Re-lettered ibid.

(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.