The Odisha Government Land Settlement Act, 1962

The Odisha Gazette

EXTRAORDINARY PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No.684 Dated. 26 November, 1962

ORISSAACT 33 OF 1962

THE ORISSA GOVERNMENT LAND SETTLEMENTACT, 1962

(Assented to by the Governor on the 13th November, 1962) AnAct to provide for settlement of Government Land in the State of Orissa.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Orissa in the Thirteenth Year of

the Republic of India, as follows : Statement of Objects & Reasons

At present settlement of Government waste lands is being made according to the executive instructions issued from time to time and also according to provisions in variousActs, Rules, Orders, customary practices and usage in force in various parts of the State. The power to reserve land for communal and other public purpose, levy of Salami, charging of rent, application fees and other fees and the authority to dispose of such applications are different according to the laws and Rules in force in different parts of the State. This makes its administration difficult and gives cause for complaint by the public due to lack of uniformity. The present Bill is therefore proposed to be enacted as a general legislation formulating a set of uniform principles regarding lease of Government waste lands overriding provisions of various Acts, Rules, Orders, customary practices and usage in force in various parts of the State instead of tinkering with the individual laws with the primary objective of governing the settlement of waste lands in a planned manner uniformly throughout the State.

(1) This Act may be called the Orissa Government Land Settlement Act, 1962. (2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Orissa. (3) The sections shall come into force at once and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date as Government may, by notification, appoint in that behalf.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires : (a) ‘‘Collector’’ shall include an Additional District Magistrate; (aa) ‘‘Government’’ means the State Government of Orissa; (b) ‘‘Government land’’ means any waste land belonging to Government, whether cultivable or not, recorded as House-site, Anabadi, Chot Jungle, Puratan Patit, Nutan Patit, Parityakta Bedakhali, Gochar or by any other description, whatsoever; Explanation :– The expression ‘‘any other description, whatsoever’’ shall include– (i) Khasmahal land, that is to say Mahals held under Khas which are treated as Government estates and the rents of which are payable under Section 3 of the Bengal Land Revenue Settlement Regulation, 1822 [Bengal Regulation VII of 1822] or under Section 4 of the Bengal Land Revenue Settlement Regulation, Bengal Regulation IX of 1825]; (ii) Nazul lands situated in the State; (iii) Gramakantha Parambok lands in the ex-Madras areas; and (iv) Anabadi lands situated in the State; (b-1) “Landless agricultural labourer” means a person who has no means of livelihood other than agriculture, provided : (i) he or any member of his family owns no land excluding homestead; and (ii) his total annual income, together with the total annual income of alI the members of his family who are living with him in common mess from all source does not exceed Rs. 3,600 or an amount which the State Government may, by notification from time to time, specify in that behalf ; (b-2) ‘‘Person’’ means an individual , the total extent of whole land excluding homestead, together with lands held by all the members of his family who are living with him in common mess is less than one standard acre and whose total annual income together with the total annual income of all the members of his family living with him in common mess, does not exceed Rs. 3,600 or an amount which the State Government may, by notification from time to time, specify in that behalf and includes any company or association or body of individuals whether incorporated or not or any local authority; (c) ‘‘prescribed’’ means prescribed by Rules made under this Act; (d) ‘‘Revenue Officer’’ means any officer appointed as such by the Government to discharge any of the functions of a Revenue Officer under the provisions of the Orissa Land Reforms Act, 1960, (Orissa Act 16 of 1960); (e) ‘‘Tahasildar’’ includes and Additional Tahasildar.

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law or any custom, practice or usage having the force of law ,Government shall not be deemed to be debarred from exercising all or any of the following powers in respect of Government lands, namely : (a) to reserve such portion of the lands as they deem proper for the purpose of being used as house-sites or for any communal or industrial purpose or for any other purpose whatsoever; (b) to charge premium for settlement of any such land; (c) to charge rent for the lands so settled; (d) to charge fees on applications for settlement of lands and such other fees as may be necessary for or incidental to the disposal of such fees shall be payable in the prescribed manner; and (e) to authorise any officer of Government not below the rank of a Tahasildar to dispose of applications for settlement of lands and to settle the same in such manner as may be prescribed and subject to the provisions of Sub-sections (2) & (3) : Provided that no Government land recorded as Gochar shall be reserved for any purpose mentioned in Clause (a) or settled under Clause (e) without being dereserved in accordance with the provisions contained in Section 3-A. (2) In the settlement of lands under Clause (e) of Sub-section (1), seventy per centum thereof shall be settled with the persons belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes in proportion to their respective populations in the village in which the lands are situated and the remaining lands shall be settled with the other persons not belonging to the aforesaid categories: Provided that if sufficient number of persons belonging to the aforesaid categories are not available in the village in which the lands are situated, or being available, are not willing to accept the settlement of land so much of the land reserved for the said persons as cannot be settled with them may be settled with other persons. (2-a) [ * * * *] (3) The settlement of land under this section shall be made in the following order of priority, namely- (a) co-operative farming societies formed by landless agricultural labourers; (b) any landless agricultural labourers of the village in which the land is situate or of any neighbouring village; (c) ex-servicemen or members of the Armed Forces of the Union, if they belong to the village in which the land is situated; (d) raiyats who personally cultivate not more than one standard acre of land; Explanation– ln this clause the expression “Standard Acre” has the meaning assigned to it in the Orissa Land Reforms Act 16 of 1960; and (e) in the absence of person belonging to any of the foregoing categories, any other person. (4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the preceding sub-sections or in any law or any custom, practice or usage having the force of law- (a) any land of the category of Khasamahal, Nazul, Gramkantha Parambok or Abadi, wherever situated and used for any purpose, may, on application, be permanently settled with heritable and transferable right with the person who is in occupation of such land either on the basis of lease or otherwise for a period of at least three years prior to the appointed date, in such manner and subject to payment of such amount to the Government as may be prescribed; Explanation :– The word ‘lease’ includes sub-lease or subsequent lease by the lessee or the sub-lessee, as the case may be. (b) if any person in occupation of the land as mentioned in clause (a) fails to apply under the provisions of the said clause within a period as may be prescribed from the date of publication of the Orissa Government Land Settlement (Amendment) Act, 2009 in the Official Gazette for settlement of such land, he shall be summarily evicted in the manner prescribed and such land shall be resumed by the Government; and (c) the amount and rent payable to Government for such settlement through the Tahasildar concerned shall be recovered as arrear of land revenue, if the occupant fails to pay the same at the time of settlement.

Nothing in any other law or custom or usage having the force of law shall debar the Government from making a settlement of any char or diara land coming into existence after the date of commencement of this Act such persons and subject to such terms and conditions as Government may deem fit: Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any char land which may form part of the holding of a raiyat under Section 21 of the Orissa Land Reforms Act 16 of 1960. Explanation :– For the purpose of this section- (a) “Char” means a gradual accretion to the bank formed by alluvial deposits in a river; (b) “Diara” means an island formed in the bed of a river or any land formed by the recession of a river.

Explanation :– For the purpose of this sub-section the expression “appointed date” shall mean the date of commencement of the Orissa Government Land Settlement (Amendment) Act, 2009.

The rent payable in respect of any Government land shall be liable to revision during settlement proceedings under the Orissa Survey and Settlement Act, 1958. (Orissa Act 3 of 1959)

(1) An appeal shall lie against any order made under Section 3 or Section 3-B- (a) where such order is made by an officer below the rank of a Sub-divisional Officer, to the Sub-divisional Officer; (b) Where such order is made by a Sub-divisional Officer, to the Collector; and (c) where such order is made by a Collector to the Revenue Divisional Commissioner. (2) No appeal shall be entertained under Sub-section (1), unless it is preferred within thirty days from the date of the order appealed against: Provided that appellate authority may admit an appeal preferred after the expiration of the aforesaid period of thirty days if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring it within that period. (3) Every appeal preferred under this section shall be heard and disposed of in such manner as may be prescribed.

The Government may by notification in the Official Gazette direct that any power exercisable by it under this Act shall, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the direction, be exercisable also by any authority not below the rank of a Revenue Officer.

If any doubt or difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Government may as occasion may require, by order, do anything not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder, which appears to them necessary for the purposes of removing the doubt or difficulty.