The Assam Gramdan (Amendment) Act, 1966

« The 2nd Ju ne 1966 N o.L JL .12/66/8 .—The following Act of the Assam Legis lative Assembly which received the assen t of the Gov ernor is hereby published for gen era l info rmation . ASSAM AC T X IX OF 1966 [R ec eive d th e ass en t o f th e G ov er no r on the 31 st M ay . l c 66] TH E ASSAM GRA MDAN (AME ND ME NT ) ACT, 7966 [Published in the Assam Gazette Ex traord ina ry, dated the 3rd Ju ne 1966] An Act fa rth er to am en d th e A ss am G ra m dan Act , 1961 Preamble. Whereas it is expedien t fur the r to amend the Assam Gramdan Act, 1961, hereinafte r called the j ^ ^ ci principal Ac t, in the manne r hereinafter app ear ing ; 0 A It is hereby enacted in the Seventeen th Yea r of the Rep ubl ic of India as follows :— ext ent and I* (^) This Act m ay be cailed the Assam Gra mdan commenc e- (Amendment) A ct, 1966. merit. (2) It shall hav e the like extent as the principa l Act. (3) It shall come into force at once. Insertion of 2. After Section 4 o f the p rincip al Ac t, the following hi^Assam A shall be inser ted as Section 4A, namely :— Act I of IN S . “ Persons who may join Gra mdan Coram uni ty wi tho ut do> ea tin g lan d. 4A. (1) Any ad ul t person residing in a village, who does not own any lan d in th at village, may file a dec lara tion in the pres cribed form and manner and before the pres cribed author ity, underta king ;— (i) to joi n the Gram dan Com mun ity of that village , and (ii) to make a per iod ica l con trib utio n of one-fort ieth of his net annual income or such other share as the Gram Sabh a for that village may fix, to be computed in such manner and to be paid with in such time as may be prescr ibed, for c ommunity purposes. (2) The prescribed authority shall, as soon as may be, alter the receipt of th e dec lara tion pub lish the same in prescribed ma nner together with a notice requir ing all peisons to submit the ir objection s, if any , in wr itin g to it within thi rty days of such pub lica tion . (3) Sub-sections (4), (5) and (6) of Section 4 shall apply to a dec lara tion filed under sub-section (1) of this Section in the same manne r as they app ly to a dec lara tion filed under sub-section (1) of Section 4. (4) The dec lara tion under sub-section (1) of this Section may be mad e by the persons referred to the rein either individually or collectively . (5) Where a dec lara tion is made under sub­ section (3) of Sect ion 5 th at a village is not qual ified to be a Gra mdan Village, then notwith­ sta nding anyth ing contained in sub-section (3) of this Sect ion, all dec laration made and confirmed under this Sect ion shall cease to have effect with effect from the date on which the dec lara tion under sub-section (3) of Section 5 is ma de ,” » 3 Aimnd- 3. In clause (a) of sub-sect ion ( l) of Section 5 m ;n t of Q f t j l c pr jn e ipa i Act, between the words “under Assam" Ac t Pr iv a t e ownersh ip” and “ in th at village” , the I of 1962, word} “o f the resid ents” shall be inse rted . Subst itution 4. For Section 16 of the principal Act, the of Scctron^lfi fo j |o w jn g ^3 11 he sub stit ute d, nam ely : — Act I of 1962. “ Powers and }6, (i ) Th e Gram Sabha shall manage the lands the^Gram a r e vested in it incl udin g such oth er lands Sabha. a s m a y c o m e under its manag ement and und erta ke activities for the welfa re of the village community and of the mem bers the reo f and do all other thin gs inc ide nta l ther eto . (2) In pa rtic ula r and wi tho ut prejudice to the genera lity of the foregoing pow er, the Gram Sab ha may ,— (a) take steps to inculcate and develop in the village com munity the spiri t of col lective • responsibility , mu tua l a id, a nd to promote the und erta king and par ticipat ion in co­ operative activi ties ; (b) take steps to pro mote mult i-sided and integrated development of the village com­ munity ; (c) arrang e for the ma inte nan ce o f des titu te children and old and infirm persons ; (d) prepare and implement schemes for the improve men t of agr icu lture in the village and the best util izat ion of lands in the village ; (e) set ap ar t lan d for com mun ity purposes ; (f ) prepare and imp lem ent schemes for the gene ral deve lopm ent of the village including promotion of small scale industries therein and the proper util izat ion of local resources and man-power ; (g) allot such lands as are ava ilab le for the purpose to landless persons ; 4 (h) prepar e and implement schemes for regional self-sufficiency in article s of food, clothing and oth er necessities of life and to that end secure the co-opera tion and the assistance of the Governm ent and oth er inst itut ions or agencies ; (i) promote conso lidat ion of holdings ; (j) gra nt loans to any member of the Gram Sabha, whe ther an allo ttee of land or not, for any purp ose whe ther a gricul tural or not ; fk) take measures for improvement of lands and rec lam atio n of waste lands and introduce improve d methods of cult ivat ion ; (1) promote the ind ust ria l develop men t of the village ; (m) faci lita te the elim inat ion on unemployment in the village ; (n) raise voluntary con tributio ns from the village for com mun ity purposes ; (o) ma int ain the accounts of the Gram Nid hi ; (p) pre pare and ma int ain village records in­ clud ing register giving deta ils of land holdings in the possession of persons und er the Gra m Sab ha ; (q) raise a village Peace Force or Shanti Dal for the mainte nance of pea ce in the village by peaceful means ; and (r) perform such othe r funct ions and duties and exercise such other powers as may , from time to time , be prescr ibed.” Substitu- 5_ p o r Section 23 of the p rinc ipal Act, the following don *23Se of ke substituted, namely :—• Assam Ac t I of 1932. “Allot- 23. (1) A G ram Sabha shall allot 95 per cen t of the Ia n ? n°d â n c ̂ donated by a don or to him for the purposes of conditiomi cul tiva tion , such land s being specified by the donor at thereof. the tim e o f donat ing his lan d. Ot he r lands vested in or coming under the manag ement of a Gra m Sab ha shall be allo tted to such oth er landless mem bers of the Gra m Sabha as th e Gra m Sabha thinks fit : Provided th at if any dono r himsel f is a landless pers on, the rem aini ng 5 per cent of the land donated by him shall also be allo tted to him for cul tiva ­ tion. e (2) Every allo tme nt of land made under sub­ section (1) shall be subject to the following cond itions, na mely;— (a) the allo ttee shall be liab le to pay ann ual ly to the G ram Sabha an am ount equal to the land reve­ nue, ren t, cesses, rat es and other taxes payable in respect of the land allo tted to him before such da te or dates as may be prescribed ; (b) the allo ttee shall con trib ute annuall y to the Gra m Sabha one-fort ieth of his net agr icu ltural income or such oth er share, qu an tity or pro por tion of his income as the Gram S abh a may determ ine ; (c) the allo ttee shall not allow the l and allo tted to him to rem ain unc ult iva ted for a per iod ex­ ceed ing two yea rs ; (d) the allo tment made to person shall be herita ble ; (e) the allo ttee may tran sfer his allo tme nt for con sidera tion either to the Gram Sabha or to any person jo ini ng the gramdan com munity of the village, or to the State Governm ent or a Co-opera­ tive Society to secure the paymen t of a loan con trac ted by him : Provided that no allot tee shall have any such power of tran sfer if the lands are not included in the lands donated by him , except with the previous permiss ion of the Gra m S abh a conc erned ; ( f ) th e allot tee mus t cult iva te the l and allot ted to him personally if the lan d allo tted to him is not included in the land donated by him , if any ; (g) except as otherwise provided in this Act, the allo ttee sha ll not be dis turbed from the posses­ sion of such lan d by the Gra m Sab ha witho ut his consent. (3) No thing con tained in this Section shall be deem ed to confe r on the allo ttee any r igh ts which the Gram Sab ha did not possess immediate ly before making the allo tme nt.