AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

TENURES

The land tenure system underwent many changes With the passage of time. The following account from the old Gazetteer is reproduced here in order to get an idea of the system of land tenure that prevailed in the past:

Kinds of tenure : All over Berar the ryotwari tenure which prevails in Khalsa villages is the most common, but there are also a few jagir, izara, palampat, and inam villages (or fields in the last case); Akola District has mam fields but no inam villages; it contains however the Kamargaon estate held on a tenure different from any other in the Province. The following table gives the number of villages held by each form of tenure:

Jagir tenure : The District contains 56 jagir (Marathi jahagir) villages; their total assessment is Rs. 77,405, of which Government receives Rs. 16,232 and the jagirdars get Rs. 61,173. A jagirdar holds a whole village, sometimes making no payment whatever to Government, sometimes paying a fixed quit-rent, and sometimes a certain proportion (generally 40, 50, or 60 per cent.) of the ordinary assessment. The original survey of jagir village is never revised except either at the request and cost of the jagirdar or for special reasons; the quit-rent or the proportion of revenue payable is also fixed permanently. The nominal assessment of all jagir villages is however revised every 30 years along with that of khalsa villages; the object is to fix the amount of cesses payable in jagirs held free or on a quit-rent and that of land revenue in the others. The jagirdar makes whatever arrangements he likes with his tenants, except that certain land in the possession of individual cultivators at the time the jagir was given has sometime remained khalsa from the beginning. A jagir could apparently only be created by the sovereign power; thus almost all the jagirs in Berar were given by either the Delhi Emperor or the Nizam; the Bhonslas gave none. Jagirs seem at first to have been given only for military service and for the maintenance of order in special neighbourhoods. They were given for life but might be continued from father to son; in a few cases they became practically hereditary, but even then carried an obligation of service and were theoretically liable to be resumed. The system gradually broke down, partly because the jagirdar often ceased to maintain any real force and partly because the Marathas took 60 per cent of all revenue assigned to jagirdars within the areas under their control; in 1853 such purely military jagirs as remained were surrendered to Government. In course of time, however, other jagirs than purely military grants had been made. Revenues were assigned to civil officers for the maintenance of due state and dignity or were acquired by court influence without any substantial reason. They were not originally hereditary, but the grant was in fact sometimes continued to the heirs of the first holder; in this way many jagirs became practically hereditary without any condition remaining attached to them. These were all confirmed by the British Government. Some jagirs were also given to pious or venerable persons, saiyids, fakirs, pirzadas, and others, and were made hereditary sanads or patents; these also were confirmed. In fact the great majority of jagirs in the District are grants of no very great value for the support of temples and tombs. The organisation of jagir villages has been assimilated to that of khalsa villages but, provided the work is properly done, appointments are made by the jagirdar instead of Government.

Izara tenure : Izara villages number 20, all in Mangrul taluka; their total assessment is Rs. 12,582 of which Government receives one half. They are held under the 'Waste Land Rules of 1865, these formed a system according to which whole villages were leased out to individuals at a low rental for a period of 30 years or less, at the end of which time the lessee was given the option, provided he had brought one-third of the land under cultivation, of keeping the whole village in perpetuity on payment of one half of a fair assessment. The object was to encourage cultivation, but in fact such liberal terms were unnecessary, the option of permanent possession was taken away in 1871. An izardar is for most purposes in almost exactly the same position as a jagirdar.

Palampat tenure : Kata, in Basim taluka, is the only palampat village in the District; its total assessment is Rs. 3,200, of which Government receives Rs. 1,645. This village was the subject of various interesting proceedings in which the holder repeatedly profited by long accidental delay and by mistranslation. The word palampat is said to mean a lease for protection or development. Kata was granted in 1837 by a lease signed by Raja. Chandulal upon a fixed payment; the purpose of populating the village was recorded. Under the British Government careful calculations were made of the holder's profits, which included dues on produce, oil-presses, and marriages; these dues were abolished and it was ordered that after certain allowances had been made for village expenses and other matters Government should receive 60 per cent and the palampatdar 40 per cent of the ordinary assessment.

Inam tenure : A large number of inam grants have been made in the District by different Governments; the holding usually consists of a very few fields and the purpose is generally to secure the maintenance of a temple or tomb. An inam is sometimes hold free of assessment and sometimes on the payment of a fraction of the ordinary assessment. Muhammad Burhan, Bench Magistrate of Karanja, holds inam lands assessed at Rs. 92 given some years ago in recognition of services rendered by a relative during the Mutiny. The inam lands of the District amount altogether to 21,000 acres with an assessment of Rs. 31,000; the inamdars get Rs. 26,000 of this and Government gets Rs. 5,000. Thus about 1 per cent of the eulturable land of the District has been given on inam ; more than one-third of the whole is in Akot taiuka. which has had an extraordinary number of well-known saints." [Central Provinces and Berar District Gazetteers, Akola District 1910, pp. 262 267.]

Existing Tenure: The ryotwari system is the most important land tenure system in the district. The matguzari system has been abolished by the land legislation during recent years. Under the ryotwari system the rates of land revenue are fixed in accordance with the quality of the survey number, average rainfall, kind of crops grown, water source etc. Among other tenures, only service inams remained in existence as these holdings were granted to the person for the particular service rendered to the Government or the community. The holders of such inams are village servants and artisans such as Nhavis, Kumbhars, Sutars etc.

In the old Madhya Pradesh, settlement was done on the basis of proprietary rights. In 1920, a new consolidating and amending Act was passed viz., the Central Provinces Tenancy Act. Under this Act, three classes of tenants were recognized, viz., (l) absolute occupancy tenants, (2) occupancy tenants, and (3) Subtenants. The first two categories enjoyed a fixity of tenure as well as rent. They were entitled to become malik-mahbuzas on payment of certain premium. Their rights were transferable and heritable. The sub-tenants, on the other hand were not given any special protection or rights. Until 1950, the tenancy laws in force in the Vidarbha area were intended only for the protection of tenants holding lands on lease in alienated areas.

The Madhva Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act. 1950, brought some radical changes in the land tenure system. The Act conferred on the tenants a right to become owner of land on payment of certain amount of rent The provision was later on repealed by the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1954, wherein the absolute occupancv tenants and other categories of tenants were recognised as bhumiswami of the lands held by them. After this Act came into force there were only two types of tenants in the district, viz.. (a) occupancy tenants, and (b) ordinary tenants. Under the Act, the occupancy tenants enjoyed special protection and rights including fixity of tenure and right to purchase the land. The ordinary tenants were left without any protection. Soon after the Reorganisation of States, need was felt for comprehensive legislation for securing the rights of tenants. Thus an ordinance viz., the Bombay Vidarbha Region Agricultural Tenants (Protection from Eviction and Amendment of Tenancy Laws) Ordinance, 1957, was promulgated in order to protect the interests of tenants.

Tenancy: Before 1958, the relations between the landlord and the tenants were governed by the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1954 and the Berar Regulation of Agricultural Leases Act, 1951. Under this Act the tenants were not entitled to purchase the land held by them as a lessee, nor had they the pre-emption right of purchasing the land held by them when the landlord intended to sell the land. But under the amended regulations, it was provided that the lessee could be declared as a protected tenant if the owner of leased land was not a woman and a disabled person. It was further provided that the landlord had no right to oust the tenant unless specific permission was obtained from the revenue officers.

The above Act was repealed and replaced by the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region) Act, 1958. By this Act, the tenancy rights are regulated and security of tenure is provided with reasonable payment of rent by the tenant. All the privileges of the protected tenants are also granted to the ordinary tenants. Widows, minors, disabled persons and public trusts are granted protection under this Act. This new Act also contained provisions in respect of family holdings, ceiling on holdings, and compulsory purchase of land by the tenants subject to certain conditions. A landlord is also granted a right of resumption under certain conditions.

In pursuance of the "Land to the Tiller" policy, the Act provided for compulsory transfer of ownership rights of tenanted lands to the tenants from April 1961. This was an important step towards the removal of absentee landlordism which was one of the disincentives in any programme of agricultural improvement, Upto 1964., ownership rights were conferred upon 27,389 tenants in the district. By the end of June 1969, total number of protected tenants was 15,725 and the land held by them was 1,56,416-25 acres. The corresponding figures for ordinary tenants were 22,753 and 1,71,289 acres and 13 gunthas respectively, in the same year.

The following statement shows the position regarding the working of the Tenancy Act as on June 30, 1969.

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