AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

LAND REVENUE ADMINISTRATION

In historical times the district which was under the Gonds first passed under the Maratha rule and then under the British rule. These rules had their own systems of land revenue which they imposed upon the district. Under the Gonds, the system of land revenue was founded on what could be termed as a purely rayatwari basis. Without actually asserting a definite title in the ownership of the soil, the State claimed a right to share in its produce, and possessed a fairly elaborate organisation for the realisation of its dues. The whole of the khalsa area of the district was then subdivided into Killas consisting of a varying number of villages, each killa being under a killedar or a diwan, assisted by an establishment, the chief officers of which were the Deshmukh, Deshpande and Sir Mukaddam who held an intermediate position between the killedar and the village officials.

Later, when the Marathas took over, they removed these intermediate officials, retaining only the general manager, who was then called kamaishdar and whose charge was styled a pargana, the keeper of the government accounts, afterwards called phad-navis, and the warar pandia or recorder of the village accounts. Of the village officials, the patel was the most important. He served as an agent of Government for apportioning and collecting the revenue as assessed on his village and was absolutely responsible for its payment. He also possessed a subordinate and rather undefined judicial authority. As a remuneration for this agency and responsibility, the patel received rent-free land or money usually equivalent nominally to one-fourth of the Government demand, but actually amounting to not more than one-sixth of that demand when various customary deductions had been made. The office was neither saleable nor hereditary, although in actual practice it very commonly passed from father to son. The patel was assisted by a pandia, or village accountant and a kotwal.

All village lands were held on a yearly lease, granted to the cultivators by the patel. No cultivator was entitled to hold the same fields in perpetuity, nor was it the practice to grant leases for more than one year.

Under the British, between 1818 and 1830 the levy of bargans was abolished. Settlements were made at first for two, then for three, and lastly for five years. At the three years settlement, a system of progressive assessment known as the tahut bandobast was very generally introduced into the Brahmapuri and Chimur parganas. Preference was given to existing patels, provided that they offered a reasonably high rate for their villages. An important change was effected in the position of the lagwan, which now became the basis for the assessment instead of being, as heretofore, a mere record of the distribution of the aggregate village assessment. The change was fatal to the trustworthiness of the lagwan, since patels had now an object in understating the rents.

In 1853, an end was put to the previous revenue systems by the lapse of the Nagpur kingdom to the British government. In 1862-63, the first regular settlement was started and was completed in 1868-69. The conferment of the proprietary status upon the patels was the remarkable feature of the first settlement.

But these patels had fallen into the habit of making illicit gains out of their rayats to supplement their legal allowance. In 1860, the then Government of India formally sanctioned the conferment of proprietary rights upon patels, by this time renamed malguzars,, a term borrowed from the North-West Provinces. The actual rental demand, except in the case of privileged tenants, was left to the discretion of the malguzars. However, the conferment of the occupancy status on tenants - at - will turned the tables on the malguzars. In addition to deciding the proprietary title to villages, the proprietary titles were awarded to plots. The following classes of holders were given proprietary rights in their plots in the khalsa: -

(1) In villages where the standing of the malguzars did not exceed 20 years, all rayats of 12 years occupancy and over who had held their plots longer than the malguzars had held the village;

(2) In villages where the standing of the malguzars exceeded 20 years, those rayats who had materially improved their plots and had held such plots longer than the malguzars had held the village:

(3) Relations of present malguzars or of former patels, who were holding rent free, or at favourable and fixed rates;

(4) Holders of privileged tenure plots; and

(5) Holders of resumed privileged tenure plots. Altogether 3,914 holdings with an area of 46587.110 hectares (107,706 acres) and a revenue demand of Rs. 31,509 were thus awarded in proprietary right.

Besides these proprietary plots there were various other holdings in the khalsa. They were mukasa, nakta, and tukum. Of these mukasa grants were theoretically absolutely revenue free having been granted either in charity, or for the subsistence of relatives or retainers of the sovereign, or in reward for military, religious or other services. Makta grants were given at a fixed annual demand, in theory not liable to alteration, the grantee undertaking to improve cultivation or bring jungle under the plough. The tukum grant, one of the most ancient and admirable features of the Gond system, invested the builder of a tank with as much land as the tank could water, at a fixed demand which was in theory not open to enhancement. Under the Marathas. makta and tukum grants were attached upon the death of the holder, but were usually renewed on payment of heavy nazrana by the heir. Muleasa grants were usually allowed to pass to a successor without a fine.

The tenant classes were accorded high protection. Absolute occupancy rights were granted in the khalsa parganas to the rayats whose possession carried with it something of a hereditary character, who had expended such capital on their fields as to give them some special title, who were relations of present malguzars, or former patels, rayats of new villages who had held their fields since the villages were founded, or since their fields had been reclaimed from the jungle, who held there fields from a date antecedent to the proprietor's connection with the village as landlord, rayats cultivating land which had descended to them by inheritance, provided the hereditary possession had lasted not less than 20 years, and to the rayats of villages in which the malguzar was an absentee and had held under 20 years. About the tenants-at-will, they were promoted to the occupancy class.

The first settlement was thus for twenty years and expired in 1889. The revision settlement operations, therefore, were started in 1897 but this work had to be postponed till 1906 due to the famine conditions which prevailed between 1897 and 1906. This revision settlement was guaranteed for twenty years.

Because of its size (the district is still the largest one in the State) and diversity of natural conditions prevailing in it, the district at the time of second revision settlement was divided into two parts. The first such division consisted of Chandrapur, Warora and Brahmapuri tahsils to the west of Wainganga river and which contained malguzari and rayatwari villages. The second comprised Gadhchiroli and Sironcha tahsils to the east of the river. These tahsils as compared to those in the first division were very backward due to dense forests and scanty communications. In these tahsils the Zamindari system was followed in the main. This second revision settlement again guaranteed for another twenty years was introduced in 1920-21 and lasted till 1940-41.

Under the malguzari system, the malguzar was allowed to manage the village on payment of revenue to Government leaving about one-third of the gross rental as his remuneration. The proprietary rights were conferred on the revenue farmers, village patils and malguzars. Under the zamindari system on the other hand, the zamindars had full proprietary rights in their estates. These zamindars paid only quit rent to Government. They had also the right of dividing or alienating their lands.

All such proprietary rights, however, were abolished by the Madhya-Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Land) Act, 1950. The systems such as malguzari, zamindari and jagiri were replaced by the rayatwari land system. Various defects such as uncertainty and the oppressive nature of rents, insecurity and evictions of tenure, etc.; were also remedied. This was achieved by the Tenancy Act, 1948. There are thus two categories of tenure holders, (a) the bhumi swami and (b) the bhumi dhari. Both of them have to pay land revenue, can improve their land for the purpose of agriculture and divert agricultural land to other uses with the permission of the Deputy Commissioner. The only difference is that while the bhumi-swami has a full right of transfer of his land and has full rights over all trees in his land, the bhumi dhari cannot transfer his interest other than by way of mortgage and has a right to all trees other than timber trees. In addition there are Government lessees who are granted lease under Section 164 of Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code and hold land according to the condition of the lease granted. The following table gives information about the number of tenure holders of each of the above-mentioned categories, the area, etc., in all the tahsils of the district except Rajura tahsil (as the same formed a part of the Adilabad district of the former Hyderabad State and was transferred to Nanded in 1956 and then again to Chandrapur district in 1959, and is, therefore, governed in the present context by the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950.). The following table gives information regarding bhumi swami, bhumi dhari and Government lessees: -

TABLE No. 31

INFORMATION REGARDING KINDS OF TENURE HOLDERS, AREA AND ASSESSMENT, 1965.

Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region) Act,1958. There are no protected tenants in any of the above-mentioned  tahsils of the district. The total number of tenants as enlisted  under Section 7 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands  (Vidarbha Region) Act, 1958 are as follows:-

TABLE No. 32

TOTAL NUMBER OF ORDINARY AND OCCUPANCY TENANTS IN THE

DISTRICT, 1965.

The Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1958 has come into force in the district since 30th December 1958. The Act has regulated all the tenancy rights in the district. It provides security of tenure to, and payment of only reasonable rents by, the tenants. In fact, the intention in introducing this Act in his region was to bring the status and rights of. tenants as far as possible on par with those prevailing in other parts of the; State. Amendments to this act were introduced in the subsequent years, viz., 1959, 1960, 5 of 1961, 27 of 1961 and 2 of 1962. Of these the last two amendments were introduced with a view to safeguarding the interests of the tenants and to give a fair chance to small land-holders to resume land for personal cultivation. Similarly, a chance was given to the transferees to get their transfers which had been made because of the ignorance of the then existing provisions validated on payment of penalty, by introducing a new section, viz., 120-A. Later on, 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 1st, 1961. This day is since then known as the " tiller's day". The tenants created after the above-mentioned date and who were in possession of the tenanted lands on that date were made eligible for compulsory transfer of land in their favour.

The following figures indicate the progress of the administration of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region) Act, 1958 in the district.

TABLE No. 33

ADMINISTRATION OF THE TENANCY ACT IN CHANDRAPUR DISTRICT, 1965.

The Agricultural Lands Tribunals have started functioning in all the tahsils of the district since 1964-65. The progress of work of these tribunals under Sections 46 and 49-A of the Act is given in the following table: -

TABLE No. 34

WORKING OF THE AGRICULTURAL LANDS TRIBUNALS IN CHANDRAPUR

DISTRICT, 1965.

The information in respect of tenure holders in Rajura tahsil attached to this district where the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950 is in force, is given in the following statements. This Act came in force from 10th June 1950. During the subsequent period between 31st March 1951 and 26th January 1962, about fourteen Acts were enacted and were introduced in this tahsil.

*Figures in brackets indicate area in acres.

The total number of tenants in Rajura tahsil with their due classification is as under:

*Figures in brackets indicate area in acres.

The progress of work under the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950 in Rujura tahsil is as under: -

TABLE No. 35

ADMINISTRATION OF THE HYDERABAD TENANCY AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS ACT, 1950 IN RAJURA TAHSIL, 1965.

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