall due before the crops, from which
they were to be liquidated, were cut. This plan in practice land to great
abuses. Instalment are now arranged so as to be become payable shortly after
the garnering of the crops. The number, dates and amount of the installement
are fixed at settlement with the approval of the financial commissioner and are
often identical for all the estastes in
a tahsil. If experinence shows clearily that the agreements originally made are
unsuitable for any estate or group of estates, the deputy commissioner should
not hesitate the ask to have them changed.
503. Land
owners jointly and severally responsible. The joint and several
responsiblty of all the land owners in an estate for the payment of the whole
land revenue assessed upon it is emphatically asserted in the 61st section of the land revenue act. Each shares
holders is there for liable not only for the demand due on his own holding, but
also for any arrears that may arise on respect of another holding. If he happened to be only solvent land holder in
the estate, he could raiseon legal objection to an orderthat he should himself
pay the whole balance. In such a case the holdings of the defaulters would of
course. If he wished be transferred to him for a term. When an estate conists of
rwo or more recognised sub-divisions (pattis or tarafs)the joint and several
responsibility for an arrear arising in any particular su b-division should in
the first instance, be enforced against the shareholders in the sub-division
and bot against the whole community.
504. Extent
to which joint responsibility should be enforced. The communal bond
never in fact existed in some parts of
the punjab. Where it is a mere fiction of our revenue system, and estate are
only artificial groups of indipendent holdings the enforcement of common
responsibility, through legal would bot
be just. Everywhere the tendency of our rule has been to promote individualism
and the intrusion of strangers into village communities has in maby places
weekend the feeling of corporate life and duties. A revenue officer in his
dealings with estates should do what he can to check this process of
disintegration. As far as possible village communities should be left to
themsilves. As thomason remarked:-
“So long as the Fovenment revenue is
punctually paid it is nost important that the collector as a fiscal officer should abstain frim all
interference……… the great desire and
object of the Government is to teach the
people selg-government …….they should be instructed and encouraged thus to
conduct their affairs and by punctual payment of the government demand to bar
all direct interference on the part of the fiasal officers of the Government.
Where difault occurs prompt action is
ofcourse required. If the arrears cannot be recovered from the defaulter themselves kthe measures adopted ofr their
fralization should be so framed as to assert the orinciple of common
respobnsibility.
505. Headman
not to be made scapegoat of community. It is the duty of the village
headman to collect the revenut from the landowners and pay it into the tajsil
treasury. But if the can show that he has done his best and failed his
responsibility for an arrear is no greater than that of the members of the
brother hood and he should not be made the scapegoat.
506. Sharesolders
must not be allowed to pay direct. A shareholder sho is no bad terms with
his headmanb sometimes tries to pay in
revenue direct either in cash or by money order. Such payments ahould in
variably be refused. The grant of revenue money orders to anyone but a
lambardar is against the rules of the postal department.
507. Village
khatauti’s. To aid the tahsildar in
keeping an eye on the dollections for each estate a separate village
account of demand and receipts known as the khatauni is kept upby the rtahsil
revenue accpintant or swail baki navis. One ;arge sheet is alloted to each
villafe, and these sheets are bound together in one or more volumes. At the top
a statement of the dimand arranged under
various heads os entered. As it is inportant that the tahsildar ahould
be able to see artr a glance the whole
of what he has to realize from each eatate. The demand is shown not only
on account of land revenue, fixed and fluctuating but also on account of
diffferent items of miscellaneous land revenue such as tirni and talabana,
local rates, canal water rates, and so on. It fact everything should be out
down which the estate pays into the tehsil treasure through its headmen. The
rtest of the sheet is occupied by the sollection statement. Under each item of
demand os shown each receipt under that head,
with the date of payment. Atn the ind of the year each dolumn should be
totalled and any unpaid balance should be noted. Such balamce3s should be carefully
shown under the proper heads in the khataunis of the succeeding year.
508. Duties
of patwari in connection with land revenue dollection. It is the duty of
the patwari ofter the kharif harvest inspcetion in over to give the headman a
list known as the fard dhal bachh, showing the demand due under different
heads( land revenue local rate erc.) from the owner of each holding. this list
is brought up to date and dorrected if necessary after the rabi firdawari. A
fresh list will always be required whin
the instalments for the two harvests are not equal of where the demand is a
fluctuation one assessed by the application of acreage rates to the harvested
area. The patwariis bound to help the headmen by explaining the accounts. And
by writing, if required the receipts to be given to the shareholders. But he is
forbidden to have anything to do with the actual collection or handling of the
money. He should gove each heacman, for presentation at the fahsil a memorandum
(arz lrsal)showing under the proper heads the amounts to be paid in.
509. Payment
at outlying tehsils - Arrived at the tahsil the heacman shows the arz irsal
to the revenue accountant(wasil baki navis). Heving ascertained by reference to
the village khatauni, if necessary the proper distribution of the amount
tendered, the revenue accountant enters it under the proper heads in jthe foil
and counterfoil of the recdeipt register(dakhilabahi). The corrections of any
made by the revenue accountant in the arz irsal should be attitude by the
tahsildar or naib-tahsildar. On receiving the money the tahsildar of tahsil
treaxurer signs both copies of the dakhilawith a note of any deductiuon for
short weight of fa,se coin that may be required. The signature of the tahsildar
or naib-tahsildar must next be obtained
on the foil and counterfkoil. The dakhila is thin hended to the diyaha navis,
whose businmess it is to write up the daily cash account(siyaha) of the tahsil.
The payments made should be entered under their proper heads nby the siyaha
navis in the case account of wiyaha and by the wasil baki navis in the
khatauni. The tahsildae’s signarure on the salhila is the authority for the
enteies in kkthe sihaya and they must not by made till it has been obtained.
The siyaha navis should sign both the foil and counterfoil of the dakhila after
which the counterfoil should be removed
from kthe rekgister and given to the headman.
510. Payment
at headquarter’s tahsils. The tahsils at headquartes have no seprate
treasuries, and therfore no tahsildar and siyaha navis headman bringing money
to such a tahsil presents his arz irsal to the wasil baki navis, who prepares
receipts in triplicate, singing them himself and obtaining the signature of the
tahsildar or naib-tahsildar. The headman is sent to the district office
treasury with the money and the three copies of the receipt. The presents them
in the first instance to the treasury the three copies. They are next presented
by the headman to the district treasurse, who receives the money enters the
amount in his cash book and signs in full the three copiesof the dakila after
entering in each any deduction for short weight or bad coin which may be
necessary. The three copies are then brought back to the treasury accountant,
who enters the amount in his cash-book and complets his signature on the three
copies. One copy he returns as, receipt to the headman, first obtaining in the
case of sums of Rs. 500 and upwards, the signature of the treaury officer, the
second he forwards to the tahsildar when the accounts of the day are closed,
the third he keeps for record in the treasury. The first, third and last
columns of the dakila register should be made about any dakhila not returned by
the treasury on the same or the following day. Where the govt. treasury is
managed by the imperial bank of india, a similar course is followed, the
triplicate dakhila being presentes with the money at the bank, instead at of
the district treasury. No daily cash account or siyaha is sent in by
headquarters tahsils, but a sent to the district treasury, where it should be
carefully examined to see that all items have been duly credited in the
treasury accounts. No copy of the goshwara is kept at the tahsil.
511. Payment
at revenue by money orders, currency notes and cheques. The headman, when
they bring in the revenue, are often expected or compelled to give small
douceurs to members of the tahsil establishment, especially to the revenue
accountant. Tahsildar should be made to under stand that their own credit is
involved in stopping this practice. Deputy commissioner who wish to do soare allowed the option of
introduction the system of payment of land revenue into the treasury without
pre-audit by the wasil baki navis. According to this system, it is essential in
the first place that a correct kistbandi should be supplied to every patwari
for each of his villages. With the assistance of the kistbandi the patwari may
by expected to give correct arz irsal to each headman paying in an intalment of
land revenue. The persins tmndering payment will then take the arz irsal with
money to be paid direct to the teasurer who will ar ince teceive the money and
sign a receipt on the back of the arz
irsal. Ehis will then by taken by the headman or person paying the niney to
thesiyaha vavis and wasilbaki vavis, by whom dakhilas will be prepared in the
usual way. The headmen can also pretect themsolves by sinding the money to remitted throughthe past or at
places where treasury the uahsil by
revenue money order or by currincy notes business is concucted by the imperial
bank of india, by cheque in a local bank but in some cases they are probably
afraid ti offend the tahsil staff by adoping
these expedients. It is best to leave thin to choose whichever mode of
payment they prefer. It is a pity to discourage them from coming personally to
the tahsil. There are sime advantages in their doing so and no herdship is
involved if they are not subject to needless delays of illegal exactions.
512. Payments
to be credited to demand of harvest, not in liquidation of arrears. After
the land revenue of any harvest has
become due all payments must be credited
against the demand on account of that harvest. It is only after that has been
fully satisfied that miney rteveived can be cmployed for the reduction of balances outstandig from previous harvests.
513. Direct payment to assignees. It was
formerly the rule to allow large assignees of land revenue to take it direct
from the headman. This privilege was often abused,and has been withdrawn in
many cases. It can only be continued if
the arrangements for receiving the money
are satisfactory to the deputy commissioner. It should caase where the jagirdar
makes it an intrument for illegal exactions of for putting pressure on
landowners to transfer their land to himself. But where he acts faor;u amd the
landowners have no valid ground of domplaint, it is harsh to deprive the
assignee of a privilege which he greatly
values. The collection must be made frim the headmen, and not direct form the
land owners. A jagirdar cannot of course employ any of the coercive processes
to be presently described. If the revenue is not paid to him
or eiththe assent of the deputy commissioner he can sue the defaulter in
revenue court. Where the revenue is realized by the deputy commissioner for the
jagirdar a charge of 2 percent known as haqul tahsil is made to cover the cost
of collection.(land revenue rule 57(ii))
514. Failure
to pay either justifiable or unjustifiable, action appropriate to each case.
Failure to pay the land revenue by due date may be either justifiable or unjustifiable.
Where it is justifiable the demand should be either suspended or remitted. The
circumstances under which relief should be given in one or other of these ways
are described in the next chapter. The rest of the present chapter deals with
the action to be taken by the deputy commissioner to recover arrears which have
not been, and, in his opinion, ought not to be, suspended or remitted.
515. Delay
in enforcing payment harmful to landowners. It should be an invariable rule
either to collect the dedmand punctually or to suspend it regularity. If each
instalement is not taken when it falls due, the provision of the law which
makes theland revenue a first charge on the produce of the harvest becomes a
dead letters. The money-lender takes from his deboters the grain which should
have been sold to pay the state its share, and the landowners in the end have
to contract fresh debts when they are at least pressed for payment. Every
tahsildar must understand this, but many of them act as if mere delay in enforcing
a claim which must ultimately be met were a boon to the defaulter. The means
which the deputy commissioner possesses of detecting unpunctuality are
described in XVIIth chapter.
Meaning
of defaulter. “defaulter” is definedi th land revenue act (section 3(8)) as
menaing “ a person liable for an arrear of land revenue”, and as including “ a
person who is responsible as surity for the payment of the arrear”, the
definition has a wider scope than might at first sight appear. Reading it with
section 61 of the act, it is clear that all the landowners in an estate are
defaulters if an arrear accures in respect of any particular holding. In
practice, the milder coercive processes, which are all that are ususlly needed are dilrected either againest the
owner of the holding in respect of which the default arises or against his
headman.
516-A. As soon as the collection for a harvest
is over, a complete and up-to-date list of arrears of land revenue and other
allied dues outstanding against each defaulter shall be supplied by the headman
to the sarpanch of the village panchayat. The village panchayat, in turn, shall
take suitable action to impress upon the defaulters the necessity of clearing
off the arrears.
517. Application
of headman for process against defaulter. A headman who has shown proper
diligence can obviate the risk of proceedings being taken against himself by
applying to the tahsildar or deputy commissioner for assistance. Application
will not be entertained if the arrear has been outstanding for over six months
unless the lambardar satisfies the revenue officer that the delay in
realization has not been due to his own neglect. If the application is
enterained, a date is fixed, a writ of demand is served on the defaulter and he
is sumoned to appear. (land revenue rule 65) . if the existance of the arrear
is proved an order is recorded stating the amount the person from whom it is
due, and the duty of recovery is transferred from the headman to the tahsildar.
518. Personal
action by tahsildar. Such is the prescribed procedure but, when it is clear
that headman without any apparent reason finds difficulty in including his
co-shares to pay their quota, it is a good plan for the tahsildar or his naib
to go to the village and find out what the real cause is. If he sees tha thte
refusal is due to private enmity or jealousy, he should uphold the lambardar’s
authority by convincing the defaulters that they themselves are the person who
will suffer by delay. If the assert that
they suspect the headman of misappropriating the money he collects, and
are afrain to entrust him with it, he should relize the revenue at once through
the lambardar and tell him to take it to the tahsil.
519. Misappropriation
by headman. Misappropriation by a needy headman is unfortunately no rare
occurrence. Having money in his hands, he finds it convenient to pacify his
private creditors at the cost of plunging deeper into debt a month or two later
when the tahsildar insists on payment of the government demand. Whenever misappropration
is proved, the headman should be dismissed, and the deputy commissioner should
consider whether it is expedient also to prosecute him criminally.
520. Legal
processes for recovery of arrears. The legal for the recovery of arrears
are-
(a) (a) by service of
a writ of demand on the defaulter [section 67(a), 68 and land revenue rule 63
and paragraphs,3,4 and 9 of financial commissioner’s standing order no. 29];
(b) (b) by arrest and
detention of the defaluter[section 67(b) and 69 and land revenue rules 67-69]
(c) (c) by distress
and sale of his movable property and uncut or ungathered crops [sections 67(c)
and 70];
(d) (d) by transfer of the
holding in respect of which the arrear is due [section 67(d) and 71];
(e) (e) by attachment
of the estate or holding in respect of which th earrear is due [section 67(e)
and 72 and paragraph 21 of financial commissioner’s standing order no. 29];
(f) (f) by
annulement of the assessment of that estate or holding [sections 67(f) and
73-74 and paragraph 25-29 of financial commissioner’s standing order no. 29];
(g) (g) by sale of
that estate or holding[section 67(g), 75-76 and 79-96 and land revenue rule
70];
(h) (h) by proceeding
against other immovableproperty of the defaulter [section 67(h) and 77],
for details of the procedure to be
followed in connection with each of these coerive process, reference must be
made to the sections of the land revenue act and the rules and orders abive
noted.a person against whom proceedings are taken for the recovery of an arrear
may, if he denies his liability and pays under a written protest, sue in a
civil court for a refund. (section 78)
521. Writ
of demand. A writ of demand is known as “dastak” it is little more than a
reminder. It shows the amount of the arrear, and requires the person addressed,
to pay it, together with a service fee (talabana) of one rupee where the
revenue involved is more than rs. 5 and of twelve annas where the revenue
involved is rs. 5 or less, into the tahsil by a cretain date, writs are served
by a special staff temporarity engaged for the purpose, and the issue of many
dastaks may mean more to a village than an addition of talabana to the land
revenue demand. A writ may be addresses to the
actual defaulter, but it is usually directed to his headman unless thelatter
had made an application under section 97 of the land revenue act (see paragraph
517 supra). It can be issued on any date of the instlemnet, but it is proper to
allow a few day’s grace, and this may reasonably be extended to a fortnight where, there are
two instalements, it is the custom of the estate to pay the whole demand at one
time. There is no legal objection to the
sending out of repeated destaks, but only a week tahsildar would think of doing
os. A tahsildar can issue wirts of his own authority. If he has his tahsil well
in hand, he ought not to find many necessary. Any tendency to only two which a
tahsildar can put inforce himself can easily be chacked by the collecter as the
thasidar sends in monthly statements of writs warrants issued.
522. Detection
of defaulter. The actual defaulter or headman who repersents him may be
rested and detained at the tahsil or district office for ten days. He may be
released on bail being given that he will not absent himself for certain hours
daily during that period. If the arrears is not paid by the end of the term,
the deputy comissioner may order his further detection for a month in the civil
jail. If the tahsildar finds it necessary to detainded the defaulter for more
than twenty four hours, he must report his action to the deputy commissioner.
The order land owners in the estate are not liable to this form of coercion
because of their joint responsibilty for arrears. Nor can it be used in the
case of females, manners, lunatics or idiots. The peon who executes the warrant must not receive the
money if the defaulter produce it, but must instruct the latter to take it or
sent it to the tahsil of this from of coercion thomason remarked. “it is only
in peculiar cases that process of imprisonment is likely to be effected. When the defaulter is
living in circumstance which make him fear imprisonment, and when he has
resources which enable hem at once to pay the demand, there may be on
moreefficient process. But on the poor
or the embarrassed it is not likely to have any effect, whilst to the
unfortunate, but honest and industrious, man it is a cruel hardship. It used to
be a very common practice to impression defaulters as the first step towards
the realization of the demand, but the harshness and impolicy of this have been
long admitted.
Commentry
Views
expressed by Dousie, to be treated with great respect, however, can not take
place of provisions of the act. The
views in contravention with provisions of the act should be ignored. (Sardara
singh v. sardara singh, 1976 PLJ 199 : 1976 RLR 172 (p&h)
523. Districts
and sale of movable property. The deputy commissioner or any other revenue
officer fo the 1st grade can distrain and sell the crops and the
movable property of the defaulter. But the exceptions prescribed by section 60
of the civil procedure code (act V of 1908), as regards sales in execution of
decrees of court apply, and in addition so much of the produce must be left
unattached as the deputy commissioner thinks necessary for see-grain and the subsistance
of the defaulter and his family and of exempted cattle until the next harvest.
“the process is liable to very much the same objection as the objection as the proceeding. The usual
defaulter are small landed properties whose personal property is of little
value to any but themselves, and is easily removed, if it is destrained and
sold little is thereby realized, whist they are greatly harassed and injured.
If, however, the defaulter be in good circumstances, and wilfully withholds
payment of the just claim of government there cannot perhaps be a better mode
of proceeding than to distrain at once the most valuable articles of his
private property. This course should be followed only when there is good reason
to suppose that it will be the means of compelling payment of the whole or a
considerable protion of the arrear. (thomsan’s director for colectors, eddition
of 1850, paragraph 70)
525. Advantage
of this form of coercive process. In cases in which the second and third
forms of coercion fail, or are held to be harmful or useless, this is the
process which it is ordinarily best to adopt. It has the great advantage of
preventing the intrusion of a stranger into the community. If an arrangement
can be made whereby a plot of land is left for cultivcation in the defaulter’s
hands, he can still support himself and his family in his old home, and there
may be some hope that he or his sons will learn lessons of thrift in the years
in which they are excluded from the rights and temptations ownership.
526. Attachment
of estate or holding. The deputy commissioner can attach the holding or
estate and bring ir under direct management. [section 72(1)] this process is
known as kurk tahsil. Usually the tahsildar should be the manger; but,if the
estate is large, a non official agent may be appointed and paid by a fixed
salary or by a percentage on the collections. The land revenue assessment it
not affected. The manager steps into the position of th defaulting owner or
community, and is bound by all existing engagements between landlord’s and
tenants. [section 72(2)] the rents and points received after attachment must be
credited-
firstly,
against the cost of management, and
secondly,
against the demand of the current harvest on account of land revenue and cases,
only the surplus, if, any is available for the
liquidation of the balance on account of which the land was attached [section
72(3)]. As such as it has been satisfied any in any case at the end of five
years, the land must be restored to the defaulter, who is entered to a full
account of receipts and disbursements during the period of management. [section
72(4) and paragraph 21 of financial commissioner’s standing order no. 29]
527. Use
of above process. Obviously this process is unsuited to the case of an
ordinary peasent holding, except as a mere temporary measure, to prevent waste,
when the deputy commissioner thinks one or ohere of the two following process
must shorlty be adopted [land revenue rule 70] it may occasionally be of use
when the defaulter is a quarrel between the member of a village community as to
the distribution of the burden over the different holdings. In the later case,
the manager takes for the time being place of the headman and collects from
properties the cost of management including his own remuneration, the land
revenue and ceases, the arrear and the village expenses. He does in fact by
authority what the headman improved incapable of doing, and can, with the help
of the tahsildar quickly settle any dispute as to the bachh.
528. Above
process may be used by deputy commissioner of his own authority. The five
process described above can be carried out by the head of the district without
reference to any higher authority. He may choose the particular one he thinks
most likely to succeed, and is under no obligation to try effect of the one
before he employs another. The three remaining methods of coercion can only be
used with the assent of the financial commissioner.
529. Annulmnt
of assessment of holding or estate. If the arrear has been outstanding for
over month, and the deputy commissioner,after trial or otherwise despairs it by
any of the above proceses he can issue a proclamation attaching the holding or
estate, and can propose to annual its assessment, and to manage ir direct or
lease it to a farmer [section 73(1) and (3). This process cannot be used for
the recovery of an arrear of land revenue which has accured on land which
deputy commissioner has already taken under his control either on behalf of th
ecourt of wards or in pursuanace of the crave process descibed in paragraph 526
supra. On receipt of sanction from the fianacial commissioner a proclamation is
issued declaring that the assessment has been annulled. The effect of the issue
of a proclamation attaching a holding or of one annuling its assessment is that
thereafter on payment before publication of rent properly due till some date
after publication is invalid except with the special sanction of the deputy
commissioner. [section 74(2) and (3).
530. Term
of direct management or farm. The term of direct management or of the farm
must not exceed 15 years. When it is over, the holding or estate is reassessed
in thelight of the evidence as to its
real assets which has been obtained. Care should, however, be taken that the
land revenue imposed on such land does not raise the total assessment of the
circle in which it is situated to more than one-fifth of the net assets of the
circles. If section 51(3) by section 51(4) of the punjab land revenue act, 1887
this object can in most cases be secured for all practical purposes by
providing that the average rate of incidence on such land does not exceed the
average rate of the estate in which it is included. Any case in which this is
not suitable, as for example of especially valuable land, should not be such as
to raise the existing average rate of incidencce of the assessment circle
beyong the limit prescribed in section 51(3).” If the owners refuse to accept
the new assessment, the financial commissioner can order direct management for
the remainder of the term of the current settlement of the district or for any
shorter term.
531. Effect
of farm or direct management. Direct management accomanied by annulement of
the assessment is known as khan tahsil. It diffres from kurk tahsil because the
proprietary rights and obligations of the owners are for the time being in
abeyance and the land revenue settlement made with them is cancelled. If part
only of an estate is under farm or direct management, the joint responsibility
if the landowners of the rest of the estate is sespended as regards that part
only [section 73(7). The finacial commissioner made by the defaulter, or by
other persons under whom the defaulter claims, shall not be binding in the
deputy commissioner [section 73(8)]. If it is part of the sanctioned
arrangement that the owners shall remain in cultivating possession of their
khudkashat lands, they will do so as tenants, and will pay such rent as the
deputy commissioner thinks proper.
532. Landowners
cannot claim re-entry till end of term. However profitable direct
management may be to government, the defaulters cannot claim re-entry until the
end of the term, and they are not entitled to any account of profit and loss
when they recover possession.
533. Remarks
on direct management. Kham tahsil is only suitable in the case of a whole
estate, or at least of a recognized sub-division of an estate. It is a puntive,
or at least an exemplary measure, which it would only be right to adopt in case
of contumacy on the part of a village community, which is nowadays very rare,
or where the assessment has broken down on account of th gross mismanagement or
idleness of the owners. Mr. Thomson’s remarks may be quoted: “ when land is
valuable, popualtion abundant, and the assets….. consist of money collections
from non proprietary cultivators, and the rent roll shows a fair surplus above
the government demand, there should be no hestation in holding kham. Ordinary
care will enable the collector to recover the balance, and probably improve the
eatate. But when the population is scantly, when the defaulters are a community
of cultivating proprietors, when the collections are made in kind, od whin
lkthe estate is deteriorated and fallen
out of cultivation, khammanagement
requitrd much caution. Its success evidently depends upon knowledge of
agriculture influence over the people and prompt and steady action. When the colector is conscious
that he possesses thses qualities himself, or can command them through means of
his subordinates, he has the strongest possible hold on the people. Nothing
more convinces theom of the hopeless nests of attempting by combination to
defraud the government of its dues, or to force a reduction of settlement, then
the example of a few estate successfully held kham and made to yield more then
the original assessment. It should not however be attempted on any great scale
because of the time and minute attention
it requirres, nor should it be attempted at all unless the collector finds himself
in a position where he may reasonable except to have time and opportunity to
carry his experiment fairly out.” [thomson’s director’s for collections,
edition of 1850, paragraph 78]
management should be firm, but sympathetic the object to be kept in view being
to fit the landowners ultimately to resume their old position with changed
habits.
534. Remarks
on farma. Farm to a private person after annulment of the assessment is a
still mare drastic measure than kham tahsil. Paragraph 531 applies mutatis mutandis to this process.
If the defaulters are inferior proprietors. It will usually be right to offer
the lease to the superior proprietors.
No female ,minor,or resident ni indian state can be appointed farmer.
535 . Rights
of farmer.a farm is neither heritable nor transferable, subject to this
limitation and to any other conditions expressly embodied in the lease,the
farmer has for the time being all the rights of ownership in the estate ,at
leastall the rights which government
takes into account in fixing the assesment. the lease lapses on the death
of the farmer unless the financial
commissioner to fit to renew it in favour of his heir. In any case the old
propretors are not entitled to resume possession on account of a lapse occuring
before the end of the period originally sactioned, for further conditions of
farming leases paragraph 25,26 and 28 of financial commissioners standing order
No. 29 may be consuylted. The case of direct management or farm rended
necessary by the refusal of the landowners to accept the demand fixed at a
general reassessment of the land revenue has been dealt with in paragraph 521
of the settlemant manual.
536. Yearly
statement of results of direct management. A yearly statement showing
result of direct management is submitted through the commissione to the
financial commissioner.
537. Sale
of estate or holding. The sale of a holding or of an estate on account of
arrears is fortunately a very rare event in the punjab. This measure can only
be adopted when all the foregoing processes are deemed to be in effectual. The
sanction of the financial commissioner is required (section 75 of act XVII of
1887 and section 14 of punjab act No. II of 1903) and in order to obtain it,
the deputy commissioner would equie to prove that the propeieto or the
community was either hopelessly insolvent or stubbordnly contumacious. Land
managed by the court of wads cannot be sold forr arrears and so sale is allowed
on account of balances accuring while land is under direct management or leased
to a farmer. (proviso to section 75) as
a prelominary step, the deputy commissioner should attach the holding or estate
under section 72 of the land revenue act.
538. Effect
of sale. If sale is sanctioned, the flrst step is to issue a proclamation
[section 79(1)]. The land is sold free of all encumbrances, and all previous
grants and contracts respecting it become void as against the purchase [section
76(1)]. The justification for this lies in the paramount claim of the state on
tehland until its title to a share of its produce has been satisfied. But
rights of occupancy not created by the defaulter, and leases of land for
gradens, building, and certain other non-agricultural purposes,are saved,and
also any rights excepted in the proclamation of sale [section 76(2)] for the
procedure to be followed in sale, sections 79-96 of the land revenue act may be
reffred to. If the highest bid is evently inadequate,and especially if it dies
not cover the arrearrs and the cost of the sale, it will usually be advisable
to buy in the estate fo government. The defaulter is still liable for the
balance, but except under very exceptional circumstances, it would be wrong to
take any further processing against him. He is entitlled to reveiver any
surplus.
539. Proceedings
against other immovable property of defaulter. The law has still further
safeguard the title of the state to its land revenue. If an arrear cannot be
received by any of the measures described above, or if the financial
commissioner is of opinion that their adoption is inexpedient, he can order of
the deputy commissioner to proceed against any land or immovable property
belonging to the defaulter other therein the holding on which the balance has
accrued. In this case no grants or encumbrances created or contracts made in
good faith by the defaulter are affected.
540. Actual
employment of coercive processes. In the Punjab the drastic character of
the law on the subject of the collection of land revenue is in marked contrast
to the general midness of its administration. For proof of this assertion a
reference need only be made to statement XI in the annua land revenue reports which gives the number
or writs of demand and other processes issued and executed under section 68-72
and 75-77 of the land revenue act.
541. Local
rate and village officer’s cess. The procedure for the recovery of land
revenue is also applicable to the recovery of the local rate and of the village
office’s cess (see also sections 97-99).
A rule issued under section 71 of the Punjab district board act, XX of 1883,
prescribes that the local rate shall be collected by installments bearing to
one another the same proportion as the installments of land revenue with which
it is collected.
542. Canal
occupies ate. The 5th section of the land revenue recovery act
(I of 1890) provides that where any sum is recoverable as an area of land
revenue by any public officer other than a collector or by any local authority
is situate, shall, on the requst of the officer or authority, proceed to
recover the sum as if it were an arrear of land revenue. The chief demand which
deputy commissioner in the punjab have to realize under the authority given by
this section is that in account of accupier’s rate levied under section 36 of
the northern india canal and drainage act, VIII of 1873. It is the attention to
the collection of canal dues as he does to the realization of land revenue. In
some districts the income from the latter is trifling compared which that from
the former.
543. Procedure
for recovery of canal dues. After the kharif and rabi harvests the canal
executive engineer sends to the deputy commissioner an english demand statement
showing for each estate the amount due on account of occupier’s rate and the
commission payable to village headmen at the rae of 3 percent in the demand on
condition of the collection being deputy commissioner may confiscate the whole
or part of his quota in time, the simultaneously with the despatch of these
english statements, the executive engineer sends to the tahsildar a vernacular
khatauni for every village showing the amount due from each cultivation on
account of occuper’s rate. The deputy commissioner must not receive any
petitions against the correctness of any demand under the head of occupies’s rate
entered in the kahatauni. Objections must be referred to the canal officer. Any
additions granted after the prepartion of the statement, are communicated by
the executive engineer to the deputy commissioner, who on his part furnishes to
the executiove engineer monthly statements of collections and balances.
REDUCTIONS OF ASSESSMENTS.
544.
544.
Advantage and drawbacks of fixed demand. When the British government substituted
a fixed cash demand for collections in kind, and after painful experience
learned the secret of assessing it with fairness and moderation it confined a
great boon on the country. The opportunities for opperssion and peclation by
underlings were much curtained, the of living was raised, and the value of the
proprietrly right in the land was
enormously enhaced. But the measure was not without serious drawbacks, some of
which have only been slowly recognized as evils, requiring remedy. In this
chapter we are concerned with one of thse evils, namely, that arising from the
occasional incompatibility between fixate of assessment and fluctuation of
outreturn, and with the measures taken to remedy it without foregoing the
undoubted advantages of a demand which does not vary.
545.
545.
Exception that landowners would save to meet deficiencies of bad seasons
disappointed. It was the theory of those able officers who foundedd the
revenue system of north-western india that, if a moderate revenue of fixed
amount was assessed the land owners could be expected, to an extent in
which actual experinence has beiled to
meet the government demand in bad seasons from the surplus of good years.
Theexpectation was plausible, but it took too little account of two important
factors-the indian cliamate and the indian people. It did not allow enough for
the extreme vicsisitudes of the harvests in many parts of the country, and it
assumed that habit of thriftlessness, the growth of many centuries of misrule,
would be repidly unrooted by supply a reasonable motive for saving. The peasent
farmers of the punjab have had the advantage of a fair fixed demand for more
than half a century, but it is still true that a consideable proportion of them
is lazy and thriftless, a larger number hardworking and thriftless, and only a
small fraction both industries and thrifty.
546.
546.
Fluctuating assessment. Where the fluctuations in the crop areas from
year to year very extreme, it has in some cases been judged best to give up a
fixed demand altogehter, and to adopt in its place an assessment varying in the
acreage of crops harvested. But, so,far, these fluctuation assessment amd to
some canal-irrigated tracts, and the extension of system to areas depedent in
rainfall in which variations (see chapter XXVII of the settlement manual)
547.
547.
Rigidity of fixed demand should be tempered by suspensions and remissions.
In most tracts therefore, government looks to its to make a fixed demand, which
is polpular with the people and convenient to the state, work successfully by
the use of the powers they possess of suspending and remitting revenue when
there is a serious failure of crops.the rigid enforcement of the demand,
irrespective of calamities of seasons is, a disastrous policy which government
has clearly condeinned. the folly of collecting revenue frompeople who by
reason of severve drought have not food in their houses, and whose credit with
the graindealer is well nigh exhausted seems obevious, but in this matter
routine has sometimes proved strongenough to overpower common sence.
548.
548.
Evil resulting from laxity in collection. On the other hand a fixed
demand must be treated as such, and the realization of on part of it should be
suspended, and still less entirely foregone, without plan necessity. It is easy
by laxity to demoralize the people and their headman. But it must be confessed
that until comparatively resent times their was much more danger of undue
regour than of over leniency. It is certainly not the intention of government
to authorize anything in the shape of laxity or carelessness in the collection
of the fixed demand, or to make the system of suspension and remissions as has
been proposed, “a regular feature of the revenue add policy of the state, but
is to be recognized as a measure purely of grace, and not of right, to be
exercised only in exceptional cases of calamity so serve as to justify and
necessitate a relaxation of the settlement contract. It is true that, even
within the areas under fixed assessment, the necessity for relief will require
with greater frequency in some part than in others, and that in tracts of great
precariousness which it has not been thought advisable to be bring under
fluctuating assessment, such relief may be frequently needed as a matter of
administrative necessity but even in such tracts, government has not attention
of abandoning the general principle “fixate of demand”, with its attendant
certainly, as the basis of its revenue system it recognizes, however, that it
is unwise, even in the interests of its on revenue to insist absolutely upon
what has been termed “the sacredness of the settlement contract”, or to call
upon the cultivator to pay the revenue or rent in all circumstances however
unfavourvle, that while it is whole some and legitimate to expect him to take
the bad with the good in years of ordinarily
fluctuation, payment should not be informenced under condition which would
compel a cultivator of ordinary care and prudence, who has to busy food for
family on credit, to further imperial his future solvency by borrowing to meet
the demand of the state.
549.
549.
Proper working of suspensions presupposes knowledge of agricultural economy
of district. No man can hope was to deal successfully within the questions
that arise as regards the collections of and revenue unless he has a clear grasp of the agricultural economy of
his districts of the soils and the crops of its different parts the security of
the insecurity of their harvests, the character of the land owners as regards
industry the size of their holdings, and the extent of which they are burned with,
or free from debit, the best written sources of information are the assessment
reports on the different tahsils, the districts gazetteer’s, the settlement
officer’s table and maps classifying estates as secure and insecure, and this scheme for the working of
suspension, but the study of these should only be aid to the knowledge to be
gained by close personal observations.
550.
550.
Demand should be punctually collected or regularity suspended. It should
be an invariable rule either to collect the demand punctually or to suspend it
regularity. Left to themselves, tahsildars are apt, even when they know that
there will be difficulty in realizing the revenue, to let matters slide, in
seta of making up their minds definitely whether suspensions are, or are not.
If possible, proposals for suspensions and remissions should be dealt with by
the deputy commissioner before the crops are cut and garnered. Failing that,
all questions regarding the grant of suspensions on account of a harvest should
have been decided the deputy commissioner before the installment on account of
that harvest falls due. In his tours and tahsil inspections he should find out
what the estates are in which suspensions are likely to be needed, and should
either himself inspect them at harvest time, or arrange for their inspection by
the revenue assistant, or by possible, no suspension should be given until the
estate affected his been visited by some officer of a higher grade then the
tahsildar. Until recently this was required by the instructions in every case.
But, in practice, where failure in crops affected a large number of estates,
the rule had to be treated as a counsel perfection. An experienced revenue
officer, who by marching through a
stricken tract has gained a good general
idea of the condition of its crops, need not hesitate to give suspensions to
villages which he has not seen himself if he has before him the harvest jinn’s
war statements and inspection note by the tahsildar or his naib. Accordingly,
the following rider has been added to the rule. “in case of widespread
distress, where the number of estates requiring suspensions is so large that
all cannot be inspected by officer of higher rank, in section by a tahsildar or
naib-tahsildar may be accepted as sufficient provided that as many villages as
possible are visited in such assessment circle affected.”
551.
551.
Classification of grounds for relief. The circumstances which call for
suspensions and remissions may be roughly classes as-
(a)
(a)
ordinary, which are usually widespread ;
(b)
(b)
extraordinary, which are usually local and isolated.
The distinction is one practical
important for the treatment appropriate to the two descriptions of cases is, as
a rule, different.
552.
552.
Ordinary calamities of season. The circumstances falling under the head
of “ordinary” occasions for relief are mostly those arising from the normal vicissitudes
of the seasons. Loss of crops is generally due to deficiency or excess
moisture. The rainfall in most parts of the Punjab is very capricious both as
regards its total amount, and, what is quite as important, its distribution
over the months of year. According to the time at which the deficiency occurs,
the calamity takes the shape either of a shrinkage in the area shown or of the
destruction of growing crops. In a very
bad season it is but too common to find both these evils united to produce disaster.
(see paragraph 373 of the settlement manual). When rainfall are seed-time the
contraction of the area shown is of course most marked, in unirrigated lands,
but well crops are also affected. The acreage is often reduced, and the cost
raising them is much enhanced. If the land has to be swatered before it can be
shown, the effect of drought on growing crops can hardly escape the most
careless observer. But the mischief done by frequent heavy falls of rain to
crops on light sandy soils is more likely to pass unnoticed. The case of
flooded lands under fluctuating assessment will be refereed to later. Where
their assessment is fixed, the same principles apply as in the case of other
unirrigated lands. But it must not forgotten that a flood which ruins the
autumn crops may be of the greatest value for the much more important spring
harvest.
553.
553.
Fluctuations of yield allowed for in assessment. The calamities of which
we are now treating being due to ordinary changes of the seasons, ought in some
measures to have been sore seen allowed for by the settlement officer. His
final settlement report and his scheme
for the working of suspensions should throw light on this point. Assessments
nowadays are ultimately based in the application of a rate to the average area
of successful crops for a series of years, and not to the cultivated area of
the year of measurement, which may or may not, have been normal. In so far as
functioned of yield have really been allowed for by lowering the rate on the
cultivated area, the doctrine that landowners must meet the shortage of a bad
year from the surplus of good seasons should be kept in view. But great
watchfulness must be shown if there is a succession of poor harvests, otherwise
an unfair burden may laid on the people. If the collector is satisfied that
distress really exists, and that the profits of the land injuriously affected
have fallen much below what were anticipated at the time the assessment was
made, the suspension of a portion of the current demand will be appropriate.
554.
554.
Insecure dry tracts in south-eastern Punjab. In very insecure tracts it
will probably be found that the settlement officer has himself clearly stated
that there was no demand which he could with justice to the state impose which
could be paid alike in good and bad years, and that he regarded the grant of
suspensions from time to time as essential to the smooth working, of his
settlement. This is a position which no one who has had experience of the rain
lands in the south-east of the Punjab will dispute, and it has been fully
accepted by government. In the orders of Punjab government on the report of the
first revised settlement of the rohtak district sanction was given to the
assessment “on understanding that in the case of all unirrigated lands the
revenue assessed so one which is to be paid in full in ordinary years, but
which government does not expect to
realize at once during severe or long continued droughts. In such seasons
suspensions will be freely given (paragraph 11 of review of settlement report
of rohtak by Mr. H.C. Franshawe) an object lesson was soon after furnished by
the breakdown of the revised settlement of Gurgaon, which was aggravated, if it
was not caused, by bad revenue management. In explaining the conditions on
which the reduced assessments proposed were accepted Sir James Lyall remarked.
“these conditions are that the full
revenue of insecure tracts shall not be realized in years of severe or long
continued drought, but that such relief shall be given by way of suspensions,
and, when necessary, by way of advances for the purchase of bullocks etc., as
may be called for by the actual circumstances of the case when carefully
considered by the light of the continuous record of agricultural conditions
which is now…………..maintained.
“it is impossible not to feel that
the necessity for a general division of th original assessment………..would
probably never have arisen but for the neglect of these principles. It is
equally impossible……….to believe that any adequate assessment could ever be
devised for the insecure tracts of this districts which could be safely
realized without suspensions in yeas of severe and long-continued
drought…………the variations in the rainfall, and especially in the sensonsbleness
of the rains’ the consequent fluctuations in the area sown, and still greater
fluctuation in the area harvested; the liability of the people to terrible
losses of cattle in years of drought; the great mortality from fever which is
apt to follow upon abnormal seasons; and the character of the population most
liable to suffer from the effects of such seasons-all these circumstances
constitute a marked condition of these things which demands special and exceptional
treatment (paragraph 22 of Punjab government orders on Mr. Channing’s
settlement report of Gurgoan)
555.
555.
Other rain lands in Punjab. These principles are clear enough, and,
while they apply in the fullest degree to the south-easten districts of the
state, where the rainfall in good years is sufficient to mature an immense are
of unirrigated kharif crops but where
the variations from the normal are extreme, they apply less or more to all
parts of the Punjab plains in which the
rainfall permits of barani cultivation, except a few specially favored tracts
close to the hills. It is easy moreover to exaggerate the security of
submontane lands. In the low hills and the broken country sometimes found near the
outer spurs of the Himalayas the harvests are often very precarious. An
instance of the former is the hill circle of Gurdaspur, and examlpes of the
latter are the bharrari of the same districts and the kandi circles of Ambala.
Submontane tracts are only secure where the surface is flat, otherwise in years
of drought the rapid drainage does any with much of the benefit of a somewhat
larger rainfall.
556.
556.
Arrears easily recovered in insecure unirrigated tracts. It is fortunate
that those unirrigated tracts in which, suspensions in a large scale are most
often required are precisely those in which the recovery of arrears is most
easy. Their suspension need rarely be followed by remission unless a succession
of bad seasons entails very heavy losses of cattle and deprives the people of
the means of rapidly replacing them. In other words, remissions on a large
scale need only be contemplated when scarcity has deepened into famine. The
revenue rates have been pitched low because the periodical recurrence of short
harvests was foreseen, the holding are as rule large, and in good seasons the
surplus after meeting all expenditure is very great.
557.
557.
Well lands. The case of well lands is widely different. The effect of
drought in well-irrigated estates should be closely watched just because the
signs of the disease are likely for a considerable time to elude the notice of
a careless observer. Well irrigation and small holding generally together, and
the surplus remaining with the husband man, after paying the revenue and
providing fir the support of his family, is always small. The price and the
deep of the bullocks are heavy items of expenditure. In the drier parts of the
state the wells by themselves cannot mature any large area without the help of
the river floods in autumn or of watering from inundation canals, both
precarious sources of moisture. On such wells moreover a considerable part of
the area has to be given up to provide fodder for the cattle, and in dry years
this area inevitably expands. Even in more favoured tracts during seasons of
severe drought, the sacrifice of valuable crops, such as sugarcane, to keep the
bullocks fit for works is a common sight. Well estates bear up at first in
years if short rainfall better than unirrigated ones. But, if drought is very
severe, especially if it is prolonged over several harvests, they suffer more
severely and recover more slowly. Where relief has to be given in
well-irrigated estates consisting mainly of small holding the collector should
consider whether it should not take the form of remissions. The calamity is one for the possible
occurrence of the form of remission’s. The calamity is one for the possible
occurrence of which little or no allowance may have been made in assessing the
village, the rates are as a rule far higher than on unirrigated soils and
absorb a larger proportion of the average net assets, and the surplus even in
good years, is small. These conditions are just the opposite of those which
prevail in those unirrigated tracts which are classed as insecure. If the relief given has taken the form of
suspension, much care and patience is required in the recovery of arrears, and
if good sessions do not specially return, remission may be proposed before it
would be admissible under the provisions of paragraph 576(1)
558.
558.
Remissions of revenue when wells fall out of use. The precariousness of
the well cultivation in some of the western and south-western districts has
been so clearly recognized that it has been made a condition of the land
revenue settlement that well assessment will be remitted when a well falls out
of use from use cause and re imposed when it is again brought into use. The
following rules have recently been sanctioned providing of the reduction of
revenue when a private irrigation work fall out of use during the term of
settlement.
The rules do not apply.-
(a)
(a)
to any district, or parts of district, for which local rules has been
sanctioned, or may here after be sanctioned
(b)
(b)
to unlimited (Khacha)wells on jhaalars
of similar description.
RULES
I.
I.
The collector shall remit so much of the assessment of the land irrigated from a masonry or rube-well as is
based on the profits of irrigation from such well.
(a) (a) when it ceases
to be fit for use;
(b) (b) when irrigation from
it is superseded by sanal irrigation and canal advantage revenue has been imposed.
II.
II.
The collector may grant a similar remission if the well though still fit
or use has been out of use for four harvests, provided that no remission
shall be given if the disuse of the well-
(a) (a) occurs in the
ordinary course of husbandry, the well being intended for use merely in seasons of drought;
(b) (b) is due to the introduction of canal irrigation, and canal advantage for venue has not been
imposed.
NOTE- The revenue versed on the profits of
irrigation form the well shall ordinary
be assumed to be as follows:-
(i) (a) where a lump
sum has been imposed at the distribution
of assessment in the well in addition to a non-well rate- such lump sum.
(ii) where a lump sum, inclusive of
a non-well rate, has been imposed at the distribution of assessment-such lump
sum, after deducting the equivalent of the non-well rate.
(iii) where the distribution of the
assessment has been by soil rates-the difference between the actual assessment
of the area irrigated, and the amount
which would have been assessed on that area, if it had not been irrigated.
111. cases nay occur which will not be
sufficiently met by the remission of only so much of the assessment as is based
upon the profits of irrigation from the well. Such cases should be refereed
through the commissioner for the orders of the financial commissioner.
IV in
deciding whether to use the discretion given to him by rule II, the collector
shall consider whether the disuse of the well is due to some cause beyond the
control of the landowner, such as the sread of salts in the soils, the loss of
tenants or cattle, and extreme difficulty in replacing them.
V.
V.
except with the sanction of the financial commissioner, no remission’s shall be
given under these rules unless the distribution of the assessment of the estate
has been made in one or other the ways described in the note to rule II
VI.
VI.
when a remission is granted, it shall take effect from such harvest as the
collector may determine.
VII.
VII.
If a few well is made to irrigate the land attached to a well in respect of
which remission has been granted under these rules, or if such well is
repaired, the reimposition of the
assessment will ordinary be effected in accordance with the rules for the gran
of certificates of exemption contained in paragraphs 505 to 508 of the settlement
manual.
VIII.
VIII.
Where a well for which a remission has been given is again brought into use,
and no certificate of exemption is
granted, as, for instance, on the return
of tenants or by reason of replenishment of cattle, the deputy commissioner
shall reimpose the whole of that portion of the assessment which was remitted
with effect from such harvest as he may determine.
If in any case the collector thinks the whole
should not be reimposed he should report the case for the orders of the commissioner.
IX.
IX.
these rules may be applied, so far as they are applicable, to the grant of remissions in the case of their irrigation
works constructed at private expense,
such as canals water-courses, dams embankments, reservoirs, and masonry
Jhhalars. They may also be applied to wells which, though only partially lined with stone or brick, are
expensive to make and may ordinarily be expected to last for some years.
Change in the fixed land revenue
roll necessitated by the remission or
reimposition of well assessment, either under these general rules or
under abalogous special lecal rules, as approved should be reported once a year on 1st September for orders in the form of a
comparative demand statement prescribed
by paragraph 9 of Standing order No.31.
Commentary
The
principles of natural justice were required to be observed because the matter
had to be determined by the Tehsildar and the collector as quasi-judicial
Tribunal and also under section 3(2) of Punjab land revenue(special assessment)
Act,1955 requires a speaking order.
558-A
Suspension and remission of land revenue when cultivable lands are
rendered unfit due to thur, sem, dhoes and sand - Damage to
crops is also caused by Thur, Sem,Chos and Sand,etc., which necessitates
the suspension and remission of land revenue. Accordingly the following rules
have been sanctioned in this behalf when the cultivable areas are rendered
unfit for cultivation due the these cases.
1 short title and commencement - (1) these rules may be called the
Punjab land revenue (thur, sem, chos and sand) remission and suspension rules,
1960.
(2) they shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions
- In these rules, unless context otherwise requires:-
(a) (a) “Act” means
the Punjab land revenue act 1887 :
(b) (b) “ cho” means a bed
of a torrent strating from the siwalik hills:
(c) (c) “frorm” means
a form appended to these rules:
(d) (d) “sem” means the rise
or collection of sub-soils water or moisture to such an extent that the land so
affected becomes unfit for cultivation: and
(e) (e) “thur” “kallar” of “reh” means a white or ash
coloured substances which may or may not subside after rains but the existence
whereof betayed by the crispness of the crust swelling over the powered earth
underneath it.
3.
1.
Patwari to make entries of all unfit and uncultivable lands. At the time
of each harvest inspection the patwari shall enter in the khasra girdawari all
those fields which may have been rendered unfit for cultivation due to thur,
kallar, reh or sem as thur, kallar reh or sem, as the case may be, along with
the word khali. He shall also enter all
such fields which have been rendered unfit for cultivation or grazing due to
cho or deposit of send in consequences of heavy floods as “ Ghairmumkin cho” or
“Ghairmumkin sand” as the case may be.
4.
2.
Entry as kharaba to be made where production estimated less than twenty five
percent. Whenever a field affected by thur, kallar, reh, sem, cho or sand
is sown with a crop but the yield is less than twenty-five percent of the
normal yield the entry shall be “kharaba” together with the word thur, kallar,
reh, sem cho cr deposit sand as the case may be.
5.
3.
Only affected areas considered. Wherever a pat of the yield is affected
by thur, kallar, reh, sem, cho or deposit of sand, only the area affected
thereby shall be taken into consideration.
6.
4.
Entries to be inspected regularly by inspecting officers. All fields,
for which new entries as required by rule 3 and 4 are made shall be checked by
the filed kanungoes and at least fifteen percent of them by the tehsildar or
naib-tahsildar concerned. A specific note showing that such inspection has been
made shall be given by the inspecting officer. The revenue assistant or the sub-divisional
officer (civil) shall also check the girdawaris of at least ten percent of the
villages which are affected by thur, kallar, reh, sem, cho or deposit of sand.
7.
5.
Entries to be changed after three consecutive
harvests. Where an entry is made for a particular filed or a part
thereof as required by rule 3
successively for three harvests, and a similar entry has to be made in the
fourth harvest word “banjar jadid” shall be substituted for “khali” in the fourth
harvest and if this entry persists further for four succeeding harvests, it
shall be changed into banjar quadim in the eighth harvest in the case of lands
affected by cho and deposit of sand, the entry shall continue to be ghairmumkin
cho or ‘ghairmumkin sand’ as the case may be.
8.
6.
Name of crop to be shown if unculeivated land brought under cultivation.
Any field or part thereof for which the previous entry in the khasra girdawari
is ‘banjar jadid, thur, kallar, reh or sem” or “banjar quadim, thur, kallar,
fer or sem” or gharimumkin cho or ghairmumkin sand and which is again brought
under cultivation, the entry in the khasra girdwari shall show clearly the crop
sown:
Provided that if the
yield of the crop sown is less than twenty-five percent of the normal yield it
shall be shown as ‘kharaba’.
9.
7.
(1) Land revenue to be remitted from Rabi harvest - The land revenue of
every field of part thereof, for which an entry exists as banjar jadid
quadim,thur, kallar, reh, or sem, ghairmumkin cho or gharimumkin sand’ at the
time of coming into force of these rules
shall be remitted with effect from the Rabi harvest following the enforciment
of these rules.
(2) The land revenue of every field or part thereof for which an entry is made as banjar jadid/qadim, thur, kallar, reh or dem of ghairmumkin cho of ghairmumkin sand, after the coming into force of these rules shall be remitted with effect from the Rabi harvest such an entry is made in that harvest and form the following Rabi harvest if the entry is made in the kharif harvest.
10.
8.
Revival of assessment of land revenue. Recycle of assessment Subject to
the precision of rule 19,the remission shall cease and the assessment of land
revenue remitted under these rules shall revive after the field of part
thereof, with respect of which the remission was granted has produced four
crops the yield of each of which is more than twenty five per cent of the
normal yield.
11.
9.
Revival of assessment to take effect from Rabi crop. The revival of
assessment of land revenue under rule 10 shall
take effect from the fifth harvest if it is Rabi and if the fifth
harvest is kharif from the Rabi harvest following such kharif harvest.
12.
10.
Statements to be drawn up by patwari. After the expiry of Rabi harvest
every year and within five days of the expiry of the Rabi girdawari of the
village the patwari shall draw up a statement in form a showing all the field
number in which remission under rule9 has to be given and another statement in
form C showing the field number in which assessment of land revenue is to be revived
under rule 10.
13.
11.
Statements to be checked up by officers. Every field kanungo shall carry
out a complete check of these statement with the relevant entries of the khasra
girdawari and record a certificate to that
effect on them. The Tahsildar or naib tahsilfar cimderned shall carruy
out similar check of twenty-five per cint enteies in Forms A and C. the
assistant sollector and the collector may at any rime carry out random checks of these forms.
14.
12.
Tahsildar to forward consolidated statement to the collector. The
tahsildar shall have a consolidated statements prepared for his tahsil in form
B and submit it together with the statement in form A to the collector by the
twentieth april, every year.
15.
13.
Statements to be checked and forwarded to tahsildar. After the
statements in forms A and C have been prepared and checked by the revenue
officers the same shall be forwared to the tahsildar concerned.
16.
14.
Collector to suspend or remit the land revenue. On receipt of form B the
collector may remit the land revenue, as
proposed there in, if the total amount to be remitted for the tahsil,
does not exceed Rs. 3,000 or suspended it if it exceeds this limit and forward
the proposal for remission to the commissioner or the division for sanction.
The order or suspension or remission thus made by the collector or the
commissioner, as the case may be, shall be conveyed to the tahsildar concerned
immediately who shall give effect to it. Necessary changes in the Dhal Bachh
and other relevant papers shall made accordingly.
17.
15.
Patwari to enter statement in daily diary. The patwari shall enter in
his daily diary the statements of all fields mentioned in forms A and C for
each village at the time of their submission to the tahsildar.
18.
16.
Patwari to furnish parcha landowners and enter it in daily register. A
parcha in form D of the filed numbers mentioned in form C shall be delivered by
the patwari to the landowners concerned or in his absence to the lambardar or
sarpanch of the gram panchyat and a copy thereof shal be pasted on the
tesidential house of landowner in the village, within ten days of the
completion of the rabi harvest girdawari of that village and an entry to this
effect shall be made in his daily diary.
19.
17.
Procedure for revival of assessment. (1) after the parcha has been
delivered in accordance with the provisions of rule 18 of the landowner may
within a period of fifteen days of the date of its delivery file his objections
with the tahsildar or naib-tahsildar concerned who shall after making such
inquiries as he may deem proper pass such orders as he may deem fit. As far as
practicable such orders shall be passed every year before the 10th
of May.
(2) After
the objections have been disposed of under sub-rule(1) the tahsildar shall
forward a consolidated statement in form E of all the statements forwarded to
him in form C along with a copy of each of the orders passed by him on the
objections preferred under sub-rule(1) to the collector of the district who may
confirm the revival of assessment of land revenue with or without amendment.
20.
18.
Statement to be surnished by collector. The collector shall furnish to
the financial commissioner through the commissioner a statements shwing
seprately the total amount of land revenue remitted as well as the amount of
land revenue with respect to which the assessment has been revived under these
rules. Such statements shall be furnished before the 15th of June,
every year.
21.
19.
Repeal of existing rules. These rules shall supersede all previous rules
in force in the state for suspension, remission or revival of assessment or
land revenue or cultureable areas rendered unfit for cultivation due to thur,
kallar, reh, sem, cho or deposit of sand (the forms mentioned in these rules
are attached to similar rules appearing in appendix II to F.C.’s S.O. no. 30)
559. 559. Suspensions, usual relief in case or ordinary
calamities. The follwing instruction have been issued as to the relief to
be given in the case of ordinary calamities. It will sometimes be found
advisable to grant relief from the beginning in the form of remissions. If, for
instance, the amount of revenue which it is decided not to collect is such that
when considered with referance to the recent history and present condition of
the people, the nature of the assessment and the character of the tract, it is
practically certain that it wil be impossible subsequently to collect it, it
should not be kept unnecessarily hanging over the heads of the revenue-payers,
but hsould be remitted at once. So again the special condition of certain
tracts may justify the adoption of initial remission as the rule. But, in view
of the fact that remissions require more careful investigation than is
necessary for an order of suspension, it may taken as a general rule that in
cases of widespread calamity, where promptitude is essential, relief should in
the first instance by given in the form of suspension.
560. 560. Exitent of crop failure justitying relife. It is
impessible to lay down a fixed criterion for the determination of the exact
point of cfop failure which should be
deemed to justify the grant of relif. It has been suggested that only those
calamities which are too severe to have been contemplated by the assossing
officer as inclide in the normal course of events should be recognised, and the
principle is sound in itself, but does not cover the whole case. An eight-anna
failure of crops in a precarious tract where it is of no unusal occurance would
have been taken account at assessment, and would not in this principle admit of
ht egrant of relief, whereas a similar degree of failure in a rich and stable
tract, not having been taken into consideration, would, on the same principle,
be held to justify relief. In this matter it has been decided to accept the
conclusion arrived at in 1882 and endorsed by the famine commission of 1901
that “relief will not ordinarily be required when there is half a normal crop”
it may indeed be necessary to very the standard for special tract or under
special conditions, and the considerations indicated above should thaen be
borne in mind, but it should not be departed from except in rare cases and
under exceptional circumstances. On the other hand, it does not necessarily
follow that the failure of more than half a crop will always justify relief, as
much depends upon the nature of the harvests immediately proceding and upon the
importance of the harvest in question.
561. 561. (1) Scale on which relief should be given - (1)
once it is decided that relief is necesszry. It remains to deremine the scale
on which relief should be afforded. In dealing with the sale of relief to be
given when the crops do not reach half the normal standard, it would be
fallacious to suppose that the various degree of crop failure can be accurately
dealt with by slavishly following any arithmetical formula. At the same time,
without the guidance of arithmetical standard, it is impossible to ensure any
kind of uniformity in the grant of
relief, and accordingly, although
anything in the shape of servile adherence to formula is to be deprecated, a
standard scale of relief on an arithmetical basis is now prescribed for general
guidance, and a scale should be laid down in this form for each districts or
other suitable tract. When a district comes under settlement, the revision of
the scale for that distirct will be made a part of the duites of the settlement
officer. In deciding in the correspondance between the degree of relief should
increase, as the yield decreaes, more rapidly than the degree failure,. The
cultivator has to depend for his own sustrnance and that of his family upon the
margin left to him after his obligatory payments have been deducted from the yield
of his field. The amount required for that substance will no doubt be larger in
good than in bad years since in the latter he must be content with a lower
standard of living than in the former, but there is a minimum standard below
which it is impossible for him to go a minimum which depends to some extion for
subsistence being to this extant a contant quantitive, it is obvious that a
four anna crop will leave much less than hald the margin which will be left by
and eight-anna crop out of which to pay rent or revenue. The relief therefore
should be more than double in the former, of what it is in the latter, case.
Accordingly, the following may be taken as a suitable type in cases where no
relief is given for a failure of less than half the normal crop:-
crop (16 annas normal) degree of relief
6 annas and less than 8 annas 25 percent
4 annas and less than 6 annas 50 percent
less than 4 annas 100
percent
The above may moreover be looked
upon as showing the degree of elaboration which is considered suitable for such
scales, and the introduction of tables of relief containing much greater
complication than the type above incated is deprecated.
(ii) Caution regarding use of scale. In regard to the above scale, it
must be remember that in judging the value of a crop and in deciding whether it
is, for instances equal to 6 annas and less than 8 annas, regard must of course
be had not only to the area matured, but also to the yield. Thus occasionally
bad conditions at showing time may be followed by very favourable conditions
later with the result that out turns on a reduced, natured area may be larger
per acre than the normal morever, the general rule that yield per acre falls as
the matured area decreases applied less fully to irrigated, than to unirrigated
lands. Other considerations, which should not fbe lost sight of in applying the
scale of relief, as district from judging the value of the crop, are given in
paragraph 563 (iii) infra. Revenue officer should bear in mind that, in dealing
with suspensions and remissions, the normal standard of ottern and area of crop
is that assumed by the settlement officer on which the assessment was based.
562.
562.
Differential treatement of landowners and estates how far justiciable.
The question of suspensions with reference to the treatement of strong and of
poor and impoverisshed estates a distinction must be drawn between times of famine and widespread scarity when
suspensions on a large scale have to be given, and times when the area affected
is circumscribed and purely local. Famine or widespread scarcity may be held
for present purposes to be established if the area affected exceeds that which
could be inspected thoroughly by the revenue assistant in a month. In this case
no differentitation between rich and poor revenue-payers should be attempted,
and such discrimination, when exercised at all must be confined, to cases of
remission (see paragraph 583 infra) when the area is circumseribed of purely local the collector should use his
discretion and must ordinarily hold the balance between the course of trating all the land-holders in one and
the same estate alike, to which he is ordinarily practically bound by motives
of convience and expediency, and the policy which would make a distinction
between the village which can pay without borrowing and that which cannot. In
deciding whether a suspension or
remission of land revenue is called for any estate, the collector should have
regard to the considerration whether such relief is called for in the interest
of tenant, irrespective of those of the landlord. Rich landlords are often
willing to pay in the revenue demand, although there has been failure in
harvest, because the power which this gives them over tanants who have
statutary rights. Consideration for the interest of the tenants of an estate
may necessiate suspension or remission of theland revenue, even where landlords
do not wish for any such relief. It is only in cases where government cannot
secure the suspension of rent for tenants that discrimination between rich and
pooor landowners is permissible, and even in such cases only the following
three classes may be excluded form the relief affirded by suspensions. Firstly,
the men who are known to be bad landlors
and rack-renters; secondly, those well-to-do landlords who can pay without
imperilling their future solvency and thirdly the capitaliist, money-lending,
and, professional classes who hold land purely as an investment. It may indeed
be true, as pointed out by the famine commission of 1901 in paragraph 279 of
their report, that many members of this last class are small men who speculate
with borrowed capital; but there is no reason why they should not be held to
their contract,and should not take risk if investment in the land as much as of
any other form of investment. While however, authorizing the discrimination of
these three classes of landlords in tracts where the extension of drelief to
tenants cannot besecured, or where the rent is realized as a share of the
produce, and thus is automatically adjusted to the outtun of the harvest,
government at the same time recognizes invidious character of any arrangement
by which relief granted tolandowners generally is denied to an occasional
money-lender or retired government offficer who here and there may have
invested his money in land, and it will, in their opinion, be wise to abandon
any attempt at discrimination, except in areas where the classes to be
discriminated represent a reasonable proportion of the landowners or own fairly
large tracts of land. But, at the same time, the collector should remember
that, while discrimination against people of th above three classes is not
prohibited, the general rule should be that discrimination between individuals
should not be attempted at this stage, but should be limited to villages or in
comparatively rare cases to such patties or tarafs of villages, as are
distinguished from one another in some marked way, either physically or by the
caste o tribe of the landowners or mortagafes in possession. In such cases the
washes of the village community should be ascertained, but the interests of the
poorer, rather than those of the well-to-do, members of community lector should
state brielfy the policy he has followed and the reasons for discrimination
where he has done so.
563. 563. The danger-rate (i) when suspensions have to be granted in a large scale, Collectors should always refer to the district suspension shceme drawn up under paragraph 554 of the Settlement Manual. For each district, and where necessary, for such assessment circle, and with the special permission of the of the Financial Commissioner, for smaller, areas, a danger-rate will have been framed by the settlement officer, or, if special orders have been given in this behalf, by the Collector.
(ii) The danger-rate is intended as a rough guide to the necessity for giving relief in insecure areas, and in no way supersedes the necessity for oral and general enquiries whereby the need for such action may be otherwise established. It is not meant that suspensions shall of course be confined to villages to which attention is called by the danger-rate or of necessity granted in such villages. Nor is it intended that the danger-rate should be used for the purpose of determinating the scale on which relief should be afforded. The relief will be granted in accordance with the crop standard referred to in paragraph 561 supra, after account has been taken of the considerations mentioned in (iii) infra. But it may safely be said that any village in an insecure tract in which at any harvest the incidence of the revenue instalment on the matured area equals or exceeds the danger-rate, should be inspected by a revenue officer, and the circumstances which bear on the question, whether relief should be allowed or not, should then be fully investigated.
(iii) Amongst these circumstances are the extent to which prices have risen since the land-revenue demand was framed by the settlement officer, the character of the preceding harvests and prospects of the next, the presence or absence of stocks for good or seed, the condition of the cattle, the kinds of crops grown whether for food, for fodder, or for sale, the character of the cultivation; whether dependent on rain, canals, river-spills, hill-torrents, or wells, the nature of the rents; whether in cash or kind, the migration, if any, of tenants, the relative importance of the kharif and rabi harvests, the power of expanding the area of cultivation, the presence or absence of sources of income other than the crop, such as grass, charcoal; the carrying trade, employment in cantonments, etc,. the size of holdings and the number of rent receivers not themselves cultivators-in short, all those circumstances which show the general condition of the landowners and their capacity to pay the revenue.
CAUTION : - READ SEPARATE PARA FOR PUNJAB AND HARYANA
564. 564. Extraordinary grounds for relief. Under the head “extraordinary” fall such calamities as hailstorms and locusts. These are accidents which the settlement officer could not foresee or take account of when fixing the assessment of an estate. The assets are suddenly reduced by a cause which the husbandman is powerless to control. He has no means of recouping such losses, which are as likely to affect rich irrigated crops raised by a large outlay of money and labour as the cheap millets and pulses grown on roughly-tilled lands, of which the yield is normally insecure. In the case of a total and irrecoverable loss of which no account was taken in the arrangement made at settlement between the supreme landlord, the State and the landholders, it is but right that Government should forego its claim. Remission of the demand, rather than suspension, is required, and relief should be given to rich and poor alike because by the malignity of fortune the basis of the arrangement between Government and the revenue-payers has been disturbed. Pending receipt of orders sanctioning remission, the Collector should himself order suspensions. In deciding whether relief is necessary or not, and adequate discrimination between the persons concerned will be secured if regard is had not merely to the field affected, but to the property or holding in which it lies. If the field is cultivated by the owner, and the loss is small compared with the total income of his whole property, or if it is cultivated by a tenant, and the loss is small compared with the total income of the holding, no relief need be given.
565. 565. Discrimination between holdings desirable. Fortunately hailstroms move in narrow, well defined lines, and the damage done by locusts is also likely to affect some holdings more than others. Relief therefore is as a rule required not for a whole estate, but only for particular holdings. The correct method of calculating remissions of land revenue necessitated by extraordinary calamities such as hailstorms, visitations of locusts, floods, and the like, is to apply the bachh rates worked out for each village concerned at settlement to the area actually damaged. No remission should be given if the amount so arrived at is less than one-fourth of the total land revenue of the holding.
566. 566. Floods affecting lands not usually inundated. Heavy floods which destroy crops on lands not usually subject to destructive inundation may be classed as “extraordinary” calamities. But in this case the question may arise whether the water which has ruined the husbandman’s hopes in the autumn will not secure to him an unusally large spring crop. If so, there is no call for remission, and even suspension may be unnecessary.
567. 567. Flooded lands under fluctuating assessment. The floods of the great rivers of the Punjab are so uncertain that, as already noted, it has in many cases been deemed wise to put the lands subject to their influence under a fluctuating assessment. Where the demand is calculated by applying acreage rates to the area of crops harvested, no question of suspension or remission usually arises. If serious loss occurs before after the harvest inspection owing to some sudden calamity, such as a hailstorms or a flood, a special inspection and assessment should be made. In riverain villages a heavy flood sometimes sweeps away crops after they have been garnered. If the damage is great, the loss should be estimated as well as possible, and a remission of part of the demand proposed. The amount to be remitted obviously should not exceed the revenue which would have been due on account of the area on which the crops that have been lost were grown. The yield per acre can be roughly determined, and the calculation then becomes a simple one. Where the assessment is partly fixed and partly fluctuating, it will be found that in a normal year the fixed part of the demand is not a large fraction of the whole. Even so, it may be prudent to suspend it in an exceptionally bad season, or when a succession of poor harvests has depressed the agriculturists. But mixed systems of assessment are not now much in favour.
568. 568. Relief to tenants. Section 30 of Punjab Tenancy Act (XVI of 1887) provides that in the case of tenants who pay fixed rent in cash or kind the order of a duly empowered revenue officer (Collector or Assistant Collector of the first grade see section 76(2) of the Act) is required to secure to the tenants the benefit of the relief granted to the Land Lords. A separate order of this description for each tenancy is not necessary. A general order may be passed applicable to a whole estate or to an area in respect of which suspension or remission has been allowed. The matter is left to the discretion of the revenue officer. In considering whether he should pass an order suspending or remitting the payment of rent by a tenant-at-will, he should carefully consider whether the issue of such an order is desirable in the interests of both the parties; but more especially of the tenant.
(ii) (ii) It will be observed that, when the Collector orders recovery of suspended revenue, any rent of which the payment has been suspended in consequence of the order suspending the revenue becomes realizable from the tenant. In the case of tenants who have not occupancy rights, landlords may find difficulties in realizing suspended rents. The likelihood of such difficulties might constitute a special reason for the revenue officer refusing to pass an order suspending the rent when the revenue is being suspended, but such an order should be refused in very exceptional cases only.
(iii) (iii) If a landlord collects from a tenant rent of which the payment has been remitted or is under suspension, section 30 gives the power to realize from the landlord, and refund to the tenant, the rent so realized , and it gives the further power of realizing from the landlord by way of penalty an amount equal to the rent so realized and refunded. It should be recognized that the power of imposing a panelty is to be used with some discrimination. A landlord might be willing enough to recognize the justice of requiring him to refund to a tenant rent which he had improperly realized, but might resent the imposition of the penalty and endeavour to visit his dissatisfaction on the tenant. In deciding whether the penalty should be imposed in any case, the revenue officer should consider the possible effects on the relations between the landlord and tenant; in many cases it would obviously be to the disadvantage of the tenant that the landlord should regard him as being the cause of his punishment. In the case of kind rents other than those mentioned above, no orders are required because, where the landlord takes a fractional share of the crop, the tenant gets relief automatically.
CAUTION : - READ SEPARATE PARA FOR PUNJAB AND
HARYANA
569. 569. Procedure in case of suspensions and remissions - The grant of suspensions is a matter within the discretion of the Deputy Commissioner. But the action taken must be reported at once to the Commissioner, who may cancel or modify the orders of his subordinate. The district suspension statement is forwarded to the Financial Commissioner for information after the Commissioner has recorded his orders on it and communicated them to the Deputy Commissioner. Even when the Deputy Commissioner thinks that remissions should be given at once, he ought as a first step to pass orders suspending the collection of the revenue. Commissioners may sanction immediate remission of land revenue in any harvest due to locusts, flood and hail and the like in the harvest for which the land revenue is due up to a limit of Rs. 1,000 per district. They may sanction remission of revenue which has been under suspension for more than three harvests (paragraph 576 infra), upto a limit of Rs. 10,000 for one harvest per district, if they are satisfied that since the revenue was suspended due diligence has been shown in collection. Remissions sanctioned by Commissioners must be reported at once for the Financial Commissioner information. The Financial Commissioner may sanction remission without limit.
570. 570. Procedure in case of suspensions and remissions - The grant of suspensions is a matter within the discretion of the Deputy Commissioner. But the action taken must be reported at once to the Commissioner, who may cancel or modify the orders of his subordinate. The district suspension statement is forwarded to the Financial Commissioner for information after the Commissioner has recorded his orders on that and communicated them to the Deputy Commissioner. Even when the deputy commissioner thinks that remissions should be given at once, he ought as a first step to pass orders suspending the collection of revenue. The recovery of land revenue/land holding tax/abiana should be suspended forthwith by the deputy commissioner/executive engineer till final orders for remission are passed.
The deputy commissioner/executive engineer is competent to sanction remission of land revenue/land holding tax/abiana without limit.
The remission of land revenue/land holding tax/abiana shall be granted as follows:-
(1) (1) where the loss exceeds 50%, there should be full remission of land revenue/land holdings tax/abiana except in case of abiana on suger-cane crop in which case the remission shall be 50%.
(2) (2) Where the loss between 25% to 50%, the remission of land revenue/land holding tax/ abiana should be 75% except in case of abiana as on the crops of till, chillies, mash and maize sown in the month of august, in which case there shall be full remission.”
570A. Suspended revenue usually realized - Though there are circumstances under which suspension ought to be merely a preliminary to remission, and others in which the attempt to collect arrears should after full trial be abandoned, the general rule is that suspended revenue shall be recovered whenever the return of better seasons permits. If the expectation that the landowners would in bad years meet their obligations from the stored-up surplus of past harvests has had in too many cases perforce to be abandoned, there is the more reason for recovering from the abundance of future years the amount which the State is compelled to forego in the present (See the orders of the Government of India on the Rohtak Settlement Report (Revenue Proceedings of September 1882); also paragraphs 7 and 8 of Government of India circular No. 58, dated 18th October 1882). As in the case of suspensions, the Collector is required to take account of the value of the crop harvested, as well as of the area and outturn, so, in considering the extent to which recoveries of suspended revenue can be made, it is necessary not to overlook any rise in prices which may have occurred since settlement, and which may cause the value of the estimated produce of subsequent harvests to be materially greater than that which the settlement officer adopted for assessment purposes.
571. 571. Care required in recovery of arrears.- Prudence in the realization of suspended revenue is not less important than prudence in the grant of suspension, and it is a matter in which mistakes are just as likely to occur. It has sometimes been asserted that landowners set no store by suspensions, coupled with an obligation to pay the arrears so created in the future. Where this feeling exists, it has generally sprung from past experience of ill-considered action in the matter of the recovery of balances. The old practice of fixing in the suspension order the instalments by which the arrear was to be liquidated was a direct encouragement to such action, and has therefore been forbidden.
572. 572. Instructions on subject. Recovery of suspended revenue after famine.- The following instructions have been issued on the subjects :-
(1) (1) When, owing to famine or widespread calamity, suspension have been made on a large scale, the people affected should ordinarily be allowed to reap the full benefit to the first good crop or average harvest following the famine or calamity, and should be required to pay nothing for it beyond the current dues of the harvest, no arrears of revenue being collected until the second average crop subsequent to such a calamity as is now under contemplation has been reaped;
(2) (2) Limit in terms of land revenue.- For every district, and, where, necessary, for every tract in a district which has distinguishing physical features of its own affecting agriculture and the otturn of crops, a limit shall be prescribed in terms of the land revenue for the time being assessed within which suspended revenue may be collected with any instalment, in addition to the current demand. This will be fixed by the settlement officer at settlement with the sanction of higher authority, or, under special orders by the Deputy Commissioner with like sanction at other times. The rabi and kharif harvests, respectively, but must be fixed for each harvest.
(3) (3) Exceptions to rule (i).- It is recognised that there may be tracts where the first of these rules would be unnecessarily liberal owing to the leniency of the fixed demand and the exceptional fertility of the soil in good years. On the other hand, these circumstances will have been taken into account in fixing the limit referred to in the second of the two rules. It may therefore conceivably be better in such a tract to collect a small amount of suspended revenue with the first good or average crop after the calamity, and to take a somewhat smaller amount with the second. Proposals for limiting the operation of rule (i) should be included by settlement officer in the scheme for suspensions which it is their duty to drawn up(vide paragraph 554 of the Settlement Manual), or should be made by the Deputy Commissioner, if at any time specially instructed in this behalf.
commentry
No special charge can be levied on Muabi Land.
573. 573. Differential treatment in collecting suspended revenue of rich and poor landowners - (1) When, owing to famine or widespread scarcity suspensions have had to be made on a large scale, no differentiation between rich and poor revenue payers will have been made, but in making proposals subsequently for their collection; differentiation between individuals may be necessary. A distinction should, in the first place, be drawn between the classes who cultivate the soil, whether as owner or as Government occupants or tenants, and the landlord class who hold estates which are cultivated by tenants. A man need not be excluded from the former class merely, because is holding is somewhat too large for him to cultivate himself and a portion of it is in the hands of tenants, nor should the fact that a landowner who is in the main a rent receiver, cultivates his own home farm, transfer him from the latter to the former class; and it will not, as a rule, be difficult to distinguish the two classes with fair accuracy. Of course no discrimination between one kind of revenue payers and another should be made in the case of persons belonging to the cultivating class. But suspended revenue should always be collected form the classes of land- lords described in paragraph 562 supra if the rent of their tenants has not to be remitted.
(ii) Report on policy followed. In reporting his proposals to the Commissioner, the Collector should state briefly the policy he has followed, and in cases where he has made a difference between the rich and poor, the extent to which the difference has been made.
574. 574. Procedure in realization of arrears. A Deputy Commissioner is required, at least one month before the first instalment of the revenue of each harvest falls due, to consider the circumstances of every estate in which there are arrears due to suspensions and decide what portion, if any, of the balance can be recovered in, addition to the demand of that harvest. He should issue the necessary orders, and put them in force. The orders, and the reasons for them are embodied in a statement which is sent to the Commissioner, who modifies them, if he thinks fit, and forwards the statement to the Financial Commissioner for information. It is for the Commissioner to see that the report of each district reaches him not later than one month before the first instalment of the land revenue falls due, and that it contains a sufficient explanation of the orders issued with reference to the circumstances of the current harvest.
575. 575. Remarks on the suspension of fixed land revenue and the remission and realization of arrears. In districts where suspensions are frequent it will usually be advisable for the Deputy Commissioner to meet, at each tahsil headquarters, the Sub-Divisional Officer or Revenue Assistant, the tahsildars, naib tahsildars, and in exceptional cases, important landholders of the area concerned, and discuss with them informally, zail by zail, the suspension, remission or collection papers. This will enable the Collector not only to know the villages of his district, but also to learn the worth of his various assistant, official and non-official. In deciding what arrears, if any, can be collected, and to ensure the equitable working of the schemes prepared at settlement, the incidence of the current demand plus the arrears proposed to be realized on the area matured crops should be compared with the normal incidence in past years. (See columns 23 and 24 of the Abstract Village Note Book.) The office kanungo will check any statement made with regard to previous harvests or any other points raised, and, with the Settlement Officer’s notes and statistics contained in the village abstract note-books and Lal Kitab before him, the Collector will easily decide what each village can really pay, especially where he is able to correct his opinion by what he or the Revenue Assistant or Sub-Divisional Officer has seen of the village in his tour. It is possible that new villlages may be mentioned, for which papers will need to be prepared. It is specially desirable to inspect villages where permanent deterioration may justify the remedy described in paragraph 582 below.
The amount to be recovered should always be expressed at so many annas in the rupee of the full demand of the harvest in regard to which the suspension was sanctioned. Collections should always be first applied to meet the current demand.
576. 576. Remission of arrears (i) It has been usual in the Punjab, in case of ordinary calamities of season, to suspend revenue first; and, if the experience of three years has proved that it cannot prudently be recovered within that time, to remit the arrears then outstanding Government has, however, now decided that the question of the remission of the outstanding arrears should be taken into consideration after the laps of three harvests if it has not been found possible to recover them during his period, not- withstanding due diligence on the part of the Collector. It should not however, be considered hard-and-fast rule that in the case of ordinary calamities, remission shall under no circumstances be given immediately, or, on the other hand, that all arrears must be wiped out which remain unrealized for three harvests. In unirrigated tracts with large holdings no harm will be done by keeping the account open for more than three harvests if care is taken to cover more than the current demand only when this can be done without hardship to the people. But large arrears ought not to be kept hanging over the heads of landowners for an indefinite period. In future, in estates in which the land revenue has been suspended, and has not been recovered for three harvests, the crop statistics of those three harvests should be invariably examined with particular care at the next harvest, together with the statistics of that harvest and the Collector should decide whether any of the accumulated land revenue can prudently be recovered and, if so, how much, of whether any part of it should be remitted.
In connection with the working of the three harvests rule it is first necessary to make clear how the three harvests in question are to be calculated. The easiest way to do this is by a concrete example. Let it be assumed that a Collector is considering, when all the figures of the rabi 1930 crop are before him, whether he should propose any remissions of suspended revenue of preceding harvests. The latest harvest he can consider in this connection is kharif 1928.
But, however bad the intervening harvests may have been in the villages under consideration, if the greater part of the annual land revenue demand on them and of their annual cropping falls in the kharif, he should not propose any remission of land revenue suspended from kharif 1928, or earlier, with the rabi harvest 1930; he should wait till the following kharif to consider the matter seriously. To this point particular importance is directed.
If, however, the incidence both of annual land revenue demand and annual cropping of the villages in question is fairly equally divided between the kharif and rabi harvests, he should, when dealing with past arrears of suspended revenue, take the following points into consideration-
(a) (a) whether any money due on account of past suspended arrears for any harvest can be recovered with the present demand;
(b) (b) whether all or any part of those arrears should remain under suspension; or
(c) (c) whether he should recommend for remission any portion of the demand suspended from kharif 1928; no later.
And, in arriving at a decision on these important points, he should of course be guided by the settlement statistics of the village in question and their crop figures and other relevant statistics for the harvests from kharif 1928 to rabi 1930. It may well be that, having done so, the Collector will decide not to recommend remission at once but to leave the arrears, even though they may have been under suspension from kharif 1928, under suspension for yet another harvest or even more. Such a decision would be in no way contrary to these instructions. The principle object Government is aiming at in this matter is to prevent large burdens of suspensions accumulating against villages over a group of harvests.”
(ii) General conditions regarding scale of remissions. In the case of fully-assessed tracts with an out-turn which is fairly constant, the amount of revenue under suspension at any given time should ordinarily be limited to the equivalent of the revenue demand of an ordinary year. In this case it would not follow that, when suspensions exceeded the limit, the whole amount suspended should be remitted, and, logically speaking, only the balance by which they were in excess should be so dealt with. But, in the case of calamities so severe as to call for heavy suspensions, greater liberality than this will no doubt be desirable. An absolute and general rule that the amount under suspension should never exceed a year’s revenue would be open to objection; since there are many areas of fertile soil, where there is no irrigation and the rainfall is uncertain in amount, and where, on account of this uncertainty, the revenue is pitched so low, that in a really bumper year the people could pay very much more than the revenue assessed without the slightest inconvenience.
(iii) Special scale for districts. In deciding whether to propose the remission of the arrears of any particular harvest or harvests in an estate the Collector should consider-
(a) (a) the proportion which the total of all outstanding arrears bears to the annual land revenue of the estate,
(b) (b) The length of time during which, not withstanding due diligence, the arrear of the particular harvest or harvests has remained outstanding.
In the case of closely-cultivated and fully-assessed tracts where the holdings are small, it will often be right, when the arrears exceed one year’s demand, to remit a portion of them, even though the arrears have not been outstanding for three harvests in the case of precarious barani tracts; where the surplus of good years is very large, and the revenue rates are low, the mere fact that arrears exceed one year’s demand, or have been outstanding for three harvests, is not a sufficient reason for remission. In such tracts good and bad seasons often come in cycles, and the main point is to see that, in the case both of the current demand and of arrears, collections are only made of when the people have the wherewithal to pay. The details of these arrangements will be settled for each district in which suspensions on a large scale are likely to occur.
(iv) Remission of arrears in the case of fluctuating and fixed assessments- When in any tract a system of fluctuating assessment is introduced at resettlement, it is usual to remit all outstanding balances of suspended land revenue on the ground that the new fluctuating assessment is supposed to be adapted to the assets of each harvest, and should not therefore, be increased. But, in the case of fixed assessment, this condition does not apply; and, although it is true that Government contemplates taking a certain sum within the term of years for which the settlement runs, this principle applies equally to the expiring as to the new, settlement. As regards fixed assessments, therefore, the only case in which the general principle that all arrears should be remitted on the introduction of a new assessment can be accepted is when the revision (whether of a tract or of an individual village) has resulted in a material reduction of the fixed demand. In such a case there is a practical admission that the previous demand was too high, and the arrears should invariably be remitted. All other cases will be dealt with on their merits, though; if proposals for remission are made immediately after a revision of assessment, they will be treated with somewhat greater leniency than in ordinary cases, especially in the case of estates which are themselves, apart from general seasonal calamities, weak estates. When reporting the collections of suspended revenue which he proposes to make with the rabi installment, the Deputy Commissioner should also report any recommendation he has to make regarding the remission of arrears.
577. Control by Commissioner- The initiative, which the Deputy Commissioner exercises in regard to suspensions and the collection of arrears is subject to the strict control of the Commissioner. The latter has necessarily a wide experience than most of his deputies, some of whom are sure to be very junior officers. The charge of divisions changes far less often than that of districts. A Commissioner, therefore, should be able to supply the ripe judgement and some times even the local knowledge which a subordinate may lack, and can exert his influence to ensure that the policy pursued in different districts, where similar conditions exist, shall follow broadly the same lines. If the question of suspension and of the recovery of arrears is fully discussed with Deputy Commissioners should be necessary, Government expects the Commissioner’s control of the matters dealt with in this chapter to be strict, and that he will not hesitate to modify the Deputy Commissioner’s orders, both as regards suspension, and collection, if they appear to be ill-considered or not in accord with the instructions on the subject. Where the crop has been markedly inferior, Commissioners should place themselves in close communication with their Collectors at an early period of the harvest with a view to determining what measures of relief generally will be necessary. This is particularly necessary in the case of junior officers and those who have not had much revenue experience.
578. Suspension and remission of cases- It
was formerly the practice in the Punjab that the suspension or remission of a
part of the land revenue implied the suspension or remission of a corresponding
fraction of the local rate. But in consequence of the orders contained in
Government of India, Department of Revenue and Agriculture resolution No.
13-356-10 of 21st August, 1906, this has been changed. Under existing
orders the local rate will no longer be proportionately suspended or remitted
with suspensions or remission of land revenue. Except in a great emergency, or
unless special measures in any particular case are required, the collection of
the local rate will, subject to the exception noted below be made in full at
harvest, suspension and remission falling on land revenue alone. Occasions may
possible arise when the remission of the local rate will be inevitable but the
intention is that under all ordinary conditions the local rate will be
recoverable, notwithstanding the remission of the land revenue. But, when the
land revenue demand in any estate has been entirely suspended or remitted, it
will be convenient to suspend the collection of the local rate until the next
collection of land revenue takes place. Under the provision of section 62 of
the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, the land revenue for the time being assessed
on an estate or payable in respect of a holding, is the first charge upon the
rents, profits and produce thereof, but as a matter of administrative
convenience it has been decided that wherever there are collections of land
revenue (including current demand) the local rate demand both current and
arrears, will first be satisfied, the balance being credited to land revenue.
Thus in all but the most exceptional circumstances, if the whole of the revenue
is suspended or remitted, the local rate will be suspended; if only part of the
land revenue is suspended, the local rate will be collected; and whenever any
part of the land revenue is collected, the local rate account will be cleared.
These orders do not affect the headman’s
pachotra1 .
1Financial
Commissioner’s circular letter No. 3 dated 20th April, 1907, and
Punjab Government notification No. 157-Revenue, dated 18th duly,
1907. See as to the village headman’s pachotra, paragraph 308, and as to the
zaildar’s inam, paragraph 341 of this manual.
(2) Local rate on fluctuating land revenue is calculated on the amount assessed according to rates fixed at settlement and therefore is not affected by the grant of special remission.
579. Survey of Deputy Commissioner as regards detection of deterioration of estates- So far, we have dealing with evils of a temporary nature which can be met by resorting to suspensions, and in extreme cases to remissions of the demand of particular harvests. But, where estates are met with in which the revenue is always collected with difficulty, it is necessary to enquire whether some more drastic remedy is not wanted. The fact that the Director of Land Records is bound to specially watch tracts in which symptoms of deteriorating appear in no way absolves the Deputy Commissioner from the duty of himself detecting at an early stage signs of decay in any part of his district whether in a single estate or in groups of villages, large or small. And, the fact of depression being proved a persistent endeavor must be made to find out and apply the proper remedy.
580. Nature of enquiry- As regards each village affected, the first step to take is to study the settlement officer’s note concerning it and the grounds of its assessment. The next is to trace its later history, as evidenced by the annual statements, especially the area, crop and ownership statements, in the village notebook. The Deputy Commissioner may be fortunate enough to find remarks by some of his predecessors or their subordinates on the state of the village in their time1. Having thus, got a clear idea of the facts so far as they have been recorded, and having heard what the tahsildar and the Revenue Assistant have to say, he will be in a position to make an enquiry on the spot. He may find-
(a) (a) that the demand imposed at settlement was from the first too high, and that there has been no growth of assets to make its present incidence fair;
(b) (b) that the demand was originally fair, but has ceased to be so because the assets have fallen off; or
(c) (c) that the demand is fair, and the difficulty lies in the character of the people or of the headmen.
1.
1.
See paragraphs 404 and 407 of this manual.
581. Reduction on account of over assessment-If the assessment of a tract as a whole has worked well, a prudent man will be slow to conclude that the settlement officer failed to gauge the resources of a particular estate. But, once he is satisfied that over assessment exists, he should not hesitate to report the fact and propose a reduction. To maintain an excessive demand is unjust to the people and discreditable to the administration. It is also the surest way of involving Government in ultimate pecuniary loss. There is a tendency to think that any revision of assessment, even though it affects but a single village, must be a difficult and intricate business. As a matter of fact, it ought to be extremely simple. This elaborate calculations of the value of one fourth net assets made at a general reassessment are out of place. It is enough to show that the demand is high compared with that of similar estates in the neighbourhood, whose fiscal history proves that they are properly assessed, and to lower it sufficiently to make its incidence fair as judged by that standard. Care should, however, be taken that the land revenue imposed on such land does not raise the total assessment of the circle in which it is situated to more than one fourth of the net assets of the circle.
582. Action where difficulty springs from reduction of assets- Where an assessment originally just has become burden some through a fall in assets, the Deputy Commissioner should ascertain whether the deterioration is due to any lasting or incurable cause, or to one which the landowners can be helped to remedy. In the former case only will he propose to lower the revenue, with due regard to section 48B of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887. Where the evil can be cured, it is his duty to nurse the estate, helping the landowners to effect improvements by the grant of takavi, and during the period of restoration suspending or proposing to remit, revenue in harvests in which relief is really required.
583. Action where difficulty is due to misconduct of landowners- Where the assets are sufficient but the people are idle and bad revenue payers, they should be treated with firmness. The headmen may be the persons at fault. The action to be taken in such cases has been noticed in paragraphs 518 and 519 supra. If the headman can show that some of the shareholders are to blame, the coercive provisions of the Land Revenue Act should be firmly applied.
LAND REVENUE
ACCOUNTS
584. Means of checking collection of land revenue good-The machinery for checking the collection of land revenue and cesses is excellent and if used with care and intelligence, it is easy to prevent fraud and to enforce punctuality. It need only be dealt with very briefly here. For details the reader must refer to Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 31.
585. Accounts kept by agricultural year- All general assessments are made for, and all revenue accounts are kept by, the agricultural year opening with the kharif and closing with the rabi, and for the purpose of collection and balance statements this year is considered to begin on the Ist of October.
586. Classification of land revenue-In revenue accounts land revenue is classified as fixed fluctuating, and miscellaneous.
587. Fixed land revenue-The meaning of the first two terms as applied to village assessments has been explained in the XXVIIth chapter of the Settlement Manual. But their signification for account purposes is somewhat wider. Thus, “fixed land revenue” includes not only the fixed assessments of estates announced by a settlement officer but also the income from Government lands leased for a term of years. Of course what a tenant of the State pays for such land is rent and not land revenue. But it is important to bring on the fixed land revenue roll all items which do not vary from year to year, in order that their realization may be subject to a strict check. As a matter of convenience rents of Government lands generally take the form of a land revenue assessment with the addition of a malikana or proprietary fee.
588. Fluctuating land revenue-“Fluctuating land revenue”falls under two main heads-
(a) (a) items permanently excluded from the fixed land revenue roll; and
(b) (b) items temporarily excluded from it.
The former includes not merely fluctuating assessments of the kinds described in the Settlement Manual, but also collections from estates held under direct management.1 Fortunately the latter is a head of account which it is very rarely necessary to employ. An example of an item temporarily excluded from the fixed land revenue roll is the income derived from a lapsed jagir till its assessment can be added to that roll. This cannot be done till the orders of the Financial Commissioner have been received on the yearly statement of lapsed assignments in which the resumption has been reported.
1. See
paragraph 531-533 of this manual.
589. Miscellaneous land revenue-“Miscellaneous land revenue”is the head under which are grouped receipts of various kinds, some of which are not connected with the land at all.
One important head is tirni or the income from fees levied for grazing in the vast tracts of Government waste lands, which are so marked a feature of some of the south western districts.
590. Accurate demand statement necessary- To ensure the regular collection of the revenue it is essential to have accurate demand statements drawn up yearly and periodical returns of collections and balances. It will be the simplest plan to notice separately the procedure as to each of the three main heads of account.
591. Fixed land revenue roll- The demand statement is known as the land revenue roll or in the vernacular as the kistbandi. When a general re-assessment of a district has been finished there is no difficulty in drawing up an accurate kistbandi showing the demand for the whole district on account of fixed land revenue. After the Commissioner has sanctioned the new jamas reported in the detailed village assessment statement2 the settlement officer prepares-
(a) (a) a comparative demand statement showing the fixed assessments of each estate for the last year of the old and for the first year of the new, settlement; and
(b) (b) a list of progressive and deferred assessments, if any have been sanctioned.
2.
2.
See appendix XVII of Settlement Manual.
The kistbandi for the first year of the new settlement is based on the former of these statements. Copies of both are kept in tahsil and district offices for use in preparing future land revenue roll1.
1. For
further particulars see appendix XVIII of the Settlement Manual.
594. Detailed
fixed land revenue roll of tahsil- As soon as possible after the Ist of
September each tahsildar has prepared for his own tahsil a detailed kistbandi,
which shows the fixed land revenue, both khalsa and assigned, and the local
rate payable by the landowners of each estate and the service commutation, if
any, due from jagirdars. This is sent to the district office, where it is
checked by the sadr wasil baki navis, countersigned by the Deputy Commissioner,
and returned to the tahsildar before the Ist of October. It is then the duty of
the tahsildar to collect at the times when the different instalments fall due
the amounts shown in the statement. It is a matter of practical importance that
the kistbandis received from the tahsils should be returned to the tahsildars
by the Ist of October, for the demand statements in all the khataunis should be
filled up as regards the principal items, fixed land revenue and cesses, before
the first instalment of the kharif demand falls due.1
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
595. Abstract district revenue roll-With the help of the detailed tahsil kistbandi an abstract land revenue roll showing the total demand for the district is drawn up and submitted through the Commissioner to the financial Commissioner for sanction. A memorandum of increases and decreases as compared with the kistbandi of the previous year is appended to the roll, an order of the Financial Commissioner being quoted as the authority for each change. It is, therefore, very easy to check the roll and difficult to falsify it.
596. The tauzih-Each tahsildar submits monthly to the Deputy Commissioner a tauzih or collection statement showing the progress made in the realization of the land revenue, fixed, fluctuating and miscellaneous, and the balances remaining for recovery. An abstract of these statements is sent to the Commissioner’s office. If the Deputy Commissioner examines this with care before signing it he can see at once whether the collections are backward anywhere and a very little enquiry will elicit the reason. With the tauzih of the month in which the last instalment of the revenue of either the kharif or rabi harvest falls due, a village list of balances of fixed land revenue for that harvest is send up. In the last column of this statement the cause of each balance ought to be briefly explained. Here therefore the Deputy Commissioner ought to find what he wants. When the tauzih has been disposed of, the village list of balances is returned to the tahsil and resubmitted with the necessary corrections with each succeeding tauzih till the balances have been realized. The district revenue accountant should understand that it is his duty to scrutinize these statements of balances, and himself bring cases of unpunctuality to the Deputy Commissioner’s notice.
597. Inspection of tahsil revenue accounts by Deputy Commissioner- At least once in the year the Deputy Commissioner should himself thoroughly overhaul the revenue accounts in every tahsil office. Where this duty is efficiently performed, and the tahsil establishment sees that the head of the district understands the method of check and the uses of the different registers and returns, and cannot be put off with perfunctory explanations, peculation will not be attempted, accounts will not be fudged, and any tendency to slackness in collection will be checked.
598. Duty of Commissioner as regards collections-The abstract tauzih forwarded to the Commissioner’s office should be carefully scrutinized there before it is sent to the Financial Commissioner. All the necessary control over the progress of the land revenue collections of a division should be exercised by the Commissioner and interference on the part of the Financial Commissioner ought not to be required.
599. Balances of fixed land revenue-During the year causes are sure to arise which justify the failure to collect some part, great or small, of the demand shown in the fixed land revenue roll. A bad harvest may make it imperative to suspend a portion of it. Again land under assessment may be destroyed by river action or purchased by the State. Properly speaking, there are only two classes of balances, “recoverable” and “irrecoverable” but a third class is recognized under the name of “undetermined”.
600. “Recoverable” balances-A “recoverable” balance is an arrear which has arisen either because the collection of part of the demand has been suspended by order of the Deputy Commissioner, or because the tahsildar has failed to realize revenue as regards which no such order exists. If at the end of the year there are large recoverable arrears not “under suspension” one of two things must have happened. Either the Deputy Commissioner must have failed to suspend revenue which he ought to have suspended or he has not enforced punctuality on the part of his subordinates. If enquiry shows that the former is really the case, only a weak man will hesitate to repair the blunder by passing the necessary suspension order and reporting to the Commissioner the action taken.
601. Notes on balances in March and September tauzihs-On the tauzih for the month of March the Deputy Commissioner records a brief note showing what part of the balance of the kharif revenue shown is recoverable, and how much of this is under suspension. If a recoverable balance not “under suspension” exists, the reason should be explained. A similar note as to the balances of both harvest should be added to the tauzih for the month of September.
602. “Irrecoverable” balances-“Irrecoverable” balances consist of arrears for whose remission an order of the Financial Commissioner has already been obtained. Familiar examples are the orders passed on diluvion returns or on the annual statement showing reductions of revenue on account of the acquisition of land for public purposes. Or again sanction may have been given to the remission of revenue previously under suspension.
603. “Undetermined” balances-“Undetermined” balances are simply balances which are in reality irrecoverable, but show remission has not yet been sanctioned by the Financial Commissioner.
604. Balance statements-As soon as possible after the end of September reports on the balances of the year which has just closed and on those of previous years are sent to the Commissioner. The object of these statements is to obtain the sanction of the Financial Commissioner for clearing the accounts of balances which cannot be realized. The executive order remitting revenue must be distinguished from the audit order to strike off a balance. The latter cannot be dispensed with, though it is the necessary sequel of the former.
605. Demand statements of fluctuating land revenue-When the assessment is a fluctuating one determined by the application of money rates to the acreage of crops which have come to maturity, demand statements are submitted after each harvest to the Financial Commissioner. The demand for the whole year cannot be determined till the spring crop is ripe.
606. Demand statement of miscellaneous land revenue-In the case of miscellaneous land revenue the demand statement drawn up at the beginning of the year is a mere estimate which is useless for audit purposes. The amount due under most heads cannot be known when the return is prepared, and in some cases is only ascertained at the end of the year. But, as it is essential to secure that check on collections which an accurate record of the demand supplies, a running register is kept up both in the district office and in each tahsil, in which every item of demand is posted as soon as it is known. The total under each head at the end of every month represents the demand to date. The form of this register will be found in paragraph 29 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No.31. A single example will explain its use. One head of account in the register is “lapsed revenue free holdings”. Under this are columns to show the demand and the collections. As soon as the deputy Commissioner has ordered the resumption of an assignment, the file is sent to the sadr wasil baki navis, who makes the necessary entry in this copy of the running register, and notes that he has done so. The file is then sent to the tahsil, where the tahsil wasil baki navis does the same. No file, which contains an order creating a demand on account of miscellaneous land revenue, is accepted in the record room without notes by the district and tahsil revenue accountants showing that the demand has been brought to record. The entry in the register is the tahsildar’s authority for collecting the amount.
607. Tauzihs of fluctuating and miscellaneous land revenue-The demand collections and balances under the different heads of fluctuating and miscellaneous land revenue are shown in separate parts of the monthly tauzih referred to in paragraph 596. In the case of miscellaneous land revenue the demand entered is the total to date as given in the running register.
608. Balance statements of fluctuating and miscellaneous land revenue-As irrecoverable balances of fluctuating and other land revenue are remitted only and not also struck off by separate order, it is unnecessary to submit balance statements for such demands, the balances will be sufficiently reported in the tauzih. Commissioners are competent to remit balances of such revenue and, where such remissions are required, Deputy Commissioners should obtain the necessary sanction upon a special report.
609. Mutation fees-The accounts relating to mutation fees are audited by the Director of Land Records.
BOOK V.- State Aid to Landowners.
CHAPTER XVIII.
STATE LOANS TO AGRICULTURISTS.
610. Large improvements must be made by Government. In a Country in which the prevailing land tenure is the ownership of the soil in small parcels by peasants who till their own fields, improvements involving a large expenditure of capital must be made at the cost of the State. To this class belong the great perennial canals, which are a special feature of the Punjab, and have enormously increased its produce. But in addition the peasant proprietors of the province have, at their own cost since annexation, vastly improved their holdings in many ways, and especially by the construction of wells.
611. Duty of State with reference to improvements made by landowners. It is at once the duty and the interest of the State so to regulate its land revenue assessments as to ensure that improving landowners shall obtain a proper return for their expenditure. It is equally its interest and its duty to advance money for improvements if landowners find it hard to raise loans for that purpose in the open market. The former branch of the subject is dealt with in paragraphs 501-508 of the Settlement Manual; the latter will be discussed in the present chapter.
612. Why Government loans are necessary. It is notorious that in India, even solvent and industrious landowners can only obtain private loans on very burdensome terms as regards interest. Accordingly the British Government, following the example of Indian administrations ( Thomason’s Directions for Collectors, edition of 1858, paragraph 45.) has stepped into the breach, and offered loans for agricultural improvements at a moderate rate of interest fixed with a view, not of bringing profit to the treasury, but merely of securing it against the risk of loss. Such State loans are known as taccavi.
613. Early rules on the subject. The grant of agricultural loans to private persons was a feature of our Indian administration from a very early date. Section XXII of Bengal Regulation II of 1793 forbade Collectors to advance money on account of taccavi without the express sanction of the Board of Revenue and section XL of Regulation XIV of 1793 provided that “arrears of taccavi, of any money advanced by Government to proprietors…………..for making or repairing embankments, reservoirs, or water-courses, of other improvements to their estates” might be recovered as if they were arrears of land revenue. Soon after the annexation of the Punjab the Board of Administration announced that it was prepared to sanction advances for the repair of old wells, for the sinking of new ones, and for the excavation of water-courses ( Board of Administration circular No. 41 of 1850.). The power of sanctioning taccavi for works of permanent utility was delegated to Commissioner, but they had no power to give loans for the purchase of bullocks or seed ( Board of Administration circular No. 13 of 1851.).
614. System discredited in 1859. Seven or eight years later the system had become discredited owing to want of care in working it, and orders were issued to the effect that “the Lieutenant-Governor desires to discourage such advances as much as possible, and in particular deprecates their being made to impoverished villages suffering from over-assessment and entitled to a reduction of revenue, and that hence- forth no taccavi advance shall be made except in cases where security for prompt repayment can be obtained.” (Book Circular LXXIV of 1859). The remarks on the subject in Cust’s Revenue Manual are coloured by the economic doctrine of laisser aller in farvour 60 odd year ago.
He wrote: -
“Undue interference with the landowners, though with the best intentions, is to be deprecated and generally fails…. It is notorious that every village has its banker and….. as along as credit exists, so long will advances for purely agricultural purposes in ordinary times and in ordinary cases be forthcoming, and the Government had better leave the matter alone…… As a general rule the practice should be discouraged; it is one for exceptional periods, and in a newly conquered country. The people should be left to their own resources and credit as regards works of permanent utility. Advances for bullocks and seed are wholly to be condemned. In a financial point of view it must be remembered that we are paying 5%, for the money advanced, and there is no necessity for the sacrifice( Cust’s Revenue Manual) pages 135-138.).
These views have long since been abandoned.
The Government of India resolution No. 6-204-16, dated 30th November, 1905, in which a very liberal taccavi policy is advocated contains the following note of warning: -
“The Governor-General in Council thinks it necessary to utter a word of caution against what he considers to be a very real and practical danger, namely, the danger of creating , by too active a policy, a forced and spurious demand for these advances. Even under the most favourable circumstances irrigated cultivation requires, at all events in the case of wells, more capital then dry cultivation; and in many parts of the country, where the wells are costly and their results uncertain, and where physical conditions make it possible to irrigate only a small area from each well, only the highest form of cultivation, which entails very considerable annual expenditure, is likely to be profitable. In such a case it is worst than useless to encourage a peasant to contract a debt for the construction of a well, the profitable working of which is beyond his resources; and the Government of India, while they are anxious to see the system of advances administered in a sympathetic spirit and made as simple and liberal and elastic as possible, trust that no excessive inducements will be held out to individuals to apply for loans which they may find it difficult to repay, and that any increase of demand will be spontaneous and therefore healthy.” (Government of India , Revenue and Agricultural resolution No. 6-204-16 , dated 30th November , 1905 paragraph 15.)
615. Act XXVI of 1871. The first legal enactment on the subject of loans for agricultural improvements, which affected the Punjab was passed in 1871 (Act XXVI of 1871). The verdict on the working of this Act passed by the Famine Commission of 1880 was that “it has failed to realize the intention of promoting improvements ,and that there is a very general reluctance to make use of its provisions . The sums which have been advanced under the Act are extremely small , and bear no proportion whatever to the need which the country has of capital to carry out material improvements.” Act XXVI of 1871 and the rules under it were needlessly complicated, but it may be doubted whether the failure on which the Famine Commissioners commented was due to that cause. Taccavi loans will be popular where they are obtainable without much trouble, and without payment of many douceurs to the underlings of the revenue department, and where the recovery of the instalments is made with consideration in seasons of scarcity. These requirements depend mainly not on the provisions of any Act or rules, but on the willingness of those responsible for their working of to take pains and to exercise a watchful supervision over the proceedings of their subordinates.
616. Act XIX OF 1883. The Act on the subject now in force is Act XIXof1883. It is a short and simple enactment, and leaves much to be provided for by rules to be issued by the local Government. (Section 10 of Act XIX of 1883.)
617. Persons to whom loans may be made. Loans may be granted for the purpose of making an improvement “to any person having a right” to make that improvement, or, with the consent of that person, to any other person. (Section 4(1). As regards the right tenants to make improvements see paragraphs 70,71 and 72 of this manual.) The 9th section also provides for loans to several persons or to all the members of a village community on their joint liability. In the 7th paragraph of resolution No. 6-204-16, dated 30th November 1905, the Government of India strongly endorsed the “opinion recorded by the Irrigation Commission (of 1903) that the joint personal security of several persons may often be accepted as sufficient to ensure the repayment of a loan, and recommend for the consideration of local Governments the rule now in force in Madras to the effect that when a loan is applied for by the members of a village community or by a group of cultivators on their joint personal security, the Collector may, at his discretion, advance on such security an amount not exceeding five times the annual assessment of the land held by the applicants.”
618. Definition of “improvements”. The definition of “improvement” is a wide one and covers much the same ground as that contained in the Tenancy Act ( Section 4(2) compare paragraph 75 of this manual). It may be expanded by notification so as to include “such other works as the Local Government, may, from time to time, by notification in the local Gazette, declare to be improvements.”(Section 4(2)(f).) The vast majority of the improvements for which loans are taken come under the first clause of the definition , namely, the construction of wells, tanks, and other works for the storage , supply, or distribution of water for the purposes of agriculture, or for the use of men and cattle employed in agriculture. (Section 4(2) (a) of Act XIX of 1883.)
619. Period for repayment. The period allowed for repayment is ample. It “shall not ordinarily exceed thirty –five years” from the date on which the loan has been completely taken up. The Punjab rules, however, reduce this period to twenty years (Section 6 and paragraph 15 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 32) except in special case. In the resolution quoted above it is remarked that, ‘Government of India are of opinion that in the case of ordinary improvements a twenty years’ term for repayment is generally sufficient for the following reason. An examination of interest tables drawn up to show the amount of the annual or half-yearly instalments required to discharge within different periods a loan or Rs. 100 at 6 or even at 5 percent, will prove that to extend the period of repayment beyond twenty years effects no substantial reduction in the amount of the annual or half yearly instalment; so that such an extension affords no great immediate advantage to the borrower; while it burdens him for a longer term with the duty of making repayments. A still stronger reason is to be found in the consideration that the amount of funds available for making such loans is limited, and that the rate at which fresh loans can be made depends to a large extent on the rate at which the money already out on loan is repaid to Government, so that it may be utilised by being re-issued in the form of further loans. Thus to extend the terms generally adopted for repayment would reduce the number of improvements which could be aided by means of the total sum available, and render it less effective for the purpose in view. The Government of India therefore are of opinion that the ordinary term for the repayment should not exceed twenty years, but they have no objection to a local Government taking the power to grant a longer term in special cases.”
620. Arrears recoverable as arrears of land revenue. In order to protect the treasury from loss and to enable it to lend on easy terms as regards interest, large powers are taken to enforce recovery by executive action. Instalments of principal and interest which are overdue may be realized from the borrower or is surety (if one has been required), as if they were arrears of land revenue due by them. (Section 7(1)(a) and(b).)
The land for whose benefit the advance has been made can be dealt with as if it was land in respect of which an arrear of land revenue exists. (Section 7(1)(c), see paragraph 521 et seq. of this manual.)
621. 621. Lien of Government on land for improvement of which loan is given, and on land hypothecated as security.) In the rare case of other property being hypothecated as security for repayment it can be sold as if it were immovable property of a land revenue defaulter other than the land on which an arrear is outstanding. ( Section 7 (1) (d) see paragraph 539 of this manual.) The lien of Government over the land for which the loan is granted and over the property (if any) comprised in the collateral security takes precedence of the right of any mortgage over it , even though the mortgage be of earlier date than the advanced . (Proviso to Section 7(1).) In actual practice it is unusual to give taccavi, unless the land for whose improvement it is required is free from encumbrances, but the provision of the law referred to above makes it needless to institute very elaborate enquiries regarding title. If the surety or the owner of any property hypothecated as collateral security pays an arrear, he can require the Deputy Commissioner to recover the amount on his behalf from the borrower.(Section 7(2)).
622. Interest. (i) Interest will be charged at the rate notified by the Provincial Government from time to time.
(ii) If taccavi is paid at any time between June 1st and November 30th, six months’ interest will be charged with the following rabi instalment, and if paid at any time between December 1st and May 31st , six months’ interest will be charged with the following kharif instalment. Loans repaid during the harvest in which advances were made will be charged interest for six months.
(iii) Penal interest will not be charged on instalments that have been suspended by order of competent authority, but in other cases it will ordinarily be charged at a fixed rate of 6 percent per annum, simple interest (equivalent to one pie per rupee per mensem), on the principal overdue, when the delay exceeds one month. Compound interest will in no case be charged . The Collector may remit or reduce the penal interest if he is satisfied that the levy of such interest would be productive of hardship.
(iv) The debtor may at any time pay the whole amount with interest due up to the date of payment and thereby close the transaction.
623. Allotment of funds, and power of sanction. The Financial Commissioner informs Commissioners as to the amounts placed at their disposal for taccavi loans during each financial year. Commissioners may divide the allotment between the districts of their divisions at their discretion; but expenditure in the division must be kept within the amount assigned. Deputy Commissioners distribute their allotments over tahsils according to requirements in order to avoid delay which occurs when a tahsildar has to apply for funds to district headquarters.
Within the limits of the funds allotted to them for the purpose, the following officers are empowered to grant loans under the Land Improvement Loans Act, XIX of 1883:-
Tahsildars up to Rs. 1,000
Assistant and Extra Assistant Rs. 1,000
Commissioners upto
Collector upto to Rs. 2,500
Commissioner upto Rs. 10,000
Financial Commissioner Rs. 50,000
Officers subordinate to the Collector will only exercise these powers when permitted to do so by the Collector.
The limits apply to the amount which may be granted in any individual case. Commissioners may, in very special circumstances, on the recommendation of the Collector, invest selected naib-tahsildars with the powers of a tahsildar as regards the granting of loans.
624. Loans should be of adequate amount. Care must be taken in cutting down the amount applied for. The grant of an inadequate sum defeats the object of the Act and is very likely to lead to the misapplication of the loan. It is better to refuse an advance outright than to give one which is not sufficient to ensure the completion of the projected work .
625. Collateral security not usually required. The applicant’s interest in the land to be improved is usually amply sufficient to cover the loan, and, when this is the case, no collateral security need be required. (See paragraph 9(1)(A)(a) of Financial Commissioners Standing Order No. 32)
626. Repayment. In order to prevent misapplication , loans for improvements should ordinarily be made instalments ; but this is not necessary with the small sums usually given for seed, bullocks and fodder. Repayment should not begin until, assuming reasonable diligence on the part of the landowner , the improvement will yield a return. “ The Government of India think that within reasonable limits the convenience of the borrower may be consulted, and that the object should be to ensure that payment, either of principle or interest , is never exacted before the date when, by the exercise of such due diligence as may reasonably be expected of an Indian peasant, the profits of the improvement might be expected to cover the payment. This period of grace should not , however, exceed 21/2 years in any case, and interest should be charged during its currency” (resolution No. 6-204—16 , dated 30th November 1905, Paragraph 6.) Instalments are recovered half-yearly on the dates on which the first instalment of the land revenue of each harvest falls due. Repayments are so arranged as to permit of the realization of an equal sum in each half-year. Recoveries may not be spread over a period of more than twenty years except with the sanction of the local Government. ( See paragraph 15 of Standing Order No.32.). A less term is often sufficient and the rules require advances to be repaid within as short a period as is consistent with the object for which they are made.
627. Considerations bearing on period of recovery. The spreading of repayment over an unnecessarily long period means actual loss to the borrower on account of increased interest charges . For instance, if he chooses to repay a loan of Rs. 100 in 10 annual instalments and begins his repayments after one year, he will pay altogether 10 instalments or Rs. 12-10-0 or Rs. 126-4-0 in all: if he begins his repayments after two years, he will pay 10 instalments of Rs. 13-3-0 or Rs. 131-14-0 in all: if he spreads the repayments over 15 years and begins his repayments after two years, he will pay 15 instalments of Rs. 9-11-0 or Rs. 145-5-0 in all; if repayment is spread over 20 years he will pay 20 instalments of Rs. 8 or Rs. 160 in all. For an ordinary well the best arrangement will generally be that repayment should begin after two years and that repayment should be made in 15 annual instalments of Rs. 9-11-0 or Rs. 145-5-0 in all, or in 30 half-yearly instalments of Rs. 4-15-0 or 148-2-0 in all.
(See tables of equated payments appended to Financial Commissioners’ Standing Order No. 32)
Payments should be made in 15 annual instalments of Rs. 12-0-0, or Rs. 180-0- in all, or in 30 half-yearly instalments of Rs. 6-2-0, or Rs. 188-12-0 in all. (See tables of equated payments appended to Financial Commissioners’ Standing Order No. 32). If this is understood by the borrower, the first thing to consider is his reasonable wishes. If the security is good, there is no great object in increasing or curtailing the period of repayment which the borrower desires and for which he can give good reasons. The matters which should weigh with him and with the Deputy Commissioner are the cost and durability of the improvement made, the necessary expense of maintenance , the rate and amount of the probable return, and the period from which it will begin to accrue. The debtor can of course at any time repay the whole amount still due on the loan, and thus close the transaction.
628. Loans usually recovered easily. We have seen that the law has supplied the Deputy Commissioner with very powerful weapons to enforce the repayment of loans .But it is only in the rarest instances that resort to them is necessary, and taccavi is generally recovered with ease and regularity.
629. Suspensions and remissions . Instalments may be suspended on proof of failure of crops or other exceptional calamity .
In areas under fluctuating assessment, the Collector of the district may order such suspension upto a limit of Rs. 5,000 for a single tahsil, or a total of Rs. 10,000 for the whole district in any one harvest, provided that the amount involved at a time in any one case shall not exceed Rs. 1,000.
In areas under fixed assessment the same limits shall apply, except that in those cases in which suspensions of taccavi follow suspensions of land revenue, the Collector may exercise unlimited powers.
Proposals for suspensions in excess of these limits shall be submitted by the Collector of the district to the Commissioner of the Division who shall have unlimited powers of suspension as in the case of land revenue.
All suspensions of taccavi , whenever granted, shall be reported without delay through the Commissioner of the division for the information of the Financial Commissioner.
A suspended instalment should not be made payable in the ensuing year with the instalment of that year, but the effect of suspension should be to postpone for one instalment period the payment of all remaining instalments due on the loan . When a man borrows money he should be required to repay the loan with interest ; but time should be given him to make those repayments in such a manner as will not be ruinous to him. As regards remissions, the Government of India are of opinion that it is a sound principle not to remit repayment of a loan so readily as remissions of ordinary land revenue are granted, and that as a general rule the risk of the failure of an improvement should be borne by the borrower as this affords the best guarantee that the money will be judiciously applied, but they will have no objection to a local Government’s remitting outstanding instalments or a part of them, when a work fails from causes beyond the borrower’s control ; and when recovery of the loan in full would occasion serious hardship. (Government of India resolution No. 6-204-216,, dated 30th November, 1905). The Commissioner can sanction remissions not exceeding Rs. 1,000 in each case. For larger amounts the orders of the Financial Commissioner are required. (Rule 8 of Land Improvement Loan Rules).
630. Remarks on procedure. Instructions have been issued with the object of marking the grant of loans prompt and easy . To ensure that this object is not defeated the Deputy Commissioner should set his face against all vexatious formalities , and especially against repeated summonings of the applicant to the tahsil . There is no reason why an ordinary taccavi case should occupy more than three weeks from first to last. Revenue officers of any grade can receive applications, which may be written or oral. (See paragraph 4 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 32) In the case of the latter a few questions put to the applicant by the revenue officer will enable him or his reader to fill up the very simple printed form of application. On the back of that form there is a note stating the different points regarding which a report is necessary . Landowners should be encouraged to present their applications to revenue officers in camp in order that the enquiry may be made at once, and that the necessity of summoning the applicant and his headman to the tahsil may be avoided. In an ordinary case the simple enquiry called for can be made with the greatest ease. All that is required is for the revenue officer to see the land for whose improvement the loan is asked , to obtain an extract from the entries regarding it in the last annual record, and to put a few questions to the applicant, the village headman and the patwari. If however the necessary information cannot at once be obtained, the enquiry can be made by a field kanungo, if the loan does not exceed Rs. 500. The tahsildar must state in his report whether the applicant wishes to receive payment at the tahsil or at the sadr. In the former case his attendance at the district office is usually quite unnecessary . When the tahsildar decides to recommend the loan he sends the file to the district revenue accountant (wasil baki nawis) and, if the applicant is to receive the money at the district office , gives him a slip containing the date on which he is to appear before the Deputy Commissioner. The date should be so fixed as to give the revenue accountant time to check the file carefully before it is brought before the Deputy Commissioner for orders. The Government of India have authorized a system of employing selected officers to take money into camp and disburse loans on the spot. (Government of India, Revenue and Agriculture Department, resolution No. 2-413-2 of 1st March 1905, compare paragraph 11 of resolution No. 6-204-16 of 30th November 1905.) For the details of the procedure to be followed under this system reference should be made to Standing Order No.32, paragraph 7(1) . A system of peripatetic distribution with oral application and disbursement on the spot is also specially suitable for tracts in which it is desirable to encourage any particular form of agricultural improvement such as the sinking of masonry wells, the embankment of land for purposes of irrigation, etc. Such a system has been approved by Government for adoption under certain conditions. Needful instructions will be found in paragraph 7(2) of the Standing Order above referred to.
631. Order Sanctioning loan. The order of the officer sanctioning the loan is in a prescribed form, at the foot of which is a statement over the signature of the borrower that he has understood and agreed to the conditions stated in the order ( See paragraphs 18 and 20 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 32.). One of these is that the loan shall be applied solely to the purpose set forth in the order, and that, if any part of it is misapplied, the whole shall be at once recoverable. The Deputy Commissioner may, and as a rule ought, to declare in the order the period within which the work must be completed . If he does so, failure to finish it in the time specified is declared to amount to misapplication . Of course a condition of this sort must be enforced with great discretion.
632. Inspection of works.- Works
which are being constructed with the aid of taccavi loans ought to be
onspected from time to time by revenue officers. When they go into camp they should take with
them a list of all unfinished works for which loans have been granted in the
tract which they mean to visit, and make
abrief report of the state of each work to the Deputy Commissioner, and
care should be taken to provide for a similar inspection of works near the
revenue officers’ headquarters. In
addition to these casual inspections, works for which advances have been made
in a lump sum should be inspected and reported on as soon as possible after the
date (if any), on which their completion was directed in the order granting the
loan. In the case of an advance made by
instalments the work should be reported on before each instalment subsequent to
the first is paid, and also as soon as possible after the date ( if any), on
which its completion was ordered. Great
care must be taken that the completion of the work is not delayed because the
inspection preliminary to the payment of an instalment is not made
promptly. If the Deputy Commissioner is
satisfied that the first instalment has been misapplied, he should order it to
be recovered, and make no further payment.
633. Act XII of 1884.- The
Agriculturists’ Loans Act, XII of 1884, which replaced an earlier Act, Xof
1879, enables the local Government to
make rules as to the grant of loans “to
owners and occupiers of arable land for the relief of distress, the purchase of
seed or cattle, or any other purpose for specified in the Land Improvement
Loans Act 1883, but connected with agricultural objects ( Section 4). As in the case of a loan under Act XIX of
1883, an advance may be made to several persons or to all the members of a
village community on their joint and several responsibility ( Section 6).
634. Object for which loans may be made.- It has been ruled that “ the
relief of distress’ means” the relief of
agricultural distress,
that is to say, distress directly due to calamity in agriculture, such as the
destruction of crops by drought or floods, hail or blight, or the loss of
cattle by disease. It must be
satisfactorily shown that the distress to be relieved is directly traceable to
the failure of some agricultural process, or to damage to crops, articles of
husbandry, or cattle.” The words “ any
other purpose not specified in the Land Improvement Loans Act 1883, but
connected with agricultural objects” must be interpreted as referring to
purposesdirectly connected with agriculture and its processes. They would cover, for example, the advance of
money to buy agricultural implements, such as a sugarcane mill, or to construct
indigo vats. But a loan to a village
community to enable it to build a new abadi on a healthier site would
lie outside the scope of the Act.
Doubtful cases should be referred to the Financial Commissioner. The grant of loans to agriculturists for the
prosecution of industries subsidiary to agriculture was considered by the
Government Of India in 1916, and it was ruled that ‘loans should be given only
to facilitate processes which are ordinarily practised by agriculturists or are
necessary to the marketing of their crops.’ “The grant of loans, it was said,
should be restricted to the case of such operations as, from a sound economic
point of view, may be performed by an agriculturist in respect of his own
produce r of simple industries dealing with raw produce which can be carried on
by individuals or small combinations of cultivators without expert
supervision. Where it is the custom of a
particular class of agriculturist to enter upon a preliminary stage of
preparation of the raw produce before it is put on the market, as a part from
manufacturing it as a completed article of commerce, the provision of
appliances for this purpose would fall within the category of the purposes for
which loans may be granted under section 4 of the Act. Weaving cannot, in the opinion of the
Government of India, be regarded as being in the definition.” ( Government of
India, Department of Revenue and Agriculture,circular No. 178-143-15, dated 7th
March 1916.)
635. Advances to tenants-at-will.- Advances may be made to tenants-at-will,
as well as to owners and occupancy tenants.
In a tract where much land is mortgaged to money-lenders the case of
such tenants is a difficult one to deal with.
The mortgagees will very likely refuse to supply seed themselves or to
be surities for the repayment of advances to be made by Government to their
tenants. And in the case of a landless
man it is not safe to grant even a small loan without security.
636. Arrears recoverable like arrears of land-revenue.- Like
Act XIX of 1883, the Agriculturists’ Loans Act of 1884 provides for the
recovery of overdue instalments of principal and interest from the borrower or
his surety as if they were arrears of land-revenue due by them (Section 5 of
Act XII of 1884.). It makes no allusion
to the hypothecation of immovable property as security, and this should rarely
be required.
637. Term of loans.- A maximum period of ten years is allowed for
the recovery of a loan ( See paragraph 23 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing
Order No. 32.). But ordinarily advances
for the purchase of seed should be
repaid from the crop produced from the seed and those for the purchase of
plough cattle within two years. In
practice loans under the Act are almost invariably made for one or other of
these purposes.
638. Interest on, and recovery of loans.- The rules (See rules 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 of Agriculturists Loans Rules, (
volume II, Punjab Land Acts.) as regards interest, and recovery, suspension,
and remission, of loans are practically the same as those dealing with the same
matters issued under Act XIX of 1883.
639. Use made of Act.- It is not the object of Act XII of 1884 to
supplant the village sahukar as the source from which the peasant
landowner draws the small temporary loans which he constantly requires in
carrying on his business. It usually
comes into play when the village bankers have for the time being ceased to lend
altogether. Hitherto therefore no great
use of the Act has been made except in seasons of severe and prolonged
drought. Small capitalists in rural districts are a very
timid race, and the difficulties under which the people labour at such a time
are much aggravated by the drying up of credit.
Unless therefore the State come to their aid, tracts which have suffered
from scarcity would recover slowly even on the advent of better seasons, and
many a man would be ruined outright for want of a little ready money at a
critical period to provide himself with the means of tilling his fields. The resolution of the Government of India
quoted above certainly encouraged liberal advances under the Agricultural Loans
Act ‘ where funds are available’ even in ordinary times. ( Resolution No.
6-204-16, dated 30th November 1905, paragraph 11.)
640. Advances for purchase of seed and cattle. Care should be taken only to make these advances at a time when they can immediately be put to a profitable use, otherwise they are sure to be misapplied . Loans for the purchase of seed should only be made when the land is irrigable, or has received from rain, floods, or percolation sufficient moisture for the seed to germinate. They should be made more readily for the rabi than for the kharif, as the cost of seed per acre is much higher, for instance, in the case of wheat than in that of millets . It is useless to advance money for the purchase of plough or well cattle unless the borrower has the means of keeping them alive. The want of fodder is one of the worst evils from which drought-stricken tracts in the Punjab suffer, and it is the evil with which Government finds it most difficult to deal.
641. Caution as regards loans in tracts afflicted by rinderpest. Special caution is necessary in granting loans for the replacing of cattle which have died from rinder pest . The virus of that disease retains its vitality for at least seven or eight months. All the discharges from an infected animal during its illness contain the poison in large quantity . It is therefore worse than useless to help the owner to buy healthy stock unless his village has been free from disease for about a year, and it is known for certain that disinfection has been thoroughly carried out.
642. Advances for purchase of fodder. (I) Experience has shown that when fodder becomes excessively dear in one part of the province, it can be profitably imported by rail from a considerable distance. If it is obtainable in this way , but only at a price which is beyond the means of the poorer landowners, it is reasonable to make small advances to enable them to buy the food necessary to keep their agricultural cattle alive. Loans for the purchase of fodder should only be made in small sums not exceeding Rs. 20 in each case, or, if the advance has to be repeated, on each occasion. These loans are subject to the ordinary rules regarding taccavi advances contained in the Financial Commissioners’ Standing Order No. 32. It is the custom where herds are kept for pastoral purposes to drive them in seasons of drought into the low hills or the river valleys . There is therefore no object in giving taccavi to graziers.
(ii) But loans may be made to selected zamindars and registered Co-operative Societies for purchase and storage of dry fodder in scarcity tracts on condition that-
(a) (a) the amount to be so stored should be not less than 4,000 maunds, and
(b) (b) the advance should not exceed annas 8 for each maund so purchased and stored .
(iii) The minimum amount of fodder to be stored being 4,000 maunds at anans 8 per maund, it is necessary to provide for greater security by hypothecation of property as a preferable alternative to combined security.
643. Procedure must be exceedingly prompt. It is essential that advances under Act XII or 1884, which are usually small in amount, should be made without any delay. A poor man who wishes to take advantage of long looked for rain to plough or sow his fields cannot wait while files are being sent backwards and forwards between the tahsil and the district office. The rules therefore provide that within the limits of the funds allotted to them for the purpose the following officers are empowered to grant loans :-
For
cattle and other For
seed
Objects
including
Agricultural implements
Rs. Rs.
1. Tehsildars up to ………. 250 100
2. Canal Ziladars up to ……….. … 100
3. Reclamation Zailadars up to …. … 100
4. Deputy Collector, Reclamation….. … 100
5. Assistant Land Reclamation Officer up to.. … 100
6. Assistant Commissioners and Extra
Assistant Commissioners up to …. 300 100
7. Land Reclamation officer up to…. … 250
8. Collectors up to………. 500 250
9. Commissioners up to ………. 2,500 750
10. Financial Commissioners up to ….. 10,000 3,000
Officers subordinate to the Collector will exercise these powers only when permitted to do so by the Collector: -
The limits apply to the amounts which may be granted in any individual case. For the granting of these loans the Commissioner may, on the recommendation of the Collector invest selected tahsildars with the powers of an Extra Assistant Commissioner, and, in very special circumstances invest selected naib-tahsildars with the powers of a tahsildar.
In time of famine it may be necessary to enlarge powers of tahsildars, Assistant Commissioners and Extra Assistant Commissioners and Collectors , and this may be done by the Commissioner subject to a report to the Financial Commissioner.(Rule 1 of the Agriculturists Loans Rules) He should satisfy himself that the selected officer understands fully the circumstances under which loans should be made. It is a good thing to let him take the money which is likely to be required into camp and distribute it on the spot. This plan for the distribution of taccavi, which has been sanctioned by the orders referred to in paragraph 630, is particularly suitable in the case of advances under Act XII of 1884. The money required can be drawn on abstract bills and accounted for in the same way as contingent expenditure(See paragraph 29 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 32).
644. Employment of special officer. When the total amount is advanced will be large the Commissioner may find it necessary to apply to the Local Government to post an additional Extra Assistant Commissioner or tahsildar to the district. He can be given the powers of a Deputy Commissioner under the rules, but will of course be as completely under the orders of the district officer as any other member of his establishment. If the extra officer has no previous local experience, it will usually be best to make him relieve one of the ordinary district staff who can then be employed solely on taccavi work.
645. Further orders of Government of India. Having explained the extent to which the State is prepared to advance money to agriculturists in ordinary times it remains to quote the recent orders of the Government of India as to free grants for the encouragement or irrigation works in very insecure tracts and as to loans in anticipation of or in presence of famine. These are contained in the 10th and 12th paragraphs of the resolution from which several extracts have been given in this chapter.
646. Grants in aid or irrigation works in insecure tracts. “The Irrigation Commission (of 1903) have made certain proposals with the view of encouraging irrigation in specially precarious tracts. They recommend that in selected areas, which have suffered severely in recent famines and have not since obtained by irrigation or otherwise protection sufficient to guarantee them against the recurrence of similar calamities, landowners should be encouraged to apply for loans ordinary conditions sufficient to pay for a portion of the cost of the contemplated improvements , and that Government should make a free grant of the remainder of the cost, the proportion of the free grant to the total cost depending on the property of the applicant and the marginal profit from irrigation, the suggested maximum being half the total amount required upto a limit of Rs. 500 The Government of India have no objection to free grants being made under such circumstances, i.e., when they are applied to works the success of which is calculated to reduce future expenditure on famine relief.” (Any grants that may be made are chargeable to provincial revenues.)
647. Loans in times of famine. “The foregoing considerations are applicable to the case of loans made in ordinary times, and it remains to consider the case of loans made to agriculturists in anticipation of scarcity or during the currency of famine. As regards such loans the Government of India agree with the opinion expressed by the Famine and Irrigation Commissions that loans to agriculturists are especially required in the very early stages of famine as a measure of moral strategy and to put heart into the people, and that a system of advances when made in good time and with prudent forethought is a most efficient form of relief, and one which can to a very great extent be freed from the pauperizing influences of State Charity . These principles have been incorporated in the revised Famine Codes and will no doubt be acted upon when occasion arises. It has been usual in most provinces to make advances in famine times in low interest or free from interest altogether, and to remit them with great generosity. The Government of India, however , agree with the Famine that this is mistaken charity, likely to demoralise the people . They are of opinion that these advances should always carry interest at the usual rate, and that while due regard should be paid to the subsequent seasons and the circumstances of the borrowers, repayment of these loans should take precedence of the recovery of arrears of land revenue. If it is necessary to grant some remission, it should take the form of a remission of land revenue, and the loan with interest should be recovered; or if this will involve great hardship, a portion of the loan itself, and not merely the interest, should be remitted. In times of famine in place of granting loans free of interest, the system of making free grants in addition to repayable loans, already alluded, to, may be freely utilised . Advances may be made to landowners for the construction of private works to enable them to give employment to the poor, a portion of the advance being made in the form of a loan repayable with interest on ordinary terms, and the remainder in the form of a free grant-in-aid from famine funds, to be spent on the employment of labour in accordance with the system of ‘Aided Village Works’, for which provision has been made in the revised Famine Codes. In such times a similar system may be adopted as regards advances for the purchase of seed, fodder, or cattle.”
Rural Co-operative
Credit Societies
648. Condition in Europe- Amongst the factors influencing the political and economic revolutions of the middle of the nineteenth century in Europe was the rapid increase in the import of wheat from the newly exploited plains of north America. The direct result was to intensify the existing agrarian depression. It appeared as though the land could no longer be cultivated with profit and agriculture seemed to be definitely on the decline. In the British Isles the situation was relieved by extensive emigation and by the demand for labour for the rapidly expanding industries. On the Continent, however, the general tendency was to meet the crisis by adopting more intensive methods of cultivation and by the replacing of wheat by more valuatble crops or by animal products, such as butter, bacon and eggs. For this great change more capital was required, and in order to attract it, credit had to be established. The Rochdale Pioneers had since 1844 shown how success was to be obtained by co-operation, but their plan applied originally to distributive stores, and it was several years before Scheulze Delitzscha and Raiffeisen adopted the essential principles to the granting of credit to farmers. General speaking, in European countries other applications of the co-operative principle preceded that of credit. The period was one of rapid transition; the advent of the steamship about the time of the Crimean War greatly facilitated international trade and deprived the farmer of his previous meonopoly of the home market. The science of modern agricultural chemistry was slowly achieving recognition, and it gradually became clear to the more thoughtful that in the application of its teachings lay the best method of restoring the position of the farmer. The first step was to organize the supply of fertilizers, improved agricultural implements, etc., and much work was done in Europe in this direction between 1870 and 1885. The need for Credit Societies to enable the cultivator to adopt modern improvements in order to increase his production was also appreciated, ad the first experiments were started in Germany about 1862, but it was not until much later that they bacme general. Organisation on co-operative lines brought the benefits of the new methods within the reach of all who could afford them, and from this to the co-operative provision of capital was a small step. From 1880 onwards rural co-operative credit societies have steadily spread over Europe.
649. The problem in India-In India the problem to be faced had not arisen from outside competition but from internal causes, amongst them being the ever increasing pressure which a rapidly growing population exert on the soil, while the capriciousness of the seasons, on which the success of the harvests depends, continues to give unceasing cause for anxiety as to the food supply.
The report of the Famine Commission of 1880 contains a list of eighteen famines and four periods of scarcity not amounting to famine in India in the period 1769 to 1878; and it gives expression to the conviction “that Indian famines are necessarily recurring calamities against which such precautions as are possible must be taken beforehand, and that it is the duty of the Government to do its utmost in devising some means of protecting the country, and to persevere in its attempts till some solution of the problem has been obtained.” After dealing with the obligation of Government to afford relief, the Commission urged that it is important that the measure should be so framed “as to avoid every tendency to relax in the people the sense of the obligation which rests on them to provide for their own support by their own labour, to cultivate habits of thrift and fore-thought, and as far as possible to employ the surplus of years of plenty to meet the wants of years of scarcity.”
Amongst the principal rules of action advocated was “to give loans both to small landed proprietors who are in need of such assistance, and also to larger proprietors who may be trusted to apply the money usefully.” Concerning these loans, the Commission wrote that “the suspension of revenue does not entirely provide for the case of the small agriculturist who finds himself without the necessary means either of subsistence or of preparing his lands for tillage and who, if he is obliged to have recourse to the money lender, can only obtain a loan on ruinous terms. It should, therefore, be the policy of the Government to advance money freely and on easy terms on the security of the land, whenever it can be done without serious risk of ultimate loss.
Shortly after the publication of this report Mr. Wedderburn of the Bombay Civil Service proposed the establishment of an Agricultural Bank at Poona on lines similar to those since adopted in Egypt. The management was to be in unofficial hands, but Government was to guarantee interest on the capital and was in the last resort to collect instalments of the loans through its subordinate revenue staff. In the initial period it was not certain that Government would not have to provide the capital also. As Government was to assume all responsibility and risks, it was considered preferable to assume the management as well, and a system of State loans was introduced by the Land Improvement Loans Act (1883) and the Agriculturists’ Loans Act (1884). (See chapter XVIII). These measures only partially met the recommendations of the Famine Commission. They provided capital for agricultural purposes at a low rate of interest but did not include in their scope the encouragement of thrift and forethought. It was left to another Famine Commission to suggest a method of achieving this end. At the same time these Acts and the rules framed thereunder indicate the lines on which a sound system of rural credit could be established: careful examination into the objects for which money is required supervision over the expenditure on those objects and recovery by instalments repayable from the addition to income which the use of the capital has yielded, subject always to a suspension when the vagaries of the season render rigid repayment impracticable.
650. Co-operative credit recommended. In 1892 the Government of Madras placed Mr. Nicholson on special duty to enquire into the possibility of introducing a system of agricultural or other land banks. His report in two volumes (1885-97) was reviewed by the Mardras Government in 1899. About the same time Mr. H.Dupernex, I.C.S., began to experiment with village banks in the United Provinces. In 1990 be published a little book “Peoples’ Banks for Northern India:” meanwhile in the Punjab, Mr. Maclagan, I.C.S., was trying to start rural banks in Multan, and his example inspired his former Assistant , the late Captain Crosthwait to make tentative efforts in what are now the Bhakkar and Leiah tahsils of Mianwali and Muzaffargarh, respectively. The problem appeared to be ripe for discussion, and the Government of India assembled a committee at Calcutta in December 1900, which reported in favour of the institution of banks on Raiffeisen lines.
In May 1901 appeared the report of the Famine Commission, presided over by Lord Macdonnel. It contained a clear statement of the united opinion of those who had recently given the closest consideration to the problem of rural finance: “We attach the highest importance to the establishment of some organization or method whereby cultivators may obtain, without paying usurious rates of interest and without being given undue facilities for incurring debt, the advances necessary for carrying on their business . Agriculture, like other industries , is supported on credit. The sahukar, or bania, has, from being a help to agriculture , become in some places an incubus upon it. The usurious rates of interest that he charges and the unfair advantage that he takes of the cultivator’s necessities and ignorance have, over large areas, placed a burden of indebtedness on the cultivator which he cannot bear….. It should be understood from the outset, and made perfectly clear to all concerned, that the establishment of a village bank does not imply the creation of an institution from which the villagers may draw money at their discretion…………It is not intended to frighten the village money-lender by permitting a village bank to enter into competition with him over the whole field of his business ; still less is it the intention to encourage borrowing for unproductive purposes. No association, borrowing on the joint responsibility of its members, would be justified in devoting any of its funds to loans for unproductive purposes . It does not consequently enter into the scope of a village bank’s operations to lend for marriage festivities or for caste feasts or for similar objects . If people wish to borrow money for such purposes or for any other purpose unconnected with agriculture, they must still go to the village sahukar or bania. The co-operative agricultural bank only aims at freeing the great business of the cultivator’s life from the terrible burden which now presses on it owing to the usurious interest taken for agricultural loans.”
The Commission favoured the establishment of credit associations on Raiffeisen principles which they proceeded to enunciate.
651. Acts of 1904 and 1912. The results of much careful consideration and prolonged enquiry and discussion was the enactment of the Co-operative Credit Societies Act of 1904. This was introduced and explained in an able and clear statement by the late Sir Denzil Ibbetson, published as a resolution of the Government of India(Revenue and Agriculture ) No. 1-63-3 dated 29th April, 1904. It was subsequently repealed and replaced by the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912. In 1914 the progress of the co-operative movement during the preceding ten years was reviewed in a resolution of the Government of India (Revenue and Agriculture) No. 12-287-1, date 17th June, 1914 and a Committee was appointed under the presidency of Sir Edward Maclagan to examine whether the movement was progressing on sound lines, and to suggest any measures of improvement which seem to be required . The report of this committee published in 1915 should be studied by all who have at heart the interests of the mass of the people.
652. The rural problem as described by the committee on co-operation. To committee on co-operation considered it desirable to explain that the chief object was to deal with the stagnation of the poorer classes, and more especially of the agriculturists who constitute the bulk of the population . They proceeded :-
“It was found in many parts of India, as in most European countries , that in spite of the rapid growth of commerce and improvements in communications , the economic condition of the peasants had not been progressing as it should have done, that indebtedness instead of decreasing had tended to increase, that usury was still rampant, that agricultural methods had not improved , and that the old unsatisfactory features of a backward rural economy seemed destined persistently to remain . The more obvious features of the situation presented themselves in the form of usury and land-grabbing on the part of the money–lending classes, while the agricultural classes either hoarded their savings or owing to thriftlessness and indebtedness showed themselves unable to withstand bad seasons and to meet organised trade on equal terms. The depression of the rural classes was further characterised by an underlying absence of any desire for education or advancement and a certain resigned acceptance of oppression from those who by wealth or social position occupied a superior position , an attitude which though often spoken of as ‘conservative’, has frequently little of intentional conservatism about it , but is due rather to ignorance to a traditional subservience in the past, and to an absence of ideals for the future. The peculiar feature of co-operation as a remedy for stagnation is that it is intended to meet not only the more obvious material evils but also the underlying moral deterioration to which the poorer classes have so long been exposed.
“The stagnation of the agricultural classes in the greater part of the country has for many years attracted the attention of Government, and various remedies have been tried for improving their material condition . A system of State loans was introduced. Post Office Saving Banks were opened, the Civil law relating to debt was frequently and extensively amended, special legislation was initiated at various times in different areas for dealing with tenant right, the alienation of land, the general settlement of debt and the curbing of usury. But although much has been done by some at any rate of these measures to help the peasant community, the general effect of the action taken can only be described as partial and incomplete . The further efforts which have been made by sanitation and education to improve the environment and the intellectual condition of the poorer classes have not been more successful. Without , therefore , abandoning the class of remedial measures previously attempted , the Government turned to co-operation as the most hopeful method of dealing with the problem before it . The theory of co-operation is very briefly that an isolated and powerless individual can by association with others and by moral development and mutual support obtain in his own degree the material advantages available to wealthy or powerful persons, and thereby develop himself to the fullest extent of his natural abilities. By the union of forces material advancement is secured, and by united action self reliance is fostered, and it is from the inter action of these influences that it is hoped to attain the effective realisation of the higher and more prosperous standard of life which has been characterised as ‘better business, better farming and better living.’ We have found that there is a tendency not only among the outside public but also among supporters of the movement to be little its moral aspect and to regard this as superfluous idealism. Co-operation in actual practice must often fall far short of the standard aimed at, and details inconsistent with co-operative ideals have often to be accepted in the hope that they may lead to better things. We have in our report been compelled to deal mainly with the co-operative organization from a business stand point. But we wish clearly to express our opinion that it is to true co-operation alone, that is, to a co-operation which recognises the moral aspect of the question, that Government must look for the amelioration of the masses, and not to a pseudo-co-operative edifice, however imposing, which is built in ignorance of co-operative principles. To this point we shall return when we deal with the constitution of co-operative societies, but in the meantime we desire to point out that the combination of the material with the more or less intangible moral element constitutes an important difference between co-operation and the other remedies adopted by Government for dealing with agricultural stagnation.”
653. Advantages gained by cooperation. To the above may be appended the following extract from the resolution of 1914:-
“The aim of those who form themselves into societies is primarily economic. There object is to obtain money or the other necessities of production at cheaper rates , or to sell their produce at higher prices than those which prevail in the market to which they would individually resort. If this object can be attained over a considerable portion of India , the result will be of immense economic value . It has, for instance, been calculated that in interest alone the agriculturists of India, by taking loans from co-operative credit societies instead of from the village money –lenders, are even now saving themselves from an absolutely unnecessary burden of at least 20 lakhs of rupees per annum, and there is no reason why in a few years this figure should not multiply itself several times over. The mere saving in interest charges is, however, a part only of the benefits received. With the progress of co-operation and with credit democratised money that has lain rusting in boards has been produced and placed in deposit; money that would otherwise have lain idle has found a serviceable form of investment ; capital that would otherwise have lain idle has found a serviceable form of investment; capital that would otherwise have been inaccessible has come into the hands of the agriculturists; old debts have been paid of and old mortgages redeemed , cases being reported in which the debts and mortgages not of individuals only but of whole villages have been cleared off. With freedom from debt and with access to capital on reasonable terms, the agriculturist is enabled to develop his means with better heart and increased resources , while the production of hoarded money and its application to the development of the country, coupled with an improvement in the economic position of the people, must result in an increase in their purchasing power and in the expansion of external and internal trade.
“In no direction is co-operation more full of promise than in the improvement of agriculture . From the first it has enabled cultivators to grapple with the difficulties caused by bad finance and an undeveloped system of rural economy, but during the last two or three years it has begun to show how it can assist them in winning a better living from a reluctant soil and treacherous seasons. In time of need , Government has never been backward in helping the peasant. Loans for the purchase of seed and cattle have been generously given, lenient treatment has hastened recovery from seasonal disasters , and by the greatest gift of all- irrigation- the liability to such disasters has been prevented over large areas. But more helpful than any of these gifts is the teaching which the Agricultural Department is setting before the people . The field , however , is to wide, and the skilled workers so few, that mere departmental efforts can never suffice to bring home to every cultivator the benefits that agricultural science offers . It is here that co-operation has stepped in . It has, in some provinces, provided the means whereby , as each improved variety is perfected and made ready for use, seed can be conveyed from the Government farm to every village over large areas and can be multiplied a thousand fold; it has enabled the purity of the seed to be maintained, and the best price to be secured for the produce; it has placed with in reach of the cultivator cheap manure and implements tested and approved by experts; it has supplied to cattle –breeders bulls of superior strains for the improvement of the village herds; and it has provided the means by which useful information can be disseminated.
The association of co-operation with agricultural improvement may assume different forms. In one place the co-operative society may perform the functions of an agricultural association; in another agricultural societies or unions may have a separate existence, but may work in the closest touch with the co-operative movement. But wherever agriculture and co-operation have experienced the assistance which each can derive from association with the other , they are fast developing truly organic connection and there can be little doubt that before many years this will be the case throughout India. It has indeed been stated by outside observers that the efforts of these two departments have made a deeper impression on the life of the people than any of the other measures which Government is engaged in promoting.
But these direct economic improvements are not the only benefits which co-operation is conferring on the country. Co-operation has been, in the widest sense of the term , education, both intellectual and moral When men are associated for business purposes, they feel the need of education. There are tangible reasons for learning to keep accounts, to sign pro-notes, to read pass–books and receipts, and knowledge of this kind must lessen the chances of fraud, while members who are able to read simple co-operative literature will take a more intelligent interest in their society and in the progress of the movement. Illiteracy is a hindrance to the movement, and just as co-operation leads to a demand for literacy, so literacy encourages the demand for co-operation. The effect of co-operation, however, extends beyond this, It does more than merely provide cheap credit; it encourages thrift. The criterion for admission to a society is a man’s character and not his wealth, and men, when brought together for their common weal and when pledging their common credit, have influenced each other’s conduct and advanced each other’ s interests in ways previously undreamt of in this country . The fact that the members are ultimately responsible for the payment of the debts of each and every member, operates as a powerful check on expenditure on unproductive purposes greater than that absolutely required by public opinion, and marriage expenses have accordingly been curtailed. Drunkards and gamblers have been reformed or excluded from societies. Self-restraint, punctuality, straight-forwardness, self-respect, discipline, contentment and thrift have been encouraged. In some areas litigation has markedly decreased. In others the common funds have been used to start schools , to provide scholarships, to distribute quinine, to provide drinking wells, to clean streets. The impetus of co-operative credit has led on to saving banks, benefit funds and provision for the poor. Those who have first –hand knowledge of co-operative societies are emphatic in their appreciation of the change which the movement is making in the character of the people affected by it, and it is important to bear in mind that co-operation is not merely a device for obtaining cheap money, or for increasing the economic resources of members, but is also a potent educational influence and, as such, is deserving of the warmest support from those who have the welfare of the people at heart. The managing bodies of the societies have frequently been entrusted with the arbitration of disputes and with other duties which belong to the traditional village panchayats and there is some reason to think that the continuity of aim, and the solidarity of feeling in herent in the movement, may lead to a revival of the corporate village life which has been so weakened by the disintegrating influences of modern times. “
654. Benefits peculiar to co-operation Before proceeding further it may be well to indicate the grounds on which the co-operative method claims to be more worthy of encouragement than its rivals.
The taccavi system described in the previous chapter possesses many advantages. It is based on the credit of the supreme Government which does not desire to derive any profit from it. This credit enables Government to borrow at from 5 to 6 per cent interest and to re-lend this monet at 7-7/24 percent. The difference represents the cost of administration of the system plus allowance for irrecoverable loans. Its great advantage is the low rate of interest charged, and it might be assumed that this alone would ensure its popularity. The very fact. however, that co-operative credit has made such headway in the country suggests that the taccavi system is not free from defects. In order to be able to lend at such a low rate, it is necessary in the interests of the general tax-payer that Government should have adequate security for the money advanced and a certainty of its ability to recover the principal. The powers considered necessary (see paragraph 620 of this manual ), are liable to prove harsh in the hands of unsympathetic officials, and the machinery available for working the system is apt to involve the borrowers in delays and vexations attendant on the direct receipt of loans from Government treasuries.( Cf Committee’s report, paragraph 206.)
Moreover, as security , Government obtains a charge on the land and crops and can in the last resort sell proprietary rights by auction. The protective provisions of the Land Alienation Act and Civil Procedure Code do not curtail the right of Government to realise on its security. An agricultural bank would insist on a direct charge on the land or crops; it is doubtful if it could afford to lend merely on personal security. As Government realises no profits from its taccavi transactions, it would seen that an agricultural bank would have to lend at a higher rate, if its share-holders were to receive dividends. It would be a stranger to its clients, serving their needs on a business basis , the welfare of the one would be of no interest to the other.
655. What co-operation means. Co-operation claims to be more than a methods of doing business, it is an idea , a faith. It depends for its success on a moral bond. Given a body of persons of limited means, similarly situated, economically it provides the means for improving the interests of each through unselfish devotion to the common interests of all. The members come to realise that the advantages secured to them are not due to outside help from Government or philanthropists but to the combination of their own efforts and to loyal adherence to the rules they have themselves adopted. They stand or fall on their own merits, whether they achieve success or suffer failure depends on their own character and their own efforts. Co-operation is largely mutual self –help, and as the members are equally responsible for the management and are drawn from the same class in the same neighbourhood, the delinquency of one hurts his friends as well as his own society and himself. There is thus a strong moral incentive to straight dealing.
Further, co-operation is an association of persons and not of capitalists, the members meet on terms of equality, void of all distinctions of class , creed, birth or money, and they bring to the task of promoting the economic interests of all their honesty, good character and determination to work together for success . There is no element of charity , it is self help through mutual help.
656. Conditions of success in co-operation. The system of rural co-operative credit adopted is based on that of Raiffeisen; the essential principles are honesty, good character and determination to work to described in paragraph 3 of the Report of the Committee on Co-operation as follows :-
“The society to be fully co-operative must fulfill many conditions. The theory underlying co-operation is that weak individuals are enabled to improve their individual productive capacity and consequently their material and moral position, by combining among themselves and brining into this combination a moral effort and a progressively developing realisation of moral obligation. The movement is essentially a moral one and it is individualistic rather than socialistic. It provides as a substitute for material assets honesty and a sense of moral obligation and keeps in view the moral rather than the material sanction. Hence the first condition obviously is that every member should have a knowledge of the principles of co-operation., if this co-operation is to be real and not a sham. In the formation of a society the first essential is the careful selection as members of honest men, of at any rate of men who have given satisfactory guarantees of their intention lead an honest life in future As. regards the dealings of the society, it should lend to its members only , and the loans must in no circumstances be for speculative purposes, which, so far from encouraging thrift and honesty have exactly the opposite effect. Loans should be given only for productive purposes or for necessaries which, as essentials of daily life, can fairly be classed as productive . The borrowers should be required to satisfy their fellows that they are in a position to repay the loans from the income that they will derive from their increased productive capacity, or that by the exercise of thrift they can effect a margin of income over expenditure which will suffice to meet the instalments of their loans as they fall due. When a loan has been given, it is essential that the committee of the society and the other members should exercise a vigilant watch that the money is expended on the purpose for which the loan was granted. If it is improperly applied, it should be at once recalled. It is further advisable to add to the general supervision of the society the special supervision of individual members, by taking personal sureties in the case of each loan. In the event of any default by the borrower an instant demand should be made on these sureties. In the more general matters of the society’s business there should, of course, be a committee of management with a president and a secretary , all of whom, except those who perform purely clerical duties and have no voice in the management, should be members of the society and give their services to gratuitously. At the same time the ultimate authority should never be delegated to the office bearers, but should be retained in the hands of the members who must continue to take a practical interests in the business of the society. With this object the constitution should be purely republican; each member should have one vote and no more in the general meeting, and all business should be transacted with the maximum of publicity within the society. For example, there should be kept in some place open to the inspection of every member a list showing the loans issued to every member, the names of his sureties and the amount of the loan still unpaid, and each member should be required to know generally how this account stands; general meetings should be frequently held at which the accounts and affairs of the society are fully discussed and explained The express object of the society should be the development of thrift amount its members, with the hope too that this idea of thrift will spread in the neighbourhood. To effect this object loans must be given only when they are really necessary and desirable. Further, the development of thrift and of a proprietary interest in the society should be aided by efforts to build up as soon as possible a strong reserve fund from profits The society must also be encouraged to obtain as mush as possible of its capital from the savings which its teaching and example have brought about among its members and their neighbours. With all these must go the elementary business principles of honesty, punctuality, proper accounts, diligence, and payment when due. To ensure all this there must be adequate control from within, increasing vigilance and supervision by the office bearers, and a continuous effort by members in learning the principles of co–operation, in meeting frequently, in watching others, in working hard and observing thrift, and in punctual repayment of their own loans as they fall due.”
657. The Punjab type of
society.- A society must have at least 10 members; its area is usually so
restricted that the number is not likely to become unwidely; the average
society in India has about 40 members, in Germany it has 94. The smaller the
area the more intimate is the personal knowledge and the easier it is to
maintain a watch over the economic condition of each member. Usually in the
Punjab each member has to subscribe for at least one share of 10, 20 or 50
rupees by equal annual instalments spread over ten years. These shares are not
withdrawable,(which is not the same as not returnable). All net profits remain
common and inadvisible for ten years, and thereafter onefourth goes to reserve and three-fourths
may be distributed amongst the share-holders as non-withdrawable shares. The
object of this is to raise up a buffer of the society’s own capital between
creditors and the unlimited liability of
the members. In these societies liability must be unlimited but this does not
necessarily involve the members in much risk; the society is a body corporate,
and so liability can only be enforced by a creditor on liquidation. Unlimited
liability is universal in all private and business dealings, partnerships,
clubs, syndicates, etc., with the single
exception of limited companies, and these latter are quite a modern innovation in India. The
liability refers to sums owed by the society to outside creditors and is in practice limited by fixing a low maximum
to the loans borrowed. This requires as a preliminary a limitation on the
credit allowed to individual members. If this latter precaution is carefully
observed, and if all loans are fully
secured by two sureties, there is little
risk of any loss. Year by year the paid-up share capital increases and
the profits accumulate, enabling the society gradually to dispense with outside
assistance until, as experience shows, after ten years the society frequently
owns all the capital its members need, and its outside liability to a financing
institution has been reduced to nil only in name. In the Punjab, in July,1931,
the 16,297 village credit societies, containing 4,99,314 members, owned 38.8
percent of their working capital of rupees 8.17 crores and the amount on loan
with the members was Rs. 7.18 crores ( For the working of the co-operative
societies the annual reports should be referred to.). It is no part of the
object of a society to earn a profit on shares; share capital is entitled to
interest such as may be charged on loans, but anything above this should be
devoted to improving the service rendered to members by reducing the rate of
interest or otherwise promoting their
economic interests.
658. Central banks. In order to proceed funds for village societies in the early years of their existence, central banks have been established. These are not necessarily cooperative in form but are joint stock companies with limited liability and foxed capital. They are allowed to be registered under the co-operative societies act and to enjoy the privileges of registered the co-operative societies. In the Punjab these are of two kinds the banking union which has as its members and share-holders only the co-operative societies with which it deal and central banks proper which include individuals among their share-holders. The latter possess the advantage of securing more outside credit and so in the early stages of the movement proved invaluable. Their success has been largely due to the unselfish devotion of a few public- spirited gentlemen to whom the co-operators of the Punjab rest under a great debt. These banks lend only to registered societies and to the extent considered advisable by the Registrar. They have a right to all information concerning their client societies which the staff can provide. They must put one-fourth of their annual profits to reserve, while their clients are not allowed to distribute profits for ten years. Their business is thus unusually safe ,and as their reserve funds grow, these banks generally experience no difficulty in attracting all the credit they desire. The Deputy commissioner or sub-divisional officer used in most sases to be ex-officio. President, but there are now many central banks where this is no longer so; and practice is conforming to the recommendations of the committee on co-operation.
In consideration of the special privileges enjoyed by these central banks the Act and flues impose certain restrictions which differentiate them from joint stock companies: at last one-fourth of their annual profits must go to reserve and the dividend must not exceed 10per cent, and no person may hold more than one thousand rupees of shares of more than one-fifth of the whole. These restrictions, it will be observed, add to the financial stability of the bank.
659. 659. Registrar and his duties. To control the co-operative movement, Government has appointed a Registrar, whose post is now permanent, and maintains a large inspecting and teaching staff under him. In addition to this, the Punjab co-operative union, a non official body ,has a large field staff for the purposes of audit and supervision of societies, which ot maintains out of its own funds, and with the help of an annual grant from Government. The position and duties of the Registrar are thus described in the committee’s repots:-
“The progress of the
co-operative movement in India may be said to be due almost entirely to the
fact that in every province a special officer of Government has been appointed
to guide and control it. In European countries we find that such officers are
appointed in some cases, but that their duties are mainly of a formal
character. In other cases the movement is in the charge of no individual
representative of Government but
Government officers in several departments are expected to give it their support and countenance. In the
creation of a
Registrar not only to fulfill the formal requirements of the Act but also to
guide and control the whole movement, the Indian Government occupies a unique
position and one which we think has been of great, and could be made of still
greater, utility to the movement, when the appointment. When the appointment as
first created in 1905 the retention of a Government officer as Registrars was
looked on as a more are less temporary measure, and it was hoped that as experience
was gained and societies become more
able to stand alone, the fostering care of the Registrar would gradually be
round less necessary until ultimately he would be able to confine himself to
his statutory functions only. Even now the appointments in the various
provinces are on a temporary footing and their further continuance will come up
for consideration in 1916, but from what
we have said throughout this report, and in view of the duties which our recommendations
impose on the Registrar, it will be understood that we cannot subscribe either
to the disappearance if the post or to the transference of its functions to
non-official agency. Nor can we contemplate the continued development of
co-operation in India on any other condition than the permanent maintenance of
an efficient and adequate staff of registers.
“under the act it is the duty of the register to receive and inquire into application for registration, to register the bye-laws of societies and amendments to them to audit the accounts or cause them to be audited; to make a valuation of the assets and liabilities of societies and prepare a list of overdue loans; to see that the act, rules and by-laws are observed; to make special inspections when called upon to do so; to dissolve or cancel societies and to carry out their liquidation. In order to fulfill his duties he must be continually studying co-operative literature, which is now most extensive; he must make him-self acquainted with economic conditions and practices both throughout India and in his own province; he must know the principles and methods of joint stock banking, and must examine the system of developing thrift and inoculation co-operation which have been tried in other countries. He is also head of teaching establishment, and must devise effective means for impressing a real knowledge of co-operation on the bulk of the population. He has further to control a large staff, to draft model by-laws and rules, to collect statistics and write reports, to advice government on various subjects, and to keep in close touch with the higher finance of the movement as managed by provincial banks and central banks. In addition to this he must keep in constant tough with markets, with honorary organizers and other well-wishes and various departments of government for the official press and for co-operation journals. As Mr. Wolf has put it to us, the registrars should not be set down as officials, but he guides, philosophers and friends to the societies, appointed and paid by the state. He must further be remember that there is no finality in the register’s work, and he can never feel that it has been cleared off and brought up to date. He will always feel the need of wider reading and of giving more and supervision and teaching to his societies. New means and methods to attain fresh ends must constantly be discussed and devised and devised. His work is moreover, highly responsible, involving a watch over large sums of money deposited by the public and a share in the responsibility for the economic fate of a province. It can well be realized that few officers are entrusted with work more serious or more exacting.”
660. 660. Position of district officers. The relation of district officers to the movement was thus described in the resolution of the government of India of 1914:-
“but while the movement must be essentially a popular one and while excessive official supervision must be avoided it by no means follows that government officials outside the circle of those directly connected with co-operation should hold aloof. It is true that the details of initiation and inspection should be left to the expert agency provided for the purpose, and it is no part of the duty of the district officer to internee in the internal administration of societies. But as co-operative societies are no longer isolated experiments outside the sphere of district work, and as beyond the material benefits which they pffertjeu represent an influence sloselu connected with the welfare of the people and powerful, now and in the future ,for good, or evil, the district officer cannot dissociate himself from the movement. On the contrary a knowledge of co-operative principles and practice has now become as essential as acknowledge of revenue law, allowing them to languish through want of languish through want of sympathy or to develop on undesirable lines through want of vigilance. Without in any way becoming an active propagandist he should, personally, and not grass of the movement in his district, encouraging and helping those who have formed themselves in into societies, enlisting the interest and support of men of influence and wealth and assisting with his advice. Those who seek to avail themselves of the benefits of co-operation. this in no way involves the officiating of co-operation, nor does it trench upon the essential principle that the movement, if it by such encouragement and guidance, while the more closely the district officer is in touch with societies the more surely will he find to his hand new and valuable agencies to help him in his daily work.
“It is for local Governments to consider to what extent and in what manner use can be made of societies in each province in district administration –how far they can afford a means of ascertaining the real public feeling of the district, how far they can be rendering voluntary aid assist in promoting primary education , rural sanitation and medical relief, in what manner they can be used in times of scarcity and famine or during the prevalence of epidemics, or whether the training afforded by them will lead to the development of a true system of village Government.
“In these and other ways it may be found possible to utilize the co-operative organization and the movement should if wisely directed, exercise an important influence in prompting the welfare of the people. But although it is still uncertain to what extent and in what manner , societies may assist in the work of the district there can be no doubt that a new factor in administration which cannot be disregarded, has come into being and that new duties and responsibilities have been thrown upon the district officers.”
The committee on co-operation agreed with the above. The only define functions assigned to the Collector by the Act are set forth in section 35. He may call on the Register to make an enquiry into the condition of a society and is entitled to access to all the books and to call for any information regarding the working of any society that the may require. With reference to his position towards central banks the committee wrote – “although we see no objection to the Collector or sub-divisional officer acting as chairman or member of the managing committee of a central bank in individual cases we do not advocate that they should hold these positions ex-officio or as an invariable rule. The district officer should however, in our opinion always have a formal right to attend meetings of the share –holders or directors of a central bank, and it is for the local Government to decide in what manner this arrangement can be best carried out. He would also be the most suitable person to preside at a district conference . In that character and in any position which Government in accordance with our suggestions above may assign to him on the central bank, he would occupy in our opinion a position which represent correctly his general relation to the movement. He would stand as a well wiser equipped with the requisite knowledge and sympathy, but need not necessarily have any intimate connection with the management or assume direct responsibility.”
660-A. Chief duties to be performed by official staff. The Royal Commission on Agricultural in general supported the recommendations of the Maclagan Committee on Co-operation and added little that was new; it; however , stressed a few points on which critics are apt to go astray . The movement was initiated by a Government faced with the finding that “Indian famines are necessarily recurring calamities” and was intended to be a part of its anti-famine policy. This has resulted in three features characteristic of the movement in the Punjab and other provinces; the movement is closely supervised by Government officer, it has been chiefly developed in the rural areas and it has been concerned more with the organization of credit than with other needs of the people. The Royal Commission accepted the position that the movement must in the main continue to be directed towards the expansion of credit societies until the burden of outside debt has been considerably eased. Those charged with its direction are fully alive to the advantages to be granted from the application of the co-operative principle in directions other than credit. But their most important duty must, for many years to come be that of developing a rural credit system covering the whole field of village life, and we think it should be left to their unfettered judgement to decide what part of there resources at their disposal should be directed towards the extension of the non-credit movement.”
The main function of the official staff is to train the members of societies to manage their own affairs without outside interference or assistance, but practical considerations render necessary some degree of audit; inspection and supervision. The assistance of non-official workers is essential and is always welcomed but the Royal commission, in view of the many and serious defects which had been brought to their notice, recommended that every effort should be made to build up a highly educated and well trained staff of officials, “Its chief duty is to educate members upto the point at which they will be competent themselves to undertake its duties and so to dispense with its services; to strengthen the hands of the honorary workers by furnishing them with skilled advice and guidance in the more difficult problems; to supervise the work of unions and federations engaged in the management and control of the movement and to work out new schemes to facilitate the work of other departments to prepare the ground for their special propaganda and to organize the people to receive and adopt expert advice.”
660-B Government aid to co-operative movement. Royal Commission made definite recommendations the subject of Government aid to the movement. “We think that local governments should encourage the enlistment of honorary worker by contributing towards their out of pocket expenses , both while they are under training and whilst they are working in the field.
“Public funds may also reasonably be spend in assisting institutions whose object to spread education in the application of co-operative principle to various objects and also…… in assisting unions for supervision. We found that Government aid was usually given for propaganda work and we approve this. In considering the prevailing illiteracy and the consequent difficulty in reaching the people by paper or pamphlet, we think that Government have a special interest in promoting organizations on a co-operative basis to facilitate the activities of the agricultural, veterinary, educational and public health, departments and that assistance should , therefore , be freely given to ventures of a novel nature……..” The Royal Commission further recommended that Government expenditure should be devoted to education in preference to audit.
In general the Punjab movement conforms to the various recommendations mentioned above.
660.– C. Organisation of land mortgage banks with aid of loans from Government. The question of organizing land mortgage banks on a co-operative basis has received much consideration and although there has not yet been sufficient experience on which to base final conclusions, a tentative policy has been accepted of organizing two such banks a year with the aid of loans from Government. The recommendation of the Royal Commission on this difficult subject have been adopted and the banks are registered under the Co-operative Societies Act. These institutions can at present only be regarded as in the experimental stage and great caution must be exercised in advancing loans to people whose appetite for credit is greater than their readiness to make the personal sacrifice necessary to ensure repayment.
611 to 671
Cancelled.
THE COURT OF WARDS
672. Object of Court of Wards. The duty of the State to make provision for the care of the persons and property of those who by reason of age, sex, mental, incapacity or other causes are unfit to manage their own affairs is generally recognized. The Guardians and wards Act, VIII of 1890, embodies the general law on the subject, and under this a competent court is empowered, where no other suitable guardian can be found, to appoint the Deputy Commissioner to that office, But where public interest are involved., as in the case of a large landholder., or where the family is one of political or social importance public policy necessitates a more specialized machinery , which is provided by the Court of Wards Act II of 1903. Action under this Act is regulated party by statutory rules(Punjab Land Administration Acts, Volume II) and partly by executive order issued in Financial Commissions Standing orders No. 33 . In the general interest of the administration of the province, it is desirable that large landholding families should receive assistance from Government , where that assistance can suitably be rendered. In cases where the official machinery is not suited to mange the particular business, such as an industry or trade , it will rarely be to the advantage of the minor to be brought under the court of words. Such cases must be left to the Guardians and wards Act.
673. In case of
Vicious or spendthrift landholders, interference confined to families of
political or social importance. The considerations which lead the State to
interfere in the case of landholders of vicious or spend thrift habits are
those of public interst. The law does not contemplate the putting of any
restraint on a man’s power of dissipating his property by vicious courses or
the extravagant pursuit of pleasure unless he belongs to a family whose
poetical or social importance it is a matter of public interest to preserve .
IN this respect it does not go as far as the French law, which permits the
relations of any prodigal spend thrift to apply of the appointment of a
judicial adviser, without whose
“assistance,” he is powerless to
borrow money to sell or mortgage his immovable property or to bring a suit in court. (The power which reversions posses under the
customary law of the Punjab to sue for the cancellation of the transfers of
land made with out necessary is a restraint of the same kind(see paragraphs 45
and 8 of this Manual)
Even in the case of great families it must be remembered that it is against the declared policy of Government to extricate them from debt by means of loans of public money. IN such cases Deputy Commissioners must not formally discuss with the persons concerned applications for the intervention of the court of wards, or initiate proceedings, without first obtaining the sanction of the Commissioner. And if ultimate resort to Government loans seems probable reference should be made to Government for a decision of the question whether the political or other considerations are strong enough to warrant an exception being made to its general rule or policy.
674. Imperfection of law regarding court of wards contained in section 34-38 of Act IV of 1872 and origin of Punjab Act, II of 1903. The old law concerning the Court of Wards contained in the Punjab Laws Act of 1872(As amended by Act XII of 1878) was unsatisfactory and defective, but it was not until after the prolonged examination of the measure required to rescue the rural population from debt that Bills were prepared to deal with some aspects of this problem. The Alienation of Land Act of 1900 (See paragraphs 24 et seq. Of this manual) was designed to meet the case of the mass of owners and it was supplemented in 1903 by the Court of Wards Act, to meet the case of families of social or political importance. The remainder of this chapter will be devoted to a short account of the present law followed by a few remarks on some particular questions which arise in connection with the care of wards an the management of their property.
675. Cancelled.
676. Financial
Commissioner Court wards for Punjab. By Act No. II of 1903, the Financial
Commissioner is declared to be the Court of wards for the whole province. But
he can exercise all or any of his powers
through Commissioners or Deputy Commissioners to whom also they can be
delegated by rules under the Act, or by general of special orders.(Section
4. For powers delegated to Deputy Commissioner and Commissioners [see the rules
under section 4(3) in parts I and II of the rules under the Court of Wards Act
in Punjab Land Administration Acts. Volume II.]
677. Only landholders can be made wards. To be made a wards a person must be landholder i.e, he must possess an interest in land as proprietor , assignee of the Government revenue, lessee of land, otherwise.(Section 3(b) of Act. No. II of 1903.)
678. Classes of landholders who may be made wards by order of Financial Commissioner. The court may of its own authority declare the following classes of landholders to be its wards :-
(a) (a) minors that is to say persons below the age of eighteen.(Section 3(c) of Act II of 1903 read with section 3 of the Indian Majority Act, IX of 1875) A person who has been made a ward while still below that age does not reach his majority till he is twenty one.( Section 3 of Act IX of 1875, as amended by Section 52 of Act VIII of 1890) The Deputy Commissioner reports the cases of all minors who in his opinion ought to be made wards , and likewise case in which he himself has been appointed guardian of a minor under the provision of section 18 of he Guardian and Wards Act, VIII of 1890(Section 7(2)) The object of the report in the latter case is to enable the Financial Commissioner to decide whether the estate should not be brought under the Court of Wards;
(b) (b) Persons adjudged by a court acting under section 2 of Act XXXV of 1858 to be of unsound mind and incapable of managing their affairs . (Section 6) The deputy Commissioner may apply to the District Judge to institute the necessary enquiry.( Section II(4) , see also section 3 of Act XXXV of 1858)
679. Classes of landholders who may be made wards by order of local Government. The local Government may order the Court of Wards to take charge of the property of the following classes of landholders if it considers them incapable of managing their own affairs :-
(a) (a) Females;
(b) (b) Persons suffering from any physical or mental defect or infirmity;
(c) (c) Persons who themselves apply to made wards;
(d) (d) Persons who have be convicted of any non-bilabial offence , and are of vicious character;
(e) (e) Persons whose habits of wasteful extravagance are likely to dissipate their property. (Section 5(2)(d))
The court may at its discretion take charge of their persons also. In the case of the third class action can only be taken , if it is considered “expedient in the Public Interest ;” in the case of the last two classes it is necessary that the landholder shall belong to a “a family of political or social importance” and that the local Government shall be satisfied that it is desirable on grounds of public policy or general interest” to interfere. (Proviso to section (2))
680. Inquiry by Deputy Commissioner. A proposal to take anyone under the superintendence of the court of wards usually originates with the Deputy Commissioner of the district in which the whole or the bulk of the property concerned is situated ; but cases occur where the landholder applies direct to the Governor or the Member in charge. In such cases the application or proposal has to be sent to the Deputy Commissioner who acts as if it were his own . The 3rd chapter of the Act gives him the necessary powers for making an inquiry and for the protection of the person and property of the proposed ward until sanction is received.
681. Release from wardship. A minor or an insane person may be released from wardship by the court at any time, When it is proposed to release the person or a minor, the head of the educational institution at which he is studying should be consulted as to this future. The concurrence of the District judge is, however, required in any case in which the Deputy Commissioner was appointed guardian of the minor before he became as Ward of Court. (Section 44)On releasing a ward who is still a minor the court may give him a guardian who will have the same rights and duties and he subject to the same disabilities as a guardian appointed by the District Judge under Act VIII of 1890.(Section 47)
The property of a landholder who has been made a ward under the orders of the local Government cannot be released without its order; but the court may relinquish charge of his persons at its pleasure. (Section 44)
682. Publication of orders. The orders by which the Court of Wards assumes and relinquishes charge of the person or property of a landholder are published in the Government Gazette.( Section 9 and 50)
683. Provision to meet case of joint owners. When the landholder declared to be a ward is joint owner of property with other the court may take charge of the whole property.( Section 8) But as will be shown here after , its power of de align with such property is subject to restrictions. Again if a person who has ceased to be subject to its jurisdiction owns property jointly with another person who is still in ward, the court may retain the whole under its care. ( Section 46) This is very useful provision. It obviates the difficulty which arose under the old law, when several brothers were wards and one of them was released from tutelage on attaining his majority . When the court manages property not belonging to a ward it is bound to make over the surplus income to its owner.( Section 8 and 46)
684. Wardship may extend only to property. As already indicated the superintendence of the court may extend only to the property of the ward, or to both his property and his person.(section 6 and 7) .
685. Disabilities of ward. A ward cannot purchase on credit, borrow money, or transfer his property by lease, mortgage ,sale or gift. (Section 15(a)) He cannot make a will adopt an heir, or give permission to adopt.( Section 15(b)) He can only use under the authority of the court(Section 20(1)) and he cannot be used without the court being made a defendant, (Section 20(2)) and without two months notice having previously been given to the Deputy Commissioner.(Section 19)
686. Disabilities
extending beyond release. A ward’s
disabilities do not in all cases come wholly to an end on his release . A
landholder who was made a ward at his own request or as a consequence of his extravagant habits cannot, after his release from the
superintendence of the court, make any transfer of this property for a term
extending beyond his own like. (Section
16(1)).
687. Powers of court as regards ward’s property. All property which the ward possesses in the Punjab at the date of the order by which the court assumes charge, and all property in the Punjab which the ward may subsequently acquire vests in the court , which however , has discretion as to taking he superintendence of any property fo the latter class not received by inheritance.( Section 13) The Act only extends to property in the Punjab ; property owned by a ward is an other province is not affected by its province, the authorities in that province must be moved to take the necessary action under the local Act. The court has for the item being all the powers of a landowner. It can even sell the whole of the property if it thinks that to do so would be the ward’s advantage.( Section 17(1)) Of course permanent alienation of any part of the ward’s landed property is usually to be avoided. But the sale of outlying or isolated portions of an estate as part of a scheme for the liquidations of debt may be sound policy. The court cannot sell or mortgage the share of a joint proprietor who is not himself a ward, or grant a lease of it for more than twenty years.( Section 17(2)) In this connection it must be borne in mind that jagirs notified under the Punjab Jagirs Act, V of 1941 , cannot be attached and are, therefore, of no value as legal security.
688. Management may
continue after death of release of ward. The cessation of legal disability
, or even the death or a ward, does not in every case free his property from
management. If still encumbered with debt
it may, with the sanction of the local Government, be kept under the charge
of the Court till all the debts have
been discharged.(Section 45)
689. Powers of court over ward’s person. When the court has taken charge of the person of a ward it can fix his place of residence and in the case of minor male ward, has complete control of his education. (Section 24) This control has been delegated to Deputy Commissioners .(See paragraph 696 of this Manual)
690. Ascertainment
of debts. To free an estate from a load of debt is too often one of the
chief tasks of the court of Wards. The first step is to ascertain exactly what
the liabilities are. The 6th Chapter of the Act provided a means of
doing this promptly and a notice calling on all creditors to present within six
months their claims with the documents on which they rely for their
establishment.(Sections 26 and 27)
Subject to the provisions of section 7and 13 of the Indian Limitation Act, XV
of 1877, claims not filed in time without reasonable excuse of the sufficiency
of which the Deputy Commissioner is judge are ipsofacto extinguished.(Section 29) Suits and executions
against the wards , estate pending at the time are stayed until the plantiff or
the decree holders files a certificate that the claim has been duly notified. (Section 3(2) . Compare section 31(3)
barring fresh proceeding in execution.)
691. Deputy Commissioner must determine amount due and may rank the debts. It is the duty of the Deputy Commissioner to examine in to the truth of each claim, and to determine the amount due. (Section 28) He cannot of course disallow any sum already decreed and still unpaid. (Section 3(1)) He has further to decide in cases in which immediate payment is impossible the rate of interest, if any , to be allowed in future, (Section 28) and he may, if the thinks fit rank the debts in the order in which they are to be paid, and fix a date for the discharge of each.(Section 32(1)) . Debtors will often accept a composition favourable to the ward if, by doing so, they can procure a prompt settlement of accounts.
692. Remedies open
to creditor. The Deputy Commissioner’s decisions are not subject to appeal
, but they may be revised by the Court of Ward. (Section 33) No civil suit lies to set aside the order of Deputy
Commissioner ranking debts or fixing dates for their discharge. But, if he has
wholly rejected a claim or reduced its amount , the aggrieved party may bring a
civil action, in which the court of wards will be defendant to impeach the
correctness of the decision.( Section 32)
In such a suit no document which the palintiff failed to produce before the
Deputy Commissioner, through it was in his power to do some can be received in
evidence.( Section 30)
693. Appointment of tutors, guardian and mangers. The 7th chapter of the Act provided for the appointment of tutors , guardians and managers , and explains their duties and obligation Subject to the control of the court, a guardian has charge of the person of a ward, and a manager of his property.(Section 35 and 38) It is often well to consult the friends or relations of a ward as to the choice of manager since a fit private person may sometimes be available. In the case of large estates, however, where a specially competent manager is required, a Government servant should generally be selected. In all case , the interest to be considered are those of the ward and not those of any friend or relation or other candidate for the post. There is no reason why in suitable cases the two offices of guardian and manager should not be united in a single person. A guardian can only be appointed for the care of a ward. Who is a minor, or an unmarried female, or insane, or suffering from some physical or mental infirmity.(Section 35) The next heir of a ward or a person immediately interested in outliving him cannot be his guardian. (Section 36) If no guardians or manager is appointed by the court, their powers are exercised by the Deputy Commissioner.
694. Preliminary report and scheme of management. When a Deputy Commissioner has made up his mind that an estate should be brought under the court of Wards, he submits his proposals in a preliminary report, which is followed as soon as possible by a detailed scheme of management . Orders on the subject will be found in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Financial Commisisoner Standing Order No. 33.
695. Court of Wards rate. (1) A rate is levied on the income of estates managed by the Court of Wards under the authority of section 3 of the Government Management of Private Estates Acct (X of 1892) . The income is intended to cover the cost of all ordinary Government establishments in so far as these have to devote part of their time to Court of Ward’s business. This is of course does not include any staff recruited solidly for the management of any estates or group of estate. Such a staff is paid out of the income of the estate or estate which employ it. The case also covers the share of any contingent expenditure of Government offices, which would otherwise be debatable to the Court of Wards. For the present the rate has been fixed as follows :-
(a) (a) on gross income up to Rs. 5000 per annum 5 percent.
(b) (b) On excess upto Rs. 10000 per annum, 4 percent
(c) (c) On further excess upto Rs. 20000 per annum, 3 percent.
(d) (d) On further excess above Rs. 20000 per annum, 2 percent.
(2) Gross income is defined in section 2(2) of the government Management of private Estates Act, 1892, as follows:-
“Gross income includes all receipts of every kind in produce or cash , except money borrowed , recoveries of principal and the proceeds of sale of immovable property or movable property classed as capitals.
696. Education of wards. The education of wards for good family has always been difficult problem. There can be no question in these days as to the kind of knowledge to be arity with Western ideas and modes of thought , which is becoming the common property of all educated Indians. But a young Indian leaving conservative home surroundings to receive such an education is very much in the position of a young Englishman in the sixteenth century faring to Rome of Padaua to reap the fruits of the Renaissance. We know what the result was in the case of our own countrymen , and we need not wonder if similar disappointments often occur in modern India. Yet the risks of home education are greater and though a body’s relatives commonly urge its advantages, there can in most cases be no doubt that their wishes should be overruled. At best an Eastern home for a fatherless boy of good position and large means is not a school for the development of the mainly virtues; at worst it means an entourage of women trying to keep him in the zanana and of flatterers outside. The general rule that has been laid down therefore is that as far as possible every ward of an age for other than primary education shall , if he is the son or near relative of a hereditary darbari be sent Queen Mary’s College at Lahore as a preliminary to sending him to the Chiefs” college. If the estate is too poor to bear the expense or if there are nay other reasons against its adoption, the circumstances should be reported to the Financial Commissioner when the ward has reached the age of 5 years the lowest age at which boys are received at Queen Mary’s College. The annual expenses of education at the Chiefs College run to some Rs. 2400 but it is often possible to arrange that the boy shall hold a scholarship. The fees paid by wards of Court have now been as similated to those paid by ordinary pupils at the College. When education at the Chiefs” College is not practicable and a private tutor is not employed a ward should be sent to one of the Government Schools.(See also paragraph 16 of Standing order No. 33) For the reason stated above private tuition is not usually to be recommended ; but the week health of a ward or other special circumstances some times leave no choice in the matter. Although the court of wards is not empowered to issued orders compusorily directing the education of female wards the Deputy Commissioner should where possible satisfy himself that suitable arrangements are made. Where funds admit and relations agree Queen Mary’s College provide a very suitable education.( See also paragraph 18 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 33)
697. 697. Investments in improvements. As the accumulation of large cash balances or of readily realizable securities merely provides a temptation to a ward on release from control, it is desirable that surplus funds should be employed on the improvement of the estate and on bringing all buildings etc, into a through state of repair. The advantages to be derived from digging wells tanks, embankments or drains should be carefully considered and all measures which the agricultural department can recommend for the improvement of the soil, or for enhancing the security of the crops and the prosperity of the tenancy should be carried out as funds permit. Attempts should also made to effect improvement of the cattle under the advice of the veterinary department. It is not intended that estates under the Court of Wards should be run on model lines; but whatever an intelligent and enterprising landowner would be ready to spend money on in his own estate, may be object of expenditure by Court. Where Government has provided a body of experts to advice on agricultural matters, there need be little hesitation in taking full advantage of their advice to effect all promising improvements in the estate. The Government of India have especially advised the liberal supply of advances to cultivators upon the ward’s estate in the shape of either money, seed, or cattle, on the security of long leases and conditional on the payment of enhancement rent. (Government of India, Revenue and Agricultural Department , resolution No. 2771 –79 dated 31st December 1891. Also see paragraph 27 standing Order No. 33) In fact the expenditure should be on objects on which a wealthy and thoroughly intelligent landowner living in the neighborhood would be ready to spend money in the case of his own estate.
698.
698.
In purchase of mortgage of lands. Following the improvement of a ward’s own
estate come investments in the purchase
or taking on mortgage or lands, which should , as a rule be situated in
reasonable proximity to the main estate. It will often be found that the
difficulties involved in the management
of property situated at a distance from the managing center e.g., in one of the
canal colonies. Are such as to render this form of investment inadvisable; but
where these difficulties can be obviated, and auctions are advertised ,
inadvisable; but where these difficulties can be obviated, and auctions are
advertised, proposals may be submitted for the purchase at auction of
Government lands in the colonies. Where the lands to be acquired are not the
property of Government; it is essential
to see that the vendor’s or mortgagor’s title is unimpeachable.
It is to be observed that rule (II) under section 4(3) of the Act, part I( see page 93 of Volume II ; Punjab Land Administration Acts ) Gives the Deputy Commissioner power to execute and register instruments on behalf of the Court of Wards; but before this power is exercised , care should be taken to see that the sale , mortgage or lease in question has received the sanction of competent authority . Under rule (2) the Deputy Commissioner may himself fix the form of lease to be given in certain cases. In other cases the form of instrument must be approved either by the Financial Commissioner or by the Commissioner. (Rule (3 part II of the Rules under section 4(3) of the Act(see page 94 of Volume II, Punjab Land Administration Acts).It is necessary to lay particular stress on the fact that on no account should loans be advance in the interest of the borrower but solely, as laid down in section 17(1) of the Act for the advantage of the ward. Particular instructions in this respect are given paragraph 31 of Standing Order No. 33.
699. 699. In purchase of government paper. The third form of investment is the purchase of Government promissory notes, but this is not only intended to be a convenient course to be adopted pending the occurrence of an opportunity to invest in less easily realizable securities. In the absence of any special reason to the country , all sum belonging to wards exceeding Rs. 500 and not required for investments in improvements or in land or for current expenses should be invested in Government paper until some letter investment can be secured. (See also paragraph 30 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 33)
700. 700. Treatment of tenants. The treatment of the tenants in an estate managed by the court or wards should be an example to neighboring landowners . Undue enhancement of rents must be avoided . There is often more than a mere business relation between land owner and cultivator –as is testified to by the favourable rents which tenants not infrequently enjoy and it is inexpedient to reduce all to a uniform level, and to abolish privilege which the proprietor himself would wish to preserve. A system of cash rents undoubtedly reduces the difficulties of management and renders accounts easier to keep and Government in the case of tits own lands almost invariably adopts a cash rent system. But local circumstances and the custom of the estate must be considered. The practice of putting leases up to competition is forbidden. No estate can be let in farm without the sanction of the Financial Commissioner which will rarely , if ever be given as the practice leads to rack renting of cultivating tenants and other evils connected with the employment of middle men. Government Favor a policy of selecting suitable lessees and conferring on them a tenure of sufficient duration to offer an inducement towards the improvement of the land. Short term leases induce a lessee to make the most out of the land while he can. As already stated the grant of loans to tenants is a useful way of investing surplus funds but tenants will not taccavi to carry out improvements unless they enjoy in some degree stability of tenure. Section 18(2) of the Act which makes convenience , entered into the court binding on the ward; after the property has been released from superintendence, gives the necessary basis for the policy here set forth.
In dealing with the subject of tenants , it should be remembered that where the interests of both parties coincide, no efforts should be spread to foster these. The use of pure seed , of improved implements, or manure and of good bulls are examples, and these deserve full encouragement. Managers are apt to be some what slow to adopt any measure which is not hallowed by custom., and hesitate to embark on the campaign for improvement when this involves extra work. Deputy Commissioners should endeavor to secure for the estate all advantages which science can bring.
701. 697. Instructions issued in 1884. The instructions on this subject issued in 1884 are still applicable :-
(a) (a) No tenant of such lands who cultivates his holding satisfactorily , pays his rent with regularly and otherwise fulfils the conditions of his lease, should be disturbed merely to make room for some new tenant.
(b) (b) If the lease has expired or the rent of such land, the gourds for doing this should be placed on record briefly but clearly , and should be explained to the tenants concerned.
(c) (c) When it is proposed to raise the rent of such land, the grounds for doing this should be placed on record briefly but clearly and should be explained to the tenants concerned.
(d) (d) It is the duty of officers in charge of such lands to see that fair claims of this nature are asserted from time to time. But this should always be done with due and moderation, rents should not be arbitrarily raised, and the practice of putting leases up to auction or other forms of competition should never be resorted to .
(e) (e) When the time comes to renew a lease, the officer in charge of the land should fix a fair rent with reference to the letting value of land similarly circumstances in the neighborhood and should offer it at the rate so fixed to the old tenant, and only on his refusal should it be offered to others.
STATE LANDS
CHAPTER XXI
STATE LANDS RESERVED
FROM CULTIVATION.
702. Rights over waste claimed by Indian rulers.
The large rights which the Indian rulers who preceded our own claimed in waste lands have been
noticed in the 185th paragraph of the Settlement Manual . Even where
the Raja did not claim an exclusive tittle in the soil he often asserted his
ownership of certain “royal” trees. Such as the teak in southern India and the
deodar in the Himalaya. The first attempt at forest administration in India was
made in 1806 in connection with the supply of timber of the King’s Navy. (See Pages 64-66 of Ribbentrop’s “ Forestry
in British India” An interesting account of the rise of forest administration
in India will be found in that work pages 61-76.) It is needless to observe
that the close connection between successful agriculture and a reasonable
system of forest conservancy was not in those early days recognized. The object
of section 8 of Regulation VII of 1822, quoted in paragraph 187 of the
Settlement Manual , was not to preserve waste lands for the growth of wood and
grass, but to ensure their being rapidly brought under the plough . The present
chapter will deal with the use to which state lands have been put in
maintaining a supply of timber, fuel and
pasturage.
703. Classification
of State lands .
The waste lands in the Punjab over which Government has asserted rights varying
from null ownership to a power of control exercised in the interests of the
surrounding communities may be roughly divided into:
(a) (a) Mountain
forests.
(b) (b) Hill forests
(c) (c) Plain forests
(d) (d) Grazing lands.
704. Mountain
forests. The first
are timber forests of oak, pine, deodar, and fir, and consist mainly of the
parts of the Himalayan Range lying in kulu, Kangra, Rawalpindi and Hazara. (
Large parts of the range are included in Indian States, and in some cases
Government manages the forests for the Raja.)
705. Hill
forests . The hill
forests occupy the lower spurs of the Himalayas below an elevation of 5,000
feet, the Siwaliks in Hoshiarpur and Ambala and the low dry hills of Rawalpindi
division and the districts of the North West Frontier Province. The last, when
nature is allowed to have its way, are covered with sanatha, khair and garanda
scrub, and with a taller but scantier growth of phulahi and wild olive. In the
most favoured parts of these hills deciduous threes , such as the dhamman
kangar, kachnar (or kular) and various species of figs are found and above 4000
feet there is a scanty growth of the chil or chir pine. The Siwaliks in
Hoshiarpur and Ambala enjoy a collar climate and a more abundant rainfall, but
owing to the destruction casued by unrestricted and unlimited goat grazing up
to the year 1902 in Hosiarpur and to 1915 in Ambala and the Still unlimited
cattle grazing in both districts, the low hills have been reduced to a terribly
eroded condition resulting in thousands of acres in the plains below being
reduced to utter sterility.
706. Plain
forests and grazing lands. The plain forests which used to be found in the dry south
–western districts have owing to the
extension of canal irrigation practically ceased to exist, except in the great sandy tract between the Jhelum
and the Indus known as the Thal. The central uplands between the Sutlej and the
Jhelum in that part of the province are known as the bar. They were with
trifling exceptions recorded as State property at the first regular
settlements. Much of the soil of the Bar is eceleent only requiring water to
make it of great agricultural value. Left to itself it yields abundant grass in
seasons of sufficient rainfall and a good growth of jand jal farash and karil.
The poorer parts of the bar though graceless and treeless, are often covered
with different varieties of the Sajji plant and afford admirable grazing
grounds for camels. Great change have been effected in the bar by the excavation of the great
Punjab canals and a vast area of firewood forests has greatly decreased, nearly
20 lakhs of acres having been disforested and brought under cultivation in the colonies in Multan ,
Montgomery and Lyallpur. To a limited extent their place as full reserves has
been taken by irrigated plantations. The Thal is less valuable from every point
of view than the bar. Forest growth is scanty but the country is naturally
adapted for camel- gazing.
707. Sketch
of executive and legislative measures taken for forest conservancy desirable. The extent to which Government
asserted title to waste lands in the early days of the administration of the
Punjab is briefly explained in paragraphs 188-191 of the Settlement manual. It
will be necessary to deal with the matter here rather more fully but before
doing so a short sketch of the executive and legislative action taken with a
view to forest conservancy down to the passing of the Indian Forest Act (VII of
1878) will not be out of place.
708. Measures taken by the Board of
Administration -
The curious dislike felt by the early administrators of northern India to State
property in the soil (see paragraph 186 of the Settlement Manual.)and their
short –sighted indifference to forest conservancy gave way to sounder views in
1849. When Lord Dalhousie in his famous dispatch constituting the Board of
Administration (No. 418 dated 31st March 1849, paragraph 60.)
ordered excess waste to be formed into Government estates at the demarcation of
village boundaries he was thinking of he most practical measure for spreading
cultivation and planting a new population in thinly peopled tracts. But two
years later he addressed the Board on the necessity of preserving supply of
timber and fuel in the Punjab(Government of India letter No. 645, dated 18th
February 1851.) Their reply is interesting as embodying the first scheme of
forest conservancy in this province.
They wrote:-
“3rd- The Board are fully
alive to the importance of the ends in view and they are glad to have the
opportunity afforded them by the Governor – General , of bringing before the Government the question ,
not only of increasing the growth of timber, but of economizing the existing
produce for the future wants of our large cantonments, for the steamers which
may hereafter ply , and for the
inhabitants or the country generally.
“4th – Although timber of
large growth is very scarce, yet large tracts of country , throughout the
Punjab are covered with low thick
jungle, more or less dense which yields good wood for fuel . This is the case
in the center of Doabs, commonly called the Bar and the same kinds of Jungle
trees are to be found in different others localities where the ground has
fallen out of cultivation , or is altogether unsuited for it owing to its
broken and ravine nature. The board have ascertained that near out large
cantonments the supply of wood has, in
several instances, been nearly exhausted
by the demand made for fuel for burning bricks and lime and for the
troops and camp-followers; and unless immediate measures are taken , they fear
that the future supply, within any reasonable distance, will be impossible .
They have ascertained that the jungle wood generally is reproducing and that
the wood cut down will be fit in two years to be cut again.
“5th – The large cities
and town in the Punjab have hitherto been supplied with wood, cut from the Bars
or jungles, convenient to their respective localities. The population of the
country is rapidly on the increase and cultivation spreading moreover , the
demand for fuel for the large cantonments and public works, now under
construction throughout the Punjab , as also for the large masses of troops can
toned in the country , is enormous, and the person who supply wood find it more
convenient, as well as more profitable, to stub out the roots of the trees near
at hand than to go to a greater distance for the standing tree. Hence
reproduction is prevented and the supply altogether fails, if the jungle is
limited or it is daily removed to a greater distance.
6th – The Board would
therefore, propose with the sanction of Government , to select certain tracts
of country, if possible uncultivable , covered with low reproducing jungle , as
near as may be convenient to the large cities. Cantonments and rivers (they
mention rivers in view to the future supply of steamers ) and to place these
jungles under proper surveillance, so as to prevent trees being grubbed up by
the roots . The wood should be cut about one foot from the ground and no lower.
A small tax sufficient only to pay the cost of a watchmen to protect, and if
necessary renew the trees might be levied for cutting the wood ; by this plan
the Board would hope to economize it and prevent is being totally destroyed ,
the local agents in each district being charged with the care of it.
7th – The above general
remarks refer to wood in the plains ; but the board understand that the range
of hills from hazara, which rule down to Rawalpindi and end at the Jhelum , as
also the base of the Rawalpindi hills, yield an immense supply of the timber
trees.
8th_Mr. Thornton states
that all these useful products are being misused and destroyed, most recklessly.
9th_ The Board purpose,
after defining the village boundaries, and allowing such reasonable extant of
land as may suffice for the wants of the communities being include in each
area, to declare the lands beyond these boundaries the property of Government.
In thinly peopled tracts it will probably suffice, to prevent waste, that the
heads of the villages bind themselves to prevent injury to the trees and in
return for this care the people might be allowed to collect for their own
consumption , firewood to any extent, provided they confined themselves to dead
timber. The District Officers should be empowered to grant a written permission
to cut down a given number of trees of a specified size and age, when required
by the villagers for agricultural or architectural purposes.
10th – Near towns and
containment’s where the country is more densely peopled it will probably be
necessary to entertain forest rangers paid from the income derived from these
woods; for whose guidance a code of rules can be drawn up.”( No. 60 dated 17th January, 1852 .
I the same letter proposals were made for the preservation of shisham trees in
islands on the Indus above Attock, for the encouragement of tree –planting by
exempting lands under plantations from assessment (paragraph 512 of Settlement Manual) and for the planting of
avenues or groves along public roads.)
709. Order of Lord Dalhouse :- These
proposal were approved in a letter in which Lord Dalhousie remarked :-
2nd – Certain allotted
spaces, calculated according to the ascertained rate at which the wood is
reproduced should be set apart near to the great towns and cantonments for the
regular supply of fuel in the same manner as grass preserves have already been
told off for regular use. The area of the fuel copes should be made ample to
secure a constant supply, and the regulations for cutting should from the first
be rigidly enforced.
3rd – Immediate measures
should be taken for ensuring a supervision and guardianship of the hill timber
in the Jehelum division. The want of these precautions elsewhere has produced
and is now daily producing probable scarcity at no distant date which the
Governor- General regards with some anxiety.
4th – The cost of the small establishment which will be
necessary for the protection of the fuel
copes and the hill woods, may be defrayed by the exaction of a small payment
from the cutters.
7th –From His Lordship’s
own observation during last summer and the preceding one, while traversing the
districts from chamba to Kunawar, he received the impression that vast supplies
of timber exist , and that with proper arrangements much of it may be made
available for use in the plains ; whereas no exertions hitherto have enabled
the officers to obtain it in sufficient quantities.
8th – The importance of securing by
every possible means an additional supply of timber demands a thorough
examination of all existing resources.(Government of India letter No. 218. Dated 13th
February 1852.)
710. General
rules of 1855. In 1855 the Chief
Commissioner Sir John Lowerence, drew up
a set of rules for the conservancy of
forest in hill districts. ( Chief commissioner’s letter No. 196, dated 3rd
March 1855, the Rules are given in
full on pages 368- 370 of Barkley’s Non-
Regulation Law of the Punjab.” The
correspondence is printed as an appendix to Forest proceedings No. 7A of July
1883.
their general scope may be judged from the
three quoted below:-
(1) (1) In any hill district
within British Jurisdiction the Civil authorities have power to mark off any
tract plot or ground wheresoever situated which they may consider specially
adapted for the growth of timber or fuel.
(2) (2) The tract, plot, or
ground so marked off may be declared to be a public preserve denoted by
boundary marks , fenced and protected from trespass of all kinds . Within it
the said authorities are empowered to prohibit, restrict, or regulate all
felling and cutting and to arrange for the development , preservation and
growth of the trees , shrubs, or brushwood in such manner as may seem to them
expedient.
(3) (3) No person shall be
entitled to object to the foregoing rules, whether relating to enclosures or to
particular species of tree shrub, of brushwood on the score of proprietary or
manorial right provided always that the
Civil authorities do not interfere with the wood or fuel that may be really
required by the occupants or owners of the land for agricultural or domestic
purposes.
The privilege of felling might be granted with
or without payment of fees. (Rules 3 and 5) The firing of forest lands in order
to promote the growth of grass might be absolutely forbidden and in case of
fires the joint responsibility of the members of adjoining village communities
might be enforced. ( Rules 8 and 9). Gazing of cattle might be prohibited or
regulated . “provided always that the proper grounds for the grazing of
pasturing of such cattle be not interfered with. The penalty for a breach of
the rules was a fine not exceeding Rs. 100 , or in default imprisonment for a
term not exceeding three months.(rule 12).
711. Government of India orders local rules to
be drawn up. The
Governor – General remarked –
“To any one accustomed only to
European rights and regulations the general powers regarding forest trees which
are assumed in these rules to be long to the Government would appear to be of
an arbitrary character. But His Honor in Council believes that no question will
be raised in this country as to the validity of the manorial right thus
asserted for the Government in the hill districts, while certainly no person at
allacquainted with the local wants of the districts referred to will question
the existence of such a public exigency as would call for the assertion of the
right.” He therefore accepted the rules “as far as they go.” But they were
considered so general and not likely by themselves to do much good and each
Commissioner was to be directed to draw up a set of rules. Adapted to the
peculiar circumstances of his divisions and to report without delay to you for
the final sanction of Government of
India the several steps which he has taken. ( Paragraph 7 of Government of India , letter No. 1789 dated 21st May , 1855.)
712. Rawalpindi rules of 1856. In July 1856 the Commissioner of
the Jhelum division submitted rules. (No. 123 dated 24th July 1856.
See forest proceeding for March 1876. This rules were sanctioned in a letter of
the Chief Commissioner No. 1623, dated 4th August 1856. They were
cancelled in 1903,(paragraph 749)) for the hilly and mountainous portion of the
Rawalpindi district. The first of these rules is the most important. It ran –
“In the mountainous and hilly portion of the Rawalpindi district all trees and
shrubs of spontaneous growth are hereby declared to be the property of
Government. They are available as far as they are really required by the
villagers , for domestic or agriculture purposes, but with this exception may not
be cut or appropriated by any person without the permission of the Civil
authorities. This rule however is to be liberally construed as regards the
comfort and convenience of the villagers.” Permits were required for felling
trees and cutting brushwood, and fees were charged in both cases. Firing was
restricted and regulated. One – eight of
the income from frees was to be paid to the village landowners to ensure their
co-operation in enforcing the rules to any breach of which penalty of a fine
not exceeding Rs. 100 was attached.
713. Hazara and Hoshiarpur rules. In
January 1857 the Chief Commissioner sanctioned rules for the management
of Hazara forests . Their Chief provisions were –
(1) (1) that no trees, large
or small could be cut without permission;
(2) (2) that all except
agriculturists should pay fees for the wood they were allowed to cut, half the
proceeds being used to meet the cost of
forest conservancy and half paid to the landowners;
(3) (3) that ground should not be cleared of trees with a
view to cultivation without leave being first obtained from the Deputy
Commissioner;
(4) (4) that firing of grass
in the vicinity of forests was forbidden.
These rules were imperfectly enforced, but even so they proved very useful. (paragraph 38 of chapter V of Captain Wace’s Settlement Report of Hazara- see also paragraph 720)
714. Kangra and Hoshiarpur rules. In 1859 Major Lake, the
Commissioner of the trans-Sutlej States submitted rules which Mr. Bayley Deputy
Commissioner of Kangra had prepared for that district and suggested that they
should be adopted with certain
modifications. These were sanctioned by Lieutenant- Governor , and permission
was given to extend them to the Hoshiarpur
district. This done by the Commissioner of Jullundur next year. He remarked
– “The right of Government merely extends to the timber. The right of grazing
and to the spontaneous products of the forest appertain to the zamindars ,
subject to the restriction prescribed in the rules.”
At the same time he pointed out that
some forests in Hosiarpur were the exclusive property of Government. ( Extracts
from the correspondence printed on pages 370-375 of Barkey’s “Non-Regulation
Law of the Punjab “see Barkey’s Non Regulation Law of Punjab , Pages 375-378 .
They were not sanctioned by the Government of India , or re-issued under
section 3 of Act VII of 1865, and they probably never had the force of law.)
The rules forbade the felling the
trees without permission of Deputy Commissioner but in the case of inferior
kinds of trees required “ bone fide for agricultural purpose, “ the permission
of the village headman was to be sufficient. Proprietors of land and
hereditary cultivators were entitled to
cut whatever timber they required for building or agricultural purpose on paying a fee of four Ann’s while
trees unfit for use as timber , but fit for fuel or fodder were to be given
free of charge . Persons having an ancient right to graze, gather dry wood, or collect leaves for manure were to be still entitled to these rights .
But a third part of each forest might be closed entirely for three years or any
less period. Firing was forbidden. Annual licenses were to be taken out by wood
–cutters and charcoal burners . One- sixteenths of the receipts was to be paid to the forester and three-
sixteenth were to be paid divided between the lambardar, the patwari , and the
village community.( See rules 4,5,7,19,20 and 27 for the full text of the
rules”
It will be observed that right of
user (bartan) were clearly recognized as belonging to the landowners living in the neighborhood of the forests.
715. 715. Taking
up of alluvial lands for forests. In
1855 the Chief Commissioner drew “the earnest attention of Commissioner to a
scheme proposed by Mr. Edward Thornton for extending plantations of useful timber tree by
appropriating portions of alluvial lands newly thrown up by rivers. (See
paragraph 190 of the Settlement Manual. For rights claimed by Government in
islands in rivers see paragraph 415 of this book) Such lands are well suited to
plantations of shisham trees like that at shahdara near lahore.
716. 716. Conservator
of Forests appointed . In 1864 Dr. J.L. Stewart became the first
Conservator of Forests in the Punjab. In 1869 he published a useful book on
“Punjab Plants”.
717. 717. Act VII of
1865. The first “Government Forests Act” (VII of 1865), was intended to
enable local Governments with the sanction of the governor-general in Council
to issue rules having the force of law like those described above. (Sections
3 to 6 of Act VII of 1865)A local Government
might notify an y land covered with trees , brushwood or jangal to be a
Government forest but no existing rights of individuals or communities were to
be abridged or affected thereby.(Section 2 of Act VII of 1865). Forest rules for Rawalpindi were
issued under this Act in 1873.
718. 718. Section 48
of Act IV of 1872 (The Punjab Laws Act). The Punjab ACT, VII of 1865 was supplemented by section
48 of Act IV 1872, which provided that no person shall make the use of
pasturage or other natural product of any land being the property of Government
except with the consent and subject to rules….prescribed by the local
Government.”
By section 50 of the Act such rules
required the sanction of the Governor- General in Council but existing rules
were to be deemed to have been issued under and in conformity to that section.
719. 719. Defects of
Act VII of 1865. Act VII of 1865 was very unsatisfactory to the
advocates of a proper system of forest
conservancy. Its main defects were that “it drew no distinction between the
forests which required to be closely reserved, even at the cost of more of less
interference with private rights , and those which merely needed general
control to prevent improvident working . It also provided no procedure for
inquiring into and settling the rights which it so vaguely saved and gave no
procedure for regulating the exercise of
such rights without appropriating them. It obliged you in short either to take
entirely or to let alone entirely.”
720. 720. Hazara forest
regulations. Indian legislation , like justice has a limping foot , and the
case of Hazara, which came under settlement in 1868, could not wait on its
leisurely progress. Accordingly special forest regulations for that district
were passed in 1870 and 1873 under the authority of Act 33 Vict. Cap 3 while
the General system of forest management in force under the rules of 1855 was
maintained, these regulations directed that , due provision having first been
made for the ordinary wants of the villagers in whose bounds the forests stood
, the more valuable forests should be reserved for the benefit of the public at
large. Rather more than one-tenth of the whole waste area of the district which
then exceeded 2200 square miles was demarcated as reserved forest , and made over for management to the
Forest Department. These State forests are mountain forests of pine and deodar
situated in the higher hills. But it was
impossible with due regard with to the interests of the landowners to reserve all land yielding timber trees, while at the
same time it was essential to prevent waste. The unreserved forest land in the
higher ranger and the fuel forests in the lower hills in the west of the district were, therefore treated as
“village forests”. (Captain Wace’s Settlement Report of Hazara , pages 134-37).
The Hazara district has never been subject to the General Indian Forest Act VII
of 1878, and before describing its provisions it will be convenient to finish
the history of the Hazara forests. Regulation
II of 1873 was replaced by
Regulation II of 1879 By the 8th
section the Deputy Commissioner was give large powers of setting apart waste
lands as “village forests” Within Such forests squatting and the clearing of
land for cultivation the removal of soil or dead leaves and the kindling of
fires were wholly forbidden . But the
deputy Commissioner could give special permission for the firing of land
producing only grass.(Section 16) . Feeling of trees , the loping of tress for
folder lime issued by the deputy Commissioner from time to time” under the
general instructions “ of fires in the case of forests of both classes was
enacted. (Section 28 , compare also section 24)illicit firing and illicit
cultivation might be followed by suspension of all rights user in the lands
brunt or cleared for a period of two years or for such longer time as might be
required to restore the lands to there former conditions six (Sections 29-30 of
Act VII of 1865.) Special powers were given for the protection of land from
erosion and prevention of land slips (section 20-21 of Act VII of 1865) In 1882
Mr. Forest of the Forest Department was interested with the work of Demarcating
village forest , locally known as “mahduda”. The result was that 147,000 acres were set apart
for the purpose but the demarcation was not satisfactory for numerous plots of
cultivation were included . A revised demarcation was made at the resettlement
of the Distinct , and the area of the village forest had been reduced to 83,782
acres, all uncultivated . At present these forests are managed in accordance
with the provisions of regulation VI
of 1893, which replaced regulation
II of 1879 and of rules issued under it.
The rules are contained in Government of India Notification no. 2212-G dated 22nd Dec. 1903. The breaking
up of land without the permission of the Deputy Commissioner is forbidden right
holders are entitled to timber free of charge for their own domestic and
agricultural requirements but notice of
intention to fell must be given . They
can also utilize for fuel without restrictions dry wood and brush wood but the
sales of trees and of fuel two outsiders required the sanction of the deputy
commissioner.
721. 721. Indian
forest Act, VII of 1878. The late Mr. Bnaden Powell, a Punjab Civilian, who
was Conservator of Forests from 1869 to 1872 and from 1876 to 1879, and who of
officiated as Inspector- General
throughout 1873 and part of 1874, helped largely in putting forest legislation
in India on its present basis. (Forestry in British India, page 116. He was the
author of a book “Forest Law” published in 1893) In 1878 the Indian Forest Act
was passed . This Act has been amended from time to tome but finally in 1927 a
new Forest Act. XVI of 1927 was passed and now takes the place of original Act
. It merely consolidates the various amendments made and removes certain ambiguities contained in
the old Act, but makes no radical changes in the policy laid down in that Act.
This Act permits the local
Government to constitute any forest land or waste land which is the property of
Government, or over which the Government has proprietary rights , or to the
whole or any part of the forest produce to which the Government is entitled a
“reserved” or a “protected” forest. (Sections
20 and 29 of Act XVI of 1927).It is sufficient, therefore that the State
should own the trees or some of them even though it may have recorded the soil
, as was imprudently done in the case of Kangara as belonging to village
communities.
722. 722. Reserved
forests. Chapter II of the Act deals with “reserved” and Chapter IV
with “protected “ forests. Reservations
must be proceeded by a forest settlement in which a full inquire is made into
all private rights claimed or otherwise discoverable. (Section 6 and 7 of
Act XVI of 1927) The instructions at
present in force in the Punjab regarding the conduct of forest settlements will
be found in appendix II. When once a
forest has been notified as reserved no
further private rights can grow up. (Section 23 of Act XVI of 1927) A reserved
forest can only be disforest with the
previous sanction of the
governor-general in Council.(Section 27(1) of Act XVI of 1927.)
723. 723. Protected
forests - No special forest settlement is required before notifying waste
land as “protected forest.” But Government must be satisfied that the nature and extent of the rights of
Government and of private persons in the land have been Enquirer into and
recorded at a survey or settlement or in such other manner as it deems sufficient.
An add interim order may be passed to protect the rights of Government pending
the preparation of a proper record. By
declaring waste to be protected forest:” the future growth of rights is not
prevented . When land has been notified as reserved forest many acts regarding
it at once become criminal . But a notification of a protected forest to be
effective must be followed by action under section 30, which enables Government
:-
(a) (a) to declare any
trees in a protected forest to be reserved ;
(b) (b) To close portions of
the forest from time to time and suspend the exercise of private rights. “
provided that the remainder of the
forest be sufficient and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the due
exercise of the rights suspend.” ;
(c) (c) To prohibit
quarrying lime and charcoal burning, removal of forest produce or clearing of
the land for any purpose.
Rules for the management of
protected forests may be made, (Section 32 of Act XVI of 1927) and a breach of
any rules an the doing of any act forbidden under section 30 are criminal offences . (Section 33 of Act
XVI of 1927). Where the choice lies
between action under chapter II of
chapter IV, the former should ordinarily be preferred. There is no
reason why the management of a reserved forest should be one with more rigid
and less considerate of the needs of the surrounding . Communities than that of
a protected forest. Nothing prevents Government from allowing as privileges to
be revoked in case of abuse, the
enjoyment of forest produce to which no
actual right has been established. (See paragraphs 22-27 of appendix II )
724. 724. Interference
in case of privately – owned forests . The Act recognizes that fact that
occasions may arise in which it is necessary to interfere with the use, or even
to assume the management of privately – owned waste land for the good of the
public in general . Reasons for such action are prevention of the spread of
ravines., the protection of land from erosion or deposits of sand and boulders,
the maintenance of the water –supply in springs or streams and the like.
725. 725. Assertion
of State’s title to excess waste. Having sketched the history of the
executive and legislative action for
Government as regards forests down to the passing of Act VII of 1878, it may
now be well to retrace out steps and to show how the claims of the State to
excess waste have been dealt with in different parts of the province, and what
use has been made of waste over which Government has asserted any sort of
title.
726. 726. Claims as
a rule forgone in eastern and sub montane districts. Speaking broadly in
the plains and submontane districts east of the Beas and Sutlej Government
admitted that the whole of the waste belonged to the adjoining village
communities. Little use was made of the provisions of section 8 of Regulating
VII of 1822. (See paragraph 187 of the Settlement Manual) This is equally true
of the districts of Gurdaspur, Sialkot and Amritsar lying to the west of the
Beas . The reason was twofold. In the first place the villages lay much closer
together than in the west of the Punjab , and proportion between the cultivated
and uncultivated areas were very different. In the second place the districts
were for the most part settled before the advents of keeping part of the soil
of a country in its natural state were fully understood. Even in Karnal, where
Government did take possession of excess waste and in Sirsa ,where much
unoccupied land was at its disposal , the sole object of the administrators of
the day was to get rid of the land as
fast as possible by handing it over to any one who would brining it rapidly
under cultivation. (For the leased estate of Karnal see paragraphs 106, 109,
112 of the Karnal – Ambala Settlement report. )
But in 1813 a large tract of village
land near Hissar, deserted 30 years before in the terrible chalisa famine, was
appropriated as a Government bir. This is time became the Hissar Cattle farm.
It was notified as a reserved forest in 1887. (see paragraphs 144-115 of Mr.
Anderson’s Settlement Report of Hissar.) Government therefore possesses few
fuel or fodder reserves east of the Beas and Sutlej; Even the low hills of
Gurgaon and Delhi were included in village boundaries though those of the
former might probably have been clothed with valuable forests of dhak.(This
useful tree also called the palah or palas has very wide range extending in the
Punjab and North –West Frontier Province
from Gurgaon to the point where the Indus divides British from Independent
territory. IN their natural state all the stiffer loan soils in the Punjab plains,
where the rainfall exceeds 20 niches yearly must have been covered with it . It
gives way to the jal and jand where the rainfall is less . It is also common in
the jangals of the Deccan and is found in Ceylon. The name of the capital of
Eastern Bengal is supposed by some to be derived from the dhak tree.)
727. 727. Hoshairpur
Siwaliks. The same mistake was made with deplorable results in the case of
the Hoshairpur Siwaliks. Government owns
two chir pine forests in the SolaSingh range (Punjab Government Forest
proceeding No. 6 –A of June, 1873.)and two bamboo forests at the north
–west corner of the Siwaliks , and chir
trees, whereever found have been claimed
as the property of the State. But here as in Kangra and the hill tract of
Gurdaspur, the first settlement officer,
Mr. George Barnes, included the land of the forests , with the above mentioned
exceptions in village boundaries.
728. 728. Effects of
denudation of Siwaliks on cultivated lands in plains. A generation letter
the effect of the denudation of the low hills , which inevitably resulted from
the policy then adopted on the rich Sirwal tract of Hoshiarpur and Jullundur
had become so great that the matter was
forced on the attention of Government. The Deputy Commissioner Mr. Cold stream
and the Conservator of Forests, Mr.
Baden Powell united in urging the
necessity of prompt remedial action , and the Commissioner of Jullundur, Mr.
Arthur Brandreth strongly supported them.
729. 729. Mr.
Brandreth’s presentation of case. His graphic description of the effects of neglect is worth quoting :-
“The lower Siwalik is a long range
of sandy hills which stretch across the whole of the Jullundur Doab, forming
the northern boundary of that fertile and
productive tract. In the days of the Rajas , when the village common was
the property of the Raja or lord of the manor and not made over to the
peasantry , these hill slopes were covered with a low stunted brushwood with a
few trees here and there. This manor forest growth was not of great value to
the Rajas or to their successors, the Sikh Kardars, but it yielded a sort of cover for game, and was
consequently generally protected ; and as the towns were not then very wealthy
and peasantry had hard enough work to produce the heavy revenue then demanded,
there was little demand for fuel , and few persons with leisure to cut it.
“The stunted brushwood had, however
once great value. It covered the sandy soil by its roots and by the grass which
grew in its shade. The cool air from the shaded hillside arrested the passing
clouds and produced a constant and
almost regular rainfall , which checked
by the leaves of the brushwood and grass , poured down the hillsides at the gentle pace, and brining with it all
the soluble products of the decayed leaves and grass, spread is wealth – laden
waters over the plains below, which thus
became so renowned for their fertility as to be known as the garden of the
Punjab.
The hillsides were divided among the
villages located on the hills , and the whole brushwood and minor forests
declared to be their property village common open to every one.
“With the introduction of English
rule, towns increased , wealth and property abounded, and the cessation of the
continual demand for forced labour created a class of laborers with abundant leisure and in search
of employment . With the increasing wealth
arose increased wish for comfort and a large demand for firewood of all
sorts consequently soon sprung up, and the unemployed class found the brushwood
and low jungle of these hillsides a mine of wealth open apparently to every
one. With out large public works and railways the demand increased still more, and the hillsides were
consequently in a few years stripped of
everything that could by any possibility
be used for firewood. Where the distance from the towns was too great the still
more destructive charcoal burner
appeared on the scene and consumed three times the amount needed to render his
firewood portable. It might be supposed
that the new proprietors would have taken some steps to protect their
quasi-forest, but the sense of proprietorship was new, and they were in doubts
how far they were entitled to interfere. Most of the laborers and wood cutters
were residents of their own villages and what is every body’s business and
consequently none of the former copy-holders now all become joint
owners, endeavored to check this waste ; indeed on the contrary they rather
encouraged it. Many persons paid them some little sum for the rights of cutting,
and the charcoal burners generally paid Rs. 2 or 3 for year’s licensee . They
could not be expected to consider the future loss to their children, still less to care for the villages
below the hills which were slowly bring ruined.
“Yes , I may almost say ruined the
injury is so great and so increasing . As the bare hill sides have replaced the
green forests, the heated air of the dry sandy soil drives off the rain clouds
to pass on the upper ranges. When , owing to the increasing pressure of the
clouds, rain does at last fall. * * the
condensation produced by its fall on the
heated soil produced * * * a great
downward rush on the heavily laden upper
air, and the * * * late rain soon descends in torrents. The fall is no longer
arrested by leaves and brushwood and grass, and the increasing too rent purrs
rapidly down the sandy slopes bearing with
it thousands of tons of sand instead of the fertilizing deposits of former days. These vast floods spread
themselves over the village below tearing away all the fertile fields
which formerly lined the edges of the stream and covering the rest
of the country with a deep sandy
deposit. For the first few years this sandy deposit was not so very injurious.
It was fresh soil and still held a good deal of the decayed roots of the grass
and brushwood of the former vegetation.
Moreover a thin layer of sand is often a great protection to an Indian: it
protects and supports the young and tender plants and enables the soil below to
retain its moisture for a long period. But gradually the tale become very
different. Constant reports of deteriorated crops and distressed villages and
tenants unable to pay their revenue replace d the uniformly prosperous report of former days; traffic and
trade was checked by the great development of these vast sandy beds, which in
trisected all the main roads ; and further demands for remission began to pur
in from villages beyond the action of
the flood, but whose field were being buried by the masses of dry A brought
from these torrent beds by the windstorms of the hot weather. Nor was the
injury confined to the agricultural peasantry only . The increased volume of
waters thus suddenly brought down soon carried away the bridges sufficient for former times and compelled a speedy extension of waterways and further expensive bridging
both on the Grand Trunk Road and the
railways and when even these proved insufficient the waters submerged the country far and wide.
730. 730. Results of
delay in taking Action . The picture
is highly colored , but it can hardly be said to be exaggerated . Soon after in
reporting on the assessment of the Hoshiarpur tahsil Captain J.A.L. Montgomery
pointing out that, owing to the destructive action of the chose or sandy
torrents issuing from the Siwaliks , cultivation’s had decreased by 12 percent
in 30 years.(The action of chos is not
purely destructive. Far away from the hills after the heavier sand has been
dropped , the deposits they spread are often very fertilizing . But wherever
the hills from which they run are denuded of vegetation and consist of
sandstone rocks loss must far exceed gain..) As we shall see, action was
greatly delayed and things went from bad to worse . In 1897 the Financial
Commissioner wrote: -
“During the last period of ten to
twelve years on account of the action of the chos in Hoshiarpur and Jullundur
16,650 acres of land have been converted into echo beds, or have totally lost
their productive power while 23260 acres in addition have been damaged.
Government has remitted Rs. 11855 land revenue and has in addition suffered or
is about to suffer by reductions in the rent rolls of the two districts an
annual loss or Rs. 34719 land revenue while the people have lost at a low
estimate over 20 lakhs of rupees in the
market value of their lands. (Paragraph 18 Financial Commissioner letter No.
541 dated 1st September
1897,- Forest proceedings No. 14 April 1898.)
731. 731. Land
Preservation Chos Act, II of 1900. It is needless to tell the story of the
causes which led to a case which was urgent in 1877 not being finally dealt with till twenty
–three years had elapsed. AT Las in 1900 an Act was passed for the better
preservation and protection of the Siwaliks and the lands affected by the chos,
(Punjab Act II of 1900) Its 3rd section empowers the local
Government to put the provisions of the
Act in force in any local area “situate within or adjacent to the Siwalik
mountain range or affected or liable to be affected by the debasement of forests in that range or by the action of
chos.”
732. 732. Chief provisions of Act. With respect to any
notified area the local Government may regulate, restrict , or prohibit :-
(a) (a) the clearing
of land for cultivation not ordinarily under
cultivation before the publication of the notification under section 3
:-
(b) (b) stone quarrying
and lime burning at places where they
had not ordinarily been carried on before such publication :
(c) (c) the cutting of
trees of removal of any forest produce other than grass, save for bone
fide domestic or agricultural purposes;
(d) (d) the setting on fire
of trees or other forest produce;
(e) (e) the pasturing
of sheep or floats( Section 4 of Act II
1900)
(a) (a) ,(c) and above
all (e) are important . Quarrying and lime burning have never been much practice in the
Siwaliks and firing is hardly known. All
these acts have been forbidden over a very large area by notifications issued
in December 1902.(Notifications Nos. 643 and 644, dated 12th December 1902.)As regards any
specified village or part of a village comprised within , the limits of the
area notified under section 3 the local Government may regulate, restrict, or
prohibit –
(b) (b) Stone quarrying of
lime burning anywhere;
(c) (c) The cutting of
timber or removal of forest produce
including grass even for bonafide
domestic or agricultural purposes;
(d) (d) The pasturing of
cattle other than sheep and goats. (Section
5 of Punjab Act II of 1900).
Provisions are made for compensating persons
whose rights it is necessary to restrict or extinguish.( Sections 7 and 14-15
of Punjab Act II of 1900)
Actions has been taken as regards nine estates
, (Punjab Government notifications Nos. 295, dated 6th July 1904 and
626 dated 12th December 1905.)
733. 733. Power to
declare that barren lands in beds of chos vests in Government Section 8 of the Act gives powers to
Government to take over the whole or any part of the bed of a Cho which is not
land under cultivation and yields no produce
of any substantial value and such action was taken in the Mohli Cho
under the Punjab Government notification no. 384 (Forests) dated August
2nd 1911, but this action proved unpopular and was not
pursued.
Some good was done by the original
closures; but efforts to encourage the villagers to plant Kana grass in the
torrent beds on a large scale failed for lack of sufficient control in the
catchment area above.
It was not , however, until 1934
that marked progress was made. In that year a forest Officer was deputed on
special duty to Hoshairpur district as Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner. He
was responsible to the Conservator of Forest for the correctness of his
technical advice. His Principal duty , however
consisted of interesting the
local inhabitants in the possibility of reclamation . In 1939, a special soil
Conservation Circle was formed in the Forest Department to work in close
collaboration with the Revenue Department.
Meanwhile , steady progress was being made . Experiment showed that the
closure of the hills to grazing by cattle allowed the more valuable grasses,
which before had been mercilessly grazed down , to re-assert themselves and
push out the inferior grasses. Where the
right to cut grass was sold instead of
the sale of grazing rights, it was found that more than ten times as much money
could be obtained for the same area. Meanwhile of course , the young trees were
rapidly springing up with a promise of
large profits later on when they should be ready for cutting. The force of the
torrents in these area was reduced and efforts at planting Kana grass in the
beds of the chos was successful . Hedges were planted , running out into the
torrent beds . When the water passed through these, the checking of the current made the silt drop and the
level of the land behind the hedges was
rapidly raised.
At the same time it came to be
realized that the hills alone were not responsible for the whole of the damage.
Chos could be seen forming themselves in cultivated land where the surface was not quite level.
The terracing as well as the embanking of land was preached by all the
Department of Government concerned and the Cooperative Department in particular
rendered great service by encouraging the formation of societies for these
purposes.
Reclamation is now popular , and the
only obstacles which remain are the divergences of interest between the
landlords , the tenants and other residents in the villages the occasional reluctance of an individual to do things
which will help his neighbors as well as himself, and the magnitude of the
problem.
It must be remembered that efficient
reclamation must proceed from the top downwards and on both sides of the bed at
the same time. Where opposition makes this difficult, compulsion must be
exercised in the interests of the majority, and when persuasion has failed,
Government has the right to exercise compulsion and is prepared to do so.
Prospects for the future are now
bright . Some villages in Hoshiarpur District, where land has been closed to
grazing by cattle have been able to pay the whole of their land revenue from
this single source of income. Stall-fed cattle which do not exhaust themselves
by wandering about in search of fodder , can produce more milk. The area under
the chos is being steadily reduced. Plantations of shisham tress are springing
up behind the protecting hedges and after some years, these barren sandy wastes
will once more come under cultivation. Although
by way of experiment more expensive measures have been tried , in the
way of contour trenching and embankment building , practically all these
results have been achieved at a comparatively insignificant cost by allowing
nature to results have been achieved at a comparatively insignificant cost by
allowing nature to re clothe the hills with vegetation, and by encouraging the
cultivators to protect their hillsides to terrace there fields and to provide
embankments with drains to carry off heavy rain.
Action has been taken in the Mahli
Cho, (Punjab Government notification No. 384-Forest , dated 2nd
August 1911)
734. 715. Shahpur
kandi forests in Gurdaspur . As already noted, Government at the first regular settlement claimed no
rights in waste lands in the thickly- peopled district of Gurdaspur. An
exception, however must be made as
regard the Shahpur Kandi tract in the north –east corner of the district , which is occupied by outlying
spurs of the Himalayas . In 1850 this formed part of the Kangra district, and
Mr. Barnes, the settlement officer recorded all the waste as village common ,
but the property in the chir trees he claimed
for Government. (Chir trees were expressly declared to belong to
Government. The right holders were entitled to cut other trees for their own
use , but not for sale, (see paragraph 3 of a memorandum by the Financial
Commissioner, Sir J.B. Lyall , forwarded to Government with his Senior Secretary’s letter No. 443,
dated 9th April 1883, printed
in Forest proceeding of July 1883).
Seeing that the soil undoubtedly belonged to the villagers it would have
been inconvenient to form reserved forests in Shahpur Kandi (See section 11 of
Act XVI of 1927). As Mr. Baden Powell remarked :-
“The main , if not sole object of
preserving the forest is to prevents these hot dry hills being denuded and
turned into a veritable desert, and to
preserve such soil as exists from being washed off the bare slopes ; while the
inhabitants of the neighborhood may have a supply of wood, of fuel and of
grazing accommodation ; in short, the
value of the forest is purely local ,
and ….. it should be maintained solely for the benefit of the people.”
735. 716. Waste
lands declared protected forests. Accordingly the whole of the uncultivated
land in Shahpur kandi, with some trifling exceptions . has been declared
protected forest by notifications issued under section 28 of Act VII of 1878. (Notifications Nos. 3 and 4 of 5th
January 1904). Some 8,000 acres of the more valuable forest land have been
demarcated. Records have been drawn up declaring the extensive rights of user
in the produce of the forests which the
owners and tenants of cultivated lands in the estates in which they are
situated possess, (Forest proceedings,
No 29 of January 1904) and rules have
been issued under section 31 of that Act defining the manner in which these
rights may be exercised in the case of
demarcated and undemarcated forests and undemarcated forests respectively.
(Notification No. 115 dated 7th March 1904). Rules have been framed
under section 75(c) of Act VII of 1878, for the preservation of chir tree
belonging to Government but standing on land owned by private persons , and not
included in any protected forest. (Notifications No. 5 dated 15th
January 1904.)
736. 717. Mountain
forests in Himalyas. Before dealing with the hill and plain forest of the
western Punjab the action taken with reference to mountain forests in the
Himalayas will be shortly noticed.
737. 718. Rights of
State in uncultivated lands in Kangra. The respective rights of the state
and the land –holders in the
uncultivated lands of Kangra proper and Kulu have been described in paragraph
149-155 and 188 of the Settlement Manual. In Lahul the waste belongs to
Government except in Jagir estates of the Thakurs , who are descendants of the
petty barons of Rajput times. In these the Thakurs own the waste.
738. 719. Early
administration of Kangra forests. For a number of years the Kangra forest
were managed by the Deputy Commissioner under the rules quoted in paragraph 710 and 714, which were enforced with more or
less strictness. Under the rule which enabled one third of any forest to be
closed for three years. Or for such periods as the local authorities may
determine, (see the 20th of the rules refereed to in paragraph
714.)certain areas were reserved. These were known as trihis. Doubtless the
original intention was that the portions closed should be shifted from time to
time , but in practice this was never
done. In 1872 the management of the forest was handed over to the Forest
Department.(Forest Department proceedings No. 3 July 1872. The management of
the Kulu Forests was transferred in January 1873, (Forest proceedings, No. 3 of
January 1873). Mr. Duff , the forest Officer, proceeded to demarcate as
reserves part of the uncultivated land included in 59 estates in the Nurpur and
Dehra tahsils. (Forest proceedings No. 7
of February 1875 and No. 6 of July 1875, and notifications Nos. 111 and 112-F,
dated 6th March 1879.)The consent of the people was obtained to an
assertion by Government of an exclusive title in these reserves
by making certain an cessions to them as regards the rest of the waste
included in their boundaries.
739. 720. Demarcation
ordered in 1880. The area reserved
formed a very small part of the area
which stood in need of protection, and 1880 Government ordered a demarcation on
a more extensive scale as a preliminary to a forest settlement under Act VII of
1878 or the introduction of an improved scheme of management under the rules of
1885. The demarcation was to be made jointly by a civil and a forest officer.
The civil officer chosen was the late . Mr. A Anderson who afterwards made the
forest settlements of Kangra, kulu, Lahul and Shahpur Kandi.(Forest
proceedings, No. 3 of May 1880).
740. 721. Decision
to make forests “protected forests” . It was decided in 1883 that it was
impossible to continue to mange the Kangra forest under the rules of 1855 and
1859, and that procedure under chapter
II of Act VII of 1878 was “unsuitable to a large tract of country, of which the
proprietary right in the soil belongs to the zamindars, and Government has only
the subsidiary and ancillary right to the trees, and power of a limited kind to control their conservancy.(See paragraph 6 of Punjab
Government letter No. 298, dated 20th July, 1883, in Forest
proceedings, No. 7 of July, 1883. It only remained therefore to use the
provisions of the Act relating to protected forests, and notifications were
issued under section 28 of that Act, appointing Mr. A. Anderson to inquire into
and record “ the nature and extent of the rights of Government and the private persons” in the forest and
waste lands. (Notifications Nos. 207 and 208, dated 27th April
1885).
741. 722. Nature of
Kangra forest settlement. The questions involved in this very difficult
forest settlement were not finally decided till 1897. The arrangements adopted
were on the same lines as those followed some years later in Shahpur Kandi. The
small area demarcated by Mr. Duff in 1874 and 1875 continued to be reserved
forests. As regards the remaining waste in the estates out of which these reserves were carved , rules have
been. Issued under section 75(c) of Act VII of 1878 for the preservation of the
trees which belongs to Government.(Notification No. 61 of 26th
January 1897.) The Rest of the waste in Kangra has been declared
protected forests (Notifications Nos. 57 and 58 of 26th January 1897.) and for them records of rights have been drawn up . Notifications
under section 29(a) and (b) of the above Act have declared certain trees in the
protected forest to be “reserved”, and
considerable areas, including the former
trihais, have been closed against the
rights of private persons for twenty years. (Notifications Nos. 59 and 60 of 27th January
1897.) Lastly rules have been issued under section 31 to regulate the exercise
of the rights admitted by the record – of – rights. (Notification No. 416 of 14th
August 1897.)
In 1917 a revised Working Plan was
prepared under the orders of local Government as it has been found in practice
that it was impossible to apply the principle of the 1897 rules to all the
protected forests owning to the fact that they included such land lying very
close to villages which could not be
closed without great hardship to
the people. The protected forests were , therefore , divided into two classes
termed “delimited” and “un-delimited”.
The former are to be closed piece by piece in rotation and the latter are not
be closed at all. This division was carried out independently of the legal
distinctions between “demarcated” and “undemarcated. Protected
forests and the delimited forests contain parts of each class. The difference between
“demarcated “ and undemarcated” protected forests is that cultivation is
absolutely prohibited in the former, but may be permitted in the latter. In unclassed forests cultivation
may be carried on without permission.
742. 723. Forests of
Jagirs of Kangra Rajas. The trees in the forests included in the jagirs of the jagirdars Rajas of Kangra (except Lambagron) be long to Government.
743. 724. A Forests
in Kulu. In Kulu (Including Kulu proper , Inner and Outer Saraj and Waziri
Rupi.) Government as recorded owner of the waste had a freer hand then in
Kangra, a fortunate circumstances as some of the finest deodar forests in the
Punjab are to be found in that sub-division. A much larger area was therefore
reserved under chapter II of Act VII of 1878. But a great deal of the valuable deodar
forests lay close to or intermixed with village lands, and in all waste which
was easily accessible the owner and their tenants had extensive lights of user.
The bulk of the waste in Kulu has therefore been dealt with in the same way as in Kangra , and
declared to be protected.
Forest of one of three kinds :-
(a)
(a)
first class demarcated forest.
(b)
(b)
Second class demarcated forest.
(c)
(c)
Undemarcated forest.( The notifications declaring these three classes of
forests protected are Nos. 280,281 and 282 of 1st June 1896. There
are ancillary notifications under
sections 29,31,51 and 75(c) of Act VII of 1878. These will be found in Forest
proceedings Nos. 58-62, of July 1896, Nos. 7 of August 1896, and 60. 3 of November
1896. )
To extent of rights of user to be enjoyed and
the amount of regulation necessary differ for the different classes.
743-B. Forest
in Lahul. Lahul , though it is included in the Kulu sub-division, has not
been dealt with in the last paragraph . It is too cold to yield valuable tree
in any great number , and were it otherwise , it is too remote for their
exploitation. The forest and waste lands are therefore protected solely in the
interests of the people, though Government derives a petty income from outside
shepherds who drive their sheep and goats into Lahul for pasture. The only
trees of any value are the birch , the pencil cedar ,and the blue pine. Seven
small forests have been demarcated, and they with the rest of the waste have been
declared protected forests. (Notifications Nos. 154 and 155 of 24th
March 1897. The ancillary notifications will be found in Forest proceedings
Nos. 29-30 and 41 August 1897.)
744. 725. Froests in
Simla hills. In the scattered patches of territory, except Kalka and
Bharauli, of which the Shimla district is made up , the rights of Government in
the waste are the same as in the Kulu.
There are few small reserved forests of deodar and kail (blue pine) but these
are burdened with extensive rights of
user. A moderate degree of protection is afforded to trees growing in the
village waste , and fresh and cannot be broken up without permission. The best
forest sin the Shimla hills are in the Indian State of Bashahr, and these are
managed for the Raja by the British Government, as are the forests of some of
the smaller States.
745. 726. Cancelled.
746. 727. History of
mountain forests in Rawalpindi up to regular settlement. We have seen that
the general rules issued in 1855 enabled the civil authorities in hilly districts to mark off
any tract as a public preserve, and within its limits to prohibit various acts
harmful to forest growth. The local rules drawn up in 1856 declared all trees
and shrubs of spontaneous growth in the mountainous and hilly portions of the
Rawalpindi district to be the property
of Government , with the proviso that
they were to be available as far as they were really required by the
villagers for agricultural or domestic
purposes. Provision was made for the issue on payment of fees of permits for the felling of wood
and cutting of brushwood. The firing of grass in a way calculated to harm the
forests was forbidden. A fine was attached to breach of these rules. (The full
text will be found in forest proceedings , No. 1 of March 1876)At the regular
settlement of 1859-63, Major Cracroft explained to the people throughout the Rawalpinid district that “all waste lands
were the property of Government, and that before closing the settlement such
tracts would be demarcated.” But he was
unable to touch the mountain forests in the Murree and Kahuta hils
747. 728. Rules of
1873. In 1873 rules were issued under the authority of section 3 of Act VII
of 1865 for the mountain forests of Murree and Kahuta and the hill rakhs in the
other tahsils.(Forest proceedings, No. 3 of November, 1873).The most important
rules so far as the former are concerned, are quoted below :-
“Explanation – Nothing contained in these rules shall in
anywise abridge or affect any existing rights of individuals or communities in
respect of the lands to which the rules relate.
“SECTION I – Of the Murree and Kahuta forests ,
known as first class rakhs.
“I – The officer of the Forest Department authorized in that behalf by the
Conservator shall select portions of the forest
area not exceeding in the aggregate 30% of the whole, and shall
demarcate the selected portions by
pillars or otherwise as he shall deem necessary.
“The portions so selected and
demarcated shall there upon be closed absolutely against all forests rights of privileges, and shall
be called “Reserved forests”.
“Provided that , if by the reservation of any tract, any
community or individual , though not having any legal right, be in the
judgement of the conservator of Forests put to special loss or inconvenience,
it shall be competent for the Conservator to make suitable provision for exercise of grazing
and for the supply of fuel and timber (for domestic and agricultural purposes
only). Either in the reserved tract or in some adjacent tract conveniently
situated.
“II – The remaining portions of
forest area not being less than 70 percent of the whole ,. Shall be called
“Unreserved forests ,” and shall be open
to all existing village communities as
heretofore, for the exercise free of charge of the following privileges only :-
(a) (a) grazing of
cutting grass for their own cattle:
(b) (b) cutting fuel for
their own use ;
(c) (c) cutting timber
or wood for their own domestic and agricultural purposes.
“III- In unreserved
forests , land on which trees stand or a growth of young trees exists shall not
be cleared for cultivation or for any other purpose except with the permission
in writing , of a forest officer duty authorized to grant the same.
Explanation :- Such permission shall not be requisite for
the clearance in order to cultivate land
free from trees.
“IV – In unreserved forest no person
whatsoever shall be entitled to cut for sale or to seal fuel or timber, or to
burn charcoal , lime , or surkhi kilnsm except upon term s of paying the
authorized dues to the forest officer on behalf
of Government.”
The first rule provided for demarcation . But as a matter of fact no
demarcation was actually carried out
till the question of forest conservancy had been put on a sounder basis by the passing of Act VII of
1878, and a revised revenue settlement of Rawalpindi had been under taken.
748. 729. State of
things existing in 1882. The forest settlement was carried out by Mr.
F.A. Robertson, who thus described the
state of affairs existing when he began his work in 1882 :-
No restriction whatever had been
placed on grazing by the most destructive animals , and timber could be
obtained by application to the tahsildar, and grants of trees were made with
most extraordinary freedom and censurable carelessness by these officials. The
zamindars were not allowed to break up
and cultivate forests lands without
permission, but besides the fact that such permission but besides the
fact that such permission was very easily obtainable the restriction was on
which was readily and systematically evaded and plots of cultivation were
accordingly met with in the very depths of forests and in most out of the
places, and the existence of these plots very materially added to the
difficulties of our works.”
749. 730. Forest settlement
, 1882-1889. The final result of the settlement carried out in 1882-89 was
as follows : One hundred and fifteen square miles comprising, some of the best forest lands were gazette as reserved
forests. By far the larger portion of this area is free of rights except rights
of way and water, but in parts of some of the forests rights of grazing & c. were admitted. (Notification
No. 290 dated 11th August 1888.)By a rule issued under section 14(c)
of the Act it was provided that not more than three-fourth of the whole area of
any of the reserved forests should be
closed to grazing at one time. (Notification No. 257, dated 9th May, 1888) This restriction
was modified in 1916 when the area
of reserved forests which could be
closed was reduced to one-quarter.
Fifty –seven square miles were
notified as protected forests. They, like the reserved forests, are the
property of the State, but they are subject to much more extensive rights of
user. All trees of an value were reserved, and quarrying , burning of lime and
charcoal, and cultivation were forbidden. (Notification No. 63, dated 17th
February, 1887). Rules under section 31 of the Act regulated the lopping of
certain trees , and the removing or grass and fallen wood & c., by rights
–holders and provided for the grant to them at a nominal rate of permits to cut
timber to the extent of their own actual
requirements . They are also allowed to graze cattle, except camel, sheep and
goats , in the forests over which they have rights. (Notification No. 335 dated 24th September 1889).
In the remainder of the waste area
of waste area of Muree and the mountainous part of the Kahuta tahsil Government
gave up all claim to the ownership of the soil, but the trees were recorded as
its property. Rule for their protection were issued under section 75 of Act VII
of 1878.(Revenue (Forest) proceedings, Nos. 32-64 of July 1901, 16-23 of July
1902, 5-9 of February 1903.
Generally speaking , every resident
in a village was allowed to cut free of charge, the wood he required for
agricultural or domestic purposes from tree growing on the common waste lands
of his village but he could not cut for sale. Nor could he fell trees in order
to extend cultivation without the
licence of the Deputy Commissioner. By subsidiary rules of procedure framed by
the Deputy Commissioner a permit was required even for the feeling of trees for
agricultral or domestic purpose.
750. 731. Muree and
Kahuta forest conservancy rules of 1903. After the publication of the rules
1889 much doubt was felt whether the rules of 1856 referred to in paragraph 712
remained in force. These rules asserted
the ownership of the State in all trees of spontaneous growth in the
mountainous and hilly portion of the Rawalpindi district”, and they applied
equally to State lands , common village lands, and separate proprietary
holdings. But in the revised settlement the title of the Government to trees in the separate holdings was not
specifically asserted. Never the less
the rules of 1889 were treated by the local officers as applicable both to
common and to private, i.e. separately owned lands. Difficulties arose as to
the legality of this construction . The Punjab Government ruled that there was no doubt as to the title
of government in the trees growing
in private lands and a notification, No. 66 dated 9th
February, 1903, was issued under section 75 of the Forest Act, which applied to
all lands in the Murree and Kahuta tahsils, except reserved and protected
forests and municipal and cantonment
areas. Felling for any domestic
agricultural purpose was allowed
provided a permit was first obtained. The breaking up of land for cultivation
in a manner calculated to injure trees
or timber “was prohibited. –unless the Deputy Commissioner granted a permit,
but it was added that such permits would be readily granted where the tree are
not numerous and the ground in sufficiently level to give hopes of good crops beings
raised .” The setting of fire to any trees , or without permission of grass of
other forest produce “ the combustion of which is likely to cause injury to
such trees “was forbidden. The rules of 1856 and 1889 were cancelled. ( Revenue
(Forest ) Proceedings Nos. 32-64 of July
1902, 5-9 of February 1903.) It was a mistake to make the rules issued in 1903
applicable to all lands in Kahuta, for the State has never claimed ownership in
trees in the plain villages of the Rawalpindi district, and one-half of the
Kahuta tahsil is in the plains. The only trees of spontaneous growth which it
owns in the plain portion of Kahuta are the chir pines found in a few villages.
So far therefore as plain villages are concerned the restrictions imposed by
the rules relate only chir pines. (Punjab Government letter No. 154, dated 12th
March, 1907)
751. 732. Cancelled.
752. 733. Hill
forests of Rawalpindi and Attock. Some ten years later the original
demarcation in Rawalpindi and Attock was
revised under Major Wace’s superintendence, and after the passing of Act VII
of 1878
advantage was taken of its 34th
section to gazette as reserved forests
nine of ten hill forests in Rawalpindi and Attock. The enquiry into
rights of the large Kalachitta forest was not
complete enough to allow of this course being followed , and pending a a
proper forest settlement, it was made a protected forest. (The notification
declaring 9 forests reserved and Kalachitta a protected forest is No. 97-F
dated Ist March 1879. In the same year
the rules of 1856 were cancelled as regards hilly waste in Rawalpindi
included in village boundaries
and revised rules were issued under the
authority contained in the general rules of 1855, (notification No. 457-F.)The
settlement was made by Mr. F.A.
Robertson in 1896. Seven forest blocks with an area of 84 square miles were declared to be entirely
free of private rights , except rights way and water. In sixteen blocks with an
area of 64 square miles the ownership by the State is subject to rights of
grazing enjoyed by the neighboring
villages on payment of light fees. (For full particulars of the forest
settlement see paragraphs 337- 342 and appendix III of Mr. Robertson’s
settlement report of Rawalpindi.) Under
the authority given by the rules of 1855 restrictions have been placed on the
partition of waste and the sale of wood in villages in the foot hills in the
north and east of the Rawalpindi tahsil , (Notification No. 79 dated 24th
January 1907).
753. 734. Hill
forests of Jhelum and Shahpur. In 1879- 1882 the demarcation of the forests
in the Salt Range and elsewhere in Jhelum was carried out by Mr. R.G. Thomson,
who has left an admirable account of his work in the 8th chapter of his report on the first revised
settlement of the district. ( See also
appendix X and XI annexed to that report
. The notifications relating to hill and
plain forests declared to be reserved in the Helum, including Talagang
tahsil now in Attock , are quoted on
page 1089 of Regulations and Acts
applicable to the Punjab 5th edition) Owing partly to the neglect of
Mr. Thomson’s recommendations, the question of management had to be
reopened at the second revised
settlement . The orders passed in 1901 are summarized in the 108th
paragraph of Mr. Talbot’s settlement report. (See also Forest proceedings. Nos.
1-8 of February , 1901) To prevent
hardship the boundaries of some of the
reserved forests were rectified. (Forests proceedings Nos. 5-29 of May 1902,
Nos. 7-17 of November 1902 Nos. 12-17 of
December 1902, Nos. 1-6 of
October 1903 and Nos. 1-9 of December
1903.) Mr. J.Wilson made a forest settlement of the Salt Range forest in
Shahpur in 1894-1896 . Certain areas were transferred to adjoining villages,
and records- of - rights were drawn up
and recommendations made for the grant or continuation of certain privileges.
(See Forest proceedings Nos. 36-66 of December 1897 , Nos. 1-4 of November ,
1898 and Nos. 20-34 of November , 1899 .
The notification declaring the forests reserved forests is No. 670 dated 23rd
December , 1897 ,and rules regulating the manner in which certain rights are to
be exercised have been issued under sections 74(c) and 75 (d) of Act VII 1878 (notification No. 444 , dated 31st
October, 1899) The basis of Mr. Wilson’s settlement was described by himself to
be the policy laid down in the 4th paragraph of Government of India
resolution No 22-F , dated 19th
October , 1894, as to the treatment of “forests , the preservation of
which is essential on climatic or
physical grounds.” The objects to be kept in view, “ Mr. Wilson remarked were
only two –
“(1) By the reservation of the
forest growth to protect the hillsides from destructive drainage so as to
distribute the rainfall as gradually as possible on the lands below, which are
almost entirely dependent on the drainage of the hills for their
productive ; and
“(2) to preserve grass and wood
for the supply of neighboring villages.
“These rakhs have been accepted by
Government as a trust to be managed for the benefit of the neighboring
population, and not in order to bring in a direct pecuniary profit or to supply
a distant demand”.(This had been clearly
recognized at a comparatively early
period, (see paragraphs 15- 16 of the review of
report on the regular settlement
of the Shahpur district by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Donald Macleod, dated
27th August 1867)
The same principles governed Mr.
Talbot’s proceedings in his forest settlement referred to above .
754 Hill
forests in Gujrat. At the first regular settlement of Gujrat the central
portion of the Pabbi Range was declared to be a Government forest. Its area is
about 39 square miles. It was declared
in 1879 to be reserved forest by a notification issued under section 34 of Act
VII of 1878. ( Notification No. 109-F dated 6th March 1879.) The
forest growth of the Pabbi hills consists of phulahi, with a few kikar, dhak and shisham trees.
755. Plain
forests in Punjab . The plain forests or rakhs of the Punjab have almost
disappeared, being given up for cultivation in the canal colonies; a few small
and widely scattered rakhs remain in the Lahore and Multan districts where
their only value is as village grazing grounds. A very small number still
exists in the Rawalpindi and Attock districts , every year deteriorating owing
to excessive grazing.
These vast area which formerly
supplied firewood to places as far north as Abbottabad and Peshawar are now
replaced by few irrigated plantations
which are insufficient to meet the impending firewood famine.
756 . Bar
tracts - There was no difficulty in dealing with the “Bars” in the dry
south-western zone. The rainfall was so scanty that at annexation we found
cultivation almost wholly confined to the river valleys and a narrow strip of
land above these valleys in which water
was sufficiently near the surface to admit of well cultivation. The Bars consisted
to great grazing grounds of the kind described in paragraph 706 roamed over by
nomad graziers and camelowners. Here and there a deep well had been sunk to
afford water to the cattle and there were a few quasipermanent locations of
camelmen known as jhoks and of graziers
known as rahnas. At the regular settlements Government claimed to the ownership
of this no man’s land and asserted its title by levying fees for grazing.
757. The
Thal. As a grazing tract the Thal is far inferior to the Bar, It is
treeless and has little scrub jangle growth of any value. Writing of the
800,000 acres of the Khushab Thal Mr. Wilson Observed.( Forest Department
proceedings No. 26 of September 1893).
“this desert tract forms a marked
contrast to the level loamy soil of the Bar uplands on the other side of the
Jhelum. Although is appears to have a somewhat similar substratum of hard level
soil its surface is covered by a succession of sand-hills, on following the
other like the waves of any angry sea. There is hardly a tree in the whole
tract, the natural produce consisting of
scanty grass and stunted bushes of lana. (caroxylon faetidum), bui(panderia
pilosa) and phog (Callingoum polugnodies), all useful for goats and camels, and
of ak(calotropis gigantea) and harmal (peganum harmala), which nothing will touch
. Between the hillocks the harder subsoil
appears in strips and patches , which in favourable years produce good grass and repay the cost
of rude cultivation . At regular settlement
about 1864 the population of the Thal
was found to be only 14907, living in 25 villages scattered over the
tract. They lived an almost
entirely pastoral life, and owned
about 3500 camels, 16000 cows and bullocks, and 60000 sheep and goats . The
area under cultivation was only 4862
acres or less than one percent of the
total area. The system adopted at regular settlement of reserving a portion of
the waste for the State was much the same as that already , described for the
Bar, except that here, owing to the inferior character of the soil and
rainfall. 10 acres of grazing ground were allotted to the villages for each
head of cattle they possessed. The result was that about 2,70,000 acres were
declared to be State land, and the remainder amounting to about two – thirds of the whole Thal area,
was allotted in proprietary right to the village communities. “ The huge Thal area of the Mianwali district
was pervious to the formation of the
North- West Frontier Province, part of the
Mainwali tahsil of Bannu and the Bhakkar and leiah tahsils of Dera Ismail Khan. No final decision as to
the respective rights of Government and the village land owners was made till
the regular settlements of these two
districts were carried out. Considering how little cultivation there then was
in the Thal , the settlement was an extraordinary liberal one. Roughly out of
twenty – six lakhs of acres untouched by the plough Government claimed eight.
(See paragraph 200 of Mr. Thorbun’s settlement report of Bannu, paragraphs
518-533 and 535 of Mr. Tucker’s settlement report of Dera Ismail Khan and paragraphs
29-30 of Mr. Lyall’s review of the latter. In the Thal of the Muzffargarh
district the State owns over 1.5 lakhs of acres.
758
758
to 760 Cancelled.
761.
761.
Rakhs in old Rawalpindi district. The plain rakhs of the old Rawalpindi
district cover an area of about eighty thousand acres. Most of them are in the
western tahsils , which now from part of the Attack district. A short notice of
their history will be found in the 19th paragraph of the Financial Commissioner’s review of Mr. Robertson’s settlement report of
theRawalpindi district. The latest orders about these poor rakhs, some of which
contain no wood at all- while others show a scanty growth of phulahi and karil,
will be found in Forest Department proceedings Nos. 25-33 of April and 1-6 of
September 1907 . They are mostly under the charge of the Deputy Commissioner ,
and are of the class which should be managed entirely in the interests of the neighboring villages.
762.
762.
And 763 Cancelled.
764. Rakhs in Lahore. The same difficulty
arose in an acute form in regard to the Lahore rakhs. Most of the reclamation’s
of waste lands in these rakhs were first made about the year 1852 when the
commissioner of the Lahore division, wishing to see all waste land in the Lahore district brought under cultivation as soon as
possible, issued an order that “hopes
should be held out to the cultivators that if they fully cultivate the
land they would be treated as proprietors, and that if they fully cultivate the
land they would be treated as proprietors, and that if they sunk wells the
lands would be assessed at barani rates only . “Leases for cultivation were
accordingly given upon very favorable terms and security was constantly taken
from the lessees , binding them to cultivate the land and not use it for
grazing. This policy was followed for a period
of ten years, when , owing to the rapid extension of cultivation which
had followed upon the opening of the
Bari Doab Canal , A change was made in the policy of Government, and the
Financial Commissioner directed that for the future all land given for
cultivation in the rakhs should be given upon annual leases only. These orders
were gradually acted upon between 1862 and 1869. In the latter year the rentals
of the various rakhs were re-assessed
and in1870 the while of them were handed over to the Forest
Department. IN 1872, however many of the
rakhs were re-transferred to district management. From those which
remained under forest management practically
all the tenants were evicted. In the rakhs re-transferred to the Deputy
Commissioner the system of annual leases was continued. Although under the tenure of each lessee was nominally
terminated each year yet in general the cultivators managed to secure
continuity of possession, and if ejected
from one portion of a rakh through their
rights to cultivate being sold over their heads, established themselves on other land in the same rakh. Of a large
class of these tenants Mr. Dane writes
.- “Tenants therefore who are the direct
representatives of men settled on the
land in this way by order of a Government
officer, and who have since remained
continuous possession, have undoubted claims to be treated with
consideration . In may cases the tenants own no other hand , and have founded
villages and located themselves permanently in the rakhs, and although by receiving annual leases they have admitted
the right of Government to oust them at pleasure, their eviction would be a
somewhat harsh and arbitrary measure.”
The
rights of the tenants in the Lahore rakhs were the subject of an elaborate
report by Mr. R.M. Dane in 1882, Sir Louis Dane in 1885 , and Sir W.O.
Clark in 1887 , and final orders on the
case were passed by the local Government and the Government of India in 1889.( Forest proceedings Nos.
1-2 of January , 1884 9-10 of February , 1885,7-9 of April, 1888,3-4 of May,
1889, and 1 of August ,1889.
765. Fuel Rakhs put under management of forest
Department. The
construction of the railway from Multan to Lahore , which was opened in 1865,
made the fuel supply to be drawn from the rakhs in the Lahore , Montgomery
Multan and Musaffargarh districts an urgent question. In 1864 Dr. J. Stewart
drew up an important report on the Subject,( See correspondence printed
in Forest proceedings No. 1 of 1894.)
and in the same year the Forest
Department in the Punjab came into being. Dr. Stewart showed that the
larger part of the Bar waste was of
little use except for grazing and
browsing and that the railway and the
Indus Stream Flotilla must look for their fuel supply mainly to those rakhs in
the Bar or in the lower lands adjoining the Bar in which the jand (proposes
spicigera or the farash (tamarir
articulata grew freely. (See pages 46 and 288of Gamble’s Mannual of Indian
Tibers “ . The jand yields far better fuel than the farash.) In the discussion
which followed the policy first emerged of handing over to the stricter
management of the Forest Department the fuel rakhs and keeping the rest under the looser control of the
Deputy Commissioner. ( The colonization of vast area of Government waste in the
south –west of the Punjab as a consequence of the excavation of the Chenab and
Jhelum Canals has greatly reduced the
fuel rakhs managed by the Forest Department. Proposals have been made in
connection with the cannal scheme to hand over large areas to the Department to
be worked as irrigated plantations.) When rakhs are managed by the Forest
Department it is usually desirable to
notify them as reserved forests, but those incharge, of the Deputy Commissioner
can generally be left as “unclassed forests,” by which is meant Government
waste which has neither been declared a “reserved forest” under Chapter II nor
a protected forest” unider Chapter IV of
the forest Act. Of course a forest
officer may be in charge of “unclassed forest” and a deputy commissioner of
“reserved forest,” and the limits of jurisdiction have often been re-arranged.
The question is largely one of administrative convenience.
766. Relations of Deputy Commissioner and forest Officer.
But the nature of forest management is
so vital to the comfort of the rural population that, wherever the line is
drawn , the Deputy Commissioner must be
in constant communication with, and in some important matters must
control, the Forest Officer.
The following instructions on the subject were issued in 1888:- (Later amendments have been embodied in the instructions as printed in the text. )
“(1) Nothing in these instructions applied to the working of the Punjab River Rule, to the collection of drift and stranded timber under chapter VIII of Indian Forest Act , to forests in Indian States, or to Changa Manga Reserve. Neither do they apply to limited area in one district managed by a forest officer whose main duties lie in another district.
(2) When the Collector considers it desirable that magisterial powers for the trail of forest offenses should be conferred on a forest officer, the local Government will be prepared to consider such a recommendation; but each case of this kind will be separately treated with reference to local requirements and the personal qualifications of the forests officer concerned.
(3) (a) In respect of matters mentioned clause (b) of this paragraph the district forest officer is under the control of the Collector in his management of :-
(i) (i) reserved forests,
(ii) (ii) protected forests,
(iii) (iii) all unclause forests and waste land owned by the State, or in which the State has forest rights.
In a sub-division of a district, as for example in the Kulu sub-division of the Kangra district, the control of the Collector may be exercised through the Assistant Collector in charge of the sub-division.
(b) (b) The control of the Collector will be exercised in respect of the taking up of new forests , the recovery of monies due to Government, the prosecution of forests offenses or the composition of such offenses under section 68 of the Forest Act, so much of the Forest administration as affects the use of the forest and waste lands by the adjacent population and the appointment, posting, and transfer of establishment so far as they affect these questions.
(c) (c) All proposals connected with the disaffirmation of reserved or protected areas should be submitted by the district forest officer to the Collector for an expression of his opinion.
(4) (1) The Collector will see that tahsildars and the subordinate revenue, agency of all grades render assistance not only in the management of Government waste lands, and especially in the assessment and collection of Government dues, but also in the management of all forests. All distinctions and practices which are likely to encourage the impression that forest work lies outside the ordinary duties of land revenue officials should be gradually abolished. The Collector will also authorize the district forest officer to address orders to these officials direct in matters in which it may be convenient that he should , in ordinary cases , act without the intervention of the Collector.
(5) (2) The district forest officer will keep a diary in which will be briefly noted from day to day:-
(a) (a) All occurrences of importance relating to duties discharged by him;
(b) (b) The substance of any reports or representations (verbal or written) addressed by him to the Collector and all orders received from that officer.
Should a forest officer be district forest officer of more than one district, he will write a separate diary for each district.
This diary written on half –margin, will be sent weekly to the Collector , and will be accompanied by a brief precis of any correspondence with the Conservator affecting the matters in respect of which the control of the collector is exercised . The Collector will retain the precis, but will forward the diary without delay to the Conservator of forest adding any remarks he may wish to make.
The Conservator of Forest will return the diary direct to the district forest officer, who will lay before the Collector any remarks that the Conservator may have made thereon.
(6) All the lands mentioned instruction 3(a) shall be administered in accordance with working plans sanctioned by Government.
(7) It has not been possible to provide working plans for all these lands. But when the conservator of forest is in a position to provide a working plan, he will in consultation with the Commissioner of the Division, issue orders for its preparation.
All working plans require the countersignature of the collector and the Commissioner. After countersignature the plans will, if they relate to (I) reserved forest or to (ii) protected forests, be submitted by the Conservator to the Chief Conservator of Forests for scrutiny and approval of technical points. The Chief Conservator of Forests will forward them to the local Government with its opinion and remarks and the local Government will pass orders upon them, furnishing a copy of the same to the Inspector- General of Forests for confirmation or record. But if they relate to (iii) unclassed forests and waste lands owned by the State or in which the State has forest rights , they will be sent by the Chief Conservator of forests to Government direct.
Working plans when sanctioned by Government cannot be altered except under the procedure and sanction above described.
(8) The regulation and management of grazing will be in accordance with the system prescribed by the orders of the Financial Commissioner.
(9) Cancelled.
(10) Cancelled.
(11) Forest
Officers to be consulted in certain case. The district forest officer will
be consulted by the Collector with
reference to all proposed alienation’s
of forests or waste lands by grant, lease or sale; and he will give such
assistance in case of this nature as the Collector may require, especially in
the selection of the sites and determination of the boundaries of proposed grants . No land whiter protected or unclassed forest or waste , the revenue of
which is credited to the forest Department , will be granted, leased or sold
until the consent of the Chief Conservator of forests to its alienation has
been obtained.
This paragraph does not give the Forest Department authority to grant leases of unclassed forest land in regard to which the rules for the lease of waste lands(See chapter XXII) must be observed.
12(a) Office and routine. The offices of district forests officers will , so far as possible, be located in or in the immediate vicinity of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office.
(b)Formal official correspondence between the Collector and the district forest officer concerning matters dealt with by these instructions should be avoided as far as possible ; written communications , when necessary , being carried on by the transmission of original files and cases under the same rules as apply to the transaction of business between a Collector and his Revenue Assistant.
(c) (c) The Collector may direct the district forest officer to the files in the district record office such of the forest records as relate to forest settlements or revenue leases or other matters affecting to use of the forests and waste lands by the population adjacent thereto.
(13. (13. Important Proposals. Proposal of importance for the formation of new forests or which affect the use of the forests and waste lands by the adjacent population will be addressed by the Chief Conservator of Forests to Government direct.
(14) (14) Special assessments under section 59(e) of Land Revenue Act. Nothing in the above instructions is to be under stood as affecting the responsibility of the revenue officers in respect of the special assessments described in clause (e) of section 59 of the land Revenue Act.”
767. Rules for management of unclassed forests- The 48th section of the Punjab Laws Act (IV of 1872), provided that “no person shall make use of the pasturage or other natural product of any land being the property of the Government except with the consent and subject to rules to be from time to time, either generally or in any particular instance, prescribed by the local Government.”
No general actions was taken till the year 1896.( Punjab Government notification No.58, dated 1st February, 1896 . Rules applicable to the Muzaffargarh district had been issued in notification No. 94 , dated 21st March, 1882, see paragraph 772.) The rules issued in 1896 were republished with a few verbal alterations in 1900 when they were being extended to the Agror valley in the district of Hazara. ( Punjab Government notification No. 1986, dated 11th August, 1900) They are as follows :-
1.(1) This rule, rules 2 to 9( both inclusive), and rule 17 apply in the first instance to all waste lands which are the property of the Government in the local areas mentioned in the schedule, except:-
(a) (a) protected and reserved forests;
(b) (b) land under the control of the military, canal, irrigation, or railway authorities ;
(c) (c) lands under the control of district boards and municipal committees.;
(d) (d) encamping –grounds;
(e) (e) Government land to which any special rules having the force of law under any Act for the time being in force in the Punjab apply;
(f) (f) Lands included within the area of any cultivating lease, or which have been allotted under the Government Tenants (Punjab) Act, 1893.
But the said rules may be extended to lands of classes (c) and (d) by special order of the local Government published in the official Gazette.
(2) Rules 10 to 16 (both inclusive) apply in the first instance to the Multan district only, but may be extended to any other local area by special order of the local Government published in the official Gazette.
2. 2. In these rules :-
(a) (a) “Cattle” includes besides horned cattle, camels, horses, asses, mules, sheep, goats, and the young of such animals.
(b) (b) “Collector” means the Collector of the district, and any person on whom the powers of a Collector have been conferred under section 27 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.
(c) (c) “Forest Officer” means any officer of the Forest Department in charge of a Forest Range, and includes any person appointed by the Collector or by the Chief Conservator of Forests , Punjab, to discharge all or any of the functions given by these rules to the Forests Officer.
(d) (d) “Farmer” means a person to whom the right to collect fees for the pasturing of cattle or to cut wood or grass, or to remove fuel or any other natural produce of any land to which these rules apply, has been leased by the Collector.
(e) (e) “Graze” includes “browse”.
3. 3. Save as hereinafter provided in rules 10, no person shall pasture cattle, cut wood or sajji plants or grass, or gather fuel or any other natural product in the above mentioned lands, except :-
(i) (i) Under the authority of , and in accordance with, the conditions of a licence granted by the Collector or forest officer; or
(ii) (ii) With the permission of a farmer and in accordance with the conditions of such farmer’s lease.
4. 4. Every licence granted under rule 3 clause (i) , shall be in writing and signed by the Collector or forest officer, and shall state :-
(a) (a) the nature , extent, and duration of the rights thereby conferred;
(b) (b) the consideration paid or to be paid by licence holder; and
(c) (c) the special conditions, if any , on which the licence is granted.
5. 5. (1) Every lease granted to framers shall be in writing signed by the Collector and the farmers, and shall state –
(a) (a) the nature, extent , and duration, which shall in no case exceed five years, of the rights thereby conferred; ( Grazing leases should be sold at the beginning of rainy seasons.)
(b) (b) the consideration paid or to be paid by the farmer; and
(c) (c) the special conditions , if any, on which the lease is granted.
(2) Every such lease shall include:-
(a) in cases where the consideration-money is payable by instalments, a statement as to the amount of the said instalments and the dates on which they will fall due,
(b) in cases where the lease relates to the right of grazing:-
(1) (1) a specification of the maximum grazing dues which the farmer levy, and;
(2) (2) a clause providing that the farmer shall not, without the written permission of the Collector, transfer the lease or close any portion of the leased area to grazing by any cattle in respect of which grazing dues are tendered under rule 6; and
(c) in all cases a clause providing that, if the leased area or any part thereof is at any time required by Government for public purposes, the lease shall be terminable on payment to the farmer of reasonable compensation to be assessed by the Collector.
6.(1) The owners of cattle grazing on any lands to which these rules apply shall pay to the Collector or forest officer, or to the farmer, as the case may be, fees according to a scale fixed from time to time by the Financial Commissioner for each district: provided that no fee shall be charged for any sheep or goat less than six months old, or for any other animal less than one year old.
(2) (2) The fees to be charged for licences to cut wood, sajji plants , or grass, or to gather fuel or any other natural product in any lands to which these rules apply, shall be fixed form time to time by the Commissioner of the division and shall be paid by the licence holder to the Collector or forest officer or such other person as may be authorised by the Collector in this behalf, or to the farmer, as the case may be.
7 7 The local Government may, in respect of any local area, exempt from all or any of the provisions of these rules any person or class of persons and any cattle or description of cattle.
8. 8. Every licence – holder and every farmer shall be bound by the conditions stated in the licence or lease, as the case may be , granted to him , and every person acting under rule 3 clause (ii) , shall be bound by the conditions of the lease granted to the farmer.
9. 9. (1) In case of any breach of the provisions of rule 8, the Collector may, at his discretion, cancel the licence or lease and thereupon the licence – holder or farmer, and every person acting under the farmer under rule 3, clause (ii) , shall forfeit all claims to any produce or wood which at the time of the cancellation of the licence or lease has not been removed from the land to which the licence or lease applies.
(2.) (2.) On the cancellation of a licence or lease under-sub section (1) , the licence- holder or farmer shall not be liable for any fees outstanding on the produce or wood so forfeited; but he shall have no claim to refund of dues already paid, and he shall not be thereby discharged from his liability for the payment of other dues in arrears or of instalments overdue under the terms of his licence or lease at the date of the forfeiture.
10.(1) The Collector may , with the previous sanction of the Financial Commissioner, make an agreement on behalf of Government with the whole community of cattle owners residing in any estate to pay such an annual assessment, by way of commutation for grazing dues; as may be agreed upon between the Collector and such community.
(2). Such assessment shall not, without the sanction of the local Government, be made for a period exceeding five years; and when such an assessment has been concluded and recorded in such manner as the Financial Commissioner shall direct, no person comprised in such community of cattle- owners shall be liable to separate assessment in respect of any cattle belonging to him and grazing during the period mentioned in such agreement on lands to which these rules apply, within the limits of the tract regarding which the agreement is made.
(3) (3) Similar agreements may , under the order of the Financial Commissioner, be entered into between the Collector on behalf of Government and associations of cattle-owners, in respect of cattle owned jointly or severally by the members of such associations.
(4) (4) For the purposes of this rule, the consent of persons owning two-thirds of the cattle belonging to a community or association as aforesaid shall be deemed to be the consent of all the cattle owners of such community or associations.
11. 11. If the cattle-owners of any community or association , which has accepted as assessment made under rule 10, prove to the satisfaction of the Collector that the owner of any cattle, in respect of which the assessment was made, has with his cattle left that community or association and resides permanently with his cattle in another community or with another association in the same district which has accepted a similar assessment , the Collector may reduce the assessment payable by the former community or association and enhance the assessment payable by the later community or association proportionately to the number and description of cattle removed from the one and added to the other.
12. 12. The Collector may require the headman of any community or association of cattle owners with which an agreement is in force under rule 10, to furnish him with a nominal roll of the cattle-owners belonging to such community or association showing the number and description of the cattle owned by each.
13. 13. Disputes arising amount the cattle-owners of any community or association which has accepted an assessment made under rule 10, regarding the incidence as among themselves of the assessment, shall be decided by the Collector whose order shall be final.
14. 14. (1) All sums due under an assessment made under rule 10 shall be payable at such times and places and to such persons as the Financial Commissioner shall direct.
(2) The amount assessed under rule 10 shall be collected by lambardars of estates or headmen of association of cattle-owners , or by such other persons as the Collector may appoint , and such lambardars, headmen, or other persons shall levy grazing dues from the cattle-owners in accordance with rates which shall be fixed by the Collector, so as not to exceed in the aggregate the total assessment and to apportion the incidence thereof amount the cattle owners as nearly as may be in proportion to the number and kind of cattle owned by each.
(3.) If the amount of the grazing dues leviable under this rule from a cattle – owner belonging to any community, or association which has accepted an assessment under rule 10 , is not paid by such cattle – owner or by some other person on his account when duly demanded, the Collector may entirely rescind the agreement made under rule 10 in respect of such community or association.
15. 15. The person authorized under rule 14 to collect the assessment shall be entitled to a drawback not exceeding 5 percent on all sums paid by them into the Government treasury on account of such assessment.
16. 16. Cancelled.
17. 17. Any person acting in contravention of any of these rules shall be liable, on the first conviction , to simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or to fine not exceeding Rs. 100, or to both ;and, on a subsequent conviction under this rule within three years of the first, to imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or to fine not exceeding Rs. 300, or to both.
SCHEDULE
(Punjab Government notification No. 816 – Revenue , dated 23rd December 1908.)
Local areas to which rules 1 to 9 and rule 17 apply :-
Hissar District
Rohtak District
Karnal District
Lahore District
Multan District
Rawalpindi District
Attock District
Jhelum District
Gujrat District
Shahpur District
Dera Ghazi Khan District
Mianwali District
Muzaffargarh District
768. Executive instructions as to rakhs under district management-As regards Government waste lands other than those under the Forest Department, these rules have been supplemented by the following executive instructions :-(Punjab Government letter No. 235 – General , dated 1st April , 1896.)
(i) (i) The Collector should some time before the beginning of each agricultural year submit, for the approval of the Commissioner, a brief report showing generally the arrangement he proposes to make for the ensuing year as regards :-
(a) (a) grazing ;
(b) (b) cutting and sale of timber ,fuel ,grass, and other natural products.
It is not intended that details of management should require the Commissioner’s sanction, but it is essential that he should be in a position to exercise a general control over the treatment of Government waste lands in his division.
(ii) (ii) No claim on the part of the residents in any estate to a right of grazing in Government lands adjacent to such estate or of obtaining leases or licences connected therewith under the above –mentioned rules should be admitted . But in granting leases or licences, the reasonable requirements of the population adjacent to the Government lands concerned should be carefully considered , and it is often expedient to select leading members of the rural community as farmers of grazing dues.
(iii) (iii) Wholesale sales of wood from rakhs and forests under the control of Collectors is prohibited , except on special grounds; and with the previous sanction of the Financial Commissioner. Contractors and other applying to Collector for a wholesale supply should first be referred by them to the forest officer. All applications for supply of wood for railway fuel and for large public works should be considered wholesale, and in other cases all applications for a quantity exceeding 3,000 maunds (Punjab Government No. 162-F, dated the 12th April 1880) The intention of these orders is that district officers should co-operate with the Forest Department in an intelligent and economical administration of the rakhs and forest lands under their charge and in the prevention of indiscriminate cutting likely to injure the permanent supply of wood and the reproductive capacity of the rakhs.
(iv) (iv) But licences to cut wood should be granted under the rules issued under section 48 of Act IV of 1872 and given in the last paragraph to the extent necessary to meet the reasonable requirements of the people residing in the neighbourhood of Government lands in the matter of timber and fuel when they are unable to meet these requirements from the produce of their own lands.
(v) (v) The Collector should insert in leases and licences such conditions as he considers necessary for the prevention of waste and the promotion of good management.
(vi) (vi) If a lease or licence is put up to auction the Collector should notify that he will not be bound to accept the highest or any bid.
(vii) (vii) No lease of the description mentioned in rule 5 in the last paragraph shall be given for more than one year without the sanction of the Financial Commissioner.
769. Tirni- Allusion has been made in paragraph 756 to the fees levied on account of the grazing of cattle in the large waste areas owned by the State in the west of the Punjab . These charges are known as tirni. In theory tirni is a rent paid for pasturage; in practice it has been partly that and party an assessment levied on the profits derived from the rearing of cattle. In fact the word has sometimes been employed so as to include the land revenue paid by the proprietors of an estate on account of the village waste . The levy of tirni on account of grazing in Government lands has been regulated by the rules issued under section 48 of Act IV of 1872, quoted in paragraph 767. The subject has lost much of its importance with the extension of canal irrigation in the west of the province and the colonization of the Bar tracts. But a brief sketch of its history should find a place in any book dealing with the administration of land in the Punjab.
770. 770. Tirni in the Bar tracts of Jhang, Multan and Montgomery- In the South-west of the province an assessment on cattle was an obvious and reasonable way of raising revenue. Diwan Sawan Mal inherited the system of levying tirni from the Muhammadan rulers who were displaced by Ranjit Singh , and we inherited it from Sawan Mal.. He was wise enough to make his collections through the leading men of the local tribes, and we continued the same plan, calling them sadr tirni guzars. The Board of Administration in 1853 issued rules fixing rates for the assessment of tirni varying from Rs. 1-8-0 for a female camel to half an anna for a sheep or goat. Payment of these rates made cattle fee of the whole Government waste in the district. The rules contemplated an assessment of tirni on village cattle for the term of the short settlements then being made, and an assessment on the nomad graziers of the Bar on the basis of the old payments made by the sadr tirni guzars .
771. Rules of 1860. The system of annual leases-Colonel Hamilton, the Commissioner of Multan, reported on the subject in 1858, and rules proposed by him were sanctioned by Government in 1860 for adoption in the old Multan and Leiah divisions1. The basis of the system then set up was direct collection by Government with the help of the village headmen and sadr tirni guzars of a demand revised annually as the result of enumeration. Of course a yearly cattle census was really impracticable, but every village or group of camel men grazing in the Bard was liable to have its assessment changed from year to year on reports furnished by a small and poorly paid tirni establishment or by tehsil officials. Norminally a village might declare its intention to graze its cattle solely in its own waste, and claim to be exempt from tirni. But if a single head of cattle was found in the Government waste the whole estate became liable. In practice very few villages were allowed to be recusant (inkari) otherwise the whole system would have broken down. The cattle of a tirni guzar village could graze in any part of the State lands within the limits of the district.
1.
1.
See Barkely’s Non-Regulation Law of the Punjab, pages 321-326.
772. The chak system-The complaints made against the above plan were that it led to much official corruption, that it yielded a less income than would be obtained by dividing the waste into large blocks and leasing the right to collect the authorised fees within these blocks to farmers and that it allowed the pastoral tribes to wander uncontrolled over the whole district, and thus fostered their criminal tendencies and their aversion to settled agricultural pursuits. Orders were accordingly issued about 1870 for the adoption of the chak system. Each chak or block of Government waste was to be leased yearly o a farmer, and cattle grazing in more than one block had to pay the full fees to the lessee of each. In Montgomery the introduction of the chak system was vehemently opposed by the grazing community, but they yielded when they saw that otherwise outsiders would be brought in as farmers, and most of the leases were at first given to leading members of the land owning tribes. Finally all or most of the contracts were combined in the hands of one speculative farmer, who had to be assisted in making his collections by the whole officials machinery of the district. In 1879 the plan broke down under the burden of its unpopularity, and the old system of annual village leases was reintroduced, one payment giving the privilege of grazing over the whole district. The right to collect tirni at the authorised rates from “naubaramad” cattle or animal brought for grazing purposes from another district continue to be leased. In Jhang the introduction of outside contractors, which led to so much complaint in Montgomery was avoided. Mr. Steedman, the Settlement Officer, described the plan in force in that district as follows;-
“The grazing waste of the Bar is divided into chaks. The right of collecting the tirni in these chaks in nominally auctioned annually, but as a matter of fact the lessees are almost from year to year the same body of influential zamindars residing in the neighbourhood of the chak and the Deputy Commissioner fixed the amount of lease money………….All the villages in the district are either tirni guzar (paying) or ghair tirni guzar. In the former it is taken for granted that all the cattle graze in the Government Bar, and accordingly rates are levied on every head of cattle existing in the particular chak or other in which they are accustomed to graze. Some few situated close to the boundary of two chaks have been allowed to graze in both on payment of a single fee, but as rule cattle can only graze for a single fee in the one chak to which the village is allotted……………The collection of the fees is left entirely to the lessees.
“The non paying villages are those which are not allotted to any chak, and the cattle of which it is presumed, do not graze in the Bar. If they do they become liable to punitive rates, treble or quadruple the ordinary rate. But these punitive rates are not levied in practice for a lessee is glad to secure these and other outsiders, and even to offer them lower than the prescribed rates in order to attract them to his chak. The nomad graziers who own herds but no village in the Bar, attach themselves to a chak, with respect to which they stand in the same relation as the paying villages. The chakdars collect the full fee from every head of cattle in villages assessed to tirni in connection with their chak, and also collect the tirni payable for the cattle of outsiders grazing in their chak, whether belonging to tirni paying or exempt villages of their district or to another district. The latter collections are know as “nau baramad”.
773. The system of quinquennial leases-The chak system was quite unsuited to Multan with its scanty and capricious rainfall. The particular block of waste to which a village was attached might in any year be bare of grass, and the cattle had to be driven for pasturage to the other end of the district. The attempt to introduce the plan therefore proved abortive from the first. In 1878 Mr. Roe, when Settlement Officer of Multan, proposed to substitute for yearly, quinquennial village assessments, and four years later as Deputy Commissioner he carried out this plan with the sanction of the Financial Commissioner. The opportunities for extortion and corruption on the part of underlings were greatly diminished and the reform was afterwards introduced also in Jhang and Montgomery. It is still in force, but in the Jhang Bar and in the part of Montgomery lying to the west of the Ravi1 tirni has become a matter of very small importance. The 10th to the 15th of the rules quoted in paragraph 767 relate to the quinquennial system of tirni assessment.
1.
1.
Revenue proceedings Nos. 11-16 of April, 1905.
774. Tirni in the Thal-The Thal has has been described in paragraph 757. It is now included in four districts. The greater part of it is in the Minawali, Bhakkar and Leiah Tahsils of Mianwali. Up to the formation of the North West Frontier Province the Minawali Tahsil was part of the Bannu, and the other two tahsils part of the Dera Ismail Khan district. The rest of the Thal is in the Khushab Tahsil of Shahpur, the Sinawan Tahsil of Muzaffargarh and in the part of the Jhang District lying to the west of the Jhelum. In the Bannu settlement report Mr. Thorburn described the tirni as it existed before the regular settlement of 1872-78 in the Mianwali Tahsil and the description applies also to the Leiah and Bhakkar tahsils-“On annexation, wherever a community was found, an enumeration of its cattle was made, and tirni imposed after which grazers had, irrespective of residence a right of pasturage over the whole Thal…….Thus tirni was a poll tax on cattle……….As graziers are somewhat migratory and murrain…..is occasionally very destructive, the annual imposition of the settlement amount on each village caused serious inequality of taxation.”1 As already noticed (paragraph 757) the greater part of the huge area of the Thal, which is best adapted to the grazing of goats, sheep and camels, was included at the regular settlement in village lands. In Leiah and Bhakkar a fixed grazing assessment was imposed on the Thal waste included in village boundaries. But in order to meet the case of camels which browse over large areas, it was decided that they should not be included in this assessment and should be free to browse in any Thal village. It was the more necessary to make this arrangement as the camels of the powindah traders from Afghanistan, which pay tirni on entering British territory, pass through the Thal. The tax on the camel belonging to the Thal village is framed to contractors, the estates being grouped in dags or chaks for leasing purposes. The farmers collect from camel owners at rates fixed by Government Powindah camels grazing in village lands pay nothing. The Government rakhs are leased out yearly, generally to the headman of neighbouring villages, who realise fixed fee from all animals including camels whether belonging to residents of the district or outsiders, found in the rakhs, Powindah camels grazing in the rakhs pay the usual fees2. The same system was adopted at the regular settlement of Bannu for the Mianwali Tahsil, but there powindah camels were excluded from village waste except with the consent of the landowners, and were charged half rates when browsing in Government rakhs3. The forty five chaks into which the Government land in the Thal of the Khushab Tahsil of Shahpur is divided is sold annually at a fair assessment fixed by the Deputy Commissioner to the headmen of adjoining villages, the grazing fees which the farmers are entitled to collect being of course fixed.4 The Government waste lands of the Jhang Thal are also leased annually. There is no separate camel tirni.5 In Muzaffargarh too the plan of fixed grazing assessment for village waste and leasing of Government rakhs was adopted and special rules were framed under section 48 of the Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872 which were substantially the same as rules 3 to 9 and 17 of the general rules issued many years later.6
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Mr. Thorburn’s settlement report of Bannu paragraphs 202 and 300.
2.
2.
Paragraphs 534-538 of Mr. Thucker’s settlement report of Dera Ismail Khan and
paragraph 72 of Mr. Hailey’s Thal assessment report.
3.
3.
Mr. Thorburn’s Bannu settlement report paragraph 202.
4.
4.
Mr. Wilson’s Khushab assessment report paragraph 49.
5.
5.
Mr. Steedman’s Jhang settlement report paragraph 219.
6.
6.
Notification No. 94 dated 21st March 1882. The general rules given
in paragraph 767 apply to Muzaffargarh.
775. Tirni in Shahpur and Lahore- In the districts of Shahpur and Lahore where the Government lands in the Bar tract consist proprietary estates, the practice has been to lease out the grazing of each rakh separately. Sound policy dictates the giving of the lease to adjoining villages if a reasonable sum is offered for it. There is no real difference between the tirni system of the Shahpur and Lahore Bar tracts and that of the Thal. In fact the latter was copied from the former1. The Shahpur Bar has ceases to be a grazing tract in consequence of the construction of the Lower Jhelum Canal.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Paragraphs 525 and 526 of Mr. Tucker’s settlement report of Dera Ismail
Khan.
776. Forest policy aid down in resolution No. 22-F dated 19th October,1894- This chapter may fitly be concluded with the important resolution on forest policy issued by the Government of India in 1894. It may fairly be claimed that the principles laid down had in the main been enforced by the Punjab Government for a considerable period anterior to the publication of the resolution, but Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to refer for orders any cases which seem to have been dealt with in a way inconsistent with its spirit.
1. In Chapter VIII of his report on the improvement of Indian agriculture, Dr. Volcker dwells at length upon the importance of so directing the policy of the Forest Department that it shall serve agricultural interests more directly than at present; and in his review of forest administration for 1892-93, the Inspector General of Forests discusses in some detail the principles which should underlie the management of State forests in British India. While agreeing generally with the principles thus enunciated by the Inspector General of Forests, the Government of India, thinks that it will be convenient to state here the general policy which they desire should be followed in this matter; more especially as they are of opinion that an imperfect apprehension of that policy has, in some recent instances been manifested.
2. The object of forests administration is the public benefit-The sole object with which State forests are administered is the public benefit. In some cases the public to be benefited are the whole body of tax payers; in others the people of the tract within which the forest is situated; but in almost all cases the constitution and preservation of a forest involve, in greater of less degree, the regulation of rights and the restriction of privileges of user in the forest area which may have previously been enjoyed by the inhabitants of its immediate neighbourhood. This regulation and restriction are justified only when the advantage to be gained by the public is great; and the cardinal principle to be observed is that the rights and privileges of individuals must be limited, otherwise than for their own benefit, only in such degree as is absolutely necessary to secure that advantage.
3. Classification of forests-The forests of India, being State property may be broadly classed under the following headings:-
(a) (a) Forests the preservation of which is essential on climatic or physical grounds.
(b) (b) Forests which afford a supply of valuable timbers for commercial purposes.
(c) (c) Minor forests.
(d) (d) Pasture lands.
It is not intended that any attempt should be made to class existing State forests under one or other of these four heads. Some forests may occupy intermediate positions, and parts of one and the same forest may fall under different heads. The classification is useful only as affording a basis for the indication of the broad policy which should govern the treatment of each class respectively; and in applying the general policy, the fullest consideration must be given to local circumstances.
4. (a) Forests of which the preservation is essential-The first class of forests are generally situate on hill slopes, where the preservation of such vegetation as exists, or the encouragement of further growth, is essential to protection from the devastating action of hill torrents of the cultivated plains that lie below them. Here the interests to be protected are important beyond all comparison with the interests which it may be necessary to restrict; and so long as there is a reasonable hope of the restriction being effectual, the lesser interests must not be allowed to stand in the way.
5. (b) Large timber forests. To be managed on commercial lines subject to the satisfaction of the needs of the neighbouring population- The second class of state forests include the great tracts from which our supply of the more valuable timbers-teak, sal, deodar, and the like-is obtained. They are for the most part (though not always) essentially forest tracts and encumbered by very limited rights of user; and when this is the case, they should be managed mainly on commercial lines as valuable properties of, and sources of revenue to, the State. Even in these cases, however, customs of user will, for the most part, have sprung up on the margins of the forest; this user is often essential to the prosperity of the people who have enjoyed it; and the fact that its extent is limited in comparison with the area under forest renders it the more easy to continue it in full. The needs of communities dwelling on the margins of forest tracts consist mainly in small timer for building, wood for fuel, leaves for manure and the fodder , thorns for fencing, grass and grazing and for their cattle, and edible forest products for their own consumption. Every reasonable facility should be afforded to the people concerned for the full and easy satisfaction of these needs, if not free (as may be possible where a system of regular cuttings has been established), then at low and not at competitive rates. It should be distinctly understood that considerations of forest income are to be subordinated to that satisfaction.
There is reason to believe that the area which is suitable to the growth of valuable timber has been over-estimated, and that some of the tracts which have been reserved for this purpose might have been managed with greater profit both to the public and to the State, if the efforts of the Forest Department had been directed to supplying the large demand of the agricultural and general population for small timber, rather than the limited demand of merchants for large timber. Even in tracts of which the conditions are suited to the growth of large timber, it should be carefully considered in each case whether it would not be better, both in the interests of the people and of the revenue, to work them with the object of supplying the requirements of the general and in particular of the agricultural population.
6. Opening of forests to cultivation-It should also be remembered that, subject to certain conditions to be referred to presently, the claims of cultivation are stronger than the claims of forest preservation. The pressure of the population upon the soil is one of the greatest difficulties that India has to face, and that application of the soil must generally be preferred which will support the largest numbers in proportion to the areas available for cultivation. Accordingly, wherever an effective demand for culturable land exists and can only be supplied from forest areas, the land should ordinarily be relinquished without hesitation; and it this principle applies to the valuable class of forests under consideration, it applies a fortiori to the less valuable classes which are presently to be discussed. When cultivation has been established it will generally be advisable to disforest the newly settled area. But it should be distinctly understood that there is nothing in the Forest Act, or in any rules or orders now in force, which limits the discretion of local Government, without previous reference to the Government of India (though of course, always subject to the control of that Government), in diverting forest land to agricultural purposes, even though that land may have been declared reserved forest under the Act.
7. Conditions on which cultivation should be permitted- Mention has been made of certain conditions to which the application of the principle laid down in the preceding paragraph should be subject. They have for their object the utilization of the forest area to the greatest good of the community. In the first place, the honey coming of a valuable forest by patches of cultivation should not be allowed, as the only object it can serve is to substitute somewhat better land in patches for sufficiently good land in large block, while it renders the proper preservation of the remaining forest area almost impossible. The evil here is greater than the good. In the second place, the cultivation must be permanent. Where the physical conditions are such that the removal of the protection afforded by forest growth must result, after a longer or shorter period, in the sterilization or destruction of the soil, the case falls under the principle discussed in paragraph 4 of this resolution. So again, a system of shifting cultivation which denudes a large area of forest growth in order to place a small area under crops, costs more to the community that it is worth, and can only be permitted, under the due regulation where forest tribes depend on it for their sustenance. In the third place the cultivation in question must not be merely nominal and an excuse for the creation of pastoral nominal or semi pastoral villages which do more harm to the forest than the good they reap from it. And in the fourth place cultivation must not be allowed so to extend as to encroach upon the minimum area of forest which is needed in order to supply the general forest needs of the country or the reasonable forest requirements, present and prospective, of the neighbourhood in which it is situated. In many tracts cultivation is practically impossible without the assistance of forests, and it must not be allowed to destroy that upon which its existence depends.
8. Customs of user in timer forests-It has been stated above that the forests under consideration are generally but not always free from customs of user. When, as sometimes happens, they are so intermingled with permanent villages and cultivation that customary rights and privileges militate against their management as revenue paying properties, the principles laid down at the end of paragraph 5 of this resolution should be observed and considerations of income should be made secondary to the full satisfaction of local needs.
Such restrictions as may be necessary for the preservation of the forest, or for the better enjoyment of its benefits, should be imposed; but no restriction should be placed upon reasonable local demands merely in order to increase the State revenue.
9. (c) Minor forests to be used chiefly for the supply of local needs- The third class of forests include those tracts which, though true forests, produce only the inferior sorts of timber or the smaller growths of the better sorts. In some cases the supply of fuel for manufacturers, railways, and like purposes is of such importance that these forests fall more properly under the second class and must be mainly managed as commercial undertakings. But the forests now to be considered are those which are useful chiefly as supplying fuel and fodder or grazing for local consumption; and these must be managed mainly in the interest of the population of the tract which supplies its forest requirements from this source. The first object to be aimed at is to preserve the wood and grass from destruction; for user must not be exercised so as to annihilate its subject, and the people must be protected against their own improvidence. The second object should be to supply the produce of the forests to the greatest advantage and convenience of the people, To these two objects all considerations of revenue should ordinarily be subordinated.
10. But revenue should not altogether be foregone- It must not be supposed from the preceding remarks that it is the intention of the Government of India to forego all revenue from the large areas that are valuable chiefly for the fuel and fodder which they yield. Cases must be distinguished. Where the areas in question afford the only grazing and the only supply of fuel to villages which lie around or within them, the necessities of the inhabitants of these villages must be treated as paramount, and they should be satisfied at the most moderate rates, and with as little direct official interference as possible. But where the villages of the tract have already ample pasture grounds attached to their cultivation and owned and managed by themselves, and where the Crown lands merely supplement these pastures, and afford grazing to a nomad pastoral population or to the herds that shift from one portion of the country to another with the changes of the season, Government may justly expect to reap a fair income from its property. Even in such cases, however, the convenience and advantage of the graziers should be studiously considered and the inhabitants of the locality or those who habitually graze over it, should have a preferential claim at rates materially lower than might be obtained in the open market. It will often be advantageous to fix the grazing demand upon a village or a nomad community for a year or a term of years. The system, like every other, has difficulties that are peculiar to it, but it reduces the interference of petty officials to the lowest point, and minimizes their opportunities for extortion and oppression. Where grasing fees are levied per capital, fee passes are often given to a certain number of cattle. In such cases the cattle which are to graze free should include not only the oxen which are actually employed on the plough, but also a reasonable number of milch cattle and calves. A cow or a buffalo is as much a necessity to a cultivator, using the word necessity in a reasonably wide sense, as is a plough bullock and in many parts the oxen are bred in the village.
11. Considerations connected with the formation of fuel and fodder preserves- In the portions of this report which are referred to in the preamble to the resolution, Dr. Volcker strongly recommends the formation of fuel and fodder preserves and the Government of India has repeatedly urged the same policy upon local Governments. The question whether any particular area can be made to support a greater number of cattle by preserving the grass and cutting it for fodder or by permitting grazing upon it, is one that must be decided by the local circumstances of each case. But when it has been decided, the issues are by no means exhausted. It has been stated in paragraph 9 above that one main object towards which the management of these minor forests should be directed is the supply of fuel and fodder “to the greatest advantage and convenience of the people.” In doing so, due regard must be bad to their habits and wishes. It may that strict preservation and periodical closures, or the total prohibitions of grazing, will result in the largest yield both of fuel and of fodder in the form of hay. But that is of small avail if the people will not utilize the increased supply in the form in which it is offered them. The customs of generations alter slowly in India and though much may and should be done to lead the people to their own profit, yet it must be done gently and gradually, always remembering that their contentment is no less important an object than is their material advantage. It must be remembered, moreover that the object of excluding grazing from the preserves in question is the advantage of the neighbourhood and that the realization of a larger income than grazing would yield by preserving the produce only to sell it to the highest bidder for consumption in large towns at a distance from the preserve is not always in accordance with the policy which the Government of India has inculcated. Here again circumstances must decide. It may be that the local supply of fuel or fodder, independently of the reserved area, is sufficient in ordinary years for the needs of the neighbourhood. In such a case the produce may legitimately be disposed of in such years to the greatest advantage, reserving it for local consumption only when the external supply runs short. Finally, the remarks regarding agency in paragraph 12, and the more general considerations that are discussed below in paragraph 13 of this resolution, apply in full force to areas thus reserved for the supply of fuel and fodder.
12. (d) Pasture land. Same principles apply as to class (c), but with greater force- The fourth class of forests referred to are pastures and grazing grounds proper which are usually forests only in name. It is often convenient indeed to declare them forests under the Act in order to obtain a statutory settlement of the rights which the State on the one hand and private individuals or communities on the other posses over them. But it by no means follow as a matter of course that these lands should be subjected to any strict system of conservation, or that they should be placed under the management of the Forest Department. The question of agency is purely one of economy and expediency and the Government of India believe that in some cases where these lands are managed by the Forest Department, the expenditure on establishment exceeds the revenue, that is, or at any rate the revenue that ought to be realized from them.
The following remarks apply, not only to forest lands under the Act, whether administered by the Forest Department or not, but also to all Crown waste, even though not declared to be forest. Here the interests of the local community reach their maximum while those of the general public are of the slightest nature. If follows that the principles which have been already laid down for the management of minor forests apply, if possible, with even greater force to the management of grazing areas pure and simple.
13. Difficulties of management- The difficulties which arise in connection with these areas are apt to present themselves in their most aggravated form where the tenure of land is raiyatwari. In Zamindari tracts the Crown lands generally assume the second of the two forms indicated in paragraph 10 of this resolution. But where the settlement is raiyatwari, every survey number or field that is unoccupied or unassigned is in the possession and at the disposal of Government, and trespass upon it is prima facie forbidden. In some cultivated tracts, these unoccupied and waste lands are the only source available from which the grazing requirements of the resident population can be met. The Government of India are clearly of opinion that the intermixture of plots of Government land which are used for grazing only, but upon which trespass is forbidden, with the cultivation of occupancy or proprietary holders, is apt to lead to extreme abuses, and especially so when these plots are under the management of the Forest Department. The inferior subordinates of the Forest Department are perhaps as reliable as can be expected on the pay which we can afford to give; but their morality is no higher than that of the uneducated classes from which they are drawn; while the enormous areas over which they are scattered and the small number of the controlling staff render effective supervision most difficult. It is not right in order to protect the grass or the grazing dues on plots of waste scattered over the face of a cultivated district, to put it into the power of an underling to pound or threaten to pound cattle on the plea that they have overstepped the boundary between their owner’s field and the next. Still less right it is to permit the exercise of the power of compounding offences allowed by section 67 of the Forest Act to depend upon the mere report of a subordinate servant, or to expose him to the temptation which such a power holds out. Where the interests involved are sufficiently important it may perhaps be necessary to accept the danger of extortion while minimizing as far as possible the opportunities for it. But in the case under consideration the interests involved are trifling, while the opportunities are unlimited.
14. Should generally be leased to be managed through the agency of neighbouring community-It is to be distinctly understood that the Government of India do not desire that grazing should be looked upon primarily as a source of income. But it by no means follows that all revenue from scattered Government lands should be relinquished. It is indeed inadvisable that this should be done as to do so would give the raiyats an interest in opposing allotment and making things unpleasant for new occupants. But the objections to direct management which have just been pointed out are reduced to a minimum, or altogether avoided when the management is placed in the hands of resident cultivators or of representatives from among them. It will generally be possible to lease or otherwise manage the unoccupied land of a village through the agency of the community; not indeed, at the highest price which they are ready to pay to escape such evils as have just been alluded to but at a moderate estimate of their value to them, fixed in view of the fact that herds and flocks, which cannot exist without grazing are often a necessary condition of the successful conduct of that cultivation upon which the Government land revenue is paid. In no case should fields that have been relinquished be let to outsiders at a reduced assessment for grazing purposes for then we might have speculators taking up such fields, mainly in order to make what they can out of trespassing cattle.
15. When “reservation” and when “protection” is preferred-One more point of principle remains to be noticed. The procedure under chapter-IV of the Indian Forest Act, whereby forests are declared to be protected, has been, in certain cases, regarded by the Government of India as a provisional and intermediate procedure, designed to afford time for consideration and decision with the object of ultimately constituting so much of the area as it is intended to retain a reserved forest under chapter II and of relinquishing the remainder altogether. The Act provides two distinct forms of procedures. But the more strict one, under chapter II, existing rights may be either settled, transfe3rred, or commuted; and this procedure will ordinarily be applied to forests of the first and second classes indicated in paragraph 3 of this resolution. By the second procedure under chapter IV rights are recorded and regulated; and this procedure will often be properly followed where the rights to which the area is subject are extensive and the forest is to be managed mainly in the interests of the local community. It will ordinarily be applied to forests of the 3rd and 4th classes. The second procedure may indeed be provisional, and introductory to reservation under chapter II: but there is in the Forest Act nothing repugnant to giving it a larger and even a permanent operation. As regard Government, the Chief difference between the two procedures is, that new rights may spring up in a protected but not in a reserved forest, and that the record of rights framed under chapter II is conclusive, while that framed under Chapter IV only carried a presumption of truth. It is believed that this presumption offers ample security where the object of regulating the rights is to provide for their beneficial exercise, rather than to override them to the public interest. As regards the people the chief difference is that speaking broadly, in a reserved forest everything is an offence that is not permitted, while in a protected forest nothing is an offence that is not prohibited. In theory it is possible so to frame the permission and the prohibition as to make the results identical in the two case: but in practice it is almost impossible to do so. If it were not so, the distinction drawn by the Legislature would be unnecessary and meaningless. It is only where the public interests involved are of sufficient importance to justify the stricter procedure and the more comprehensive definition of forest offences, that the latter should be adopted.
The Governor General in Council desires, therefore, that with regard both to fuel and fodder preserves, and to grazing areas pure and simple, and especially to such of them as lie in the midst of cultivated tracts, it may be considered in each case whether it is necessary to class them or if already so classed, to retain them as forest areas; and if this question is decided in the affirmative whether it would not be better to constitute them protected rather than reserved forests.
16. Concluding remarks- Such are the general principles which the Government of India desire should be observed in the administration of all States forests in British India. They are fully aware that the detailed application of these principles must depend upon an infinite variety of circumstances which will have be duly weighed in each case by the local authorities to whose discretion the decision must be left. One of the dangers which it is most difficult to guard against is the fraudulent abuse of concessions for commercial purposes; and only local considerations can indicate how this can best be met. The Government of India recognize the fact that the easier treatment in the matter of forest produce which His Excellency in Council desires should be extended to the agricultural classes may, especially in the case of true forest areas, necessitate more careful supervision in order that the concession may be confined within its legitimate limits. But, on the other hand, they think that, in some provinces, it will render possible a considerable reduction of existing establishment; and they desire that this matter may be carefully considered with reference to what has been said above in paragraph 12. They know also that in some provinces forest policy is already framed on the lines which they wish to see followed in all. But the Governor General in Council believes that local Governments and Administrations will be glad to receive the assurance now given them, that the supreme Government will cordially support them in recognizing and providing for local requirements to the utmost point that is consistent with Imperial interests. Where working plan or plans of operations are framed for forests, the provisions necessary for this purpose should be embodied in them. The exercise of the rights that have been recorded at settlement will necessarily be provided for in these plans. Where further concessions are made by way of privilege and grace it will be well to grant them for some such limited period as ten years, so that they may, if necessary, be revised from time to time, as the circumstances on which they were moulded change.
776 –A.- Early policy as regards leases of waist lands. Prior to 1848 , the question of the utilization of waste lands for the extension of cultivation was not of much importance . An attempt at colonization was made in Sirsa; in Fazilka a number of new estates were carved out of the waste and leased; in Karnal also a number of small estates were formed out of the waste and the abandoned lands which were leased to speculators or zamindars. Most of these lessess later acquired proprietary rights, while many tenants of old standing were given occupancy rights.
After the annexation of the Punjab , however, vast areas of uncultivated land to which no one had any claim came into the possession of the State. In order to encourage the breaking up of this waste lots were given out on lease on easy terms. On fulfillment of the terms of the lease as regards the bringing of the land under cultivation ownership would be conceded free of charge or on the payment of very moderate sum. In 1850 revised lease rules were issued under which all lands commanded by a canal were to be leased out in 100 acre plots to all those who undertook to bring them under cultivation; it was laid down that if the conditions were fulfilled the lessee would be charged and then a gradually increasing rent from Rs. 15 to Rs. 75 per annum for eight years, after which the plots would be liable to assessment at the usual rates. ( These rates were exclusive of canal water-rate that might be imposed.) If cultivation were neglected forfeiture of the lease was to be insisted on . For lands not likely to be commanded by a canal in the near future district officers were allowed to accepted such offers as might be made but never on lower terms than those given above. (See Board of Administration circular No. 40, dated 29th June 1850.)
777. Sale rules of 1863 and 1865. The policy of allowing land-owners to redeem the land revenue and of selling public lands free of revenue in perpetuity for a time found favour with the Government of India.(Paragraph 494 of the Settlement Manual.) In Punjab Government notification No. 25, dated 14th Jan. 1863, rules were published for the carrying out of this policy as regards sales. All waste lands belonging to Government unless specially reserved might be sold by auction by the Deputy Commissioner. On receipt of an application to purchase it was is duty to call for objections or in the event of any objections presented being rejected the land was to be put up to auction at an upset price fixed by the Deputy Commissioner and sold to the highest bidder. On payment of the last instalment of the purchase money the land became the property of the grantee “free for ever from all demands on account of land revenue.” But he remained liable to pay cesses. The sale conveyed to the vendee “plenary right to all products both above the surface and below the same,” saving any exceptions specially noted. To aid in carrying out this policy of speedily disposing of large areas an Act, No. XXIII of 1863, which is still in force , was passed to provide for the adjudication of claims to waste lands. A revised edition of the rules of 1863 was issued with Punjab Government notification No. 635 ,dated 16th September 1865. The grantee’s right to minerals was to be “subject to such royalty ……. as may be fixed under the rules in force.” It is fortunate that the rules of 1863 and 1865 did not remain in force long, and that little advantage was taken on their provisions. The dangerous scope of those sale rules was soon perceived . In 1864 the previous sanction of the Financial Commissioner was required for all sales (Financial Commissioner’s Book circular No. 16 of 1864.) and in 1866 the Government of India requested the local Government not to permit the sale of any rakhs which were likely by their position to prove useful hereafter for plantations, even through no timber was now to be found in them. ( Financial Commissioner’s Book circular No. 14 of 1866.)
778. 778. Lease rules of 1868. The rules issued in 1868 were the first general rules for the lease of waste lands in the Punjab. In these rules it was laid down that the lessee would be entitled to the pre-emption of the proprietary right in the land at a fair and reasonable sum, provided the agreed to the assessment placed on the land. But in 1873 this rule was altered, and it was laid down that if at any time, either during the term of the lease or at its expiration, Government resolved to sell the proprietary right in the said land, the lessee would be given the option to purchase at a reasonable price to be fixed by the Deputy Commissioner.
779. 779. Sale rules of 1876 and 1882 and lease rules of 1882. New sale rules were issued in 1876. They differed from the rules of 1865 in one very important respect , for they provided that the land should be sold “subject to payment of the land revenue demand for the time being assessed thereon .” As in the rules of 1865 Government reserved a right to charge a royalty upon all minerals . ( Financial Commissioner’s Book Circular No. VI of 1877) A revised edition was issued in 1882, and in it the title of the State to retain the ownership of all minerals was expressly asserted. ( Financial Commissioner’s circular No. 21 of 1882.) At the same fresh lease rules were issued which differed little from the rules of 1868, except that the rights of the State as regards “mines minerals, coal , gold- washing and quarries” were fully explained.
780. 780. Lease rules of 1885. It was partly on account of the uncertainly regarding the terms of purchase in the lease rules of 1868 and 1882 that a new set of rules was issued with the approval of the Government of India in 1885, When Sir Charles Aitchison was Lieutenant- Governor. ( Revenue (General) proceeding, Nos. 3-4 of September 1885. ) Commissioner were given power to sanction leases of areas not exceeding 300 acres . Leases of larger areas had to be approved by the Financial Commissioner, and, if the area exceeded 3,000 acres, by the Lieutenant- Governor. As before the assessment was to be framed “with due regard to the revenue rates assessed on land in the neighborhood and to the special circumstances of the case .” But in addition to the assessment a malikana or proprietary fee amounting to 25 per cent of the revenue was to be paid by the lessee. The rent was therefore only 1-1/4 times the land revenue , and it might be remitted altogether for one or more years. The term was ordinarily to be fixed so as to expire with the current settlement of the district. Minerals and the rights of Government over rivers and streams were fully reserved. The Government had power to determine the lease during its currency if the land was required for public purposes on paying compensation for any improvements made. On the expiry of the original term the lessee was entitled to claim renewal on such terms as to payment of land revenue and proprietary due or malikana as the officer renewing the lease might determine. If the lease was renewed the lessee had no claim to compensation for improvements. The conditions regarding purchase were extremely liberal . The lessee could purchase proprietary right at any time by paying five times the amount of the maximum rent, that is to say , 6-1/4 times the land revenue. After the rules of 1885 were published the Financial Commissioner issued in striations requiring Deputy Commissioners to arrange , without needlessly harassing lessees, for the regular inspection of lands held on lease so as to ensure the proper fulfillment of the conditions. ( Financial Commissioner’s Circular No. 60 of 1885)
781. 781. Sale rules of 1885. Revised sale rules were also issued in 1885 . Sales might be made by public auction after the publication of a notice in the gazette. The sale must not take place for three months from the date of the notice. ( Section 1 of Act XXIII of 1863). The land was to be sold subject to all existing rights of way or water and other easements and the title of Government to all minerals was to be reserved. The purchaser was bound to pay half the purchase money within three months of the date of sale, and on doing so was to be put in possession of the land. As security for the payment of the remainder in five equal yearly instalments he was to execute a deed mortgaging the land to the Government. Few sales of waste land by public auction, except in the case of the canal colonies to be presently mentioned, have taken place in the Punjab. The sale rules of 1885 apparently ceased to be in force when the lease rules of 1897 were issued .
782. 782. Operation of Lease
Rules of 1885 restricted. The operation of the lease rules of 1885 was soon greatly restricted . IN 1887 the
Government of India expressed the view that in practice they “do not appear to
protect the interests of Government , and …….. it is evident that ………. a lessee
may purchase the proprietary right in waste land for a price which is far below
the market value of the land.”( Government of India , Revenue and Agriculture
Department letter No.432-R-19-25 dated 12th August,1887-Revenue
(General), proceedings No. 9 of October 1887.) About the same time the meaning
of the
783. 783. Lease rules of 1897.
For various reasons great delay
occurred in the issue of the new rules and they were not actually published
till 1897.
They will be bound in appendix III(I). The principal points in which they differ from earlier rules are :-
(a) (a) the limitation of the areas which may be leased.
All tracts are excluded which are embraced by any colonization scheme for lands commanded by a Government canal and all areas likely to be so commanded. The local Government alone can made exceptions. The amount of Government land suitable for leasing is now small. Lists of such lands are to be drawn up by the Deputy Commissioner, and local Government is to determine from time to time which of these lands shall be deemed available for leasing.Subject to these stringent conditions the Commissioner can sanction a lease up to a limit of 75 acres if the land is not irritable from a canal and the Financial Commissioner upto a limit of 150 acres , whether the land is irritable from a canal or not for a maximum period of 20 years in each case , provided the total area held on lease by a single lessee does not exceed 75 and 150 acres respectively. Leases of areas exceeding 150 acres must be approved by the local Government. ( See rules 1 to 3 in appendix III ).
(b) the exaction of fuller rent.
The rent was to be calculated so as to be equivalent to the land revenue plus a proprietary due or malikana in addition.
The former is to be calculated with due regard to :-
(1) (1) the revenue rates assessed on similar lands at the last settlement , and
(2) (2) the present renting value for cultivation and grazing of similar land in adjacent estates.
In applying this canon so much of the area is to be treated as cultivated as the lessee may fairly be expected to bring under cultivation within the term of the lease.
The proprietary due or malikana is to be 4 per cent of the market value of the land in its waste condition , and, if that is not ascertainable, not less than 50 per cent of the land revenue assessed.
The Financial Commissioner is given certain powers of reducing the malikana for special reasons. Initial exemptions from payment of rent may also be allowed.(See rule 10 in appendix III.)
(c) the permanent rights which the lessee can acquire are either :-
(1) (1) right of occupancy under section 8 of the Punjab Tenancy Act, or
(2) (2) ownership.
Different forms if instrument of lease are employed according as it is proposed to grant the one or the other.
If a right of occupancy is acquirable it can be claimed after the lessee had been in occupation for five years, if meanwhile he has fulfilled all the conditions. At the end of the term of the lease the rent is fixed at the land revenue with an addition of 75 per cent, as malikana.
Where the lease gives the lessee the option of obtaining ownership he may do so at any time during the currency of the lease. (Rules 18,19 and 21 ibid.)
(d) the price charged for the land is the full market value.
The local Government can reduce
the amount for special reasons. ( Rule 19(iii) ibid )
784. 784. Leases for a single harvest- The 24th of the rules exempts from their operation leases for a single harvest. The practice of giving such licenses for temporary cultivation in respect of lands which, being low lying received local drainage and therefore could in good seasons be cultivated without irrigation , used to be common in some of the south –western district. The spread of canal irrigation has made the matter one of the small importance , and rendered it necessary to impose restrictions on the practice. The instructions at present in force will be found in appendix III (2).
785. 785. Other alienations of State lands- So far we have been dealing with sales and leases of waste land owned by the state made on the authority of rules issued with the sanction of the Government of India( “Under Government of India circular letter, Revenue and Agricultural Department , No. 3-471-1, dated 19th November, 1909, the local Government is now authorized to make amendments in details without previous reference to the Government of India.”). But the State may have acquired by escheat or otherwise cultivated land or town sites, the ownership of which it is prepared to transfer on various terms to public bodies or private individuals . Occasions may also arise for the grant of waste lands on conditions more favorable than those embodies in the lease rules. A classification of the transfers referees to above and directions as to the sanction required in each description of case are contained in the resolutions of the Government of India reproduced in appendix IV.
Nazul property, within the limits of municipality, notified area, or small town not being a colony town, means land and buildings of all kind which belong to Government and, are not in departmental charge. Nazul property, outside the limits of a municipality, no tidied areas, or small town means all immovable property other than agricultural land and wells and tanks used primarily for agricultural purposes , which belongs to Government and is not in departmental charge.
(See paragraph 2 of Punjab government consolidated circular No. 27). The instructions issued by the Government of India as to the alienation of town sites will be found in appendix IV.
786. 786. Construction of private canals by leases- During the first thirty five years after annexation the policy described in this chapter fairly successful. To its complete success Nature has set up obstacles of a formidable kind. Where the State owns most waste and the rainfall is usually too scanty to allow of dry cultivation except of very limited extent and most precarious character, and at the same time the water level is too deep to make well sinking easy or well working profitable. Indeed in the south –west of the province the rainfall is so light and so capricious that wells unaided by river flood or canal water are of little use. Some lesses were therefore encouraged to dig private canals to irrigate their grants and a good deal was done to extend cultivation in this way, especially in the Shahpur District. The canal owners used the water largely to irrigate their own lands, but gave any they could spare to their neighbours ,charging a water rate usually in the form of a share of the produce. The people of the tahsils of Ferozepore bordering on the Sutlej under the energetic guidance of their Deputy Commissioner , Major Grey, constructed many years ago a number of small zamindari canals to water their proprietary lands. It was inevitable that difficult questions should arise in connection with private canals, and it was evident that the elaborate provisions of the Northern Indian Canal and Drainage Act, VIII of 1873, were not well to many smaller irrigation works whether private or not which were managed or controlled by Government . “The owner of a private canal is not, like the owner of an irrigation well , independent of relations with all persons outside the ring – fence of his own property . Even when the canal is constructed solely to irrigate the owners’ land the interest of the State are involved in the detraction of water from the river or natural stream, and it is rarely the case that the supply channel can be constructed without its bed passing through land belonging to other persons. When as is more commonly the case, irrigation is supplied not only to the canal –owners’ lands, but also to whatever area , however owned, may be commanded by the available supply, relations arise which, in the interest of canal owners and irrigators and of peace and good Government generally , require to be controlled and regulated.” ( Statement of objects and Reasons attached to Bill No. 3 of 1903) Moreover it was possible that a private individual having secured a monopoly of the water –supply might charge others so high a price for it as to interfere with the legitimate claims of Government to land revenue. These considerations led to the passing of the Punjab Minor Canals Act, No. III of 1905.
787. 787. Punjab Minor Canals
Act, III of 1905- In that Act a very wide
definition of “canal” is given . (Section 3(ii) . A number of irrigation
works are included in the two schedules appended to the rules in volume II of
the Punjab Land Administration Acts and
It is to these works that it in the first instance applies. Schedule I
is primarily intended for small irrigation works owned in whole or in part by
Government or managed by Government Officers or by any local authority while
schedule II is intended to include canals , which are owned and managed by private individuals. ( Proviso
to section 2) The local Government has power to make additions to the schedules
, or to transfer a canal from one schedule to another or exclude it from both ,
by notifications . ( Section2(2). Government may notify “any natural canal ,
lake or other collection of water.” Thereafter no one can without its
permission construct a canal to draw water from that source of supply.(Section
4,5 and 7).The 6th section States the procedure to be followed by a Deputy Commissioner who thinks a canal
should be constructed from such a source. The levy of “water dues” by which term is indicated
what was formerly called royalty, by Government from canal – owners on account
of use of water is legalized and regulated by section 8. Chapter III of the Act
gives the Collector the powers necessary
for the management of canals included in schedule I, and provides for
the levy of water-rates. Both water dues and water –rates to be collected by
the officers of Government are recoverable as if they were arrears of land
revenue. (Sections 29-32 and 68.)The
system of providing for yearly clearances by labour contribution (cher)
is legalized in certain cases. ( Sections 26 and 27 see paragraph 449 of
Settlement Manual) Power is given to
draw up a record for a canal showing inter alia the custom or rule of irrigation, and the rights to water or to
erect mills(Section 28) Rights in or over any canal may be extinguished by the
local Government on payment of compensation if the exercise of them “ is
prejudicial to the interests of other
irrigators or to the good management, improvement , or extension of the canal.”
(Section 11) Chapter IV applies to canals included in schedule II. The local
Government is given power to fix the limits of irrigation and the amount of the
rate, and to regulate the supply and distribution of the water to
and from a canal and to order the preparation of a record of rights. (Section 35 and 39) The
Collector may appoint a manager in certain cases (Section 34) and the local Government may
assume control with the canal-owner’s consent, and in case of grave
mismanagement or willful and continuos
breach of order passed under section 39 , without it . If control is taken against the will of the
owner he can require the Government to acquire the canal (Sections 36 and 37).
The local Government can undertake the collections of water –rates livable on a private canal , if requested to
do so by the owners. ( Section 40). Chapter V applies to canals of both
classes. It gives the Collector the necessary powers.
(a) (a) to ensure that canals and the works connected with them are maintained in good working order and protected from injury; (Sections 52-7)
(b) (b) to settle disputes among the shareholders(Section 42-3)
It gives power to regulate the construction of mills, (Section 58) and the flow of the water in rivers, creeks, natural channels,or lines of natural drainage, and for the removal therefrom of obstructions. (Sections 49-51) It enables Government to acquire any private canal when it appears expedient in the public interest to do so. ( Section 45-8. ) The jurisdiction of the civil court is excluded, (Section 60) and light penalties are provided for certain offences under the Act.(section 71) Cases relating to such offences must be tried by magistrates of the 1st or 2nd class.
788. 788. Canal colonization schemes- The efforts described in the preceding paragraphs to extend cultivation pale into insignificance before the results of the great schemes of irrigation which have been carried out in the last forty years. These will be found fully described in the Punjab Colony Manual, Volume I.
REVENUE COURTS AND
REVENUE SUITS
789. Meaning of “revenue court”-A revenue court
is simply a revenue office acting in a judicial instead of in an executive
capacity. There are, therefore, the same classes of revenue courts as of
revenue officers, and ordinarily a revenue officer of any grade is a revenue
court of the same grade, and his jurisdiction in the one capacity is
co-existensive with his jurisdiction in the other.1
1. Section 77(2) of Act XVI of 1887. The sections referred
to in this chapter are to sections of this Act.
790. Reason why certain classes of cases are heard by revenue courts-The distinction between revenue and civil courts is one of agency, not of procedure. It is well that cases of the kind referred to in paragraph 793 should be tried by officers whose daily work is concerned with the revenue and the produce of the land and with the record-of-right, and brings them into close contact with the rural population, because the special experience so acquired conduces to a readier appreciation of the points at issue and greater skill in obtaining and appraising the evidence.
791. Procedure of revenue courts-The procedure of revenue courts is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure1 and the Rules and Orders of the High Court, so far as these are applicable. Power to make special rules of procedure for revenue courts is given by section 88(1) of the Tenancy Act, but it has not been exercised2. The idea that revenue litigation is less regular and more subject to the idiosyncracies of the judge than civil litigation is quite erroneous. The investigation of revenue suits should be every whit as careful as that of civil cases, and in both classes of courts equal respect should be paid to positive injunction of law and to considerations of equity.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Section 88(2) (a).
2. 2. Section 89-92 and 101 and two rules under section 106(1) (f) deal with certain minor points of procedure. The rules are 12(i) and 13 of the rules under the Tenancy Act.
792. Jurisdiction of revenue courts at different times- At one time the jurisdiction of revenue courts was a good deal wider than at present and embraced all suits for landed property. It is needless to cumber this chapter with an account of the powers of revenue courts at different periods.
793. Suits reserved for revenue courts-By section 77 (3) of the Tenancy Act, as amended by section 22 of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900, and Act III of 1912, seventeen classes of suits are reserved exclusively for the decision of revenue courts. Eleven of these are suits between landlords and tenants regarding ejectment, rent, occupancy rights, etc. The other six are:
(a) (a) suits for sums payable on account of village cesses1 or village expenses;
(b) (b) suits by a co-sharer in an estate or holding for a share of the profits or for an account;
(c) (c) suits for recovery of over payments of rent or revenue, or of any other demand for which a suit lies in a revenue court;
(d) (d) suits by a landowner for sums due for the enjoyment of rights in or over land or in water2.
(e) (e) Suits for sums payable on account of land revenue or of any other demand recoverable as an arrear of land revenue and suits by a superior landowner for other sums due to him as such;
(f) (f) Suits relating to the emoluments of kanungos, zaildars, inamdars and village officers.
It is provided by section 43 (2) (a) of the Punjab Minor Canals Act, III of 1905, that in deciding disputes relating to the ownership of a canal or the mutual rights of owners in the use of the water of a canal, or the construction or maintenance of a canal or the payment of any share of the costs of such construction or maintenance, or the distribution of the supply of water from a canal, the Collector shall proceed as a revenue court.
____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
See paragraph 94 of the Settlement Manual.
2.
2.
See paragraph 356 of the settlement Manual.
794. Parties may be referred to civil courts for decisions of some question in issue-If in any case pending before it a revenue court is of opinion that “any question in issue is more proper for decision by a civil court”, it can apply to the court to which it is subordinate for leave to direct any of the parties to institute a suit in the civil court in order to obtain a decision of the question. If the injunction is obeyed the proceeding in the revenue court must be decided in accordance with the finding of the civil court. If no civil suit is instituted the revenue court may decide the matter in issue as it thinks fit1.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. Section 93.
795. Powers of High Courts as regards questions of jurisdiction-The Tenancy Act also provides for references to the High Court for the resolving of doubts as to jurisdiction1 and for the validation by the High Court of proceedings taken by either a civil or a revenue court under a mistake as to jurisdiction2.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Section 99.
2. 2. Section 100.
796. Suits reserved for Collector-The highest revenue court of original jurisdiction is that of the Collector. Of the four classes of revenue suits which are reserved exclusively for his court1 or for that of an Assistant Collector of the first grade invested by name with power to hear them2 the only one requiring special notices is suits for the enhancement or reduction of the rent of an occupancy tenant.
797. Suits for enhancement of rent of occupancy tenants-
The law regarding the enhancement and reduction of rents paid by occupancy
tenants is explained in the 216th paragraph of the Settlement
Manual. The rates of malikana there mentioned are the highest that can be
imposed. A court is under no obligation to decree the fullest rent permitted by
the law, and in many cases it would be very unwise to do so. The attention of
all revenue officers is drawn to the necessity for caution in enhancing at the
conclusion of settlement operations, the rates of malikana payable by occupancy
tenants in cases where; owing to enhancement of land revenue assessment, there
has been a substantial automatic enhancement in the amount of malikana
calculated at the previous rate. Before the passing of the Tenancy Act of 1887
the payments made by occupancy tenants in addition to the land revenue and
cesses were in some parts of the country very trifling, and throughout whole
districts enhancement was barred by entries in the village administration
papers.
798. Severe enhancements deprecated-One object of the Act was to enable landlords to increase the rents of privilege tenants when these were very low. This intention must not be defeated, but severe enhancements, which would raise the rent of particular occupancy tenants much above the standard prevailing in the neighbourhood in the case of other tenants of the same class should be avoided. Nor may it always be fair to exclude from consideration the rents usually paid by tenants-at-will in the neighbourhood. It uses to be quite common in some parts of the Punjab, especially in the south eastern districts, for such tenants to pay no rent properly so called. The demand of the harvest on account of revenue, cesses and village expenses was spread over the cultivated area, and tenants equally with landowners simply paid their quota. This primitive state of things is probably disappearing everywhere. But wherever it exists, or where for any reason the rents paid by tenants-at-will are very light, care must be taken to avoid heavy enhancement in the case of occupancy tenants.
799. Decree bars further proceedings for ten years-Considering that over two millions of acres in the Punjab are tilled by occupancy tenants paying cash rents, the number of suits for enhancement is surprisingly small1. A decree raising the rent of an occupancy tenant or rejecting on its merits a claim for enhancement is a bar to any further proceedings with the same object for a period of ten years2.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Further information on this point can be obtained from statement XV of the
annual Land Revenue reports.
2. 2. Section 24(3) of Act XVI of 1887. See also as regards compensation for improvements in enhancement cases, paragraph 804.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
See paragraph 207 of the Settlement Manual.
801. Suits relating to ejectment-The next three descriptions of cases to be noticed from one group. They are suits-
(a) (a) by landlords for the ejectment of tenants;
(b) (b) by tenants to contest ejectment notices; and
(c) (c) by tenants to recover possession or compensation in cases of wrongful ejectment.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Section 42.
2.
2.
See paragraph 65.
3.
3.
Section 40(c).
4. 4. Sections 39 (b) and 40(b).
5. 5. For the number of ejectment suits reference should be made to statement XVI of the annual Land Revenue reports.
803. Suits to contest notices of ejectment-Every ejectment notice
warns the tenant-at-will on whom it is served that he must if he intends to
contest his liability to be turned out, institute at suit in a revenue court
within two months.1 Such suits are pretty numerous and are often
successful. If the tenant fails to prove his case a decree for his ejectment is
passed.2
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Section 45(3).
2. 2. Section 45(6).
804. Claims for compensation-In all suits by a landlord for enhancement of rent or for ejectment or by a tenant to contest an ejectment notice, it is the duty of the court to direct the tenant to put in any claim he may have for compensation for improvements. In the cases in which his ejectment is the question at issue he must also be told to include in his claim any compensation for disturbance to which he considers himself to be entitled.1 If compensation is found to be due, any decree for enhancement or ejectment that may be passed cannot be executed till the landlord pays into court the amount for which he is held to be liable.2
_____________________________________________________________________
1. Section 70(1).
2. Section
20 (2).
805. Suits for recovery of possession-If a tenant has been ousted by force or by any proceedings not authorized by the Tenancy Act, or if he is ejected after the issue of a notice, whose validity he has failed to contest by a suit, he may, within one year of dispossession, bring an action in a revenue court for the recovery of his holding or for compensation or for both1. He cannot bring a suit under section 9 of the Specific Relief Act of 1877.2
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Section 50 and 50-A.
2. 2. Section 51.
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1. See No. 6 P.R. 1893 Revenue.
807. Suits within jurisdiction of Assistant Collectors of the 2nd grade suits for arrears of rent-The most important of the three classes of cases within the jurisdiction of Assistant Collectors of the 2nd Grade is suits for arrears of rent. More than one half of the total litigation in revenue courts in the Punjab falls under this head. Rent cases are for the most part heard by Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars. They are often by no means simple in their nature. After the first question at issue, whether rent has or has not been paid, has been settled, the problem remains of determining what amount should be decreed. Seeing that in the vast majority or cases rent is paid in kind, this involves a valuation of crops of uncertain yield and whose price varies extremely from year to year. The area under each crop grown in the harvest for which rent is claimed can be excerpted from the Khasra girdawari, failed crops being, of course, left out of account. The assessment of the average yield of various crops in respect of each Assessment Circle should be got gone by he Deputy Commissioners in consultation with the Agriculture Department on the basis of crop cutting experiments carried out by the Agriculture department in selected villages of each assessment circle at the time of each harvest inspection. The assessment of average yield shall be valid for five years. The Revenue Officers may also be advised to keep in view the instructions contained in paragraph 13 of the Financial Commissioners’ Standing Order No. 2 while dealing with Kankut cases under Sections 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887. In order to convert the grain rent into money, one must find out what the harvest prices were. These are recorded for each assessment circle in its revenue register, to which the Tehsildar or Naib Tehsildar can easily refer. In the judgement of the revenue court the process by which it arrived at the rent decreed ought to be briefly explained and appellate courts should insist on this being done.
808. Limitation in rent suits- The limitation for rent suits is three years. The difficulty of an equitable decision is increased when a court has to deal not with the harvests of the past twelve months of which the presiding officer may have a vivid recollection, but with more remove seasons. Landlords, and especially mortgagee landlords, are sometimes tempted to refrain from taking their share in a bad year, trusting to recover more by means of a revenue suit than a fair division on the threshing floor would have yielded. There is, therefore, some reason to suspect that a landlord, who has failed to sue for rent till several years after it feel due, abstained from doing so at the proper time because it could then have been shown that the outturn was poor. In such cases it is fair to refuse to make a doubtful calculation of rent by estimating the value of the produce and simply to decree twice the land revenue and cesses in the case of districts or parts of districts settled before the passing of the Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, III of 1928, and four times the land revenue and cesses in the case of areas of which the assessment has been confirmed on or after the 22nd February, 1929.1 If, however, the harvest is known to have been a very short one, this may be too large, and some smaller sum may be decree.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. Theoretically the cesses should not
be included. But in practice it is unnecessary to leave them out, as the revenue will usually be well below one
fourth of the rental.
809. Remissions of rent- Even where the rent is a money one of fixed amount the court has power, with the previous sanction of the Collector, to remit part of it where the area of the holding has been diminished by diluvion or otherwise or where its produce has been reduced by any calamity of season.1 The principle to be followed in such cases is to treat the tenant with reference to his rent as the landlord has been or will be treated with reference to the revenue. If the State foregoes part of the revenue, the landlord ought to forego a proportionate share of the rent.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. Section 29. The section applies to kind, as well as to cash
rents.
810. Suits under section 14 of the Act-By Section 14 of the Tenancy Act, a person who is in occupation of land without the owners’ consent is liable to pay at the rate of rent current in the preceding agricultural year or if none was paid in that year, at such rate as the court determines to be fair and equiable.1 What is paid in such circumstances is not, strictly speaking, rent, but suits under section 14 are classed in the same category as actions for arrears of rent.2
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
For suspension and remission of rent by executive order- see paragraph 573.
2.
2.
Section 77 (3) (n).
811. Deposits of rent- A defendant who admits that the rent claimed is due, but assets that the plaintiff is not the person entitled to receive it, must pay the amount into court, otherwise his plea will be disregarded. Once he has made the deposit his responsibility is at an end. Notice is given to the person whom the defendant alleges to be his landlord1. If the latter does not within three months brings a suit against the plaintiff in the action for rent, and obtain an order restraining payment of the deposit, it will be made over to the original claimant2.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Section 95(1) , (2) and (5).
2.
2.
Section 95(3) sub section (4), provides that nothing in this section shall
affect the right of any person to recover from the plaintiff money paid to him
under sub section (3).
812. Execution of decrees for Arrears of rent-A court on giving a decree for rent may order execution against the movable property of the tenant, or any uncut or ungathered crops on the holding in respect of which the arrear id due. But so long as the tenant is in occupation of the land he can not be imprisoned in execution of such a decree1.
_____________________________________________________________________
1.
1.
Sections 96 and 97.
813. Restriction of processes involving arrest of tenant or landlords-No revenue court can issue any process involving the arrest of any tenant or of any landlord who cultivated his own land during either of the two harvest seasons1 except for reasons of urgency, which must be put on record.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. Tenancy Rule 14. The harvest seasons
are from Ist April to 31st May and from 15th September to
15th November.
814. Control, appeal and revision- The law as regards administrative control, appeal and revision, applicable to revenue courts is practically identical with that applicable to revenue officers as described in Chapter VI. The only classes of cases which can usually come on appeal before the Financial Commissioner are those referred to in paragraph 796. In revision cases a Financial Commissioner can only interfere with the order of an inferior revenue court “on any ground on which the High Court in the exercise of its revisional jurisdiction may, under the law for the time being in force, interfere with the proceedings or an order of decree of a Civil Court” (Section 84 (5) of the Tenancy Act). But by the operation of section 88(2) (a) and (b) of the Act, section 113 of the Civil Procedure Code and Order XLVI of the first schedule apply to the proceedings of revenue courts and an inferior of the Financial Commissioners.
MISCELLANEOUS
816. Meteorological observations and returns- At some important stations there are observatories under the direct control of the Director-General of Observatories. A note on the climatic conditions of each month by the Meteorological Department of the Government of India is published in the Gazette.
At other headquarter stations and at tahsils there are rain gauges in charge of the assistant to the district kanungo and the tahsil office kanungo, respectively. Registers are kept up by the district kanungo and the tahsil office kanungoes in which the rainfall is recorded. The headquarters register contains columns to show the rainfall at every recording station in the district which is in charge of the district Kanungo. At the beginning of each month a return of the rainfall of the past month with notes on the agricultural situation, is furnished to the Director of Land Records. Besides the rain-gauges in charge of revenue officials others have been put in a number of places where a record of the local rainfall was considered necessary. These are in charge of competent officials, such as Sub-Assistant Surgeons. The rainfall is also recorded by officials of the Irrigation Department and at the chief agricultural farms.
Crop reports-Whenever the Deputy Commissioner, or any Assistant Commissioner or Extra Assistant Commissioner visits a tahsil, he should inspect the rain-gauge and register , and satisfy himself as to the capacity of the office kanungo to observe and record the rainfall correctly. The result should be communicated to the Director of Land Records and to the Meteorological Department of the Government of India. It should be part of the duties of one of the officers at headquarters to inspect the rain- gauge and register at regular intervals.
Reports on the snowfall for the months of January to May are sent by the Deputy Commissioners of Shimla, Kangra, Gurdaspur , Rawalpindi and by the Assistant Commissioner in Kulu to the Meteorological Department of the Government of India, a copy being furnished at the same time to the Director of Land Records . A special report is also sent if possible , about the middle or end of July.
A return showing the monthly rainfall at each district headquarters in the province is embodied in the Director’s yearly Season and Crop Report. ( For detailed instructions as to the record of rainfall and snowfall Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 37 should be referred to.)
817. Crop Reports- From fifteen districts a weekly telegraphic report is sent to the Director of land Record in which the rainfall, the progress of agricultural operations, the prospects of harvest, any serious damages done to crops, the condition of agricultural stock, any marked failure of pasturage, fodder or water supply , when it occurs , and the chief objects of those reports to ensure that the approach of scarcity anywhere in the province shall be signaled. Similar reports are sent from every district in which scarcity is impending or famine or other abnormal circumstances exist. The Deputy Commissioners of the remaining 14 districts are also required to submit by letter a summary of the weekly weather and crop conditions during the period from the 1st of April, till the 15th October (inclusive).
Deputy Directors of Agriculture submit similar reports, converting the same ground to the Director who forwards them through the Financial Commissioner , Development , to the Minister.
For some of the principal spring and autumn crops estimates are furnished by Deputy Commissioners and Deputy Directors of Agriculture to the Director of Agriculture at intervals generally of about two months. There are , therefore three estimates for each crop. The first and second are preliminary and corrected estimates of the area sown, the third prepared after the culture harvest inspection gives the actual area of crops sown, and an estimate of the outturn. In the case of cotton and wheat a fourth estimate is also required.
A statement showing the results of the kharif harvest accompanied by a brief note is sent by Deputy Commissioners to the Director Land records not later than the 10th of December. The district returns with a general note by the Director are published in the Gazette. The rabi crop return forms one of the statements appended to the Crop and Season report which Deputy Commissioners sent to the Director of Land Records and to the Commissioner by the 10th of July, each other.
The note on each harvest should include a concise account of the factors which have influenced the area or the yield of important staples.
The note should be prepared by the Revenue Assistant who should base it upon the reports of tahsildars and his own personal observations . Both the Revenue Assistant and the tahsildar should check their own personal observations by the opinions of reliable agriculturists.
The provincial Crop and Season report is drawn up the Director of Land Records. (For detailed instructions as to weather and crop reports, monthly agricultural prospect reports , estimates of area, yield of certain crops and Season and Crop report, see Financial Commissioner’s Standing Orders Nos. 36,37, 38 and 53.)
818. Crop Experiments-The most reliable crop experiments are those conducted by the settlement staff when a district is under re-assessment. But experiments are also made harvest by harvest in all the districts of the province, except Simla , by the revenue and agricultural staff and the results reported to the Director of Land Records and Director of Agriculture , Respectively. They should be made by naib-tahsildars, tahsildars, Revenue Assistants and Sub-Divisional Officers in the case of revenue staff and by Agricultural Assistants , Extra Assistant Directors of Agriculture and Deputy Directors of Agriculture in case of agriculture staff. Detailed instructions will be found in the Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 9- A.
819. Prices-The deputy Commissioner of the following districts report on 1st and 15th of each month of wholesale prices of the principal food-grain prevailing at the markets and noted against each:-
|
Gurgaon |
Palwal |
|
Ambala |
Jagadhri |
|
Jullundur |
Jullundur |
|
Ludhiana |
Ludhiana |
|
Ferozepore |
Ferozepore Abohar |
|
Lahore |
Lahore |
|
Amritsar |
Amritsar |
|
Gurdaspur |
Gurdaspur Pathankot |
|
Sialkot |
Sailkot |
|
Shahpur |
Sargodha |
|
Jhelum |
Jhelum |
|
Rawalpindi |
Rawalpindi |
|
Attock |
Campbellpur |
|
Montgomery |
Montgomery Okara |
|
Lyallpur |
Lyallpur |
|
Multan |
Multan |
This prices of the different crops obtaining in each assessment circle at harvest time are entered in the crop abstracts in the circle note-book in accordance with reports received from district kanugos. A register of the retail price at headquarters of the same crops and of salt and firewood is kept up by the district Kanungo. The prices recorded are those current on the fifteenth and the last day of each month . From the register a return showing the retail prices of some of the chief staples and of slat and firewood is compiled and sent to the Director of Land Records on the 1st and 16th of each month. An officer not below the rank of Extra Assistant Commissioner, either the Treasury officer or some other member of the staff whose work ordinarily keeps him at headquarters, should be made responsible for checking the figures of retail and wholesale prices in the returns , and each price current should bear his attestation (Government of India Revenue Department , No. 6-150, dated 20th March, 1872). Through the prices recorded are only those of particular days , it is his duty to keep himself informed from day to day of all variations in the market.
In districts where there is a Cantonment the same officer should be made responsible for the preparation of the monthly lists of bazar prices furnished to the Indian Army service Crops.
Their accuracy is a matter of great importance , as they may be used as the authority for the payment to Indian troops of compensation for dearness provisions. (For detailed instructions as to price lists see Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order. No. 39. ) A copy of the military bazar prices current is sent monthly to the Director of Land records for scrutiny.
The industrial surveyors working under the control of the Director of Industries , Punjab , will also check the records of retail prices at the head quarters of districts once a month. They will report the result of their check to the tahsildar and will not give any directions to the revenue staff, whose responsibility will remain unimpaired.
820. Locusts.
Locusts are frequently seen in the province, but as a rule they speedily
disappear after doing an amount of damage
which , through it may be small in proportion to the total out-turn ,
may be very serious for the cultivators whose crops have been attacked . In
some seasons, however, vast swarms invade the province, and commit widespread
devastation. Their power of
multiplication is enormous. Whenever locusts are observed in a district
measures should be taken to ensure.
(a) (a) that the laying and
hatching of eggs shall be promptly reported and
(b) (b) that measures shall
at once be taken for the destruction of the eggs and of the young nymphs when
hatched.
An
account of the history of locusts with
detailed instructions as to the best means of destroying their eggs and the young insects before they
acquire wings will be found in appendix V.
Once the locusts have begun to fly no measures
hitherto devised appears to be really effective. The use of airplanes to drop
dust powder has not been tried in the Punjab. Flame guns can be used to kill
the insects as they are resting at night but this measure is obviously of very
limited value.
821. Carriage and supplies for
troops. The rules
for the provisions of carriage and supplies to troops on the march will be
found in Financial Commissioners Standing Order
No. 58 . IN carrying them out a good deal of care and tact is required
to ensure on the one hand that nothing taken without payment and on the other
that the reasonable requirements of regiments are met. It is important that
civil official should be the medium of communication between officers
commanding troops on the march and the country people, No definite rule on the
subject can be laid down; but Deputy Commissioners must invariably accredit to
the commanding officer an official of sufficient standing powers and
intelligence to accompany troops on the march or if the number of the troops is
small to be present at each encamping ground on their arrival and departure.
When the detachment or force on the march consist of European troops, an
English –speaking official should, if possible be sent.( Punjab Government
circular No. 12-1724, dated 31st July, 1883). Grass cutters of
regiments on the march should on arrival at encamping –grounds be directed to
best places for cutting grass. Private property must be respected but there is
usually abundance of grass on the sides of the roads and other public places.
(Punjab Government Circular No. 22-657, dated 28th March 1870.)
822. Horse, mule and cattle breeding. As all the chief agricultural
operations are carried on with the aid of bullock power, the supply of
efficient cattle is a mater of great importance. On the whole the live – stock
in the Punjab are of better quality than in the rest of India. And in some
parts their reputation stands very high. The spread of canal irrigation over
the old breeding ground has had a serious effect on the supply and has added to
the importance of the cattle –breeding work of the Veterinary Department.
Certain districts which are regarded as suitable or horse –breeding have bee n
classed as “selected”, and in these the Army Remount Department devotes special
attention to the matter; they provide and replace a number of stallions and pay
for all costs of establishment, feed and keep. If district broads maintain their own stallions in these districts, these are supervised by
the officers of the Army Remount Department.
In other districts , classed as
“non-selected” the horse and donkey
stallions are supervised by the civil veterinary department ; the initial cost
of acquisition is shared between Government and the district boards. While the
latter pay for maintenance.
In all districts, the breeding of
horned cattle, cattle disease, cattle fairs ,etc. are the care of Director ,
Veterinary Services , and his Superintendents (see Agricultural circular No. 6)
At Lahore there is a vernally
College for training students , stipends are given both by Government and Local
bodies (see Agricultural Circular No.3)
Until
recently the only organization for the supply of suitable bulls for breeding
purposes was the Government Cattle Farm at Hissar (see Agricultural circular
No.1) but the establishment of the
grantee farms in the Lower Bari Doab Canal colony and the introduction of the
Dhanni and Hariana breeding schemes in
the districts including the homes of
these breeds have provided facilities
for obtaining bulls of different breeds required for various districts of the
province.
An
area has been set apart for a new cattle breeding farm in the Nili Bar colony, which it is hoped,
will be developed for the supply of high class bulls.
823. Cattle and horse fairs. Cattle and horse fairs have come to be
regarded as a very valuable means of
stimulating interest in breeding as well
as of facilitating the sale of young stock. They are being used for the exhibition of the better types of
stock as well as improved agricultural implements and farm produce. They tend
to brighten the prevailing dullness of rural life by providing an occasional
district fete. (See Agricultural circular No.2) Several district boards derive
a substantial income from such fairs, and there is in consequence a tendency to
encourage them as a source of income.
824. Important epidemic diseases among livestock. The principal epidemic diseases of
equines and brownies are enumerated below :-
Equines Brovines
Glanders Rinderpest
Surra Haemorrhagic
Septicacemia.
Lymphangitis epizoopica Anthrax
Dourine Black
– quarter
Anthraz Foot
and mouth
Disease.
Strangles
Gillar
Pleuro – Pneumonia contagious.
As a result of the propaganda work done by the
Civil Veterinary Department with regard to contagious diseases and their
prevention, live-stock owners readily admit the usefulness of preventive
inoculations against the most serious contagious diseases such as rinderpest
and hemorrhage septicemia.
The occurrence of epidemic disease amongst live-stock
in a village is reported by the lambardar to the patwari who sends the
information by postcard (supplied by the Civil Vernally Department for this
purpose) to the nearest veterinary assistant concerned . On receipt of information from the patwari , the
veterinary assistant adopts the following procedure.
If
the report relates to an outbreak of equine epidemic disease in any part of a
selected district where such disease is dealt with by the Army Remount
Department , he will merely transfer the post-card to he local veterinary
assistant of that department for disposal in other cases he himself will
proceed at once to the scene of the outbreak for the purpose of taking the
necessary remedial and preventive measures. On arrival at the spot at which the contagious disease had been reported to
exist , the veterinary assistant takes all requisite steps for the treatment of
the disease and for the prevention of its spread. If the situation is sufficiently serious to
require this , the veterinary assistant warns his immediate superior that his
presence is needed, and the latter will order to the spot such extra staff as
may be necessary when the nature of the disease has been ascertained, the
veterinary assistant or veterinary assistant surgeon fills in a printed from
provided for this purpose and submits it through the proper channel to the Superintendent of the Circle
for information . Similar information is also sent to the Deputy Commissioner through the
tahsildar on another form supplied by the department. Whenever a serious
outbreak of epidemic disease occurs in a district or whenever there is a danger
of the disease spreading into the adjacent districts the Deputy Commissioner
intimates the occurrence to the Commissioner of the division and also to the
Deputy Commissioners of the neighboring
districts in order that due precautions may be taken. When epidemic
disease appears in a camp or cantonment or amongst animals on a military line
of communication , the military authorities have instructions to inform the
nearest civil authority without delay.
Such information is immediately communicated to the local veterinary assistant
or veterinary assistant surgeon and the Superintendent of the Circle in which
the infected area lies. Similarly when any epidemic disease amongst animals
appears at a horse or cattle fair or in the neighborhood of containment or on a
line of military communication the fact and the nature of the disease is at
once reported to the nearest military authority.
825. District arboricultural. The importance of arboricultural to a province so bare and arid as was
the greater part of the Punjab was early recognized and in 1852 the Board of
Administration issued orders designed to increase the fuel supply. The same
order provided also for the comfort of travelers; they sanctioned remissions of
land revenue on plantations and for the grant rent free, or plots of Government
land at every three miles along the main roads to persons who would undertake
to sink wells and plant groves Zamindars receiving inams from Government were
to be required to raise one kanal of young trees for sale or
distribution among their tenants. Trees were
to be planted by official agency
round all Government building of every
description and along roads under construction
and officers in charge of canals were to raise plantations at every
three miles along their banks; and at
every jail and every tahsil nurseries of young trees were to be kept for
distribution.
826.
826. Cancelled.
827827 Progress
of district arboricultural - The success of all arboricultural operations depends so much on the taste and
opportunities of individual hand worked
officers that progress has been intermittent and sometimes slow; but no one who
has toured the province can fail to appreciate the vast amount of good work
that has been done. Almost all the main roads run through avenues and the
great canals have everywhere well-wooded
banks. Most Government building are surrounded by trees and nearly all civil
stations have a pleasing appearance. The mileage of avenues along roads and
canals must run into many thousands.
828828
. Tree Planting by private
persons. The rules regarding the encouragement of
tree-planting by private persons will be
found in paragraphs 511-512 of the Settlement
Manual. Under those relating to plantations of trees the Deputy
Commissioner can at any time send up proposals to free the land from
assessment. Those relating to wayside groves
(Financial Commissioner’s circular No. 4 of 1882) and the making of
tree-planting a condition attached to the grant of inams must be considered as
now obsolete. No Compulsion can be exercised to secure the planting of private
lands and men with very small holdings cannot afford to plant trees except a
few in the immediate vicinity of a well. But they can be encouraged to preserve what trees they have and men
with more land can be helped by the
distribution of seedlings and especially
where the local conditions are favorable
, of fruit trees from Government nurseries.
829829
. Tree planting by public
agency. The expenditure on the planting of trees along
roads is met by the authority which is responsible for the maintenance of the roads , that is to say either by the
Public works Department or the district boards or municipalities. So far as the
work is in charge of local bodies, obviously a great deal must depend on the
interest shown in it by the Deputy Commissioner
and Commissioner. A general superintendence is exercised by the Conservator of Forests ,
and his advice should be asked on doubtful points. Much help may be derived
from the manual of arboricultural . IN this branch of their work commissioners
correspond direct with the local Government. It is important that there should be definite scheme as
regards tree planting and under existing
orders working plans for periods of from 3 to 5 years should be drawn up for
each district:-
“The working
plan should be of a simple nature, and it may be best , as suggested by some of the officers consulted, to
concentrate operations on one or more selected roads in each tahsil and to
complete the planting of trees on such
road or roads before other roads in the tahsil are taken up. When the plan is
sanctioned, the Conservator of Forests should be informed through the
Commissioner at the beginning of each
year of the operations it is proposed to put in hand during the year, and a
report should be submitted at the close of the year showing how far these operations have been carried out. IN the case of roads
already planted with trees, it should also be stated what
measures have been taken to
replace by the planting of young trees losses that may have been caused through trees being blown down by storms or the removal of which has been otherwise
necessitated. As suggested by the Conservator ( Letter No. 2790 , dated
21st October , 1901.) where
this was not already been done a map on fairly large scale should be
prepared and hung up in the Deputy Commissioner’s office showing the
actual state of the avenues etc. in the district –a system of lines, full ,
broken , or dotted, showing whether a
road is fully planted whether there are gaps to be planted up or only a few
trees here and there.
Arrangements have been made at the Imperial Forest Research Institute and College at Dehra Dun as well as at Changa –Manga for putting district board official through a simple course of training ….. Where feasible, Deputy Commissioner’s should make over to some member of the district staff the immediate supervision of the operations of the whole district, but at the same time the responsibility of the tahsildar for the work in his tahsil should be maintained and encouraged.”
830. Orders of Government of India. The Government of India Issued a resolution
(Proceedings September , 1905, Nos., 12-17 – A , Forests file No. 32.) No. 21
dated 11th July, 1905, on the maintenance of avenue trees along
roadsides, a few extracts from which may fittingly conclude the discussion of
this subject :-
“The question is one of the real
importance because of the welcome shade afforded thereby to way –fares, the
substantial addition to the beauties of the landscape, and mitigation of the discomforts of long
journeys by road. The practice of planting avenues of this description was in
earlier days as much a feature of British Administration as the construction of
the roads themselves; and some of the order
avenue on the main roads of India
still supply the most agreeable of
memorials to the taste and
provision of their founders. The practice has no where died out; and it is
still fairly widely , though intermittently and unmethodically , pursued. In
recent years, however, great havoc has been caused in some tracts by the
mutilation and cutting down of timber in
times of famine; and observations tends to show that these ravages have only
been partially repaired. In other parts of the country the importance of the matter appears to have been
imperfectly kept in view , and , from
the want of sustained policy , money and effort
have been wasted, and in many places avenues formerly in existence have
been allowed to disappear or to become disfigured by unsightly blanks.
“The Government of India are of
opinion that the authority responsible for the construction and upkeep of any
road upon which the provision of shade
is required for the comfort the way –
fares , should consider it almost as much its duty to maintain along the road a line of shade giving trees
as it is to keep the roadway and bridges in proper order , and should allot its available funds
accordingly ,and more especially it should not manage these avenues so as to
derive from them a net profit, until all the needs of the roads under its
charge in matter of trees have been supplied.
The Government of India are far from discouraging all reasonable measures devised in order to make an income
from the avenues , which taken as a whole form a very valuable property.
Indeed, they are of opinion that in many cases
a much larger income might legitimately be secured by more judicious thinning and the felling and replacing of over-mature
trees, while steadily keeping in view the main object, which is to provide a continuos row of healthy shade – giving trees, and more especially
such trees as a give shape , such as may be seen some of the fine old avenues left to us by the
far-sighted officers of an earlier generation. But they would suggest that each
authority having roads in its charge not
yet provided with avenues, should be required
to keep a separate account of its
income from and expenditure on
arboricultural, and , until the needful roadside avenues are completed , to spend on arboricultural a
sum at least equal to the income derived from the existing roadside trees.
Moreover, in considering the provision of funds generally or the purpose, local Governments should look
to the net expenditure. Rather than to the gross expenditure . On this object,
in the connection it is material to observe
that the liberal grant recently made to district boards from
general revenues will enable them to
make better provision for all their duties, including arboricultural.
“In most provinces the
responsibility for roadside trees devolves partly on the Public Works ,
Department and partly on local bodies, In either case it is essential that
effort should be concentrated and properly directed and that the work of
planting and tending the trees should follow
a prearranged system. As a general rule provision should first be made
for filling up gaps in existing avenue;
next for establishing avenues which have been planted, but in which the trees
are not yet beyond the reach of danger from drought or cattle; and lastly for
planting new avenues . In taking up new
work, preference should be given
to those roads which are most frequented and where avenues can be
established at the least cost and no more should be attempted at one time than
can be thoroughly established by means
of the money and supervision available. Care should be taken that the most suitable kind of tree is chosen.,
preference being given to fruit trees,
where otherwise suitable , and to trees
which will give shade, rather than to trees which merely develop a rapid growth
. The character of timber must also be
selected with special reference to the dryness or moisture of the soil. In some
cases it may be possible to provide means for the watering of trees by the
utilization of neighboring sources of supply. Local Government are requested
accordingly to see that where this had not already been arranged for a clear working plan,
similar to those prepared for Government forests, and accompanied by the
necessary maps is prepared for each district or public Works Division
concerned. The working plans should be
passed by some responsible officer, such as the Conservator of forests, or the
Director of Land Records or Agriculture, or in the case of Government roads the
Superintending Engineer; and arrangement should be prescribed for ensuring that
they are not lost sight of by the local bodies or officer concerned. The
services of the local forest officer
where available might be utilized both in the
preparation of working plants and in inspecting and advising upon the actual operations . Many cases could
be cited in which , when gaps occurs in an old avenue trees of a different and
often heterogeneous description have
been carelessly introduced in the vacant places, both interrupting the uniformity and spoiling the future
appearance of the avenue.
“The subordinate in direct control
of arboricultural work, whether under local bodies or under the Public works Department, should as far as
possible , receive a training of some kind in the technical branches of the
subject either at some Government garden or at
a forest school or plantation . The Government of India are aware that
funds cannot always to be forthcoming for the entertainment of full time
officials of the forester, class for arboricultural work and they also
recognize that the success of roadside
planting depends far more on
strict supervision than on technical
details; but they are at the same time convinced that even a few months
training in the technical part of the
work will add to the efficiency of the present controlling staff, and every
facility will be given in forest and Agricultural institutions under the
control of the supreme Government to
provide a suitable training for such men as may be sent to them for instruction by local bodies or the Public Works Department. It is
suggested that such facilities should be arranged for in similar institutions
controlled by local Government.
“ Good results have been obtained in
some tracts by entrusting certain supplementary work such as the planting of
detached piece of road or the filling up of blanks in avenues to village or
private agency and paying by results , and in others private enterprise has been stimulated by rewards and
by revenue – free grants. The encouragement of private tree- planting by these
and other means is , in the opinion of the Government of India. Worthy of the
special attention of the local Government, and they are requested to consider
whether anything further can be done in this direction than is effected at
present.
“It is essential that , as far as
possible , the sympathies of the neighboring population should be enlisted in
the preservation of the roadside trees. In the case of fruit trees , the
produce of which is the little value, the cultivators of the adjoining field should be allowed to take the fruit on condition that they
protect the trees from serious damage. And when
a fodder famine is prevalent, judicious arrangements should be made to
utilize the edible leaves of trees along roadsides as fodder for the cattle at
reasonably cheap rates. This does not
mean that the trees themselves should be
heedlessly mutilated, or cut down but that a temporary sacrifice of sylvan
amenity may be gladly accepted in the interest of saving valuable animal life.
“There is one practice that calls
for particular deprecation . It is that
of lopping or otherwise injuring
a beautiful avenue when preparations are
being made for the reception of a high Government official. In the anxiety to made proper
arrangements for a party or procession proceeding in carriages, it is not an
uncommon thing for the district authorities to cut away all the branches from
the roadside trees within a certain distance from the ground, serving thereby no purpose. Whatsoever and inflicting damage which it may
take years to repair. Officers of Government should maintain a vigilant watch
in order to prevent this unthinking and regrettable from of depredation.”
831. Minerals and quarries. All mines of metal and coal all gold washings and all earth oil belong
to Government. As regards other minerals such as quarries and canker beds , the
land as contained in section 42 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act., is explained
in paragraph 191 of the Settlement Manual and is also dealt with in paragraph
10 of the Financial Commissioners’ standing order No. 42 . In some estates
these minor minerals are private property, elsewhere they belong to Government,
even where the surface is private property.
The extraction of metals , coal
earth-oil , gold, salt and generally speaking minerals not included in the
definition of “minor minerals” is governed by the Punjab Mining Manual . For
minor minerals a references should be made to the Punjab Minor minerals Rules
published with the Financial Commissioner’s notification No. 4345-R dated the
23rd December, 1963 (see Punjab Land Administration Act Volume II).
Royalty is imposed on minerals belonging
to Government extracted by private endeavor. Wherever the minerals are the
property of Government the dues of Government are taken in the shape of a
royalty. Where on the other hand minerals are the property of the landowners ,
the gains from them should be included in the
assets of the estate at settlement. Section 59 (1) (e) of the Land
revenue Act provides for a special
assessment in cases where this has not been done.
832. Treasure trove. Rules as to treasures trove are
contained in Punjab Government consolidated circular No. 43.
833. (I) Creation of department of fisheries in the
Punjab ( I) In about 1868 the Government of India deputed Dr. Day to enquire
into the economic conditions of the fisheries of India , as a result of
frequent complaints from all the provinces regarding the wholesale slaughter of
fish. A second inquiry by Mr. H.S. Dunsford was under taken in 1911 in the
Punjab , and he corroborated Dr. Day’s Statements and suggested various
remedial measures for the preservation of fish in the province.
(ii) As a result of Mr. Dunsford’s report Mr. G.C.L. Howell, I.C.S. was sent to America to study fishery problems and on his return was appointed Director of Fisheries in 1912 with a small staff, to collect data in order to enable Government to decide whether Fisheries Department in the Punjab was justified , and what steps should be taken to preserve the fish supply. As a result of his efforts the Punjab Fisheries Act II of 1914 came into being . On his vacating the post of Director in November , 1915 the post was abolished but it was decided to retain the department under a Warden of Fisheries which post was accordingly created.
(iii) (i) Scope of rules. (ii) The Punjab Fisheries rules and regulations are all drafted either under the Indian Fisheries Act IV of 1897, or the Punjab Fisheries Act II of 1914. Act IV of 1897 and the rules thereunder prohibit the use of poison, dynamite and other explosive and obnoxious substances for killing fish, and close certain waters, which are spawning grounds of important species of fish to fishing altogether for specified periods. The rules framed under the Punjab Act, II of 1914, are simple and merely prohibit the use of fixed engines and small – meshed nets and the diversion of water for killing fish , in order to save the small fry and immature fish. These rules are applied to waters which are not “Private Water” these can also be applied to “Private Waters” with the consent of the owners thereof.
These rules were first issued Kangra in 1916 and are now in force in 25 districts of the province. They also regulate fishing by prescribing the kinds of gears which are permitted, the seasons during which they may be used and the fees payable for the various kinds of licenses.
Briefly, licenses are of two kinds- general and angling. The former include nets and gears of all kinds as used by professional fishermen and the later for rod and line only , and are for the most part taken out by sports men.
There are different kinds of angling licenses and the fees there of vary considerably for instance provincial licenses, canal head works licenses, trout waters and district. They are obtainable from Deputy Commissioners of districts from the Warden of Fisheries and in case of canal heads works from the Executive Engineers , Irrigation’s Branch.
In 18 districts individual licenses are issued to fishermen and in 7 districts in the western Punjab , and on canals leases are auctioned annually and license issued to highest suitable bidder along with a number of permits for use by his nominees of agents.
In two districts size limit for mahsir and trout has been prescribed below which no fish of these species can be killed. The offering or exposing for sale or barter of mahsir and trout killed in contravention of the rules has also be prohibited in these two districts .
The breaches of the rules are compoundable and compensation not exceeding Rs. 10 for each breach is charged . Such breaches are also punishable with a fine upto Rs. 100.
(iii). Rules under Punjab Act applies to all rivers and streams in Punjab. As almost all the rivers and streams in the Punjab are not the exclusive property of any persons, rules under the Punjab Act have been applied to them.
(iv) (ii) Conditions. The conditions on which the waters as licensed or leased are :-
(a) (a) that the licensees are bound to fish in accordance with the conditions laid down in the rules.
(b) (b) That they are bound to report breaches of the rules which come to their notice to the Deputy Commissioner, tahsildar, or any officer the Fisheries Department;
(c) (c) That if, according to the entries in the wajib-ul –arz or record – of –rights , the owners of any village are entitled to a share of the catch of fish from the waters within those villages, the licensee shall be bound to give that share to the owners;
(d) (d) In the districts in which fishing is leased, the lessee is required to pay the lease money in advance or by three equal installments; in the latter case he is required to furnish sufficient security for the payment of the future installments ; short payments are recoverable as arrears of land revenue.
If a licensee is convicted for a breach of the rules his license can be cancelled.
834. Changes in limits and numbers of tahsils , districts and divisions. An increase in the number of divisions into which a province is divided can only be made with the sanction of the Governor –General in Council. But the local Government may add to the number of tahsils and districts and may vary their limits and those of divisions. (Section 5 of Act XVII of 1887) Such Changes are generally unpopular with the people, and can hardly fail to produce some confusion in administration . The make the comparison of past and present statistics difficult , and are apt to be embarrassing when the time for a general re-assessment comes round. They should , therefore only be proposed when they are essentially necessary for the proper management of the estate or tract concerned.(Government of India , Home Department, Circular No. 194-202, dated 2nd June , 1870. For reports to surveyor –General of changes of boundary , see Financial Commissioner standing order No. 25.)
834-A. Boundary disputes. Any boundary disputes with Indian States which arise should be dealt with promptly . The procedure to be followed in such cases will be found in Punjab Government consolidated circular No. 25. The adoption of fixed boundaries between the Punjab and Indian States where the line of demarcation follows in the main course of a river.(See paragraph 437) ought greatly to reduce the number of such disputes.
In the case of land boundaries the operations of the Survey of India Department and successive settlement operation have left little room for doubt as to the actual border. No difficulties are likely to arise and any that do arise should be easily settled , if the orders requiring Deputy Commissioner whose districts march with Indian States to inspect the boundary or cause it to be inspected every year are carried out. (Government of India. Foreign Department, resolution No.1758, dated 21st August , 1871. The inspection should be noted in the annual revenue report. )
The Darbar should be informed when the district officer proposes to make his inspection and asked to depute a representative of the State to meet him. The State of the boundary pillars should be noted and arrangements made to carry out any necessary repairs.
835. Skeleton maps. Special ¼ district maps showing villages , tahsils and district boundaries , railways main rivers , canals roads and other prominent features as well as a few of the more important places , are issued by the Director of Land Records for use in illustrating new proposals and reports , and can also be conveniently bound into district statistical atlases , the necessary additions being made under the Deputy Commissioner’s orders.
Subsidiary to the above a limited number of ¼ maps are printed with the villages numbered a key sheet being added with alphabetical lists of villages in English and vernacular. These maps are prepared in the Surveyor –General’s Office, and are reductions of the published survey sheets.
835. Authenticated to CM :1KM tehsil maps , 1 CM’ 2 ½ KM district maps and M 10 KM state Map drawn on the basis of survey of India’s Topographical map sleets showing village, sub –Tahsil, Tahsil and district Boundaries, railways , roads, rivers, canals and other prominent features as well as important places , are issued by the Director of Land Records to cater the needs of the various Government Departments for planning purposes.
The necessary additions and alterations made from time to tome are incorporated in these maps of the Director of Land Record, Punjab.
836. Gazetteers. The revision of the gazetteer is under taken at each settlement by the settlement officer. ( See paragraph 552 of the Settlement Manual.) But to assist him in his task and at the same time to make the gazetteer more useful, it should be kept up to date in the interval between settlements. Deputy Commissioners have therefore been ordered to have a copy of the district gazetteer interleaved with good writing paper and to maintain a gazetteer note-book.
In the first they should enter brief notes correcting any statements in text which seem to them to have always been or to have become erroneous or which need to supplemented. For instance , after a new census it is well to correct all figures relating to population . The notes made in interleaved copy of the gazetteer should be very brief.
The gazetteer note book should contain longer entries on any matter which the Deputy Commissioner thinks will be of use in the preparation of the new edition. Each entry should be marked in bold figures with the serial number of the gazetteer heading under which it will fall No. two entries should be appear on a single page. Only one side of the paper should be written on , so that the settlement officer may able to remove the leaves and made use of the entries without recopying them . When the information is available in convenient form in the district or other records a full reference to the papers in questions, with a brief indications of the nature of the material which they contain will suffice.
Both at the time of the redrafting of a new edition and during the interval between the editions , the officers who are collecting information should try to obtain help from residents of the district, Indian and European official and non-official. For example , it may be possible in this way to get better notes on the botany or geology of a district, its manufactures its archaeological remains , or its folklore than the Deputy Commissioner or the Settlement Officer may have either the time of the special knowledge to compile. If vernacular papers are to be made use of they should be composed in a simple style , and the hand-writing should be neat and clear.
The latest instructions as the revisions of district gazetteers are contained in Government of India, Home Department , letter No. 3375, dated 1st November 1902.
The chief difficulty which stands in the way of periodical revision of the existing gazetteers, and the reason which has caused so large a portion of their contents to become obsolete is that they contain a mixture of permanent matter such as that relating to the history , physical characteristics , religion, ethnography etc. of the district ; of matter which changes gradually but as a rule slowly such as that dealing with the agricultural and economic conditions; and of ephemeral matter mainly statistical, which soon becomes out of date. For this reason when a new District Gazetteer is issued it should consist of two volumes. A and B Compiled on the following lines :-
(1) (1) In the first edition all descriptive matter should go into the A volume ; but that volume should contain only such general figures (incorporated in the latter press) as are necessary to give point to remarks in the text . The arrangement of subjects in this volume should follow the order prescribed for the provincial articles in the Imperial Gazetteer. All detailed statistics should be relegated to the B volume, which would at first consist only of these and of such notes as may be necessary to elucidate them.
(2) (2) On the occasion of the nest revision of statistics in the B volume should be recompiled and this volume should be expanded by adding to it any matter that might be required to correct or supplement the A volume. Thus if there had been a famine since A was published , if new railway had been opened and so forth information on these points would appear in B as supplementary to the appropriate chapters in A.
(3) (3) This process would go on till the time had come for revising the A volume. Then all the supplementary text matter should be incorporated in the new a Volume and B would revert to its original form as a statistical appendix with explanatory Notes.
(4) (4) A new edition of the B volume should be brought out after each census. The revision of the A volumes must be left to the discretion of the local Governments . The occurrence of a new settlement will ordinarily be the best time for such revision; but it may well happen that plenty of copies of the original A volume are still available and that the settlement and lapse of time have not brought any important change in the conditions of the district. In that case the revision of A should stand over till the stock of it no longer suffices for the demand; but a brief account of the settlement operations and of the changes which they have produced or disclosed in the state of affairs described in the A volume , should be prepared by the Settlement Officer before he is relieved of his duties, for inclusion in the next decennial V volume.
(5) (5) The statistical part or the B volume should be issued with interleaved blank pages so that those who use it can have the figures of later years written in . The tables included in the B volume should be drawn up on uniform lines and should contain the main administrative statistics of the districts and its tahsils of other sub-divisions. Those prescribed enclosure D to my circular letter of 24th September , 1902 No. 2948 –60 , seem generally suitable for adoption , but local Governments will doubtless vary or add to these as local circumstances demand. It is thought that including the explanatory notes they should not ordinarily exceed a maximum limit of 50 pages.
(6) (6) Similarly a limit of size for A volumes might be fixed at about 300 pages within which compass it should be possible to comprise all really useful information . Some of the present provincial gazetteers err in the direction of excessive size. The history chapters for example could often be materially condensed by assuming a general knowledge of Indian history on the part of the reader and dealing only with events which occurred in or were connected with the district. Where adjoining districts resemble each other in respect of climate , physical features , fiber and fauna history, distribution of castes, and economic conditions much labor might be saved by writing a single account of these and reproducing it. With the necessary local adaptations , in each district volume . It seems desirable that in future editions the several districts should be dealt with in separate volumes.
(7) (7) The Government of India have decided that there shall be a separate Index volume in the case of the Imperial Gazetteer and think that it would be very convenient for purposes of reference if a similar index were prepared for each series of provincial gazetteers.
837. Annual Reports : The Crop and Season Report has already been noticed in Paragraph 817. The other yearly reports which Deputy Commissioners have to prepare in connection with the Subjects dealt with this manual are :-
Land Revenue Administration Report. (See parts I , II and IV of Financial Commissioner Standing Order No. 53.)
Report on Land Records
Report on estates under the Court of Wards (See part F of Standing Order No. 53)
838. Escheats. The principles governing the escheat to the State of property left by hairless properties are set forth in Punjab Government Consolidated Circular No. 9 and in the judgement of the Financial Commissioner in Wazira and other Versus Mangal and Others, No. 2 Punjab Record , Revenue , of 1911. The following propositions were laid down Sir Jame Douie in that case :-
(1) (1) The right of the Crown to claim escheat rests not on Customary or Hindu Law, though Hindu Law recognizes escheats , but on grounds of general of universal law.
(2) (2) The right can only arise in the absence of relations entitled by law or custom to inherit.
(3) (3) The right of the proprietary body as a whole to succeed in case in which it exists is primarily based on real or assumed relationship to the holder of the land or to the member of the proprietor body from whom his title was derived.
(4) (4) Such a right should be assumed in the case of homogeneous estates or sub-division of estates where the owners are all or nearly all of the same tribe as the last holder of the land or the member of the proprietary body from whom he derived his title.
(5) (5) It should not be assumed in the case of heterogeneous estates or sub divisions of estates held by persons of different tribes or different got of the same tribe . The presumption in such cases is that the State has right to escheat.
(6) (6) When the property in the land was originally derived by gift from a member of the tribe of the original proprietary body the right of that body should be recognized on failure of the donors and donee’s lines.
(7) (7) In any case in which the Wajib-ul-arz declares the right of the proprietary body to succeed to the land of hairless owners Government should set up no claim.
It is further been held by the Financial Commissioner that escheat should not be claimed for Government when there is a daughter , daughter’s son ,sister , or sister’s son.
838-A. Succession –A.I.R. 1940 The attention of all revenue officers is drawn to the judgement of the Lahore high Court reported as A.I.R. 1940 Lahore 416 ,which lays down that in the absence of all agnates of a childless proprietor , a cognate however, distantly , related to him is entitled to succeed to his property in preference to a stranger.
839. Forfeiture of Property. The attention of all officers is drawn to the judgement of the Chief Court reported as Punjab Record 8 of 1908 , the summary of which is as follows: -
“Held by a majority of the Full Bench (Johnstone. J./ dissenting) that where ancestral immovable property held by a person subject to Punjab Customary Law attached and sold by order of criminal Court under section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the sale conveys the lift interest of that person only and does not extinguish the right of inheritance after his death of his male lineal descendants or of collateral’s descended from the original holder of the property.”
Cases have come to the Financial Commissioner’s notice in which land so sold has been purchased in the bona fide belief that full proprietary rights were being conveyed. Care should be taken to make it clear in all announcements of such sales , and at the time of sale that a life interest only is being sold.
APPENDIX I
Section 59 of the Land Revenue Act recites the cases in which special assessment may be made by Revenue Officer whose procedure is to regulated by the provisions of the Act relating to general land Revenue assessment subject to such modifications as the Financial Commissioner may introduce by executive instructions.
The following statement gives references to the executive instructions issued under the various clauses of the section :-
Cause (a) of Section 59(1) – Paragraph 179-A and 181-183 of the Settlement Manual paragraphs 197-198 of the Land Administration Manual and Paragraph 19 of Financial Commissioners Standing Order No. 7.
Clause (b) of Section 59 (1) Paragraph 10 of Appendix III and paragraph 5 at page 376 in appendix IV to the Land Administration Manual and paragraph 89 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 28.
Clause (c) of Section 59 (1) – Paragraphs 529 –536 of the Land Administration Manual and paragraph 521 of Settlement Manual.
Clause (d) of section 59(1 ) paragraph 438-446 and 579-583 of Land Administration Manual paragraphs 445 and 497 of the Settlement Manual and Financial Commissioner Standing Order No. 26.
Clause (e) of section 59(1) paragraphs 191-192 and 458-460 of the Settlement Manual, paragraphs 767-769 and 831-833 of Land Administration Manual and Financial Commissioners Standing Order No. 42 – especially paragraph 1.
APPENDIX II
FOREST SETTLEMENTS
1. 1. Instructions for guidance of forest settlement officers. The following instructions were issued in 1887 by the Financial Commissioner, with the sanction of the Lieutenant – Governor, for the guidance of Forest settlement Officers in proceedings under Chapter II of the Indian Forests Act, 1878 (now Act XVI of 1927).
Preliminary proposals
2. 2. Preliminary reports by Collector. Proposals to constitute reserved forests (whether initiated by local officers or framed in consequence of instructions received from superior authority) should be submitted by Collectors to Commissioners and should be accompanied by :-
(i) (i) a map showing the land which it is proposed to treat in this manner and also the lands adjacent thereto;
(ii) (ii) a draft notifications under section 4 of the Act;
(iii) (iii) a report stating the rights in the land so far as known , the manner in which the land has hitherto been managed and the reasons for which it is desired to convert it into a reserved forest with suggestions for the appointment of a Forest Settlement Officer and Other agency , if nay required for his assistance.
3. 3. Collector should obtain assistance from District Forest Officer. In drawing up this report the Collector should avail himself of the assistance of the district forest officer. In his absence, or for the proper treatment of cases of sufficient importance the Chief Conservator of Forest May be able to place a forest officer at the Collector’s disposal for the purpose. No detailed inquiry into rights should be made at this stage.
4.
4.
Scope of Report. It is of particular
importance that this report , which is the first step in forest reservation
proceedings , should state clearly the
purposes for which the reservation is proposed e.g., for the better supply of
the adjacent population with timber, fuel, grass or other
forests produce; to meet the demands of railways , cities or cantonments
; to protect by forest growth hillsides and prevent destructive drainage; to
grow or protect a high class of timber.
The manner in which the
reservations is likely to affect
adjacent estates or population should be noticed. To this end the map
accompanying should show not only the lands which it is proposed to reserve ,
but also the lands adjacent thereto, distinguishing inhabited sites, cultivation and waste . IT is ordinarily
difficult for an agricultural or
pastoral population to modify their habits in conformity with novel demands of
regulated forest management and it is for the reporting officer to show either
that the proposed reservation will not affect the conveniences of the adjacent
population , or that sufficient necessity exists for restricting their
convenience.
5.
5.
Disposal of report. The Commissioner
on receipt of the Collector’s report will forward it to the Chief Conservator of Forest for his
opinion and after receipt of that officer reply , will submit the report to the Financial Commissioner with his
recommendations.
Forest Settlement Procedure
6. 6. Map When a proposal to constitute a reserved forest has been notified, and the forest settlement officer has entered upon his duties and has issued the proclamation required by section 6, his most immediate duty is to ascertain whether he has at his command a sufficiently accurate map of the land to be reserved, and if he has not, then to provide one, for which purposes section 8 of the Act furnishes him with the necessary authority. Except for special reasons, the map should not be on a smaller scale than four inches to the mile. Its outer boundaries and the boundaries of all interior holdings should be carefully attested and be compared with the existing records available in the district record office.
7. 7. Investigation of claims. Section 7 of the Act. In the meantime all claims preferred and statements of rights of which the existence is ascertained( whether from previous records or from local enquiry, should be put up in a file and be dealt with in the manner provided by the Act, claims should be clearly set out, either by petition or by deposition , or in both ways. If rights are believed to exist and the right holders do not appear, these persons should be summoned and be examined with reference to their rights . Documents relied on should befitted in original , or if copies are filed , they should be admitted only after comparison with the originals . Where previous records are referred to , the original records should be inspected and certified extracts should be filed. If claims or rights are disputed, suitable issued should be framed, evidence heard and findings be recorded thereon. In short, the Forest Settlement Officer should remember that he is armed with the power of a Civil Court, and that his decision possesses a similarly finality. AT the same time, separate files need not ordinarily be made up for each claim. Unless difficulties arise it will be usually sufficient to deal with all claims and rights in four files according to the classifications given in the next paragraph. Section 8(b) of the Act.
8. 8. Four Classes of Claims. In respect of the treatment of claims, attention is directed to the following instructions :-
Chapter II of the Forest Act divides the claims with which a forest settlement officer has to deal into four classes, and provides a different method of treatment for each class. The four classes :-
(i) (i) claims to public or private ways or water –courses;
(ii) (ii) claims to rights of pasture or to forest produce (section 12);
(iii) (iii) claims to other rights (section 11);
(iv) (iv) claims relating to the practice of shifting cultivation (section 10).
9. 9. Public and private ways and water courses. The forest settlement officer must be careful to record all public and private ways and water –courses existing at the time his enquires, and in this class of claims must be included right to use the water of well, springs and streams situate inside the boundaries of the proposed reserve, for if the right to use such water exists . It cannot be enjoyed unless a proper way to approach to the water is allowed. But though the forest settlement officer is required to record all rights of this class he has no authority to expropriate or commute them. His duty is limited to the drawing up of a clear record of them. Their feature regulation is a matter for the executive Government under section 25.
10. 10. Rights of pasture or to forest produce. The treatment of the second class of claims viz. Claims to rights of pasture or to forest produce is the most difficult part of the forest settlement officer’s duty. If after the enquiry to which reference has been made in paragraphs , above he rejects a claim in whole or in part, he should be careful that this order contains all the particulars required by section 13. If he admits a claim, he should proceed to record with as much completeness as is possible all the particulars required by section 14.
Having made this record, it remains for the forest settlement officer to secure by one of the three methods laid down in section 15 of the Act the continued exercise of the rights so admitted. He may either transfer the right to another forest tract under the condition stated in section 15(a) , or under the condition stated in section 15(b) ; he may exclude from the forest an area sufficient for the exercise of the rights established . Both of these methods possess obvious advantages, especially in the eyes of the right holders, but it lies with the forest settlement officer to take care that in resorting o them he does not burden any land with rights so extensive as to insure its ultimate deterioration. IT is easy by a too ready resort to expedients of this nature to purchase the proper forest preservation of one forest area at the cost of the ultimate destruction of another forest area. The forest settlement officer is under no necessity to sanction wasteful adjustments of this nature. Under section 15(c) he can record an order appointing the seasons at which , and the portions of forest in which , the rights shall be exercised and he can also propose in his final report any rules which , without restricting the rights admitted, place appropriate safeguard on their excise. In making arrangements of this nature, it is useful to bear in mind the necessity for providing that all areas burdened with rights shall be closed in rotations for reproduction. For instance , where a right of grazing can be sufficiently provided for in a hundred acres. It is expedient if possible to record the right in larger in area, subject to adequate conditions for securing the closing of the whole in rotation.
All this is to be done to the best of the forest settlement officer’s ability and with due regard to the successful maintenance of the forest under reservation Primarily the Government is not interested in extinguishing rights of pasture or to forest produce. But in the last resort and where really necessary in the interests entrusted to this charge, the forest settlement officer has authority under section 16 of the Act to expropriate these rights.
11. 11. Other rights In respect of the third class of claims the legislature leaves no option to the forest settlement officer. He must either exclude from the forest the land on which these rights are claimed or he must extinguish the rights. IN this connection it should be remembered that provided a given area of land is expressly excluded from the reserve being clearly demarcated off, the mere fact that the reserved forest surrounds such land does not necessitate expropriation of the latter. No doubt such areas (commonly known as chak khariji) often create difficulties in forest management , and where this is the case the settlement officer will act rightly in expropriating them. But in each case the question is for his decision.
12. 12. Expropriations .In carrying out expropriations care should be taken to comply with the rules issued by Government for the guidance of Collectors in their proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act,. I of 1894. For all proposed expropriations village statements should be prepared and filed as required by paragraph 36 of Standing order No. 28 and the award should be entered in form A given in paragraph 73 of the Standing order. If reductions in the revenue roll are necessitated by these expropriations, the forest settlement officer should prepare and forward to the Collector the statement prescribed by paragraph 79 of the Standing order.
13. 13. Certain Orders to be communicated
to forest officer. Under section 17 of the Indian Forest Act., an appeal
can be lodged by a forest officer against any order passed by a forest
settlement officer under sections 11,12,15 or 16. This appeal must be presented within three months after the date of the
order. The forest settlement officer after passing an order under any of these
sections should at once send a copy to the local forest officer for
communication to the Chief Conservator of
Forests.
14. 14. Making of boundaries. As the
settlement of the reserved forest proceeds , if its boundaries have not already
been permanently marked out, it is the duty of the district forest officer to
set up permanently marked out, it is the duty of the district forest officer to
set up permanent pillars and to test the agreement of these pillars with the
final record of the forest settlement officer.
Final record
and report.
15. 15. Form of final report. This final record will be prepared by the forest settlement officer as soon as the decision of claims has progressed sufficiently . It should comprise for each forest separately demarcated or where the forest tract is of great size, for each convenient section thereof(I) map (ii) proceeding and (iii) final notifications. Instructions as to the form and contents of these documents are appended and no other paper should be added to the file excepting only orders subsequently issued by the local Government under section 22 of the Act.
16. 16. Form and scope of final report. All claims having been disposed of and the above record having been complete . It will then only remain for the forest settlement officer to move the local Government to issue the notification contemplated by section 19. It is necessary that the local Government should before taking this step be informed of the nature .of the proceeding to which its final sanction is desired. To this end the forest settlement officer should draw up a brief report standing in addition to the information required by clauses (a) , (b) and (c) of section 20 of the Act, the general result of his proceeding . This report should be written by way of continuation of the preliminary report summated under paragraph 2, and need not repeat matters already sufficiently explained therein. No exact form is prescribed for the report. What is required is a brief summary of so much of the proceedings as has not already been reported , and of such a nature as to satisfy the local Government that these proceedings can appropriately be confirmed . It should notice specially the matters referred to in paragraphs 11 and 12 above, and also the extent to which expropriations (by agreement or by award) have been resorted to and the cost and other results of such expropriations. It should be accompanies by a draft notification for issue under section 20 of the Act, by a map showing the limits of the forest as finally settled on the scale and with the other details required by paragraphs 2, 4 and 6 above and also an English abstract of the information given under heads (v) and (vi) of the proceedings prescribed by paragraphs 1 and 3 of the annexture. This abstract should be drawn up with some care for its is intended to serve as a convenient guide to the officers by whom the forest will be managed. If expropriations have been made an abstract statement in the form prescribed by paragraph 79 of Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 28 should also be added. See Cir. No. 17-F . of 18th July, 1885, from Government of India Home Department.
17. 17. Boundaries of reserves on rivers, Government of India No. 746 of 16th July, 1893. In case of all forest reserves which are situated on the banks of a river, the exact position of which owing to allusion and dilution changes , is not constant , the boundaries of the forest should be fixed by maps giving bearings from boundary pillars on the firm land. The boundaries can be altered from time to time under the Act whenever a change of sufficient importance may take place. It would be only after the lapse of some years that newly-formed land would become of sufficient importance may take place . It would be only after the lapse of some years that newly-formed land would become of sufficient importance from a forest point of view to make it worthwhile to take it into a forest. In draft notifications under section 20 of the Act all boundaries which are liable to river action should in future be described in the manner here indicated. (This paragraph was added in 1893)
18. 18. Disposal of Report. The report should be addressed to the Commissioner of the division , but it should be forwarded, unless the Collector is himself the forest settlement officer, through the Collector, who is required to add to it both his own opinion and that of the district forest officer. The Commissioner before forwarding the report to the Financial Commissioner, will proceed as directed in paragraph 5.
19. 19. Disposal of final record - The Final record (paragraph 15) should not be forwarded to the commissioner, but should be deposited in the district record office at the same time as the final report is submitted. These records will be permanently preserved.
20. 20. Preservation of flies. The files of claims (paragraph 7) will also be deposited in the district record office, and part A of these files should also preserved permanently.
Special Proposals
21. 21. Forest Settlement Officer should consider effect of reservation on usage’s and submit special proposals, if necessary. The preceding instructions relate to the necessary procedure prescribed under Chapter II of the Indian forest Act when it is proposed or resolved to constitute a reserved forest. In carrying out this procedure , a forest settlement officer must carefully limit himself to ascertaining setting and recording , settling and recording rights actually existing and providing for their exercise and enjoyment in the manner prescribed in the Act. But much more than this is required to enable the local Government to judge whether after the events mentioned in section 20 of the Act have occurred, it is. Or is not , expedient to issue a notification under that section declaring the area to be a reserved forest. The result of the procedure of the Forest Act, when rights have been recorded and maintained, is to impose great restrictions on their exercise and materially to alter the previous usage’s of the people . To such changes , as already observed, the people are slow to accommodate themselves , and it is therefore incumbent on the Government to satisfy itself as to the probable effect which the reservation of the area and its strict management as a reserve will have upon the requirements of the neighborhood and habits of the people. This can best be ascertained by the forest settlement officer in the course of his inquiries for the settlement of rights. If not ascertained and reported on by him, it would have to be separately Enquirer onto and reported on, by the Collector or other revenue officer, which would only cause delay and additional expense. In addition therefore to having his record of rights in strict accordance with the Act the forest settlement officer should in a separate proceedings, record his opinion on the above points . If , on regarding his work from this point of view , he is opinion that the Government ought to make certain concessions beyond what has been awarded under the strict letter of the law, it is his duty to frame recommendations accordingly and to submit them, either in a special report or as an appendix to his final report required by paragraph 16.
22. 22. Two classes of recommendation usually made. The recommendation would usually deal with two classes of cases, viz, those arising out of (1) the use of forest produce permitted as a matter of ordinary convince in the absence of any strict management but not supported by any clear right established by adverse enjoyment ; and 92) the prospective wants of village communities or of individuals whether members of village communities or not.
23. 23. Use of forest produce. A regard the first class, it is desirable to
avoid on the one hand, embarrassment to Government by hastily granting unduly liberal
concessions which must ultimately be withdrawn in the interest of should forest
management ; and on the other hand serious popular discontent by the harsh ,
illiberal or undue restrictions of usage’s which contribute to the comfort and
convenience of the adjacent population . The aim should usually be some
executive arrangement giving no ground
for any substantial grievance, and so carefully guarded as not to
infringe the recognized principles of forest management , or to suggest claims
that cannot legally be sustained.
24. 24. Prospective want of neighborhood.
The cases of the second class are amongst the most difficult of any which
occur in the course of a forest settlement. While it has been determined that
the Forest Act does not justify the forest
settlement officer, and possible more numerous generation . It is nevertheless
pointed out that he might have to take
into account prospective wants in particular cases, as when a claimant had
established a right of such a nature
that it would probably in course of time entitle him to large benefits from a forest than he was entitled to at the
time of settlement. It is to be expected that in practice many intermediate cases will arise in which
the forest settlement officer will rightly entertain doubts as to what should
be done under the Forest Act, and what by order of government outside the Act and by way of
executive arrangement. It will be the safest plan to refer, by an intermediate
report, for the special orders of Government (1) such doubtful cases (2) any
cases in which the results of a strict adherence to the procedure of the Forest
Act would apparently conflict with some local popular custom , and (3) any
cases in which claims are advanced or arrangements seem advisable not only for
the present, but the prospective population of any village or tract.
25. 25. Reasonable requirements of people
and desirability of executive orders to
be considered. On receipt from a
forest settlement officer of any intermediate or final report of the nature required
by these instructions , the Collector (when not himself / the forest settlement
officer) and the Commissioner of the division will pay special attention to the
questions how far the awards under the Act adequately provide for the reasonable requirements of the people , and what , if
any executive arrangements , beyond the scope of those awards , it would be
expedient or equitable to make in order to meet those requirements.
26. 26. Orders on special proposals to
noticed in record and report. The orders
passed by Government of special proposals submitted under paragraphs 21 to 25
should be briefly stated in the final – record ( See annexure), and, if passed
before submission of the final report, should be recapitulated therein.
27. 27. Procedure when reservation
appears undesirable. If in any case
a forest settlement officer in the course of his Enquires ascertains that
difficulties and objections exist ,which render the completion of the
reservation probably undesirable, he should stray proceedings and submit a
report through the Collector. This report will be dealt with by the
Commissioner in the same manner as directed
in paragraph 5 for the original report.
28. 28. Completion of records. The
attention of Collectors is directed to 3 (vii) and 4 of the appended
instructions concerning the record. The duty of Completing the record by the
addition of a copy of the final notification an instructions of the nature
contemplated in paragraph 21 to 27 have been issued by Government, which the
forest settlement officer has not already incorporated into head (vii) of the
proceeding it is duty of the Collector to add them.
ANNEXURE
Instructions as to the form and contents of final records prepared by Forest Settlement Officers for reserved forest.
The final record shall consist of map, a proceeding and a copy of the final notification issued under section 19 of the Act.
2. The map should not usually be on a smaller scale than 4 inches to the mile. It shall show distinctly boundary pillars, permanent survey mark sand physical features so far as may be convenient. The direct distance between each pair of boundary pillars shall wherever possible , be chained and recorded on the map. The map shall also distinguish by interior boundary lines and survey numbers.
(i) (i) Areas surrounded by the forests, but excluded from them (chak khariji);
(ii) (ii) Areas from which rights have been expropriated or in which they have been maintained, or in which claims have been rejected in their entirely;
(iii) (iii) Public and private ways, water-courses , springs, and watering –places.
3. 3. The proceedings shall contain the following information.
(i) (i) It shall quote the number and date of the notification issued under section 4 of the Act, and give the contents of the notification, and the name of the forest settlement officer appointed thereunder.
(ii) (ii) It shall give a list of all areas (Chaks khariji) surrounded by the forest boundaries but excluded from the forest , thus :-
Number of map A Village to which it
appertains
(iii) (iii) It shall give an abbreviated list of all claims rejected in entirely under sections 11 and 12 of the Forest Act, thus :-
|
|
Area in which claimed |
|
|
|
|
Description of Right claimed |
Number on map |
Area |
By whom Claimed (name with description) |
Shortabstract of order rejecting the claim |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(iv) (iv) Also a list of all rights expropriated, whether expropriated under section 11 or section 16, thus :-
|
|
Area in which claimed |
|
|
|
|
Description of right claimed |
Number of map |
Area |
Persons expropriated(name with description) |
Short abstract of award |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(v)
(v)
It shall describe the rights to
pasturage and rights to forest produce admitted by the forest settlement
officer under section 12 of the Act , and the manner in which he has, under
sections 14 and 15 directed that those rights shall be hereafter exercised,
recording them in a schedule in the following form :-
|
|
Area in which awarded |
|
|
|
|
Names of description of personsto whom rights have been awarded |
Number of map |
Area |
Nature of rights, with full detail of all matters covered by section 13 of the Act |
Orders issued under section 14 of the Act for the future exercise of these rights |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(vi)
(vi)
It shall describe rights of way; public or private , and existing water-courses
, also springs and watering places to which any persons have access, arranging
them in the schedule thus :-
|
|
Area in which exercised |
|
|
Nature of rights |
Number of map |
By whom, or how used |
|
|
|
|
And
shall declare that these rights will in future be subject to regulation as
provided in section 25 of the Forest Act.
(vii)
(vii)
A brief resume shall be given of any special report submitted to Government
under paragraphs 21 to 25 of this appendix and of the orders passed thereon .
This resume shall be in sufficient detail
to guide both revenue and forest officials and also parties interested in these
reports. Copies off the reports themselves should not be given to applicant;
and any notice of opinions expressed by the reporting officers, but not
approved by Government, should be excluded.
4. 4.
When the final notification issues a copy and translation thereof, shall
be added to the record. This copy shall be endorsed with a report stating the date on which , and
the villages in which translation has been published ,as required by section 21
of the Act.
5. 5. The
records shall be drawn up in the vernacular language used in land revenue
proceedings, and the survey shall be made on the land measure used in the land
revenue records of the district in which the forest is situate.
NOTE :- In the above instructions the words
names, with description mean name, father’s name caste or tribe and residence.
If the entry is in favour of a whole village, it may be so stated name of
individuals being omitted.
(see paragraphs 783 and 784)
(1) (1) RULES FOR THE
LEASE OF WASTE LANDS IN THE PUNJAB (Sanctioned by Government of India
letter No. 132-2, dated 20th April 1897.)
1.
1.
Areas in which leases may not be granted. Except,
with the previous sanction of the local Government leases of waste lands owned
by Government may not be granted in any tract of country included in any
colonization scheme established for lands commanded by a Government canal or in
any large tract of country for which there is a prospect of perennial canals
being contracted by Government.
B – GENERAL RULES IN RESPECT OF SANCTION.
2. Lists of Government
waste lands to be maintained. Lists of Government waste lands in each district shall be maintained by
the Collector. The local Government will determine from time to tome which of
these lands shall be deemed available
for leasing and which of these again should be leased with a condition for
acquiring occupancy rights , and which a
condition for acquiring proprietary rights.
Where lists such as are contemplated in this
rule, are not already in existence in
any district . The financial Commissioner has directed that a register in
English in the form below should be opened. Land acquired for public purposes,
nazul lands and encamping grounds will be executed from this register.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
Name of estate |
Whether consisting of whole or part or estate. |
Area |
Whether irrigable from a canal or not. |
Annual Income |
remarks |
||
|
Year |
income
|
Source of income |
|||||
Note :- Column 1. Observe that all demarcated
rakhs are estates by Land Revenue Rule
31.
Column 5 :- This column will contain a
continuos record of income.
Column 8. Note the purpose for which the land
is useful. If the land is sold or granted away, note this.
8.
8. Powers
of sanction -
Leases of waste land owned by Government not irrigable by a canal may be
granted up to a limit of 75 acres by the Commissioner and 150 acres whether
irrigable from a canal or not , by the Financial Commissioner, for a maximum
period of 20 years in each case,
provided the total area held on lease by
single lessees does not exceed 75 and 150 acres, respectively .
Proposals for the leasing of lands commanded by a Government canal should be
accompanied by a report by an officer of
the Irrigation Department regarding the extent to which water will be
available. A lease of a larger area than 150 acres , or a lease which (if
sanctioned would make the total area held on
lease by a single lessee more
than 150 acres . required the sanction of the local Government , and should
only be recommended in special cases.
C- Procedure in
dealing with applications for leases.
4. General procedure in cases of individual
applications for leases. If an applicant is made to the Collector for the lease of any waste
lands owned by Government , the Collector shall subject in every case to the
provisions of rules 1-3, deal with the application in accordance with the
instructions relating to the cultivation of such waste lands from time to time
received by him from the Financial Commissioner.
5. Rejection of application. The Collector may reject the application at
any stage of the proceedings if, with
reference to those instructions or for other reasons , objections exist in his
opinion to granting a lease of the land.
If the Collector rejects an application, he shall record his reasons in
writing.
6. 6. Procedure if application is not rejected
(I) If the collector entertains the application
he shall, when necessary require the applicant to deposit the cost of
demarcating surveying and mapping the land and cause the land to be demarcated, surveyed and mapped. He
shall , at the same time publish a proclamation
stating that the land has been applied for on lease, and that all claims
and objection should be preferred within three months.
(ii) The proclamation shall be published in the vicinity of the land applied for on lease and after it has been so published, a copy shall also be posted at the Collector’s office and at the office of the tahsil in which the land is situate.
7. 7. Report by Collector for grant of lease. If no claims or objections are preferred
within three months of the posting of the proclamation at the Collector’s
office, or in the event of any claim or
objection being preferred, then after the proceedings contemplated by Act XXIII
of 1863 have been concluded, the collector may prepare a report giving
particulars of the land which it is proposed to lease and the terms on which he
proposes that it shall be leased and may
submit the same for the orders of the authority who under these rules, is
empowered to sanction the lease. The report shall be drawn up, as far as may be
in the form annexed to these rules.
8. 8. Consideration in defining area to be
leased. In determining the area proposed to be leased, the Collector shall
see that it forms a compact block so as not the detract from the value of the
surrounding land. And, in case the area be bounded on one side by a canal ,
river or public road, the block shall ordinarily be so formed that the length
of canal river or road frontage shall not exceed one-half of the depth of the
block.
9. 9. Term of lease. IN
the absence of special orders fixing the
term for any case or class or cases , the term of lease applied for under rule
4 shall be fixed with reference to the purpose to which the land is to be
applied, the time and capital required
to bring it under cultivation and
other like considerations, but shall not
exceed twenty years, except with the sanction of the revenue authority
who immediately controls the officers sanctioning the lease.
10. 10. (1) Assessment of land revenue. In the
absence of special instructions issued by the Financial Commissioner with the
sanction of the local Government for lands of the class to which the area
applied for belongs, in fixing the charges payable in the case of a lease
applied for under rule 4, the land revenue shall be assessed with due
regard(a) to the revenue rates assessed
on similar land at the last settlement of the district and (b) the present
renting value for cultivation and grazing of similar land in adjacent estates.
Care should , however, be taken that the land revenue imposed on such land does
not raise the total assessment of the
circle in which it is situated to more
than one-fourth of the net assets of the circle. If the land forms part of an
estate and is not excluded from the provisions of section 51(3) by section
51(4) of Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887,
this object can in most cases be secured for all practical purposes by
providing that the average rate of incidnece of such land does not exceed the
average rate of the estate in which it is included. Any case in which this is
not suitable, as for example of specially valuable land, should be referred for
orders. If , however, the land consists of a fresh estate , the rate of
incidence of the assessment imposed thereon should into be such as to raise the
existing average rate of incidence of
the assessment circle beyond the limit prescribed in section 51(3) . In
applying this rule, so much or the area to be leased shall be treated as
cultivated as the lessee may fairly be expected to bring under cultivation
within the term of the lease.
(2) (2) Malikana ordinarily to be calculated on market value. To this
assessment of land revenue there shall be added as proprietary due or malikana
a sum which shall ordinarily be calculated with reference to the market
value of the land in its waste condition , (Subject to land revenue and
cessess). The malikana so fixed shall be four percent of that market value unless the Financial
Commissioner for special reasons to be stated, considers that a lower rate of
malikana should be fixed.
(3) (3) Malikana to be based on land revenue and rent in other cases. If the market value of the land or of similar
land in adjacent estates is not ascertainable or approximately ascertainable
the malikana shall be sum based on the
difference between the land revenue assessment and the renting value as
ascertained under clause (1) , but which shall not ordinarily be less than half the land revenue assessment. IF any case
it is proposed to fix a rate or proprietary due less than one-half of the land revenue assessment ,the case shall be reported to the
Financial Commissioner for sanction, and
the Financial Commissioner may , for reasons to be stated, reduce the malikana
to a sum not lower than one-fourth of
the land revenue assessment.
(4)
(4) Considerations in
fixing land revenue and proprietary due. In
fixing the assessment of land revenue and malikana in the manner above
prescribed, regard shall be had to the improvements necessary to bring the land
into cultivation and to the time
necessary for the execution of those improvements; and the authority by whom the
lease is sanctioned may in view of these considerations, exempt the lease for a
portion of the term of the lease from payment of the whole or part of the land
revenue or malikana or both assessed under this rule.
11. 11. Orders on Collector’s report.
On receipt of the report of the Collector by the authority who under
these rules is empowered to sanction the
lease, that authority shall subject to the provisions of these rules and to any
instructions issued by the Financial Commissioner in respect of any case or class of cases –pass such order in respect
of the refusal or sanctioning the lease and in the event of his sanctioning
the lease in respect of
the area, term , assessment and other conditions of the lease, as he
shall think fit.
D-RULES AND CONDITIONS
APPLICABLE TO ALL LEASES.
12. 12. Execution of dead of lease and giving possession. When a lease has
been sanctioned by the authority appointed by these rules in that behalf , the
Collector shall execute and cause to be executed a lease in form A attached to
these rules, provided that, if Act V of 1912 has been extended to an area in
which leases are being granted , the
provisions of that Act shall be followed.
Possession of the land shall not be given to the applicant until the lease has been executed or until the provisions of section 4 , Act V of 1912 have been complied with, as the case may be.
13. 13. Rates and cesses. A lessee shall in every case convent with
Government to pay all rates and cesses chargeable on the land ; and also all
charges (other than penalties), at any time livable under chapter VIII of the
Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, in respect of the land leased to him. He shall
also convenient to pay the price as
determined in the manner hereinafter
laid down , of the timber and brushwood on the leases area.
Explanation :- The words “rates” and “cesses” in this rule have the same meaning as in the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.
14. 14. Failure to take possession.
If within six months of the execution of the lease having been
communicated to the applicant he fails to take possession of the land , or if
at any time he fails to comply with any of the conditions of the lease the Collector may cancel the lease
and shall report the fact to the officer by whom the lease was sanctioned.
15. 15. Reservation of certain rights of Government and settlement of disputes.(I)
There shall be reserved in every lease the right of Government over all
rivers and streams , and the rights of the public to use existing thoroughfares
traversing the grant. There shall also be reserved in every lease all mines,
minerals , Coals, gold-washings, earth-oil and quarries in or under the land
leased, together with the right of entering on the said land and doing all
acts and things that may be necessary or expedient for the purpose of searching
for , working , getting or carrying away any such mines, minerals coals , gold-washings and
quarries.
(ii) The
Government on its part will in every case, convent with the lessee to make
reasonable compensation to him for all damage occasioned by the exercise of the
said rights.
(iii)
And the lessee on his part shall convenient with Government that , in case of a dispute arising between
the lessee and Government as to the property and rights hereby reserved, or any
matter incidental or in any way relating thereto, or as to any compensation as
aforesaid , the decision thereon , in each case, of the officer empowered by
these rules to sanction the lease of the land shall be considered final and
binding on both parties.
16. 16. Trees and brushwood. (I) where trees or brushwood are found on land
proposed for lease under these rules, the collector shall estimate the value of
such trees or brushwood. In estimating the net value the Collector shall into
take account of the prices which the lessee will probably be able to realize
and of the probable facilities for sale and shall also make due allowance for
expenses , waste and other losses likely
to be incurred in the cutting , removal and sale of the said produce. If
the Collector funds that the value which the lessee could obtain for the timber
or brushwood would only equal or be less than , the cost of cutting or removal
nothing shall be charged for it.
(ii) The Collector shall record the
grounds of this estimate and the amount
thereof in a proceeding; and in the same proceeding either require the
lessee to pay the amount before entering into possessions or fix the
installments and dates in and on which the lessee shall pay the same.
(iii) In cases in which these installments extend over a longer period than twelve
months from the date of entry, the proportion
of the produce actually removed by the lessee in any given year shall
not exceed the proportion of the value payable within that year, and in the
event of the lessee’s removing in any year a larger proportion, the entire
outstanding proportion of the amount of the estimate shall at once become due.
17. 17. Rights of lessee in the land leased.
A lessee shall be entitled to sink wells, make water courses, plant
trees, build houses and otherwise
improve the land ; and subject to the due fulfillment by him of the conditions
and liabilities of the lease and to provisions of rules 15 and 16 shall be
entitled to all the products of the land, but except with the sanction of the
local Government previously obtained no lease of waste land shall authorize the
lessee to construct a private canal for the irrigation, either of the land
leased to him or of any other land. In
granting any sanction in cases falling under this clause, the local Government
may attach to its sanction such other special terms and conditions in respect
of the constructions and maintenance of a canal and irrigation from a canal as
it shall think fit.
17-A. Loyalty and good
conduct. The lessee shall be bound to be and to remain
at all times of loyal behavior and to render active support to the Government
and its officers in any time of trouble or disorder. The decision of the local
Government whether this condition has been violated by the lessee shall be
final , and if the local Government is of opinion that the lessee has committed
a breach of this condition, it may resume the grant or any portion thereof,
either temporarily or permanently, and such resumption shall not affect any
other penalty to which the lessee may be
liable under these conditions or otherwise.
18. 18. Acquisition of occupancy rights. If at the expiration of five years
from the date of the lease the lessee has regularly paid all sums due to
Government under the provisions of the lease, has fulfilled the other
conditions of the tenancy and has brought under cultivation one –half of the
culturable area held on lease , a right
of occupancy of the nature of the
subject to the conditions attaching to a right of occupancy established under
section 8 of the Punjab Tenancy Act may
on the payment of the Nazarene (if any) fixed by the lease, be conferred
on the lessee by an endorsement by the Collector to that effect on the lease.
19. 19. Purchase of proprietary right. (I) The lessee may purchase the
proprietary right of the land at any time during the currency of the lease at
the full marked price of the land to be fixed by the Deputy Commissioner,
subject to the same sanction to which the grant of the lease was subject.
(ii) The lessee may pay the sum so determined, either in a lump sum or by such installments, extending over a period of not more than five years, as the authority sanctioning the sale may fix. When the whole of the purchase money has not been paid previous to the delivery to the purchaser of the deed of conveyance, the purchaser shall execute a deed of mortgage to secure payment within five years of the unpaid balance with or without interest as the authority sanctioning the sale may determine . The deed of conveyance shall be in form B and the deed of mortgage in form C attached to these rules. They shall both be registered, and the deed of mortgage shall be stamped at the purchaser’s expense, and both shall remain in the possession in the Deputy Commissioner until the whole of the purchase money , with the interest due thereon , if any shall have been paid, when the deed of conveyance shall be made over to the purchaser or his heirs or assigns, the mortgage deed having first been cancelled by the Deputy Commissioner.
(iii) Should the local
Government consider that for special reasons the sum payable should be
reduced, it may reduce it to such an amount as it thinks fit.
20. 20. Procedure on expiry of lease.(I) On the expiry of the lease (if
neither proprietary nor occupancy rights have been acquired by the lessee),
Government may resume the whole of the land or any portion of it.
(ii) Failing such resumption ,the
lessee shall be entitled to a renewal of the lease for such term and on such
conditions as to the amount of land revenue and rent or malikana and other
charges to be paid by him as the authority who sanctioned the lease may ,
subject to the provisions of section 68 of the Punjab Tenancy Act, then
determine.
(iii) In fixing these terms and conditions, the sanctioning
authority shall be guided by the rules for the lease of waste lands for the
time being in force, so far as these
rules can be made applicable.
20.-A. Power to
sanction alienation by lessees. The power of the local Government
to sanction alienation’s by the lessee of State lands has been delegated to the
Financial Commissioner, in all leases where it is a condition of the lease that
alienation should not be made without the sanction of Government . In cases in
which the transfer is a bonafide
attempt to arrange for the cultivation
of the land without lessee himself giving up his position as cultivator or manager
, the power delegated to the Financial Commissioner may be exercised by
Commissioners of divisions.
21. 3. Readjustment of rent. If the lessee has acquired occupancy rights
during the currency of the lease on the expiration of the term of the lease
originally given , the amount of rent including land revenue and malikana and
the other charges to be paid by him ,
will be readjustment in the manner provided by rule 20 , provided that the rate
of malikana shall in no case exceed 12 annas per rupee of the amount of land
revenue.
22. 4. Compensations to lessee in certain
cases. Should the
lease be determined under provisions of
rule 20 , the lessee shall be entitled to receive compensation in accordance
with the provisions of the Punjab Tenancy Act from Government for any improvements made by him in the said
land.
23. 5. Appeal and review of orders. All orders passed by revenue officer under these
rules shall be subject to review and revision by the authorities which would
review or revise his orders under the Punjab Land Revenue Act 1887.
24. 6. Saving of operation of rules in certain
cases. Nothing in
these rules shall be held to prohibit the local Government from authorizing by general or special orders
the lease of the grazing of waste land or the lease to tenants at will of the
right to cultivate plots of cultivable land in blocks of waste land for a
single harvest only.
Nothing in these rules shall be held
to affect the power of the local
Government to make rules for the granting
of leases of plots of land along the sides of roads not exceeding
ten acres in area for the purpose of providing roadside groves for the
convenience and comfort of travelers.
Nothing in these rules shall be
taken or understood to interfere with or anywise affect, the rights of Government under the Land Acquisition Act,
1 of 1894.
From of report on an application for a lease of Government waste land under rule 7 of the rules for the lease of waste lands in the Punjab.
1. 1.
Districts and tahsil in which the land is situate
2. 2.
Area and description of the land applied for.
3. 3.
Present income from the land
4. 4.
Facilities for irrigation , existing or
proposed.
5. 5.
Name and description of applicant, with date of his application.
6. 6. Proposed
terms of lease, distinguishing.
(a) (a) nature of
lease, where to carry a promise of proprietary rights or of occupancy rights or
lease for the purpose of planting and maintaining roadside plantations;
(b) (b) duration;
(c) (c) annual
payment;
(d) (d) disposal of existing
timber;
(e) (e) other matters;
7. 7.
Recommendations and orders of the Collector and revenue officers of higher
classes to be entered consecutively by each officer who deals with the
application.
FORM A
RULE 12
“A lease made by Governor of the
Punjab (hereinafter called Government) of the one part to
_____________________”;and
son _____________________resident of village
__________________parties Tahsil
___________in the _________District of the
Punjab(hereinafter called the tenant)of
the other part :
IN
PURSUANCE of the orders contained in letter No. _______dated the ____recital
Form the _____________to the ______________ .
WHEREAS the tenant has paid to Government :-
(i)
(i)
the sum of _____________ rupees on account of trees and brushwood;
NOW THIS DEED WITNESSETH as follows :-
1.
1.
Area leased. Government hereby demises to the tenant all
that plot of land, containing ____________acres more or less, more particularly
described in the schedule hereto and delineated and coloured _______________in
the plan hereunto annexed, subject to the exceptions and reservations and on
the terms and conditions hereinafter
appearing.
2.
2. Purpose of the lease. (a) The land
is leased for purposes of agriculture only.
(b). The lessee may take to himself
all natural products growing on the surface of the land, excluding/including
trees and brushwood, subject to the
payments and conditions hereinafter mentioned.
(c) (a) The lessee may
construct such water – courses, temporary buildings or similar improvements as
may be necessary for the purpose of cultivating the land as herein provided, subject to the conditions
hereinafter provided and to the condition that no claim shall be made against
the Government for improvements of any kind , except as hereinafter
specifically provided.
3.
3.
Period of the lease . The period of the lease shall be for
___years , and shall be deemed to have
commenced with effect from the Rabi /
kharif season of ______
4.
4. (1) The tenant shall pay a yearly
rent of ______rupees in two equal half –yearly
installments of ___________________rupees each.
(3) (1) Out of each
installment a sum of ____________ rupees shall be paid in advance during
working hours at the nearest treasury or at such other place as the Collector
may appoint on the ________________Day of and the ___________day of
____________during each year and the rest as provided hereunder.
Rent and other
payments. (3) The
balance of each installment, amounting to _________ rupees, shall be paid in
the manner provided for the payment of land revenue and the teant shall in
addition to the rent reserved above pay to Government or as the Collector may
direct a sum equivalent to all rates, cesses and other periodical charges which
would have been payable by the owner of the land if it had been assessed to
land revenue at this rate.
(4) (2) The tenant shall
further pay all other rates, cesses, taxes, charges and other out going which
are or may become payable by the owner of the land or occupier thereof.
(5) (3) The tenant shall
further pay on account of the trees and brushwood now standing on the land and
described in the schedule hereto a sum of __________rupee’s , to paid strike
out whichever is inapplicable) :-
(1) (1) before entry
(2) (2) in the installments
herein stated namely :-
on the day of Rs.
On the day of Rs.
Provided that the value of the trees brushwood
actually removed by the tenant in each year shall not exceed the following
proportions namely :-
In
the year
In
the year
And
In the year
Of the whole value of the wood and brushwood
now existing on the said lands, and if the tenant removes in any year a larger
proportion of the wood and brushwood on the said lands then as above stated,
the whole amount then outstanding on account of the sum of rupees shall at once
become due.
5.
5.
Mines and Minerals. Government
does not demise but excepts and reserves to itself al mines minerals and quarries of whatsoever
nature existing on, over or below the surface of the land with liberty to
search for, work and remove the same , in as full and ample manner as if this
lease had not been made.
6.
6.
Rivers , water courses and roads. Government does not demise but excepts and
reserves to itself all rivers and streams with their beds and banks all water
courses and drainage channels and all public
thoroughfares now existing on the land or shown as proposed for
construction in the plan annexed.
7.
7.
Construction and alteration of roads and water –courses . Government reserves the right to
create a public right of way not exceeding three karams in width across the
land whenever this may be considered desirable
in the public interest by the Collector, without paying any
compensation.
8.
8.
Re-entry for the exercise and protection of rights reserved. For the full discovery enjoyment and use of the rights hereby
reserved, or for the protection and maintenance of any property hereby excluded, it shall be lawful for government through its
authorized agents or for any officer of
the Crown to enter upon the land and
make such used thereof as may be necessary for these purposes without making any compensation to the tenant
for such use and occupation except as may be provided hereunder.
Obligations of The Tenant.
9.
9. The tenant hereby convenience with
Government as follows :-
Payment of rent etc. : (1) To pay to or on behalf of
Government the rent and any other payments which may become due under this lease at the proper
time and place and in such manners may be prescribed by law or by the
order of any competent authority .
Use of Land. (2) To use
the whole or any part of the land for no purpose other than that of agriculture
, and not to use it in any way likely to lessen its value.
Boundary marks. (3) At his own cost, when so required by the
Collector , to erect permanent marks on the lands hereby leased, demarcating
correctly the boundaries and limits
thereof, and at all times to maintain the same in good repair in accordance with any directions from time
to time issued in that behalf by the Collector.
Against injury and
interference. (4)
Not to do or suffer to be done any act inconsistent with or injurious to any of
the rights excepted and reserved to
Government.
Entry. (5) To permit without let or
hindrance all officers or servants of the Crown or other persons duly
authorized by Government in this behalf to enter the land at all times and do
all acts and things necessary for
or incidental to ---
(a) (a) The purpose of
enforcing compliance with any of the terms of this lease , or of ascertaining
whether these have been duly performed or observed or,
(b) (b) Any purpose
connected with the full enjoyment discovery and use of the mineral or
other rights hereinafter reserved to
Government without claim to compensation whether by reduction of rent of
otherwise except as hereinafter specifically provided.
(c) (c) Public rights
etc. (6) Not to interfere with lawful used by the public of any thoroughfare on the land or with the exercise by any third
person of any existing rights and easements now existing thereon or which the
tenant thereon is bound by the terms of this lease to create or allow.
Private canal. (7) Not to construct a private
canal for the irrigation of the land demised or of any other land , without the
permission of Government in writing first obtained in granting which sanction
Government may impose such terms and conditions in respect of the construction
and maintenance of the canal and. Or irrigation therefrom as it may deem fit.
Surrender for public
purpose. If the
land or any portion thereof is required for any public purpose, to surrender
the whole or so much of the land as may be required on demand by the Collector,
without claiming compensation except as provided hereunder ,and subject only to
a proportionate remission of rent.
Restriction on assignment.(9) Not to assign ,
sublet or transfer by mortgage or otherwise or part with land or any part
thereof, except to cultivators holding directly under him who will cultivate
the land in a proper manner, without the permission of Government first
obtained.
Cost of Survey Etc., (10) To pay such towards the cost of following
works as the Collectors acting under the general or special orders of
Government may determine whether the cost has already been incurred at the time
of the grant or may be incurred thereafter –
(a) (a) the survey and
demarcation of the land;
(b) (b) The construction of
any water – course on the estate in
which the land situated and from which a supply of water is available for the
land;
(c) (c) The
construction of any roads , paths, culverts or bridges necessary for the
general convenience of the estate in which the land is situated; and
(d) (d) The maintenance and
repair of any such roads, paths,
culverts or bridges.
Peaceful surrender. (11) At the end or sooner
termination of lease, to leave the land and surrender it peaceably to the
collector, and during the concluding season of the lease that is the
season of kharif / Rabi 19, not to sow any Rabi /
kharif it crop.
Loyalty . (12) To remain at all times of
loyal behavior and in any time of trouble or disorder to render active support
to the Crown and its officers, and to accept the decisions of Government as to
whether this convenient has been fulfilled or not.
(13)(13)To render all such assistance in
the prevention or discovery of crime as is incumbent on the owner or the
occupier of land by any law or rule for the time being in force in the Punjab
,and to be responsible in the same manner as headmen, a watchmen or other
inhabitants of villages are under any tract law for the time being in force in
the Punjab.
[Sub
–clauses(14) to (18) shall only apply if the area of the demised land is 125
acres or more and the lease is for 10 years of longer.] (14) Within 6 calendar months next after the
date of these presents at his own cost to erect and finish fit for use on on
the land hereby demised or elsewhere as near to the land as possible , houses
for the use of sub – tenants and dependents in accordance with a plan or plans
to be approved in writing by the Collector and not erect or suffer to be
erected on the demised land any building or permanent structure other than and
except the said houses and buildings for agricultural purposes and to comply
with all such directions as the Collector may issue from time to time as
regards the construction of boundary marks and keep the same when erected in
good repair and order.
Re-entry.(15)
Not to make any alteration in the plan or –elevation of the said houses
without such consent as aforesaid in order to use the same or permit the same
to be used for any purpose other than
that of houses for sub – tenants and dependents.
(15) (14) At
all times to keep the said houses and premises in good and substantial repair
and on the termination of this lease peaceably to yield up the property in such
good and substantial repair unto the Government.
(16) (15) At
all times to keep the said houses and premised in good and substantial repair
and on the termination of this lease peaceably to yield up the property in such
good and substantial repair unto the Government.
(17) (16) To
ensure that the methods of farming ,housing and living of sub –tenants and
dependents conform as far as possible to the principles and program of rural
reconstruction laid down in the publications of the Department of Rural
Reconstruction, Punjab the various departments of Government and the book
“Better Villages”.
(18) (17) Failure
to comply with either sub-clause (14) or (15) or (16) or (17) above shall be
deemed to be a breach of the terms of this lease and the Collector’s decision
whether there has been a breach or non-fulfillment of the said clauses or any
of them shall be final.
Provisos
10. 10. In any of the following events :-
(a)
(a) if the
tenant commits any breach or fails to perform any of the terms or conditions of
this lease, or suffers or permits such breach or non-performance.
(b)
(b) If the tenant is
declared insolvent, or
(c)
(c) If the
tenancy is attached.
Government may at any time thereafter re-enter upon the
land and determine this demise, in which case the tenant shall make all the
payments due under these presents for the current season, provided that such
termination of the tenancy shall not prejudice any right of action or remedy of
Government in respect of any antecedent breach of this agreement by the tenant.
11. 11. Compensation.
No compensation shall be payable by Government to the tenant in respect of the
exercise of any of the rights reserved in this lease or on the termination of
the tenancy, except as provided hereunder :-
(a) (a) For
damage caused to the surface of the land or to anything attached thereto, or to
any property of the tenant by act or
negligent omission of any person duly authorized to enter the land in exercise
of the mineral rights reserved to Government
such compensation as may be assessed by the officer under whose orders
such action is taken.
(b) (b) For
damage to standing crops caused in exercise of the right to construct or alter
water –courses , such compensation as may be assessed by the officer under whose orders such action is taken.
(c) (c) For
any improvements existing on the land on the termination of the tenancy
otherwise than through any default of
the tenant , such compensation as may be assessed by the Collector in
accordance with the provisions of the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 , for the
payment of compensation for improvements effected by occupancy tenants;
Provided that---
(i)
(i)
the amount of any compensation so assessed may be enhanced or reduced under the
orders of the Financial Commissioner, Punjab and
(ii)
(ii)
any compensation payable by Government to the tenant or any sum or sums
otherwise due to Government from the
tenant may either be deducted from or set off against any such compensation or may be recovered
otherwise as and at such time as Government may deem fit.
12. 12. Stamping and registration .
The lessee shall purchase the stamp and within four months from the date of
execution shall present this instrument for registration at his own cost
failing which, without prejudice to Government ‘s rights otherwise , such
failure shall be regarded as a breach of the conditions thereof and the
Collector shall be entitled to rescind
and cancel the same without any compensation whatsoever.
13. Arbitration (1)
IF any question , doubt or objection shall arise in any way connected with or
arising out of these presents or the meanings or operation of any part ,
thereof or the rights duties or obligations of either party , then save in so
far as the decision of any such matter has been hereinbefore , provided for and
has been so decided ,every such mater shall be referred to the arbitration of the Commissioner, including
the following questions :-
(a)
(a) Whether any
other provision has been made in these presents for the decision of any matter
and if such provision has been made , whether it has been finally decided
accordingly and;
(b)
(b) Whether the lease
should be terminated or has been rightly terminated and what are the
rights and obligations of the parties as
the result of such termination.
Interpretation (2)
The decision of the Commissioner shall be final and binding and when any of the
matters above mentioned involves a claim for or the payment, recovery or
reduction of money only the amount so decided shall be recoverable in respect
thereof.
14. 14. In these presents unless context otherwise requires :-
(a)
(a) “the
Collector” and the “Commissioner” mean the Collector and the Commissioner for the time being of the District Division
in which the land is situated and include any other person duly authorized by
general or special order to act on behalf of Government in this behalf
(b)
(b) “Government
includes the successors and assigns of
Government.
(c)
(c) “kharif
crop” and “rabi crop” mean the crops generally sown and harvested in the kharif and rabi seasons respectively; and
should any question arise whether any is
kharif or a rabi crop, the question shall be decided by the Collector.
(d)
(d) “the kharif”
season and the “rabi season” mean the season for approximately six months each
generally known as the kaharif and rabi seasons respectively ; and should any
question arise whether the date on which
anything has been done or should be done
falls in one season or another the question shall be decided by the Collector,
whose decision shall be final;
(e)
(e) “the land”
means the land hereby demised together with all rights appertaining thereto and
not herein excepted or reserved;
(f)
(f) “the
tenant” includes the heirs, legal representatives and permitted assigns of the
tenant and if the said term includes co-shares , any liability imposed by this
deed shall be joint and several liability of each co-shares.
(g)
(g) “minerals”
includes all substances of a mineral nature which can be won from the earth,
such as coal earth-oil , gold washings stones and forms of soil which can be
used for a profitable purpose or removal.
IN
WITNESS Whereof the parties have hereto
set their hands on the dates hereinafter in each case specified.
THE SCHEDULE
ABOVE MENTIONED
Description and boundaries of the land
An area of _____________acres ______________roods _______poles(equal to
–ghumaons_____________ kanals ____________________marlas).
Situated in the (mauza /the town of) Tehsil
______________District________
Shown in the (Revenue records /
records of the local authority) as no. ______
And bounded as follows :-
On the north by ;
On the east by ;
On the south by ;
On the west by ;
THE PLAN (Note – The following alterations and additons made to the above
lease in the circumstances specified
below:-
If it is proposed tosell trees and brushwood existing on the land –
For clause 1(2)(b) substitute the following :-
“(b) The tenant may take to himself all the natural products growing on
the surface of the land including trees
and brushwood, subject to the terms and
conditions hereinafter mentioned”.
Add the following to 1(4)
“(c) The tenant will also pay on account of (as in the present clause 5
on page 365))
Signed for an on behalf of the
Governor of the Punjab by ___________officer of __________ acting under Officer
the orders of the Governor of the Punjab, in the presence of
__________________(address) ___________description) on the _______day of
_______________in witness the year one thousand nine hundred and
_______________
Singed by the said
________________ in the presence of ___________(address)
_______________(description) on
the __________Day of _____in the
year one thousand nine hundred and
____________________
“References to the colonization of Government Lands(Punjab) Act , 1912
wherever they occur in this form should be omitted when grants are made of land
to which this Act has not been applied.”
Recital
IN PURSUANCE OF the conditions
contained in Punjab (Notification/Letter)
Government _____________No. ______________dated.
WHEREAS the land hereinafter
mentioned vests in the Crown for the purposes of the Government of the Punjab ,
which is authorized to dispose of the said land by the provisions of section
175 of the Government of India Act, 1935.
AND The grantee has paid a sum of
________________rupees to Government.
NOW THIS GRANT WITNESSETH as follows :-
Grant.
(1) Government on behalf of the Crown as beneficial owner grants unto the
grantee ALL that plot of land , containing ___________acres more or less, and
more particularly described in the schedule hereto, and delineated in colour
___________
In the plan annexed, TO HOLD the
same in proprietary right subject to the exception and reservations and on the
terms and conditions hereinafter appearing.
2. 1. This
grant is made for the purpose of agriculture only.
Exceptions and reservations on
behalf of Government
Mines
and minerals. 3. Government does not grant but excepts and
reserves to itself in full proprietary right all mines, minerals and quarries
of whatsoever nature existing, on over below the surface of the land with
liberty to search for, work and remove the same in as full and ample manner as
if this grant had not been made.
Rivers
, water –courses and roads. 4. Government does not grant but
excepts and reserves to itself all rivers and streams , with their beds and
banks all water courses and drainage channels and all public thoroughfares now
existing on the land or shown as proposed for construction in the plan annexed.
Construction
alteration of water-courses. 5 Government reserves the right :-
(a)
(a) to create a
public right of way not exceeding three karams in width across the land whenever this may be
consindered desirable in the public interest by the Collector; and
(b)
(b) to
construct new water –courses on the land, or to alter the direction of any
water course now existing on the land or to be constructed in future, whenever
this may be considered necessary by the canal officer in the interest of
irrigation.
Without
any liability to pay compensation except as provided hereunder.
Re-entry
for the exercise and protection of rights reserved. 6 For the full discovery enjoyment and use of
the rights hereby reserved or for the protection and maintenance of any
property hereby excluded, it shall be
lawful for Government through its authorized agents or for any officer of
the Crown to enter upon the land and made such use thereof as may be necessary
for these purposes without making any compensation to the grantee for such use
and occupation except as may be provided hereunder.
Obligations of the grantee
Land
revenue and other payments. - The grantee hereby covenants
with Governments as follows:-
(a) (a) To
pay promptly the land revenue and all rates cesses, charges and outgoing to
which the land be from time to time assessed.
(b) (b) Against injury . Not
to do suffer to be done any act inconsistent with or injurious to any of the rights except and
reserved to Government.
(c) (c) Entry.
To permit without let or
hindrance all officers or servants of the Crown and all other persons duly authorized by Government
in that behalf to enter the land at all times and to do all acts and things
necessary for or incidental to –
(h)
(h) the purpose
of enforcing compliance with any of the terms and conditions of this grant or
of ascertaining whether they have been duly performed or observed or
(iii)
(iii)
any purpose connected with the full enjoyment discovery and use of the
rights hereby reserved to Government.
(d) (d) Public rights and
easements. Not to
interfere with the lawful use by the public of any thoroughfare on the land or
with the exercise by any third person of any rights and easements now existing thereon or which
the grantee is bound by the terms of this grant to create or allow.
(e) (e) Boundary marks. At his own cost, when so required
by the Collector , to erect permanent marks on the land demarcating correctly
the boundaries and limits thereof, and at all times to maintain the same in
good repair in accordance with any directions from time to time issued by the
Collector.
(f)
(f)
Construction of water –courses. Not to construct or alter any
canal water – courses or drainage channel upon the land without the permission of the Canal Officer.
(g)
(g) Resumption. If the land is resumed under the
terms of this grant to leave the land as soon as the grant is terminated and
surrender it peaceably to the collector and if so required by the Collector, to
pull down and remove any structure existing thereon, and deliver up the land in
a level state as in its former condition.
(h)
(h) Surrender for public purpose. If
the land or any portion thereof is required for any public purpose to
surrender the whole or so much of the
land as may be required on demand by the Collector, without claiming
compensation except as provided
hereunder.
(i)
(i)
Loyalty. Remain at
all times of loyal behavior and at any time of trouble to render active support to the Crown and its officers,
and to accept the decision of Government as to whether this convenient has been
fulfilled or not.
(j)
(j) To pay such amount towards the cost of the following works at the
Collector or the Canal Officer, acting under the general or special order of
the Government may determine whether the
cost has already been incurred at
the time of the grant or may be incurred thereafter :-
(i) (i) Cost of survey, etc. The survey and demarcation of the land;
(ii) (ii) The construction of any water –course on the estate in which the land is situated , and from which a supply of water is available for the land;
(iii)
(iii)
The construction of any roads ,paths , culverts or bridges necessary for the
general convenience of the estate in
which the land is situated; and
(iv)
(iv)
The maintenance and repair of any such
roads, paths , culverts or bridges,
(v)
(v)
Not to use the land for any purpose
other than that for which it is granted and not to permit or suffer such
usage.”
8. 8. (a) Application of the Colony Act (to be
omitted for sales of land to which this Act has not been applied). This
grant is subject to the provisions of the Colonization of Government Lands
(Punjab) Act, 1912, so far as they are applicable thereto.
(c) (c) The grantee
shall be deemed to be a tenant of such land unless and until he has fulfilled
the terms and conditions of this grant.
9. 9. Resumption. If the grantee fails to perform or commits any
breach of any of the terms or conditions of this grant, or suffers or permits
such a breach or non-performance, the Collector may at any time thereafter
determine the grant and resume possession of the land and may pull down any
structure existing thereon and may sell the materials thereof and retain the
proceeds of the sale, whether these rights may have been waived in respect of
any earlier default or not without prejudice to any other right or claim.
10. 10. (To be omitted for sales of land to which this Act has not
been applied). (I)
(Except as provided in section 25 of the Act) no compensation shall be payable
by Government in respect of the exercise of any rights reserved or conferred by
the terms of this grant, except as provided hereunder :-
(a)
(a) Compensation. For actual damage or occupation
arising out of the exercise of rights other than those relating to the
construction of water-courses , such compensation may be determined by the
Collector;
(b)
(b) For damage caused to standing crops in exercise of the rights relating to water courses, such compensation
as may be determined by the Canal
Officer;
(c)
(c) On resumption of the whole or any
portion of the land otherwise than on exchange or for breach of conditions, a
proportionate reduction of the rent or a
proportionate refund of the purchase price, if any paid and such additional sum
if any, as may be determined by the Collector in accordance with the general
principles applicable to the acquisition of land for public Purposes.
(ii) When any claim for compensation
arises, the officer assessing the amount of the compensation shall give the
grantee an opportunity of being heard; and when the amount to be
determined by the Collector , he shall act under the control of the Financial
Commissioner , Punjab.
(iii)
(iii)
When any sum becomes due to the grantee
by way of compensation any moneys due to Government shall be deducted
therefrom; and if Government has any
unsettled claim against the grantee, the sum due may be withheld until the
claim is settled.
11. 11. Stamping and registration. The grantee shall purchase the stamp and
within four months from the date of execution , shall present this instrument
for registration at his own cost failing which, without prejudice to
Government’s rights otherwise, such failure shall be regarded as a breach of the conditions
thereof.
12. 12. (I) If any question or difference whatsoever shall at any time
hereafter arise between Government and
the grantee in any way touching or concerning
this grant , or the construction meaning operation or effect thereof or of any clause herein contained, or as to
the rights duties or liabilities of either party under or by virtue of this grant, or touching the subject matter
of this grant, or arising out or in
relation thereto, then save in so far as the decision of any such matter
has been hereinbefore provided
for and has been so decided, the matter in difference shall be referred
to the arbitration of the Commissioner, who shall have power to decide
any matter so referred , including the
following questions :-
(a)
(a) Arbitration. Whether any other provision has been made in
these presents for the decision of any matter and if such provision has been
made, whether it has been finally decided
accordingly and,
(b)
(b) Whether the grant should be
terminated or has been rightly terminated and what are or will be the rights
and obligations of the parties as the result of such termination.
(II) The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding and
when any matter so referred to arbitration involves a claim for the award
increase of reduction of a sum of money by way of compensation or any other
payment or recovery of money, only the amount decided by the arbitrator shall
be recoverable in respect of the dispute so referred.
Interpretation
13. 13. In these conditions, unless there is anything repugnant in the context.
[(a)(to be omitted for sales of land to which this Act has not been
applied).
“the Act” means the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Act, 1912, as in force for the time being;]
(b). “the Canal Officer” means the
appropriate officer of the Irrigation
Branch of the Public works Department, Punjab;
(c)
(c) “the Collector “ and “the
Commissioner means the Collector and the commissioner for the time being of the
district of division in which the land is situated and include any other person
duly authorized by general or special
order to exercise the powers of a Collector or Commissioner in respect of
conditions governing the grant;
(d)
(d) “the Government “ and “the grantee”
include their successors in title respectively ; all rights hereby conferred and obligations hereby
imposed shall be available for and bind their
successors in title as the case may require; and when the term “the
grantee” includes co-sharers , any liability of each co-sharer;
(e)
(e) “the land” means the land which is
the subject of this grant and includes all rights , easements and appurtenances
thereto belonging or pertaining; and
(f)
(f) “minerals “ include all substances
of a mineral nature which can be won from the earth, such as coal, earth oil,
gold –washings, stones and forms of soil which can be used for a profitable
purpose or removal.
THE SCHEDULE above mentioned.
Description
and boundaries of the land
An area of _________ghumaons
______________kanals ________________
Marlas.
Situated in
(mauza/the) town of tahsil _____________district
_______________
Shown in the revenue(records/records) of the local authority as no :-
And bounded as follows :-
On the north by :
On the east by :
On the south by :
On the west by :
THE
PLAN
Signature of
expectants and witnesses. Signed for and on behalf of the Governor of the Punjab by
________________officer of _____________acting under the orders of the Governor
of the Punjab in the presence of ____________(address)___________ description)
on the _____________day of _____________in the year one thousand nine hundred
and _______________________
Signed by the said ___________in the presence
of ____________address) ___________ (description) on the _______________Day of
in the year one thousand nine hundred and __________
Note :- If there is no canal omit references to
Canal Officer and water –courses.
Instructions
to officers preparing conveyances of proprietary rights.
1. 1. If
the conveyance is to be made in favour of a body of persons, reference should
be made to the instructions circulated with the Home Secretary’s letter No.
1289-J , dated the 17th March , 1938.
2. 2. No
conveyance is to be drawn up until the last installment has been paid.
3. 3. The
total of the installments should then be entered in words, and not in figures ,
in the rectal of the deed.
4. 4. Two
copies of the deed should be prepared and both should be signed by the grantee
as well as by the Collector ; it is not sufficient to keep an office copy,
5. 5. The
Collector should see that the copy put up by the grantee is properly stamped
before he signs it, and should refuse to
sign any deed which is not so stamped.
6. 6.
Before the deed is executed ,a special assessment of land revenue should be
made under Section 59 of the Land
Revenue Act, 1887.
7. 7.
Only after the deed has been properly executed , should any change in the
revenue records be allowed.
8. 8. No
entry of proprietary rights should be made in the revenue records without an
addition stating that these rights are subject to the relevant statement of
conditions issued by Government.
FORM C
Rule 19(ii)
AGREEMENT
Parties. A GRANT made by the Governor of the Punjab
(hereinafter called Government ) of the one part to ______________son of
_____________resident of _____________tahsil_________________in the District of
the Punjab (hereinafter called the grantee) or the other part.
Recital In pursuance of letter No.
_________________dated the ___________from
The Deputy Secretary to Government, Punjab
Development Department to the address of the Commissioner,
____________division.
Whereas the grantee has offered to
purchase the Crown land vested in the
Governor of the
AND WHEREAS the grantee has paid to Government
at the time of the execution of this agreement the sum of______________________
rupees as first installment of the price of the land.
NOW THIS GRANT WITNESSETH as follows :-
1.
1. (a)
Area granted.
Government hereby grants to the grantee all that plot of land containing
_______________________Acres more or less and more particularly described in
Schedule “A” hereto and delineated in the plan and coloured with _________colour therein , attached hereto , subject to the
exceptions and reservations and on the terms and conditions hereinafter appearing.
(c) (c) (I) Purpose of the grant. The land is
granted for the purposes solely of agriculture .
(ii) The
grantee may take to himself all natural products growing on the surface of the land including trees and brushwood,
subject to the payments and conditions hereinafter mentioned.
(iii) The grantee shall pay to the
Government, within six months from the date of the allotment of the land, the
value of the trees and brushwood existing on the land at the commencement of
the grant as determined by the Government;
Provided that any tree not cut
before the determination of the grant and any
tree cut but still lying on the land when the grant is determined shall
be the property of the Crown and that one tree at least shall be left standing
in each acre of the land.
(iv)
(iv)
the grantee may construct such water –courses temporary buildings or similar
improvements as may be necessary for the purpose of cultivating the land.
(d) (d) Period of the grant. The
grant shall be deemed to have commenced on the ___________________and to have
concluded on the day the deed of conveyance
referred to in clause 4(e) is registered unless the grant is sooner
determined in accordance with the provisions hereinafter appearing.
(d)
(d) Price and interest. The price of the land shall be
_____________rupees . The first installment of price has already been paid and the balance of the price shall
be paid by the grantee to Government in ____________installments on the
_______________Day of _____________________in each year with interest on unpaid
balances at the rate of __________________per cent per annum , the second
installment or price and interest being payable on the of ______________ ;
provided , however that if any of the said installments are not paid on the due
dates then such installments shall bear
interest during the periods of such default at the rate of
__________________per cent per annum
instead of percent per annum. The last installment of price and interest shall
be paid on the ______________ .
(e)
(e) The grantee shall pay land revenue demand, or rent, for the
time being assessed on the land and all general taxes local taxes and cesses to
which revenue paying lands are liable.
Exceptions and reservations on behalf of
Government
2.(a) Mines and
Minerals.
Government does not grant but excepts and reserves to itself in full
proprietary right all mines minerals and quarries of whatever nature existing
on over or below the surface of thel and with liberty to search for, work and
remove the same, in as full and ample manner as if this grant had not been
made.
(b). Rivers ,
water-courses and roads. Government does not grant but excepts and reserves to itself all rivers and streams with their
beds and banks, all water –courses and drainage channels and all public
thoroughfares now existing on the land or shown as proposed for construction in
the plan annexed.
(c). Construction and
alteration of paths and water-courses. Government reserves the right:---
(j) To create a public right of way not
exceeding three karams in width across the land whenever this may be considered
desirable in the public interest by the Collector; and
(ii)
To
construct new water –courses on the land or to alter the direction of any water
course now existing on the land or to be constructed in future, whenever this
may be considered necessary by the Canal Officer in the interest of irrigation.
(e) Re-entry for the exercise and protection of the rights reserved. For the full discovery , enjoyment
and use of the rights hereby reserved or for the protection and maintenance of
any property hereby excluded, it shall be lawful for Government through its
authorized agents or for any officer of the Crown to enter upon the land and make such use thereof as may be necessary for these purposes without
making any compensation to the grantee
for such use and occupation except as may be provided hereunder.
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