LexThe Punjab Land Improvement Act,1963
Haryana · state statute
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this act[Act 23 of 1963] LAND
IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
501
THE PUNJAB LAND IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES ACT, 1963
PUNJAB ACT No. 23 of 1963
Arrangement of Sections
CHAPTER I
SECTIONS.
1. Short title.
2. Definitions.
CHAPTER II
NOTIFICATION OF AREAS, CONSTITUTION OF DISTRICT LAND
IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE AND MAKING OF
LAND IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES.
3. Notifications of areas.
4. Constitution, etc., of District Land Improvement Committees.
5. Functions of District Land Improvement Committees.
6. Power to enter upon lands to do certain acts.
7. Approval and publication of Schemes.
8. Objections to Schemes.
9. Enquiry into objections and report.
10. Sanctioning of final scheme.
11. Publication of final scheme.
12. Power of District Land Improvement Committees to make
regulations.
CHAPTER III
EXECUTION OF SCHEMES.
13. Soil Conservation Officer to execute the scheme.
14. Power to carry the works under the schemes.
15. Power of State Government to carry out schemes.
CHAPTER IV
MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND USE OF WORKS CARRIED
OUT UNDER SCHEMES.
16. Preparation of statement.
17. Obligation of persons to maintain and repair works.
18. Decision of disputes relating to works.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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SECTIONS.
19. Amounts to be recovered.
CHAPTER V
MISCELLANEOUS
20. Penalty.
21. Inquiries to be held summarily.
22. Permission to increase rent on account of improvements effected.
23. Registration of documents, plans or maps in connection with
schemes not required.
24. Power to revoke schemes.
25. Inspection of documents, etc., and obtaining of copies.
26. Delegation.
27. Certain Officers to be public servants.
28. Protection of acts done in good faith.
29. Application of Punjab Act 2 of 1900 not barred.
30. Power to make rules.
[Act 23 of 1963] LAND
IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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'THE PUNJAB LAND IMPROVEMENT
SCHEMES ACT, 1963
PUNJAB ACT No. 23 of 1963
[Received the assent of the President of India on the 10th May, 1963, and
first published for general information in the Punjab Government Gazette
(Extraordinary), Legislative Supplement, Part I, of 18th May, 1963]
1 2 3 4
Year No. Short title Whether affected
by Legislation
1963 23
The Punjab Land
improvement
Schemes Act, 1963
Amended by the
adaptation of
Punjab Laws
Order,1970
AN
ACT
to provide for the making and execution of land im provement schemes including
schemes for soil conservation, improvement of soil resources, pre vention or
mitigation of soil erosion, protection of land against damage by floods or
draught, farm drainage or other works incidental to, or connected with, such
purposes.
BE it enacted by the Legislature of the State o f Punjab in the Fourteenth Year
of the Republic of India as follows :-
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. This Act may be called the Punjab Land Improvement Schemes Act,
1963.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Deputy Commissioner" means the Officer appointed for the time
being to be the
'For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab Gov ernment Gazette
(Extraordinary), 1968, page 275.
Short title.
Definitions.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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Deputy Com missioner of a District, and in cludes any other officer
authorised by the State Go vernment by notification to per form t he
functions of a Deputy Commis sioner under this Act and the rules made
thereunder;
(b) "Director" means the Officer appointed for the time b eing to be the
Director of Agriculture, and includes any other officer authorised by the
State Government by notification to perform the functions of the
Director under this Act and the rules made thereunder;
(c) "District Land Improvement Committee" means a Committee constituted
under section 4;
(d) "erosion" means the removal or displace ment of earth, stones or other
materials by the action of wind or water;
(e) "Enquiry Officer" means an officer of the State Government appointed by
a District Land Improvement Committee under sub-section (3) of section
7;
(f) "landowner" has the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Punjab
Land Revenue Act, 1887;
(g) "notified area" means any area declared to be a notified area under
section 3;
(h) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(i) "reclamation", in relation to land, includes making land fit for cultivation
or making any other improvement of land;
(j) "scheme" means a land improvement scheme made under this Act;
(k) "Soil Conservation Officer" means a Divi sional Soil C onservation Officer
or an Assistant Soil Conservation Officer appointed by
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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the State G overnment in respect of a speci fied area to perform the
functions of the Soil Conservation Officer under this Act and the rules
made thereunder;
(i) "waste land" means any land rendered unfit for cultivation on account of
accumulation of sand, growth of weeds, soil erosion or any other cause
notified by the State Government ;
(m) "work" means any work of public utility constructed, erected or carried
out under a scheme.
CHAPTER II
NOTIFICATION OF AREAS, CONSTITUTION OF DISTRICT LAND
IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEES AND MAKING OF LAND IMPROVEMENT
SCHEMES.
3. Whenever it appears to the State Government that in any area comprising
the whole or part of a district it is necessary to provide for the making
and execution of land improvement schemes including schemes for soil
conservation, improvement of soil resources, prevention or mitigation of
soil erosion, pro tection of land against damage by floods or draught,
farm drainage or other works incidental to, or connect ed with; such
purposes, the State Government may, by notification declare such area
to be a notified area for the purposes of this Act.
4. (1) In every district, the whole or part of which is declared to be a notified
area, there shall be a com mittee to be called the District Land
Improvement Committee consisting of the Deputy Commissioner,
District Agricultural Officer, Soil Conservation Officer, Divi sional Forest
Officer, Chairman of the Zila Parishad and Chairman or Chairmen of
Panchayat Samiti or Panchayat Samitis of the blocks which wholly or
partly fall within the whole or part of the notified area
Provided that where more than one Soil Conser vation Officers are
posted in a district, the Soil Con servation Officer within whose
jurisdiction the bulk of
Notification of
arrears.
Constitution etc.,
of district Land
Improvement
Committees.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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the notified area is situate d shall alone be the member of the District
Land Improvement Committee.
(2) The Deputy Commissioner shall be the Chair man o f the
District Land Improvement Committee and the Soil Conservation Officer
shall be the Secretary thereof.
(3) Three members shall form the quorum for a meeting of th e
District Land Improvement Committee.
(4) All questi ons before the District Land Im provement Committee
shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members
present and voting. In case of equality of votes, the Chairman shall have
a second or casting vote.
5. (1) A District Land Improvement Committee may direct the
preparation of a land improvement scheme for the whole or a part of the
notified area within the district, which may provide for all or any of the
following matters : -
(i) Prevention of erosion of soil;
(ii) Preservation and improvement of soil;
(iii) Reclamation of waste land;
(iv) Improvement in the methods of cultivation including dry
farming practices and extension of cultivation;
(v) Construction of earth and masonry works in fields, gullies and
ravines;
(vi) Training of streams;
(vii) Planting and preservation of trees, shrubs and grass on
uncultivable land or providing shelter -belts against wind or
sand movement;
(viii) Regulation of prohibition of firing of vegetation;
(ix) Improvement of water-supply;
Functions of
District Land
Improvement
Committees.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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(x) Farm drainage and other works incidental to, or connected
with, any of the aforesaid purposes;
(xi) any other matter which may be prescribed.
(2) On a direction being issued under sub-section (1), the Soil
Conservation Officer shall prepare i n the prescribed manner a draft
scheme which amongst other things, shall contain the following
particulars--
(i) objects of the scheme;
(ii) the boundaries and approximate areas of the land to be
included in the scheme;
(iii) the persons, including the Gov ernment, who will be affected
by the scheme;
(iv) the works to be carried out under the scheme;
(v) the agency through which the works shall be carried out; and
(vi) such other particulars as may be considered necessary.
6. The Soil Conserv ation Officer or any other per son authorised in
writing by th e District Land Im provement Committee or the Soil
Conservation Officer may enter upon any land in a notified area for the
purpose of survey and preparation of a scheme and do all acts necessary
for such purpose and in particular, may-
(a) dig or bore into the sub-soil; or
(b) take levels and mark boundaries; or
(c) place, erect or fix any peg or mark; or
(d) do all other acts necessary for such purpose.
7. (1) The Soil Conservation Officer shall prepare the draft scheme as
required by sub-section (2) of section 5 and shall submit the same to the
District Land Improvement Committee, which may either approve the
draft scheme with or without modification or reject
Power to enter
upon lands to
do certain acts.
Approval and
publication of
schemes.
[Act 23 of 1963] LAND
IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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it and prepare or ca6use to be prepared another draft scheme.
(2) After the draft scheme is approved by the District Land
Improvement Committee, it shall be published in En glish, Hindi and
Punjabi languages in the Official Gazette and also in the prescribed
manner in every village and at the headquarters of the tahsil and district
in which the lands included in the scheme are situated, and a copy
thereof shall be affixed in the offices of the Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti
and Zila Parishad concerned.
(3) As soon as the draft scheme is approved, the District Land
Improvement Committee shall, appoint a person to be an Enquiry
Officer.
8. The District Land Improvement Committee shall simultaneously
with the publication of the draft scheme in the Official Gazette require all
persons affect ed by the scheme to make, within thirty days of such
publication any objections to the scheme or part there of to the Enquiry
Officer either in writing or by appearing personally before him.
9. The Enquiry Officer shall inquire into the objections received by
him and submit them to the District Land Im provement Committee
together with his report and recommendations thereon.
10. After considering th e objections and the report and
recommendations of the Enquiry Officer thereon and any further re port
which the District Land Im provement Committee may require from him,
the District Land Improvement Committee may sanction the scheme,
with or without modification or reject it:
Provided that the District Land Improvement Committee shall not
sanction the scheme if the majority of the owners of the land included in
the scheme, other than the Government, or the owners, other than the
Government, owning in the aggregate more than fifty per centum of the
land included in the scheme have objected to the making of the scheme.
Objections to
Schemes.
Sanctioning of
final scheme.
Enquiry into
objections and
report.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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11. The scheme as sanctioned under section 10 shall be
published in the same manner as is provided in sub -section (2) of
section 7 and on such publication shall be deemed to be final and
shall come into force from the date of such publication in the Official
Gazette.
12. For the purpose of carrying out a scheme which has come
into force under section 11, the District Land Improvement
Committee may, with the prior approval of the State Government,
make regulations requiring any person or persons or the public
generally to take certain action or to refrain from doing certain acts in
respect of any matter included in the scheme or which may be
supplementary or incidental to the scheme.
CHAPTER III
EXECUTION OF SCHEMES
13. When a scheme comes into fo rce under section 11, the Soil
Conservation Officer shall proceed to execute the scheme.
14. (1) Every landowner af fected by a scheme shall, unless he
himself carries out the works apportioned to him, be liable to pay the
cost with interest thereon of such works in proportion to the area of
land owned by him which has been included in the scheme.
(2) If any landowner d esires to carry out the works himself
under the technical guidance of the Soil Conservation Officer, the
landowner shall give notice in writing to that effect to the Soil
Conservation Officer within thirty days of the publication of the
scheme in the Official Gazette under section 11.
(3) On receipt of such notice the Soil Conservation Officer shall
inform the landowner about the works which are to be carried out on
his land and shall fix the date before which the landowner shall carry
out the works.
(4) If the landowner fails to carry out any of such works to the
satisfaction of the Soil Conservation Officer, or express his inability to
do so in writing, before
Publication of
final Scheme.
Power of District
Improvement
Committees to
make regulations
Soil Conservation
Officer to execute
the scheme
Power to carry out
works under the
scheme
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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the date fixed for completion of the works, the Soil Conservation
Officer may himself cause the works to be carried out and recover
the expenses incurred for the purpose with interest thereon from the
landowner in such manner as may be prescribed.
15. Notwithstanding anything contained in section 14, the State
Government may, in the case of any scheme which has come into
force under section 11, direct that any work under the scheme may,
in public interest, be carried out by the State Government and that
the cost of such work with interest t hereon shall be recovered in
whole or in part from the landowners in proportion to the area owned
by each landowner which has been included in the scheme.
CHAPTER IV
MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND USE OF WORKS CARRIED OUT
UNDER SCHEMES
16. (1) The Soil Conservation Officer shall, on completion of the
works under a scheme, prepare a statement in the prescribed form
giving the following particulars, namely:
i. name of the landowners, including the Government, and
khasra numbers of the land included in the scheme;
ii. the works carried out under the scheme together with a map
thereof;
iii. the total cost of such works;
iv. the rate of recovery of cost per acre;
v. the amount to be recovered from the land -owners, the period
within which s uch amount is recoverable and the number of
instalments of recovery;
vi. the works which, in the opinion of the Soil Conservation
Officer, should be maintained and repaired by landowners
individually or jointly and the name of such landowners; and
Power to the State
Government to
carry out schemes.
Preparation of
statement.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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vii. such other matters as may be prescribed.
(2) A copy of the statement shall be sent to the Revenue
Department for recovery in the manner prescribed.
(3) When a statement is prepared under this section, any rights
and liabilities shown therein shall be entered in the record of rights
or where there is no record of rights in such village record and in
such manner as may be prescribed and shall thereupon form part
of such record of right or such village record.
17. (1) Every person shown in the statement prepared under
section 16 as liable to maintain and repair works shall maintain it
to the satisfaction of the Soil Conservation Officer and shall, within
such time as the Soil Conservation Officer may fix, repair the works
in his own land or in any other land in respect of which he is
shown as liable in that statement.
(2) If such person fails to maintain the works to the
satisfaction of the Soil Conservation Officer or fails to repair them
within the time fix ed by the Soil Conservation Officer under sub -
section (1), the Soil Conservation Officer shall himself maintain the
work or get them repaired and recover the cost thereof with
interest thereon from such person.
(3) If the Soil Conservation Officer is of the opinion that an
emergency has arisen and immediate repair of any works referred
to in sub-section (1) is necessary in public interest, he shall cause
such repairs to be carried out and the cost of such repairs with
interest thereon shall be paid by the landowner or landowners
concerned.
(4) The Soil Conservation Officer shall, as soon as practicable,
report to the State Government regarding such repairs.
18. Any dispute as to the execution of works under a s cheme or
the expenses incurred on the works. or their maintenance and
repair as referred to in section
Obligation of persons
to maintain and repair
works.
Decision of disputes
relating to works.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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16 or section 17 shall be decided by the Director whose decision shall
be final.
19. All amounts payable to, or recoverable by the State Government
or the Soil Conservation Officer under this Act may be recovered as if
they were arrears of land revenue.
CHAPTER V
MISCELLANEOUS
20. Any person, who does any act which causes damage to any of
the works carried out or maintained under any scheme which has
come into force under section 11 shall, on conviction, be punishable
with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.
21. (1) Any Officer or authority empowered under this Act to make an
inquiry shall make the inquiry in the manner provided for holding a
summary inquiry under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, and all
the provisions contained in that Act, relating to the holding of a
summary inquiry, shall apply to an inquiry made under this Act.
(2) Such Officer or authority shall have the same powers for
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and
examining on oath and compelling the production of documents as
are vested in the Revenue Officers under the Punjab L and Revenue
Act, 1887.
22. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time
being in f orce, it shall be lawful for a landowner, whose land is
included in a scheme, to enhance the rent payable by a tenant of
such land by such amount, in such manner and subject to such
conditions as may be prescribed.
23. (1) Nothing in the Indian Registration Act, 1908, shall be deemed
to require the registration of any document, plan or map prepared,
made or sanctioned in connection with a scheme which has come
into force under section 11.
Amount to
recovered.
Penalty.
Inquiries to be
held summarily.
Permission to increase
rent on account of
improvements of fected.
Registration of
documents, plans or
maps in connection with
schemes not required.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
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(2) All such documents , plans and maps shall, for the purposes of
sections 48 and 49 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, be deemed to be
registered in accordance with the provisions of that Act.
24. If the State Government is satisfied upon an application made
by a District Land Improvement schemes. Committee that it is necessary
to revoke a scheme or a part thereof or if the State Government is
satisfied that a scheme or a part thereof is against pub lic interest, it may,
by notification, revoke the scheme or a part thereof, as the case may be,
and upon such revocation, the provisions of this Act, except section 19,
shall cease to apply to such scheme or a part thereof.
25. Documents, plans and maps relating to a scheme shall be open
for public inspection at the office of every Tahsildar for the area in respect
of which a scheme has been prepared at any time during office hours and
certified copies thereof may be obtained on payment of the prescribed
fee.
26. The State Government, and, subject to the control of the State
Government, the Soil Conservation Officer, may, by notification, direct
that any power exercisable by it or him under this Ac t shall, in relation to
such matters and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified
in the notification, be exercisable also by such Officer or authority
subordinate to the State Government or the Soil Conservation Officer, as
the case may be, as may be specified in the notification.
27. The Soil Conservation Officer, the Enquiry Officer or any other
Officer, exercising any power or performing any function under this Act,
shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21
of the Indian Penal Code.
28. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceed ing shall lie against
any person deemed to be a public servant under section 27 in respect of
anything which good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of
this Act or the rules made thereunder.
Power to revoke
schemes.
Inspections of
documents etc., and
obtaining of copies.
Delegation.
Certain Officers to
be public servants.
Protection of acts
done in good faith.
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IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES
514
29. The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in
derogation of, the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900.
30. (1) The State Government may by notification and after
previous publication, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this
Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such rules may pro vide for all or any of the
following matters, namely: -
(a) the manner in which the draft scheme under section 5
shall be prepared and the other matters and
particulars, which may be included therein;
(b) the manner in which a scheme shall be published
under sub-section (2) of section 7;
(c) the manner in which the expenses incurred in carrying
out the works under sub-section (4) of section 14 may
be recovered;
(d) the form in which the statement under section 16 shall
be prepared and the manner in which th e amounts
mentioned therein may be recovered;
(e) the scale of fees for obtaining certified copies of
documents plans and maps relating to a scheme; and
(f) all other matters allowed or required by this Act to be
prescribed.
(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may
be after it is made before 1[* * *] the State Legislature while it is in
session for a total period of ten days which may be comprised in one
session or in two successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the
session in which it is laid or the session immediately following, 2[the
Legislature] agree in making any modification in the rule or 2[the
Legislature] agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall
thereafter have effect only in such modifi ed form or b e of no effect,
as the case may be, so however, that any such modification or
annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything
previously done under that rule.
1The words “each House of” omitted by the Adaption of Punjab Laws Order, 1970.
2Substituted for the words “both Houses” by ibid.
Application of Punjab
Act 2 of 1900 not
barred.
Power to make
rules.