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CHAPTER V The Superior Revenue Officers of a district

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      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)   pass the departmental examinations in all subjects, including urdu and Punjabi;

(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)   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)  acquire a working knowledge of elementary revenue work, both as a revenue officer and as a revenue court; and

(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)   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)  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)   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)  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)   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.

 
CAUTION !                 Read separate para for Punjab and Haryana

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.    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.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.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)   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)  cultivation and irrigation- are they contracting of expanding? Is takavi freely taken for the construction of wells?

(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)  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)   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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.”

Hon'ble Revenue Minister

   


Special Chief Secretary, Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management

Sh.  K A P Sinha, IAS

What's New

Regarding the simplification of the language used during the registration of property (Model Sale Deed Format)
Regarding Appointment of Tehsildar candidates in Registrar B2 dated 12-09-2023
Regarding Fee Remit (PIDB, SIC etc.)
Rechecking Result of Departmental Examination of N-Tehsildar
Hon'ble CM Punjab launched e-services i.e. Grievance Redressal ,E-stamping and Digital Execution of Documents, Home Delivery of copy of Jamabandi (Fard), Online recording of Khasra Girdawari (e-Girdawari), Linkage of phone and email with Jamabandi
The Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Rules, 2021
Meeting regarding Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) - stands postponed
The Registration (Punjab Amendment) Act. 2020
The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act. 2020
Resumption of Registration Work, dated 06-05-2020
Regarding Additional Stamp Duty
Notification dated 30-01-2019_regarding amendment in Schedule I-A of Central Act 2 of 1899 : The Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Ordinance, 2019
Online Registration (NGDRS) is implemented in all Sub Registrar Offices of 22 Districts of State of Punjab