Definitions.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) “agriculture” includes horticulture, farming and growing of medicinal plants, crops and intercrops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, grass, fodder grass and trees or any kind of cultivation of soil, conducting nursery, breeding and keeping of live stock including fish, bees, silkworm, poultry, duck, cattle or pig and the use of land for agriculture allied activities or any other agricultural purposes; (b) “agricultural labourer” means a person who, in consideration of the wages payable to him by a tenant, works on the agricultural land of such tenant or does any other agricultural operation; (c) “appropriate level of debt” means the amount determined by the Commission as repayable by the debtor under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 5; (d) “Commission” means the Rajasthan State Farmers Debt Relief Commission constituted under section 3; (e) “co-operative Society” means a society registered or deemed to have been registered under the Rajasthan Co-operative Societies Act, 2001(Act No. 16 of 2002); (f) “creditor” means any co-operative society or any other institution as may be notified by the Government; (g) “debt” means any liability, whether secured or unsecured due from a farmer on or before the commencement of this Act, whether payable under a contract, or under a decree or order of any court or tribunal or otherwise and includes any sum payable to an institutional creditor or a co-operative society; (h) “district” means a revenue district; (i) “distress affected area” means revenue district or districts or part thereof in the State, declared by the Government; (j) “distress affected crop” means any crop or crops of the State declared by the Government; (k) “distress affected farmer” means a farmer declared as such by the Commission and includes agricultural labourer for the purpose of this Act; (l) “fair rate of interest” means the rate of interest determined by the Commission under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 5 of this Act; (m) “farmer” means a person who holds whether as tenant or sub-tenant, licensee or mortgagee in possession lease, including marginal farmers and small farmers, whose principal means of livelihood is agriculture and includes an agricultural labourer; (n) “financial institution” means any financial institution constituted by or under any Central Act, State Act for the time being in force and owned and controlled by the Government; (o) “Government” means the Government of Rajasthan; (p) “institutional creditor” means the State Bank of India or any Subsidiary Bank within the meaning of clause (k) of section 2 of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Bank) Act, 1959 (Central Act No. 38 of 1959) or any Scheduled Bank; (q) “interest” means any amount payable in excess of the principal amount borrowed or pecuniary obligation incurred, by whatsoever name, such amount may be called, whether the same is expressly mentioned or not in the document or contract, if any; (r) “marginal farmer” means a cultivator with an un-irrigated land holding upto one hectare or irrigated land holding upto one-half hectare; (s) “member” means a member of the Commission and includes the Chairman; (t) “penal interest” means any amount payable in excess of interest on a debt; (u) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules under this Act; (v) “principal amount” means the amount originally advanced together with the amount, if any, as has been subsequently advanced, notwithstanding any stipulation to treat any interest as capital and notwithstanding that the debt has been renewed, whether by the same farmer or by his heirs, assignees, or legal representatives or by any other person acting on his behalf or on his interest; (w) "rules" means rules made under this Act; (x) “Secretary” means the Secretary to the Commission appointed under sub-section (4) of section 3; (y) “small farmer” means a cultivator with an un-irrigated land holding upto two hectares or with an irrigated land holding upto one hectare, but more than the holding of a marginal farmer; and (z) “State” means the State of Rajasthan.