Interpretation

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,— (a) “Consolidation Officer” means an officer appointed as such under section 14 by the Central Government and includes any person authorised by the Central Government to perform all or any of the functions of the Consolidation Officer under this Act; (b) “Consolidation of Holdings” means the amalgamation and the redistribution of all or any of the lands in an estate or sub-division of an estate so as to reduce the number of plots in the holdings; (bb) “common purpose” means any purpose in relation to any common need, convenience or benefit of the village and includes the following purposes:— (i) extension of the village Abadi; (ii) providing income for the Panchayat of the village concerned for the benefit of the village community; (iii) village roads and paths, village drains, village wells, ponds or tanks, Village watercourses or water-channels; village bus stands and waiting places; manure pits, hada roti, public latrines, cremation and burial grounds; Panchayat Ghar, Janj Ghar, grazing grounds, tanning places, mela grounds, public places of religious or charitable nature; schools and playgrounds, dispensaries, hospitals and institutions of like nature; waterworks or tube-wells, whether such schools, playgrounds, dispensaries, hospitals, institutions, waterworks and tube-wells may be managed and controlled by the Central Government or not; (c) “fragment” means a plot of land of less extent than the appropriate standard area determined under this Act: Provided that no plot of land shall be deemed to be a fragment by reason of any diminution in its area by river action; (d) “land” means land which is occupied or let for agricultural purposes or for purposes subservient to agriculture, or for pasture, and includes the sites of buildings and other structures on such land; (e) “notified area” means any area notified as such under section 3; (f) “owner” means in the case of unalienated land the lawful occupant and when such land has been alienated, the superior holder; (g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (h) “Settlement Officer (Consolidation)” means an Officer appointed as such under section 20 by the Central Government and includes any person authorised by the Central Government to perform all or any of the functions of the Settlement Officer (Consolidation) under this Act; (i) “standard area” in respect of any class of land means the area which the Central Government may from time to time determine under section 5 as the minimum area necessary for profitable cultivation in any particular notified area and includes a standard area revised under the said section; (j) “sub-division” means a part of an estate recorded as a sub-division, patti, taraf or pana in a record-of-rights prepared under section 31 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 provided it forms a compact block; and (k) words and expressions used in this Act but not defined, have the meanings assigned to them in the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.