Chapter I Chapter I

(1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Land Improvement Schemes Act, 1959. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu. (3) It shall come into force in any area on such date as the Government may, by notification, specify, and the Government may cancel or modify any such notification.

In this Act- unless the context otherwise requires- (a) ' Collector ' means the Collector of the district ; (b) ' District Committee ' means the District Land Improvement Committee constituted under section 11 ; (c) ' drought ' means lack of adequate moisture in the land required for cultivation ; (d) ' erosion ' means the removal or displacement of earth, stones or other materials by the action of wind or water ; (e) ' Executing Officer' means an officer appointed under section 21 to execute a scheme ; (f) ' Government ' means the State Government ; (g) 'Inquiry Officer' means an officer appointed by the Land Improvement Board under sub-section (5) of section 15 ; (h) ' Land Improvement Board ' means the Tamil Nadu Land Improvement Board constituted under section 8 ; (i) ' notified area ' means any area declared to be a notified area under section 3 ; (j) ' owner '- (a) means- (i) any person holding land in severalty or jointly or in common under a ryotwari settlement or in any way subject to the payment of revenue direct to the Government, or (ii) a landholder as defined in the Tamil Nadu Estates Land Act, 1908 (Tamil Nadu Act I of 1908), or a ryot as defined in that Act, or (iii) a landlord as defined in the Malabar Tenancy Act, 1929 (Tamil Nadu Act XIV of 1930), or a tenant as defined, in that Act, or (iv) the Central Government in respect of the land vested in any department under the Central Government, and (b) includes- (i) any person for the time being receiving or entitled to receive, whether on his own account or as agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver for another person, the rent or profit derivable from land, or (ii) a mortgagee with possession, or (iii) a lessee or sub-lessee ; (m) ' soil conservation ' means proper land utilization according to its potentialities and includes prevention of soil erosion, conservation of moisture, irrigation where possible and necessary, drainage, rotational cropping, improved tillage and other agronomic practices necessary to achieve maximum production ; (n) ' Soil Conservation Board ' means the River Valley Soil Conservation Board constituted under section 13 ; (a) 'Board' means the State Soil Conservation Board constituted under section 3;

(aa) 'Collector' means the District Collector and includes any officer specially appointed by the Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act;

(b) 'Director' means the officer appointed as the Director of Agriculture, Madras, and includes any officer on whom the powers of the Director of Agriculture have been conferred by the Government;

(c) 'District' means a revenue district;

(d) 'Erosion' means the displacement of soil by the action of water or wind;

(e) 'Land improvement scheme' or 'scheme' means a scheme prepared or adopted under this Act;

(f) 'Land owner' means— (i) any person holding land in severalty or jointly or in common under a ryotwari settlement or in any way subject to the payment of revenue direct to the Government, or (ii) a landholder as defined in the Tamil Nadu Estates Land Act, 1908 (Tamil Nadu Act I of 1908), or a ryot as defined in that Act, or (iii) an inamdar not being a landholder as aforesaid, or (iv) a landlord as defined in the Tamil Nadu Tenancy Act, 1929 (Tamil Nadu Act XIV of 1930), or a tenant as defined in that Act, or (v) the Central Government in respect of the land vested in any department under the Central Government, and (b) includes— (i) the person for the time being receiving or entitled to receive, whether on his own account or as agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver for another person, the rent or profit derivable from land, or (ii) a mortgagee with possession, or (iii) a lessee or sub-lessee;

(k) 'reclamation' includes cultivation, irrigation or any other improvement of land;

(m) 'Soil conservation' means proper land utilization according to its potentialities and includes prevention of soil erosion, conservation of moisture, irrigation wherever possible and necessary, drainage, rotational cropping, improved tillage and other agronomic practices necessary to achieve maximum production;

(n) 'Soil Conservation Board' means the River Valley Soil Conservation Board constituted under section 13;

(o) 'waste land' means any land which for a period of not less than three consecutive years has been lying waste on account of water-logging, salinity, accumulation of sand, growth of weeds, soil erosion or any other cause, or which for the period aforesaid has been lying uncultivated;

(p) 'work' means any work constructed, erected or carried out under a scheme and includes a pasture or forest provided or raised under a scheme;

(q) the expressions 'cattle', 'forest-produce', 'timber' and 'tree' have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1882). In section 8 of the Tamil Nadu Land Improvement Schemes Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),-- (i) for clauses (b) and (bb), the following clauses shall be substituted:-- "(b) the Commissioner of Land Reforms, ex-officio: (bb) the Secretary to Government incharge of Agriculture, ex-officio: (bbb) the Secretary to Government incharge of Environment and Forest, ex-officio:"; (iii) for clause (f), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-- "(f) the Chief Engineer (Agricultural Engineering) who shall be the Member-Secretary, ex-officio:"; (iv) in clause (g), for the expression "a member who is an active and progressive agriculturist", the expression "three members who are active and progressive agriculturists" shall be substituted; (2) sub-section (3) shall be omitted; (3) in sub-section (9), for the expression "Secretary", the expression "Member-Secretary" shall be substituted.