LexThe Assam Farmers (Group Irrigation) Act, 1978
Assam · state statute
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this actS K B f t S f <3 3^ The Assam Gazette - . ■ * - - . EX TR AO RD INAR Y sfrg -w 'ee era sra aP ra PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY * 126 .<io, 12 5 1, crcw v’ 1978, 10 v o T tf , 1900 D is p ur, F r i la y , 1 st S e p te m b e r , 19 73 . 10 th B h a d r a , 1S0 0 (S. E.) GO VE RN MEN T OF ASSAM OR DE RS BY TH E GO VE RN OR LEG ISLATI VE DE PA RT MEN T NO TIF ICA TIO N Th e 31st August 1978 No.LGL.335/75/188 .—The following Act of the Assam Legislative Assem bly which receiv ed the asse nt of the Pre sid ent is here by pub lish ed for gene ral info rma tion . 816 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SE?T. 1, 1978 ASSAM ACT X OF 1978 (R eceiv ed th e as sent of th e Pre side nt on 16th Au gust, 1978) TH E ASSAM FA RM ER S (GR OU P IR RIGA TION ) ACT, 197 8 Act to provide for creation of irrigation potentia l by the formation o f groups amongst farmers. WHE RE AS it is ex pe di en t to m ak e prov isi on fo r cr ea ting ir ri ga tion po te nt ia l th ro ug h utili sa tio n of su rfac e an d un de r- gr ou nd w at er by fo rm at io n of gr ou ps am on gs t fa rm er s to ob tain loan from Ba nk s . It is he re by en ac ted in th e T w en ty -n in th Yea r of th e Rep ub lic of In di a as fol low s :— 1- (1) Th is Ac t m ay be ca lle d th e As sam F ar- com me nce - m ers (G roup I rr ig at io n) Act, 1978. ment. (2) I t ex tend s to th e wh ole of Ass am. (3) It sh al l com e into force at once. Definition 2. In th is Act, un less th er e is an yt hi ng re pu gn an t in th e su bj ec t or co nt ex t,— (a) ''a gri cu lt ura l la nd” includ es la nd used or ca pa ble of be ing used fo r ra isin g of cro ps, gr as s or ga rd en prod uc e, ve ge t abl es, see d farm in g, pi sc icul tu re , ho rt i cu ltu re , gr ow in g of fr uits or ot he r sim ila r pu rp os e ; (b) "b an k” in cl udes — (i) a ba nk in g co mpa ny as defin ed in sec tio n 5 of th e Ban king Reg ulatio n Act, 1949, (li) "S ta te Ban k of In di a” co ns tit ut ed under th e Sta te B an k of In di a Act, 1955, TftE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. 1, 19 78 817 (iii) a sub sidiary Bank as defined in the Sta te Bank of India (sub sidia ry Banks) Act, 195 9, (iv) a "Co rresponding new Bank” cons tit uted under section 3 of the Bank ing Companies (Acquisition and tra ns fer of u nde rtak ings) Act, 1970, (v) the Assam Co-oper ative Centr al Land Mortgage Bank Lim ited constituted un der the Assam Co-operative Land Mortg age Bank Act, 196 0, (vi) a Co- operative Land Mortgage Bank reg iste red under Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 194 9, (vii) any oth er financial ins titu tio n or a co-operative society which may be notifie d to be a Bank for the purp oses of this Act by the Sta te Gov ernmen t from tim e to time, (viii) "Reg ional Rural Bank” constituted under the Regional Ru ral Banks Act, 197 6, (c) "cro ppin g pa tte rn ” means a system of cultiva tion specified in a scheme for using agric ult ural land for any one or more or all of the following purp oses— (i) rais ing of crops, grass or gar den pro duce and vegetables, (ii) seed farming, (iii) pisc iculture, (iv) hortic ult ure , (v) grow ing of fruits, (vi) oth er purp oses as may be notified by the Sta te Gov ernm en t; 8 1? ' THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. 1, 19 ?8 (d ) "defa ult er” means any member of a group who refus es to make any contri bution or take loan from a bank or fu lfi l any obligation, financia l or otherwise, for implem enting a scheme or fails to rep ay by due date any instalment of the loan taken for implementing the same ; (e) "gr oup ” means an association consisting of farm ers not less than two in number formed for the purpose of implementing a scheme under this A c t ; (f) "Irr igation Officer” means an Exe cutive Engineer under the Irrigati on Dep art ment having jurisdic tion over an area and includes any other officer not below the rank of a Subo rdinate Engineer of the Irrigation Department authorised by the Exe cutive Engin eer for the purpose of this Ac t and fur the r includes any other categories of officials or agencies duly notified by the State Go ve rn men t; (g) "ma rgin mon ey” means the money requ ired to be paid by a farm er for obtaining loan from a bank for imp le menting a scheme framed under this A c t ; (h) "prescribe d” means prescribe d by rules fram ed under this A c t; (i) "sch eme ” means the details of any plan of an irriga tion wo rk for using surface water thro ugh lift and under-gro und wa ter through we lls in any agr icultur al land to promote or increase or assure agr icu ltural produce prepa red for the purpose of rend ering bene fit to a group of farm ers ; (j) "Sup erin tending Eng inee r” means the Supe rinte ndin g Engineer of the Irriga tion De pa rtm en t; Ttt E ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, SEP T. 1, 19 73 81 9 (k) "under- grou nd wa ter” means water ava il able below top soil lay ers ; (l) "w el l” means a we ll sunk for the search for extraction of under-gro und water within any area for irrig ation and inclu des an open well, dug well, bored well, dug -CM TO-bo red well, tube we ll and filter Point. ■ • a s . , 3. (1) An y two or more farm ers ownin g or g’o p o oTfa^having a righ t in any agr icultur al land in Com m e r s a n d pact area may form a group and app ly to the pr ^p ar in gra Irrig ation Officer in the prescribe d manner re- s c h e m e . questing him to fram e a scheme for the purpose of imple mentation of the provisions of this Act. (2 ) On recei pt of such application, the Irriga tion Officer may enter upon any land proposed to be affected by the scheme and make the necessa ry enq uiry or surve y about the feasibility of the scheme and if he is satisfied about the fea sibility of the scheme, he shall prepa re a dra ft scheme and forwar d it to the applic ant farm ers for suggestions and objections. (3 ) Af ter considering such suggestions and objections as may be made by the applic ant fa r mers, the Irrigation Officer may make such modifications in the draft scheme as he may thin k fit, and the draft scheme, as so modified, should be sent by him to the bank to enable it to consider the fea sibility of the scheme, the credit wort hiness of the farm ers in question and the question wheth er it is prep ared to finance the scheme. (4 ) If the bank indicates its willingn ess to finance the scheme, the Irrig ation Officer shall finalise the scheme and send a copy of the finalis ed scheme to the applic ant farm ers and also to the bank. 820 TI lE ASSAM GAZETTE, EX TR AO RD INAR Y, SEP T. 1. 1971 (5 ) On receipt of the notice from the Bank each farm er shall deposit the mar gin mone y with the Bank in the manner prescribed. If any far mer refuses or fails to deposit the marg in money with in the time prescribed, any one or more of the other farm ers of the group concerned may deposit the marg in money of the defa ulting farme r with the Bank. (6 ) Whenever requ ired by the Bank, the farm ers wi ll execute mortgage deed or deeds of charg e in respect of the lands made cha rge able for securing repa yme nt of the loans to be advanced by the Bank to the farm ers the o ^ S c h e m e '11 4. (1) When it appears to any Irrigation o n un w iii in gO ffic er havi ng juris diction over the area that fa r m e r s . fram ing and implementa tion of a scheme under this Ac t for any compact area is not possible owin g to the fail ure of any one or more of the farm ers havi ng interset in any portion of such area to join the group, he may, on being satisfi ed afte r giv ing an oppo rtunity to the farm er of bein g heard, in the manner as may be prescri b ed, that ther e is no reason able ground for the farme r or farm ers refu sing to join a group and that such joining is necessary and essential in the public interest, direct him to join the group within such time as m ay be prescribed. Jt (2 ) If such farm er fails to join the group, the other farm ers of the group formed for the purpose, may deposit the margin money in the mann er laid down in sub-se ction (5) of section 3 and the rea fter all the provisions of this Act sha ll app ly to the defa ulting farme r concerned. Im p le m en t- 5 (1) • The Irrig ation Officer or the group of s c h e m e , farm ers, as the case may be, shall implement all schemes, frame d under this Ac t in the manner prescribed. THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. I, 19/8 82 1 (2 ) An y scheme, frame d and implemented under this Act shall be maintained by the group of f armers in the manner prescribed. (3 ) If the Irrig ation Officer at any time finds that the group of farm ers has not im plemented or maintained the scheme or has faile d or refused to do so, he may, after giving in writin g a notice to the farme rs, car ry out such implementa tion and maintenance and the cost incurred for s-uc h implementation or main tenance shall be reco vera ble from farm ers as publi c demand under the Beng al Pub lic Demands Rec ove ry Act, 1913. Penalt y for 6 . An y farm er of a group, refu sing to adopt t o th e the cropping patte rn specified m a scheme or »che me. obstr ucting the construction of field channels or other works nece ssary for the purposes of dis tribu tion of irrgatio n water to every part of the area as requ ired under the scheme, shall be punish able wit h imprisonment for a term which may exten d to three months or with a fine whic h may exten d to five hundred rupees or with both. Charge over 7. Notw ithst andi ng anythin g in any mor- c r o p s . tgag e deed or loan bond executed by a farm er for obtaining a loan for the purpose of imp le menting a scheme under this Act the mortgagee Bank shall hav e a first charg e over the crops that may be raised on the land includ ed in the scheme:% & *% ** " ......~ : Provide d that if the Bank financin g the in vestm ent under the scheme is not financing the farm ers for raising crops and such crop loans are given by another financial institu tion for raising that crops shall have proportionate charg e over the crops, 822 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. 1, 19 78 Appeal aga i nst order of Irriga tion Officer. 8 . (1) An y farm er aggriev ed by any order passed by an Irrig ation Officer under the pro vi sions of this Ac t ma y appeal, in the manner prescribed, with in fiftee n days from the date of recei pt of the order, to the Superintending Engin eer of the Irrig ation Departmen t having jurisdiction over the area in which the agr icu l tural land of the farm er concerned is situated. (2 ) The Supe rinte ndin g Engineer, after gi v ing an oppo rtunity to the parties to be heard, may with in fifteen days of the date of appeal, confirm or modify the order of the Irrigation Officer or reject the appeal or remand the case for decision of the Irrig ation Officer in the light of observations made by the Superintending Engineer. A p p li c a tio n . 9 m An y farmer, aggr ieve d by an order passed by the Supe rinte ndin g Engineer under the provisions of sub-section (2 ) of Section 8 , may app ly in the manner prescribed to the State Governm ent with in fifteen days of th e date of passing of the order for revisin g the same on the ground of hardship. (2 ) The State Gove rnment may, with in fifteen days of the date of appeal, call for the records of the case and pass orders as may be deemed fit, and such orders shall be final. B a r o f ju r is - 10 . (1) Except as provid ed in Sections 8 and c o u r t’ s1 1 » °f 9 above, no order passed in exer cise of any T ri bu nal s powe r confe rred by or under this Act shall be called in question in any proceedings before a court or t ribu nal or any other autho rity. (2 ) No Civ il Court shall have jurisdicti on in respect of any mat ter or action which the Irr iga tion Officer, Superintend ing Engineer or the State Gove rnment is empo wered by or under this Ac t to determine or take and no injunction shall be granted by any court or other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken in nursuance of any powe r conferred by or under this Act, C THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT 1, 19 78 82 3 s. ct io iu 'ta kc n N o s u i t o r other leg al proceedings shall i a go o d faith.lie against any person for anyt hing in good faith d on e or intended to be done in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Ac t or of any rule or order framed or made thereu nder. r emove o b s - 12. when for the purpose of maki ng any tr u c ti o n s e tc .e n qUir y o r survey, whether in the course of fram ing of a scheme under this Ac t or other wise, the Irrig ation Officer finds that it is expedie nt to remo ve any obstruction or clear any part of the land or any stand ing crop or cut down trees or jun gles from any such land he may ask the farm ers to remove such obstru ctions or crops or jun gle s and to cut down trees with in such time as ma y be specified in wr itin g by him and if the farm ers either refuse or neglect to com ply with any such order the Irrigati on Officer shall him self arrange rem oval of the obstru ctions or crops or jungles and cut down trees, as the case ma y be, and the costs for such rem oval or cutting down sha ll be treat ed as costs for implemen ting the scheme and shall be recove rab le from the farm ers as publi c demand under Ben gal Pub lic Demand s Rec ove ry Act, 1913, in such propo rtion as may be speci fied in wr itin g by the Irrigation Officer. Reco very of 13. m When any farmer refu ses to pay the margin mon ey pay able by him or refus es to obtain any loan for implemen ting a scheme, the Irrigati on Officer shall apportion the expenditure incurred in implemen ting or main taining the scheme amongst all the farm ers of the group and the defau lter’s share of such expenditure shall be recove rab le from him as a public demand unde r Ben gal Pub lic Demands Rec ove ry Act, 1913, and paym ents should be made to the other farm ers of the Group and their loan accounts wit h the Ban k in appr opriate propor tions. 824 TH E ASS AM G AZE TTE , EX TR AO RD IN AR Y, SEPT. 1, 1978 ■ . . . . (2 ) Notwithstanding any terms and condi tions provided for in the mortgage deed or loan bond executed by a farmer of a group for the implementation of a scheme under this Act, if any farmer of the group defaults in payment of any instalment of the loan, due from him, such instalment of the loan shall be recoverable from him as a public demand under Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 19 13 : Provided that the provisions of Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 19 13 shall not be applied against the defaulting farmers except on application by the Bank concerned to the Col lector of the District or such other autho rity as may be empowered by the State Government in this behalf. o fS ffe n c eCb y 14 . No court shall take cognizance of any c o u rt. offence punishable under this Act or of abetment of any such offence save on complaint made by an officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf. Effec t_ ° f 15 . The provisions of this Act and the rules th e A cH nco -m ad e thereunder shall have effect notwith- nsi ste nt w it h standing anything inconsistent therewith contained oth er laws* . j i t m any other law. P o w e r to 16 (1 ) The State Government may, by noti-m a k e r u le s . fic atio n i n the Officia l Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act. (2 ) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) the manner in which the application for farming a scheme under sub-section (1) of Section 3 is to be m ade; TH E AS SA M GA ZE TT E. EX TR AO RD IN AR Y, SEPT. 1, 1978 825 (b) the manner in wh ich mar gin mon ey is to be deposited wi th the bank and the time for deposit the reo f under sub-s ection (3 ) of Secti on 5 ; (c) the manner for enforcem ent of the scheme on unwilling farm ers under sub section (1) of Secti on 4 ; (d) the mann er in wh ich the scheme is to be imple ment ed and maintained under sub-section s (1) and (2 ) of Secti on 5; (e) the mann er in which appeal is to be made under sub-s ection (1) of Secti on 8 ; $f) the mann er in which the application for revision is to be made unde r sub-section (1) of Section 9 ; '(g) and such other matters provisions wh ere of is nec essa ry to be made in the rules. (3) Ev er y rule made under this Secti on shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before the Assa m Legis lat ive Assem bly wh ile it is in session for a tota l period of fourteen days whi ch ma y be comprised in one session or in two successiv e sessions, and if, befo re the ex piry of the session in which it is so laid or the sessions imm edia tely following the Assa m Leg isla tive Assem bly agre e in maki ng any modi fication in the rule or the Assa m Leg isla tive Ass embly agre e tha t the rule should not be made, the rule shall the rea fter have effect, only in such modi fied form or be of no effect, as the case ma y be; so how ever , that any such modi fication or ann ul ment sha ll be withou t prejudice to the va lid ity of any thing pre vio usl y done under that rule. U. TAH BIL DAR , Secretary to the Govt, of Assam, Legislative Department. Gauhati—Printed and pub lished by the Supdt. i/c., Assam Govt. Printin g Press, (Bo-Gasstte) No.251—800 —50 0—1-9-1978.