X. officers. For other actual and immediate wants of the villagers, such as repair Revenue Survey of houses, &c., permission to be obtained from the mamlutdar or muhalkurree; and Assessment but for cutting any large number, or for any purpose of sale or profit, the per- under the Bombay mission of the collector or one of his assistants to be necessary, when any Presidency. conditions which may appear advisable can be imposed. 12th. In taking up waste for cultivation, a ryot must agree for a whole survey field at the full assessment, and no portion of a field is, on any account, to be given for this purpose, except in the case mentioned in the next rule; and, when two or more cultivators agree together to cultivate a waste field, it must be entered in the name of one of their number, who will be considered the holder, unless the assessment of the field amount to, or exceed, twenty rupees, in which case it may be entered in the names of two or more holders, on the condition that the assessment of the share of each shall in no case fall short of ten rupees. G. L. No. 5593 of *unarable. 13th. There are some survey fields, consisting in great part of* land covered G. L. No. 6900 of with dense jungle, or otherwise unsuited in their present state for cultivation, 1849, para. 6. upon which no assessment is placed in the survey registers. In the event of portions of such fields being brought under cultivation, rates of assessment should be fixed by the mamlutdar upon the acres under tillage, equivalent to those of similar soils in the same village. This rule applies to all fields in the survey registers on which rates of assessment have not been fixed. 14th. Unless special exceptions be made by the collector of valuable grass G. L. No. 5593 of lands, certain to realize rents in excess of the survey assessment, the grazing of 1848, para. 39. all waste Government and meeras land is annually to be sold by auction, field by field, at the commencement of the monsoon, a preference being given at the sale to the inhabitants of the village to which the land may belong. The bidding, however, for any waste field should not be allowed to go beyond its assessment in the survey register, and when it reaches this point, the field should be entered in the name of the last bidder, as other cultivated land held at the full assessment, and the person so taking it admitted to all the privileges of a holder of land under tillage. [23] 15th. The grass of fields especially excepted by the collector from the operation of the preceding rule, may be sold by auction to any one, for sums in excess G. L. No. 5593 of of the survey assessment. 1848, para. 39. 16th. The grazing of the unarable and other fields, not subjected to assess- G. L. No. 6900 of ment in the survey registers, should be sold by auction by the collector, as in the 1849, para. 13. preceding rule, a reasonable proportion being set aside for the free pasturage of such villages as have hitherto enjoyed this right. + Of unarable land, and other fields not subjected to assessment in the survey register, a reasonable proportion, with reference to the size of the village, should be set aside by the collector for the free pasturage of the village cattle, and the grazing of the remainder sold by auction, as in the last rule. 17th. In some villages, houses are attached to particular fields, and it has G. L. No. 5593 of been customary to oblige a ryot, throwing up one of these fields, to relinquish 1848, pura. 42. his house at the same time. This custom, however, is now abolished; and every cultivator is at liberty to throw up any field without his title to his house being at all affected thereby. This rule does not apply to the case of alienated lands. 18th. In the survey registers an assessment is placed on joodee and enam, G. L. No. 5593 of as well as Government fields, but the joodeedars and enamdars are not bound 1848, para. 42. thereby, and are at liberty to let out their lands on any terms they please. 19th. In event of enam land being confiscated, or temporarily attached, it is G. L. No. 5593 of to be let cut, while under Government management, at the survey assessment, or 1848, para. 42. sold by auction, if waste, exactly as Government land. This rule does not apply to the year in which the attachment is effected, for which the existing agree ments made with the enamdar should be allowed to stand. 20th. Cultivators wishing to relinquish fields must give in a written applica- G. L. No. 6900 of tion to that effect before the 1st of May, and with the view of ensuring this being 1849, para. 9. done, the village officers are to assemble all the holders of Government land on the 30th of April in each year, and having explained to them that it is the last day on which resignations will be received, to the village officers before the end of April in each year, when the latter are, without delay, to transmit the same, together with the parties concerned, to the mamlutdar or muhalkurree, who, after inquiry, is to ratify the application, and transmit an order to that effect to the village officers, when the latter are to make the necessary entries in the village accounts. When waste fields are wanted for cultivation, a written application to that effect is to be made to the village officers, who are to forward it with the applicants to the mamlutdar or muhalkurree, who, on being satisfied that there is no objection to giving them the land applied for, is to accept their agreements, and transmit an order to that effect to the village officers. But the latter are not, under pain of punishment, to accept either resignations of fields or engagements for waste, without referring them in the first instance to the district officer, and receiving his orders thereon. the coolcurnee shall then and there write out, in a prescribe form, which must specify the number, acres and assessment of every field to be relinquished, the "Razeenamas" (or petitions to resign) for any parties requiring them. These petitions should be signed or authenticated in the presence of one or more witnesses by the parties making them, and countersigned by the patel and coolcurnee, who should forward them without delay to the mamlutdar or muhalkurree, by whom they are to be attested and returned to the village officers, as vouchers for any alteration made in the village accounts of the following year. When waste fields are wanted for cultivation, written applications must, in like manner, be taken from the applicants, countersigned by the village officers, and forwarded by them to the mamlutdar or muhal[24] kurree, by whom they are to be attested and returned, and all these resignations of cultivated and applications for waste fields are to be produced at each jummabundee settlement for examination. But village officers, under pain of punishment, are not to make any alterations in the cultivation registers, except upon the authority of the vouchers mentioned above, or in obedience to written instructions from the mamlutdar or muhalkurree. G. L. No. 6900 of 1849, para. 10. G. L. No. 5593 of 1848, para. 46. G. L. No. 5593 of 1848, para. 46. 21st. The revenue should be collected by fixed instalments, without reference to the proportion of early or late crops grown in any one year; and, consequently, no field inspection for the purpose of obtaining such information should be made. In districts where early crops prevail, we recommend the collections to be made in four equal instalments, falling due on 15th December, 1st February, 15th March, and 1st May; and where the early and late crops are nearly equal, or the latter predominate, we also recommend four equal instalments, but respectively falling due a month later, viz., on 15th January, 1st March, 15th April, and 1st June.* 22d. The field boundary marks erected at the survey should be preserved with the greatest care, and when injured, timely repairs must be made by the cultivators in the case of cultivated lands, and by hired labourers in the case of waste, the expense of the latter being defrayed from a sum of 100 rupees, to be deducted for the purpose from the proceeds of the grazing farms of each talook, as sanctioned by Government. This amount should therefore be placed in deposit each year, and the order of the collector obtained for its expenditure, as above explained, wherever necessary. The intervening strips, connecting the boundary marks of a breadth corresponding with the latter, are constituted the boundary of the field, and forbidden to be ploughed over or otherwise injured; and in the case of dry crop land, before preparing any field for sowing, these strips are to be distinctly marked off each year, by the holder running his plough along the boundary. In event of this order being neglected, and this space ploughed up or sown, the cultivator is to be made to connect the two contiguous marks, between which the boundary had been disregarded, by a continuous ridge of earth, one foot and a half in height; and should he fail to do so within a certain number of days, the village officers are to report the circumstance to the mamlutdar, who is to apply to the collector for a notice to be served on the holder of the field, according to the provisions of Act III. of 1846; and if this be disregarded, the boundary is to be put up by hired labourers, and the amount recovered from him, as therein provided. 23d. Independent of the precautions specified in the preceding ruie, a regular inspection of fields, for the purpose of ascertaining the state of the boundary marks, and that none of the fields entered in the accounts as waste are surreptitiously cultivated, is to be made in each village, as soon as practicable, after the 1st of November in each year. The results of this inspection are to be entered in a field register, prepared according to the form hereunto annexed. Before, "Government is in favour of Rule 21 standing as originally proposed, but will not object to the collectors being informed, with reference to this rule, that if they consider necessary any alteration in the 'kists' therein laid down, they are forthwith to state in detail their reasons for so thinking, in a letter to you (Revenue Commissioner), which you will be pleased to forward to Government. The collectors may be informed in a foot-note to English version."-G. L. No. 6900 of 1849, para. 10. Before, however, commencing the work of inspection, the carkoon nominated for the duty should summon the villagers to the chowree, when he should read out and explain to them the Government Proclamation regarding the preservation of their boundary marks, of which a copy is subjoined. He should make the inspection in company with the village officers, and take care that the owners and occupants of the fields visited be also present. He should point out to them any repairs required to their boundary marks, and order that they be completed within a certain number of days. In event of any of the strips of boundary between the marks having been ploughed over, or otherwise encroached upon, the inspector should require the party who may have done so to connect the two adjoining marks, between which the boundary has been violated, by a continuous mound of earth, one cubit in height, as a punishment for the encroachment, and make a note to that effect in a separate memorandum, to be kept in addition to the register, for the purpose of recording any remarks not admissible there. When every field has been thus inspected, and the state of its boundary marks entered in the register, a second examination, after the lapse of a sufficient time to allow of the repairs to the marks being completed, should be made of every field entered at the first inspection as requiring repairs. And, should any of these still remain to be made, the party to whose neglect this may be attributed should be required, in addition to repairing the marks, as originally directed, to connect each incomplete mark with the one adjoining it by a continuous ridge of earth, one cubit in height; and these particulars, with the name of the individual, should be noted in the separate memorandum above alluded to. A notice to this effect should then be served on him, in compliance with the provisions of Act III. of 1846, and, in event of his failing to complete the boundary marks within the specified period, the village officers are to do so by means of hired labourers, and the expense incurred on this account is to be recovered from him, as provided in the said Act. The correctness of the entries regarding boundary marks in the inspection register should be tested in every village by the mamlutdar, muhalkurree, or some confidential member of their establishments, and the results of this re-examination entered in the column of the inspection register appropriated for the purpose. [25] FORM OF PROCLAMATION. THE Honourable the Governor of Bombay in Council hereby gives notice to all proprietors, holders, and occupants of land in the surveyed districts of this Presidency, that they are to preserve with the utmost care, and repair from time to time, as may be necessary, the boundary marks which define the limits of their several fields, as fixed at the survey; and with a view to securing this, they are hereby directed, before preparing any dry crop field for sowing, to cause a plough to be run round the boundary, leaving an untouched strip, of three cubits in breadth, to connect each boundary mark, which strip is to be carefully preserved as the boundary of the field. An annual inspection of boundary marks will also be made, in the presence of the village officers and ryots, who are required immediately to repair any of the boundary marks which may be pointed out to them by the inspector as defective. A second examination, embracing those fields of which the boundaries were found incomplete, will follow after a reasonable interval, and should it then be found that the owner, holder, or occupant of any field has neglected to make the necessary repairs, he will be required, by way of penalty, not only to make the repairs originally directed, but, in addition, to connect each defective mark with the next adjoining by a continuous ridge of earth, one cubit in height, and a notice to this effect will be served on him according to the provisions of Act III. of 1846; and in event of his failing to comply with this, the specified boundary marks and connecting ridges will be completed by means of hired labour, and the expense recovered from him as provided in the said Act. Any wilful injury done to any boundary mark is a criminal offence, and punishable by fine to the extent of 50 rupees, under the same enactment. [26] X. Revenue Survey and Assessment FORM OF EXAMINATION. under the Bombay REGISTER of Field Boundary Marks in the Village of Presidency. Zilla in 18. Government Entries correct. G. L. No. 5593 of 1848, para. 46. 24th. From the inspection registers described in the preceding rule, the mamlutdar of each talook should prepare and forward to the collector on the 1st of May in each year, a general abstract (according to the form given in the opposite page) of the state of the boundary marks in each village of his charge, at the different inspections; the repairs subsequently made, and those still requiring to be so, at the date of his return. Under ordinary circumstances, there cught to be no mark unrepaired at this date; but in event of there being any, the mamlutdar should be held responsible for the delay, if unable to assign satisfactory reasons for it. On receipt of this return, the collector should immediately take measures for the completion of the repairs still to be made; or, if unable to do so, to report the circumstance for the instructions of Government. 85. In addition to the objects provided for in these rules, it would be most desirable to introduce a simple and uniform system of accounts throughout the surveyed districts, by which the disadvantages now attendant on the removal of European and Native officers from one collectorate to another would in a great measure be obviated, as the same system of management would then obtain in all. In order to do this effectually, however, it would be necessary to review the whole existing system, and frame the detailed accounts of villages, districts, and collectorates, with reference to the information required by the Presidency and Home authorities; but, with our limited time and opportunities, it would be hopeless to attempt an undertaking of such magnitude, and all that we can do is to suggest it for consideration. 86. The subject of remissions has been purposely excluded from the preceding rules as we consider that all abatement of the established assessment should be [28] regarded as exceptional to the ordinary management of surveyed districts, and ought not to be made unless for special and urgent considerations, which cannot be provided for by general rules. The opinions of the revenue commissioner, the collectors, and superintendents of survey, have lately been elicited on this important question, which is now, we understand, before Government, and under these circumstances we think it unnecessary to offer any further suggestions in regard to it. 87. In concluding our report, we have only further to remark, that the preceding or any other rules for the administration of the survey settlements cannot be expected to be fully carried out, unless the principles on which the survey and assessment have been based be thoroughly understood by the European local authorities; and, on this account, we have to suggest that, in the event of the views contained in the present communication, or any modifications of them, being approved of by Government, copies of the whole correspondence be furnished to every collector and assistant collector employed in any part of the country to which the survey operations have extended. GENERAL INSPECTION RETURN of the State of the Boundary Marks of the under-mentioned Villages of the Talook of in the Collectorate of for the year ending 30th April 18 From E. H. Townsend, Esquire, Revenue Commissioner, Southern Division, to Poona, Revenue Commissioner's Office, Sir, [29] joint report from the three superintendents, dated 2d ultimo, on the practice and Received on the objects of their respective surveys. This report is preceded by an index, which 24th August. divides its contents into the following 11 heads : 1st. Introductory remarks. 2d. Objects of a revenue survey. 3d. Division into fields. 4th. Field boundaries. 5th. Village boundaries. 6th. Measuring and maps. 7th. Classification. 8th. Rates of assessment. 9th. General observations. 10th. Rules for the survey. 11th. Rules for revenue officers. : 2. The 1st and 2d heads of this report extend as far as the 10th paragraph, in which the objects of a revenue survey are clearly and ably set forth. No comments of mine would tend to elucidate the subject, of which a full statement is already before Government in the joint report of Messrs. Goldsmid and Wingate, dated 27th October 1840. 3. The next subject is a very important one; viz., the manner of dividing the Fields. land into fields. The principle expressed on this subject (para. 16), that "it is Paras. 11-21. of much importance that the existing state of things in any village should be as little interfered with as conveniently practicable," should, I conceive, never be lost sight of, and for this end many apparent incongruities, both of size and shape, now existing should be tolerated, a measure which will greatly increase the popularity of the survey. This subject is noticed in paras. 5 and 6 of the Government letter of 6th January 1845, No. 72. In the remaining rules and opinions of the report on this subject, I beg to state my entire concurrence. The vast importance of preserving the field boundaries set up by the survey is Boundaries. 999. well Para. 21. Ꭱ Ꭱ 4 |