Disposal of surplus rural evacuee agricultural lands

12/10/1971

Punjab Government Department of Rehabilitation

To

All the Deputy Commissioner and All the Tehsildar (Sales) in the State.

No 2(505)/G-5/21761/Reh                              Dated Jalandhar 12/10/71

Sub:     Disposal of surplus rural evacuee agricultural lands.

Memorandum

            The revised policy of Government with regard to the disposal of surplus rural evacuee agricultural lands has been announced vide Press Note No(s) (1) and (2) dated October 1971 and copies thereof have been sent to you under endorsement No. 21202, dated October 7, 1971. Now the following instructions are issued as a supplement to these Press Notes and in clarification or amplification of the conditions etc. laid therein. These instructions shall supersede all previous instructions.

I.          Transfer of land to occupants :

1. The lands occupied by members of Scheduled Castes and Rai Sikhs from Rabi 1970 or earlier shall be transferred to them on prescribed rates subject to a ceiling of 5 standard acres or 10 ordinary acres each inclusive of a transferee’s own holding, if any (Clause I of Press Note No. (1).
2. An “Eligible Occupant” shall be a person :
   
   1. Who is a member of a Scheduled Caste or is a Rai Sikh.
   2. Who has applied for the transfer of the land occupied by him on or before November 15, 1971 in pursuance of Press Note No. (2) and his application has reached the office of the Tehsildar (Sales) or Naib Tehsildar (Sales) by the said date and not after it, by post or otherwise.
   3. Who is head of his family.
   4. Who is in cultivating possession of the land claimed by him from Rabi 1970 and his cultivating possession is established to be continuous from the said crop, from the entries in the Khasra Girdawaris.
   5. Who is a legal heir(s) of an occupant who has died after Rabi 1970 and has made an application by November 15, 1971.
3. No minor shall be eligible for the transfer of the land.
4. A lady occupant, whose husband is alive, shall not be eligible for the transfer of the land.

Note:    The cases of widow occupants who are getting the land in their possession cultivated by their servants or other persons or the lady occupants whose husbands are disabled or incapacitated shall not be rejected by the Tehsildars (Sales) / Naib Tehsildars (Sales) but forwarded to Government for orders, through the Settlement Officer concerned, who shall make his recommendations after carefully scrutinizing each case and satisfying himself of the correct position and circumstances.

1. “Cultivating possession” shall be determined strictly on the basis of the entries in the “Khasra Girdawari”. The cases of doubtful, tampered with and corrected entries shall ordinarily be ignored. Where, however, it is considered that tampering with of an entry has been done to jeopardize the interest of an otherwise eligible occupant, the Tehsildar (Sales)/ Naib Tehsildar (S) may refer the case to the Settlement Officer concerned, who may obtain orders from Government, after holding such enquiry was deemed necessary. Similarly cases of genuine corrections may also be referred to the Settlement Officer concerned for Government orders.
2. A “head of the family” should be living separately from his parents, may be in one and the same house, and should be paying Chuhla Tax and Chowkidara.
3. An occupant’s “own holding” shall include the land owned by him, his wife and his dependant children, but shall not include his own, his wife’s or his dependent children share in the holding of his living father or relation to which any one of them may be entitled to succeed, after the death of the former, as his/her legal heir or reversioner.
   
   1. In certain cases the occupants of surplus evacuee lands may have purchased Nazool or inferior evacuee agricultural land, from the Revenue Department or any other authority on installment basis, this land, even if not paid fully, shall form part of his hold.
   2. In the case of (ii) (e) above, the legal heir’s or heirs’ “holding” shall have the same meaning as that of occupant’s holding. This holding shall be taken into account while determining his/their eligibility for the transfer of surplus evacuee land on the basis of possession of his/their deceased father or ancestor, provided that in the event of plurality of heirs of a deceased occupant, no individual heir shall be entitled to the transfer of surplus evacuee land exceeding his proportionate share in the land occupied by the deceased occupant.
   3. A part or whole of the holding, if transferred by an occupant, to anyone in any manner, on or after October 5, 1971, shall be deeded to be a part or whole, of his holding. But it shall not include the part or whole of his holding which he may have to part with in pursuance of a decree of Civil Court, passed against him in a pre-emption suit for title to land etc. between October 5,1971 and the date on which his application is disposed of by a Tehsildar (Sales) or a Naib Tehsildar (Sales).
4. A Scheduled Caste occupant shall be liable to pay the price of the land @ Rs. 500/- per standard acre in 5 annual equated installments with interest at 7% per annum; the first installment payable at the time of transfer, while a Rai Sikh occupant shall pay the price @ Rs. 1000/- per standard acre; one fourth of which will be payable at the time of transfer and the balance three fourths within 30 days from the date of approval of the transfer.
5. The occupant shall also be liable to make payment in lump sum of arrears on account of rent/lease money of the lands under their unauthorized occupation, alongwith the first installment payable at the time of transfer :

Note:    These arrears shall be paid to the Tehsildar (Mahal) concerned and a clearance certificate produced by an applicant at the time of the processing of his application by the Tehsildar (S) or Naib Tehsildar (Sales).

1. In the event of a default on the part of a transferee, in the payment of any installment/balance money in time, the land transferred to him will be resumed and the amount paid by him forfeited.
2. All applications received in a Sale Unit, shall be entered date wise daily in a separate register as was done last time. The official concerned will give on the top of each application, its receipt number and the date on which received, while shall be initiated by the Tehsildar (Sales) or Naib Tehsildar (Sales). At the end of each working day or on the morning of the next working day the applications duly receipted will be sorted out tehsil-wise and passed on to the Kanungo (Sales) concerned, on receipt of which he will make the preliminary scrutiny so as to determine.
   
   1. Whether or not an applicant is a Harijan, a Rai Sikh; and
   2. Whether or not all documents as prescribed in para 2 of Press Note No. (2) have been appended.

The applications received from non eligible persons shall be kept in a separate folder and entered in a register while the applications received from the eligible categories shall be sorted out village wise and entered in a register to be maintained in order of “Had Bast” number of the village by the Kanungo (Sales) concerned. While making changes in the village wise register, the receipt number of the application should also be mentioned, in the column immediately following column No. 1 (Serial No.). In the remarks column the Capital letters ‘H&R’ should be entered in red pencil, to denote that the applicant is a Harijan or Rai Sikh.

An incomplete application shall be marked as such with red pencil and a Robkar issued to the applicant by the Kanungo (Sales) concerned asked him to complete the same within a week. After the commissions have been supplied, the work incomplete should be struck off. In the event of the failure of an applicant to complete his application in response to the above Robkar, he should be directed to supply the missing documents or details at the time of the processing of his application by the Tehsildar (Sales) or the Naib Tehsildar (Sales).

On November 15, 1971, after office hours and after all applications received by that date have been entered in the main register or the Tehsildar (Sales)/ Naib Tehsildar (Sales) shall record a certificate indicating the total number of applications received.

1. These applications shall be processed and disposed of by the Tehsildar (Sales) or the Naib Tehsildar (Sales) in the villages, in which the land claimed are situate. If the number of applications pertaining to a village is small, then it will be permissible to dispose of the same in a centrally located village in the area, where the Patwaris of the villages, with the original revenue records, Sarpanchs and Lamberdars of the village and member of Gram Panchayats, preferably Harijan members, if any, should be present. After verification of the facts stated by an applicant and comparison of the Khasra Girdawari tendered by the latter with the original “Girdawaris”, the Tehsildar (Sales) or the Naib Tahsildar (Sales) if satisfied of his eligibility, will record a brief formal order, allowing the transfer of the land to the extent admissible. The officer passing the order should invariably certify :
   
   1. That he has compared the copy of the Khasra Girdawari tendered by an applicant or placed on the file, with the original one and has found it correct or otherwise;
   2. That the applicant and his dependents own_________ standard acres of land in villagd_____ Tehsil_____ Distt. ______ and is, therefore, entitled to the transfer of ______ standard acres of land; and
   3. That the applicant is a member of a Scheduled Caste/Rai Sikh and is head of his family.
2. Each file shall then be submitted to the Settlement Officer concerned for checking and approval of the transfer, after the expiry of fifteen days.

II.         Sale of land in restricted auctions :

1. Land under unauthorized occupation, which is not transferable on the basis of possession, as also the Banjar and Ghair Mumkin lands excluding the lands :
   
   1. Required for allotment to unsatisfied claimants;
   2. already reserved for allotment to disabled soldiers, widows, parents, children etc. of the soldiers killed in Chinese and Pakistan aggressions.
   3. Earmarked for transfer to the Forest Department for afforestation (Approximately 26, 570 ordinary acres).
   4. Required for public purposes; and
   5. Falling under the excepted categories.

Shall be disposed of by auctions restricted to the members of Scheduled Castes.

1. These auctions shall be held under the provisions of Rule 90, of the Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Rules of 1955. Therefore, unless specifically provided hereinafter these provisions shall be complied with, particularly with regard to conduct and publication of the sales, their confirmation, filing of objections etc.
2. The restricted auctions shall be held on the terms and conditions laid down at No. II(i) to (x) of the Press Note No.(1).
3. An intending Scheduled Caste bidder shall, at the start of auction, produce the following documents :
   
   1. A Scheduled Caste Certificate from either of these authorities viz. District Magistrate, Sub Divisional Magistrate, MLA, MP, Chairman of the Zila Parishad or Panchayat Samiti.
   2. A certificate from the Lambardar of the village, Sarpanch, or Chairman of the Block Samiti or Zila Parishad, that he is a tiller, tenant, sepi or sanjhi or agricultural labourer depending upon agriculture and knows ploughing well enough;
   3. An affidavit duly attested by a competent authority, deposing the area of his own holding, with its kind of soil, Khasra No.(s) and the Village/ Tehsil/ District in which located, accompanied by excerpts of Jamabandis.
4. A Scheduled Caste MP and MLA shall not be required to produce the aforesaid certificates. A statement by him on oath before the auctioning officer shall suffice. But he shall be required to produce excerpts of Jamabandis in support of his holding, if any;
5. Own Holding of an intending bidder, shall be the same as defined in Sub para (vii) of Para I above.
6. If any of the documents tendered by a successful auction purchaser or the statement made by him on oath is found to be false subsequently, then not only the sale made in his favour shall be liable to be cancelled and the amount if any, paid by him, forfeited, but he may also be prosecuted.
7. Clause (ix) of the Press Note No. (1) should invariably be announced while doing Mushtari Munadi in the villages so that the Rai Sikhs, if any settled there, should also know that in the event, the highest bid tendered by a Harijan auction purchaser, remains below the reserve price, they could also participate in the auction. It will then enable an auctioning officer, to complete the auction of this particular lot of land, on the same day, if, however the said lot has to be sold in open auction, then it shall be necessary to hold it on some other date.
8. The sale shall be conducted, as far as possible on the spot, otherwise at a public place in the village.
9. Before starting the auction, the intending purchasers should be advised to see the land being put to sale.
10. As heretofore, the presence of Sarpanch, members of Gram Panchayats, Lambardars and other prominent persons of the village as also the approximate number of persons attending the sale, shall be recorded before conducting a sale.
11. Before conducting a sale, ‘Lots’ of land shall be formed by the auctioning officer, after consulting ‘Shajra Parcha’. Such lots of irrigated land, shall be 3 to 4 ordinary acres each and that of Banjar and Ghairmumkin land, between 5 and 6 acres each.
12. The land which was un-irrigated, but has become irrigated as a result of the provision of sources or irrigation by the occupants, if any, at their expenses, shall not be treated as irrigated. If, however, some irrigational facilities have, in the meantime, been provided at Government cost, and the land is commanded by the same; then it shall be treated as irrigated. In the former case, the kind of soil as it obtained immediately before the provisions of irrigational facilities by the occupants, shall be taken for conversion into standard acres. In the latter case, the kind of soil as entered in the latest Khasra Girdawari be taken.
13. While forming lots, special attention be paid to position of existing paths, watercourses, etc. It is not intended that an auctioning officer, should provide a path to a particular lot situate away from the path already provided during consolidation.
14. In the case of the ‘Chahi’ lands, the share thereof, in the evacuee well shall be mentioned on the Fard lot to be prepared in each case.
15. Immediately at the fall of the hammer and before the sale of the next lot, the auctioning officer shall scrutinize the entitlement of the successful bidder to purchase surplus evacuee land vis-à-vis the documents tendered by him or the statement made by him on oath.
16. If as a result of the scrutiny, it is established that an auction purchaser has purchased more land than admissible, then excess area out of the lot should be sliced, in such a way that it can be resold alongwith the nest contiguous lot of land.
17. The price of the sliced land shall be deducted proportionately from the price of lot sold and the earnest money recovered accordingly.
18. After an area has been sliced, it shall be resold alongwith next lot by replotting of the area available for sale, as far as practicable. Otherwise, it shall be sold as an independent unit, in restricted auction, if the area is above 2 ordinary acres, or in open auction, if the area is 2 acres or less.
19. The confirmation of the sale shall be subject to the provisions of Rule 90 of the Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Rules of 1955. After a sale has been confirmed by a competent authority, a warrant of possession shall be issued to the successful auction purchaser provided that in case of a Rai Sikh or other non-Harijan auction purchaser, such warrant of possession shall be issued only after the payment of balance price in full.

III.       Allotment of land to disabled soldiers :

No change in the instructions already issued in this connection is contemplated. Therefore, all pending and fresh applications should be disposed of in accordance with the instructions already laid down, before October 31, 1971.

As already laid down in para 2 (iii) of the Press Note dated June 16, 1971, circulated Vide No. 2(408)12541/G-5, dated June 16, 1971, the applications which fail to win the draw in the Lottery to be held by the Deputy Commissioners concerned in pursuance of para 2(ii) ibid, should be sent to the Deputy Secretary (Reh) per special messenger by November 3, 1971, before 10.00 AM positively. The Tehsildar (Sales) / Naib Tehsildar of the districts in which the reserved area could not be utilized in full, shall also submit per special messenger, the details thereof to the Deputy Secretary (Rehabilitation) by the said date.

IV.       Sale of lands falling under the Excepted Categories :

These sales have to be done strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Act of 1954, read with the rules framed thereunder. Therefore, no further instructions in respect thereof are called for.

V.        Allotment of land to unsatisfied claimants :

All pending cases of allotment of land to unsatisfied claimants should be disposed of by November 14, 1971 without fail.  

2.         A weekly progress report with refer to the disposal of land by way of allotment to unsatisfied claimants, allotment to disabled soldiers etc. transfer to the occupants and by auctions restricted and open separately, should be submitted to the Additional Settlement Officer concerned in the enclosed form. The Additional Settlement Officer (Sales) will compile the same and submit a consolidated statement for the information of Govt. This report should be dispatched on every Friday without fail.        

3.         The requirements of additional staff to be provided from November 15, 1971 are being worked out separately. In the meanwhile, the services of the Kanungo (Sales) and Patwaris on the Urban side should be fully utilised.       

4.         It is impressed upon all concerned that the entire work is time bound, and has to be completed strictly on schedule. Therefore, there should be no laxity on the part of any official concerned anywhere.      

Deputy Secretary Revenue (I)

            Revenue Deptt.

Endst.No 2(505)/G-5/21762/G-5                                 Dated Jalandhar  12/10/71

            A copy is forwarded for information and necessary action to :

1.         All Deputy Commissioners in the State;

2.         All Sub Divisional Officers (Civil) and

3.         All Tehsildars (Mahal) in the State.

For Deputy Commissioners :

            Their attention is invited particularly to para 2(iii). It is requested that where necessary, lots (for allotment of land to disabled soldiers etc.) shall be drawn before October 31, 1971 without fail. The Tehsildars (Sales) / Naib Tehsildars (S) has already been directed to see them in this connection.

Deputy Secretary Revenue (I)

Revenue Deptt.

PROGRESS REPORT REGARDING DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS RURAL EVACUEE AGRICULTURAL LANDS

Sale  Unit:                                                                     Week Ending:

• SN
• Items of disposal    
• No. of cases /applications pending as on 15/10/71
• No. of cases /applications disposed of during the period under report    
• Area in Std. & Ordinary Acres allotted / trans-ferred /sold    
• Price fetched in respect of items 2 to 5    
• Progressive total of cases/ appli-  cations disposed of.    
• Progressive total of the price fetched.    
• No. of cases / applications pending.    
• Remarks

Allotment to unsatisfied

claimants.

Allotment to

disabled soldiers

widows of

Soldiers etc.

Transfer to

Harijans &

 Rai Sikhs.

Restricted

auctions.

Open auctions.

Total:

Tehsildar/Naib Tehsildar (Sales)