Grant of land to landless persons

(1) The Committee or such other authority or person, as the Committee may specify, either generally or in respect of any local area; in the prescribed manner may subject to sub-section (2) grant lands which have vested in the Committee to landless persons or to a village community, Gram Panchayat, or a Co-operative Society organised by the Committee and the grantee of the land shall acquire the same right, title and interest as the donor had in such land: Provided that (i) in case the donor's interest in such land was that of proprietor or tenure-holder as defined in the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950 (Bihar Act XXX of 1950), the grantee's right, title and interest shall be that of an occupancy raiyat liable to pay rent to the State Government; (ii) in case the estate or tenure, as the case may be, in which such land is situated has vested in the State under the said Act, the right, title and interest of the grantee shall also be subject to the provisions of that Act; and (iii) in case such land has vested in the Committee under section 12, the right, title and interest of the grantee shall be that of an occupancy raiyat liable to pay rent to the State Government: Provided further that (i) grantee, his heirs assigns or successor-in-interest shall not be competent to sublet or transfer the land or any portion thereof by sale, gift or otherwise, but shall be competent to transfer the same by exchange with the previous permission of the Committee in writing; and (ii) the rights of the grantee over such land shall be subject to such other restrictions and conditions as may be prescribed by the Committee. Provided also that the grantee, his heirs, assignee, or successors-in-interest may enter into a simple mortgage for raising loan for agricultural purposes in respect of the land with a bank or society registered or deemed to be registered under the Bihar and Orissa Co-operative Societies Act, 1935 (Bihar and Orissa Act VI of 1935) or with the State Bank of India or a bank specified in column 2 of the First Schedule to the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (Act V of 1970) or with a company or a corporation owned by or in which not less than fifty-one percent of the share capital is held by the State Government or the Central Government or partly by the State Government and partly by the Central Government and which has been set up for raising loan for agricultural purposes. (2) All grants shall be made as far as may be in accordance with the scheme of Bhoodan Yagna as may be prescribed. Provided that in making grants of waste lands in the district of Santhal Parganas which have vested in the Committee, the principle prescribed for settlement of waste lands under section 28 of the Santhal Parganas Tenancy (Supplementary Provision) Act, 1949 (Bihar Act XIV of 1949), shall be followed. (3) For the purpose of grant of lands under this section, the Committee may, by regulations, fix after taking into consideration the quality of lands, the maximum and minimum areas to be granted to a landless person or to a village community, Gram Panchayat or a Co-operative Society organised by the Committee and different areas may be fixed for different districts, subdivisions or thanes. Explanation.--for the purposes of this section "occupancy raiyat", means a raiyat having a right of occupancy in the land held by him within the meaning of the tenancy law of the area in which it is situated.