Chapter III CONSTITUTION, POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF

THE GRAM SABHA

Sabha -(1) Where, in a village:

1. (a) the extent of lands donated for Bhoodan Yagna or Gramdan in respect of which declarations filed and deemed to have been filed under section 12 have been confirmed and deemed to have been confirmed is not less than fiftyone per cent of the total extent of lands under private ownership in that village;
2. (b) the number of persons whose declarations have been so confirmed is not less than seventy-five per cent of the total number of persons owning lands and residing in the village; and
3. (c) not less than seventy-five per cent of the persons who have completed the age of twenty-one years and who are residing in the village have declared in the prescribed form and manner their desire to participate in the Gramdan movement;
4. (d) the Government may, on the recommendation of the Board, declare by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, that village to be a Gramdan village with effect from the date specified in such notification.

1. (2) As soon as may be after the publication of the notification under sub- section (1), there shall be constituted for the Gramdan Village specified in the notification, a Gram Sabha, and every person who has completed the age of twenty one years who, either has donated any land for Bhoodan Yagna or Gramdan or who owns any land or house or whose name is included in the electoral roll of that village under the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994], shall be a member of such Sabha: Provided that a person shall be disqualified for being a member such Sabha if he is not a citizen of India or is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court.
2. (3) The Gram Sabha shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to enter into contracts, and to acquire, hold and dispose of property and which may, by the said name, sue or be sued.
3. (4) The Board shall cause to be prepared and published in the prescribed manner a list of the names of members of each Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha may, from time to time, amend the list for the purpose of bringing it upto-date and a copy of every such amendment shall be sent to the Board which shall cause it to be published in the prescribed manner. Every such list and the amendments thereto published under this sub-section shall be final and shall not be questioned in any court of law.
4. (5) With effect from the date on which the list of members of the Gram Sabha is first published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, all the lands in the Gramdan Village which have vested in the Board under this Act, shall stand transferred to and vest in, the Gram Sabha. Any land in the Gramdan Village which vests in the Board by way of donation after the date aforesaid shall also stand transferred to, and vest in, the Gram Sabha with effect from the date on which it vested in the Board.
5. (6) (a) There shall be a President and a Vice-President for each Gram Sabha who shall be elected from among themselves by the members of Gram Sabha in the manner prescribed.
   • (b) The President or Vice-president shall hold office for a period of four years from the date of his election.
   • (c) The President may resign his office by giving notice in writing to the Gram Sabha and on the resignation being accepted by the Gram Sabha, he shall be deemed to have vacated his office.
   • (d) The Vice-President may resign his office by giving notice in writing to the president and he shall be deemed to have vacated his office with effect on and from the date on which the notice was received by the president.
   • (e) The Vice-President shall exercise such powers and perform such functions of the president as the president may, from time to time, delegate to him in writing.
   • (f) Any casual vacancy, in the office of the president or vice- president shall, as soon as may be after the occurrence of such vacancy be filled by the election of another person from among themselves by the members of Gram Sabha and the president or the vice-president so elected shall enter upon office forthwith but shall hold office only for the residue of the term of his predecessor.

who is, or who is deemed to have been granted land by the Board under section 14 or section 15, or any person to whom land donated for the purpose of Bhoodan Yagna or Gramdan was granted in the Telangana area before the commencement of this Act, may by a declaration made in the prescribed manner, donate that land to the Gram Sabha established for the village in which such land is situate.

1. (2) Where a declaration made under sub-section (1) is confirmed by the Board, the donation of the land, shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 14 or section 15, be irrevocable and all the rights, title and interest of the donor in such land shall stand transferred to, and vest in, the

Power of Gram Sabha to transfer and alienate land -(1) No Gram Sabha shall, without the previous sanction of the Government alienate or transfer any land vested in it or any right or interest therein: Provided that the Gram Sabha may, with the previous sanction of the District Collector exchange lands for the purpose of securing consolidation of holding or hypothecate the lands vested in it in favour of the Government or a Cooperative Society or Land Mortgage Bank for the purpose of securing a loan.

1. (2) Any transaction made in contravention of subsection (1) shall be null and void.

(1) The Gram Sabha may, — (a) arrange for the cultivation of all the lands vested in it either by itself or by allotting to the residents of the village, whether jointly or individually, on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit; (b) apportion the produce or income of the lands cultivated jointly; (c) set apart lands for the general good of the community as may be specified in the rules; (d) make advances either in kind or in cash to persons to whom lands are allotted and recover these advances; (e) carry out measures for the improvement of the methods of cultivation, the reclamation of waste lands and such other purposes as may be specified in the rules.

1. (a) arrange for the cultivation of all the lands vested in it either by itself or by allotting to the residents of the village, whether jointly or individually, on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit;
2. (b) apportion the produce or income of the lands cultivated jointly;
3. (c) set apart lands for the general good of the community as may be specified in the rules;
4. (d) make advances either in kind or in cash to persons to whom lands are allotted and recover these advances;
5. (e) carry out measures for the improvement of the methods of cultivation, the reclamation of waste lands and such other purposes as may be specified in the rules.

informality, etc. - No act of a Gram Sabha or any committee thereof shall be deemed to be invalid by reason only of defect in the constitution of the Gram

Allotment of land by Gram Sabha -The allotment of land in a Gramdan Village for cultivation shall be subject to the following conditions, namely:—

1. (a) the allottee shall, unless specifically exempted by the Gram Sabha, cultivate the land personally;
2. (b) the allottee shall not transfer his interest in the land allotted, but such interest shall be heritable. Explanation—For the purpose of this sub-section and section 24, land shall not be deemed to be cultivated personally unless the person himself or any member of his family puts in such minimum labour on the land as may be laid down by the regulations made by the Gram Sabha.

1. (1) Any person aggrieved by an order of allotment of land made by a Gram Sabha may make an application to the Gram Sabha within sixty days from the date of such order for arbitration by an Arbitration Board. On receipt of such application the Gram Sabha shall refer the dispute to arbitration. (2) An Arbitration Board under sub-section (1) shall consist of,— (i) one member nominated by the applicant; (ii) one member nominated by the Gram Sabha; and (iii) one member nominated jointly by the members referred to in clauses (i) and (ii) but if there is no agreement in that regard, one member to be appointed by the Tahsildar. (3) The decision of the Arbitration Board shall be final and binding on the parties.

order of allotment of land made by a Gram Sabha may make an application to the Gram Sabha within sixty days from the date of such order for arbitration by an Arbitration Board. On receipt of such application the Gram Sabha shall refer the dispute to arbitration.

1. (2) An Arbitration Board under sub-section (1) shall consist of,—
   • (i) one member nominated by the applicant;
   • (ii) one member nominated by the Gram Sabha; and
   • (iii) one member nominated jointly by the members referred to in clauses (i) and (ii) but if there is no agreement in that regard, one member to be appointed by the Tahsildar.
2. (3) The decision of the Arbitration Board shall be final and binding on the parties.

Sabha and, after giving him an opportunity of making a representation, evict

any allottee from the land allotted to him if he fails, without sufficient cause,

to cultivate the land personally during a period of two consecutive agricultural years. Explanation—In this section agricultural year means the year commencing on the 1 st day of June or such other date as may be notified by the Government in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette in respect of any locality having regard to the usage or custom of the locality for the commencement of agricultural operations.

shall be credited all sums and moneys received by such Sabha including the proceeds of any cultivation undertaken by it and the sums collected from the persons to whom the lands have been allotted by the Sabha. The fund shall be administered by the Gram Sabha in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the rules and the regulations made thereunder.

in a Gram Sabha shall not be liable to attachment or sale in execution of any decree or order passed by a civil or revenue court in respect of an unsecured debt.

1. (1) If at any time, the Government are of opinion, that a Gram Sabha— (a) is not competent to perform, or persistently makes default in performing, the duties assigned to it by or under this Act; or (b) exceeds or abuses the powers assigned to it by or under this Act; or (c) is not functioning in a manner consistent with the provisions of this Act or the rules framed thereunder; the Government may, by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette and stating the reasons therefor, supersede the Gram Sabha for such period not exceeding one year as may be specified therein: Provided that before issuing any such notification, the Government shall give an opportunity to the Gram Sabha to show cause why it should not be superseded and shall consider its explanations and objections, if any. (2) On the publication of a notification under sub-section (1) superseding the Gram Sabha,— (a) the President and Vice-President of the Gram Sabha and the President and the members of all committees constituted by the Gram Sabha shall as from the date of notification vacate their offices as such; (b) all the powers and duties of the Gram Sabha, during the period of supersession, be exercised and performed by such person or persons as the Government may, from time to time, appoint in this behalf; (c) all properties vested in the Gram Sabha shall vest in the Government. (3) At any time on or before the expiration of the period of supersession specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1), the Government may extend the period of supersession of a Gram Sabha for such further period not exceeding one year at a time, as they may consider necessary, and on the expiration of the period of supersession either as originally specified or as extended, the Gram Sabha shall resume its functions and elect its President and Vice-President and constitute the committees, in the manner provided in this Act: Provided that the Government may at any time before the expiration of the period of supersession by notification published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette reduce the period of supersession specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1). (4) The income derived from the Gramdan Village during the period of supersession, shall first be utilized towards the cost of management during the period of supersession and liquidation of liabilities of the Gram Sabha and the balance if any, shall be credited to the fund of the Gram Sabha.

opinion, that a Gram Sabha—

1. (a) is not competent to perform, or persistently makes default in performing, the duties assigned to it by or under this Act; or
2. (b) exceeds or abuses the powers assigned to it by or under this Act; or
3. (c) is not functioning in a manner consistent with the provisions of this Act or the rules framed thereunder; the Government may, by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette and stating the reasons therefor, supersede the Gram Sabha for such period not exceeding one year as may be specified therein: Provided that before issuing any such notification, the Government shall give an opportunity to the Gram Sabha to show cause why it should not be superseded and shall consider its explanations and objections, if any.

1. (2) On the publication of a notification under sub-section (1) superseding the Gram Sabha,—
   • (a) the President and Vice-President of the Gram Sabha and the President and the members of all committees constituted by the Gram Sabha shall as from the date of notification vacate their offices as such;
   • (b) all the powers and duties of the Gram Sabha, during the period of supersession, be exercised and performed by such person or persons as the Government may, from time to time, appoint in this behalf;
   • (c) all properties vested in the Gram Sabha shall vest in the Government.
2. (3) At any time on or before the expiration of the period of supersession specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1), the Government may extend the period of supersession of a Gram Sabha for such further period not exceeding one year at a time, as they may consider necessary, and on the expiration of the period of supersession either as originally specified or as extended, the Gram Sabha shall resume its functions and elect its President and Vice-President and constitute the committees, in the manner provided in this Act: Provided that the Government may at any time before the expiration of the period of supersession by notification published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette reduce the period of supersession specified in the notification issued under sub-section (1).
3. (4) The income derived from the Gramdan Village during the period of supersession, shall first be utilized towards the cost of management during the period of supersession and liquidation of liabilities of the Gram Sabha and the balance if any, shall be credited to the fund of the Gram Sabha.