...
~ ..........
. , • .,[~!i'J. -·· ' ' ,- - ·- The Assam Gazette EXTRAORDINARY ~~~wm~ PUBLISHm BY AUTHORITY ------··---- ·--- or~ 126 ."4 0, 12 5 N"I~, ~<1ii~t~ . 1, CDC '1~<! 1978, 10 ~lif. 1900 "~ Dispur, Fri .l a y, 1 ;t Septem'1gr, 1973, 10th Bhadra, 1~00 (S. E .)
-.-_:-::-_~_-·~-- -------~=============-==================== GOVERNMEN'l' OF ASSAM ORDERS BY THE GOVERNOF Lt:GISLATIVE DE PARTMEN'17 NOTIFICATION The 31st August 1978 No.LGLi335/75/188.-Thc following Act <>f the Assam Legislative Assembly which received the assent ef the President is hereby published for general information.
\.
816 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SE.'T. 1, 1S78 ASSAM ACT X OF 1978 (Received the assent of the President on 16th August, 1978) THE ASSAM FARMERS (GROUP IRRIGATION) ACT, 1918 Act to provid·e for creation of irrigation potential by the formation of groups amongst farmers.
WHEREAS it is expedient to make prov1s10n for creating irrigation potential through utilisa tion of surface and under-ground water by jformation 'of groups amongst farmers to obtain loan from Banks .
It is hereby enacted in the Twenty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:- Short title, 1. (1) This Act may be called the Assam Farextent and • . · commence- mers (Group Irrigat10n) Act, 1978.
m ent.
(2) lt extends to the whole of Assam.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
Definition 2. In this Act, unless there is .anything repu;;nant in the subject or context,-
(a) "agricultural land" includes land used or capable of being used for raising of crops, grass or garden produce, veget ables, seed farming, pisciculture, horti culture, growing of fruits or other similar purpose ;
(b) "bank" includes -
(i) a banking company as defined in sec- tion 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, (H) "State Bank of India" constituted under the State Bank of India Act, 1955, j:HE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. I, 1978 817
(iii) a subsidiary Bank as defined in the State Bank of India (subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959,
(iv) a "Corresponding new Bank" cons tituted under section 3 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and transfer of undertakings) Act, 1970,
(v) the Assam Co-operative Central Land Mortgage Bank Limited constituted under the Assam Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank Act, 1960,
(vi) a Co-operative Land MortgC!ge Bank registered under Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 1949,
(vii) any other financial institution or a co-operative society which may be notified to be a Bank for the purposes of this Act by the State Government from time to time,
(viii) "Regional Rural Bank" under the Regional Rural . 1976, constituted Banks Act,
(c) "cropping pattern'' means a system of cultivation specified in a scheme for using agricultural land for any one or more or all of the following purposes-
(i) raising of crops, grass or garden pro ..
duce and vegetables,
(ii) seed farming,
(iii) pisciculture,
(iv) horticulture, {v) growing of fruits,
(vi) other purposes as may be notified by the State Government ;
818 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, Bx·rRAORbINARY, SEPT. 1, 19'78
(d) "defaulter" means any member of a group who refuses to make any contri bution or take loan from a bank or fulfil any obligation, financial or otherwise, for implementing a scheme or fails to repay by due date any instalment of the loan taken for implementing the same ;
(e) "group" means an association consisting of farmers not less than two in number formed for the purpose of implementing a scheme under this Act ;
(f) "Irrigation Officer" means an Executive Engineer under the Irrigation Depart ment having jurisdiction over an area and includes any other officer not below the rank of a Subordinate Engineer of the Irrigation Department authorised by the Executive Engineer for the purpose of this Act and further includes any other categories of officials or agencies duly notified by the State Government;
~~),., r--~, ( g) "margin money" means the money required to be paid by a farmer for obtaining loan from a bank for imple menting a scheme framed under this Act;
(h) " prescribed" means prescribed by rules framed under this Act ;
(i) "scheme" means the details of any plan of an irrigation work for using surface water through lift and under-ground water through wells in any agricultural land to promote or increase or assure agricultural produce prepared for the purpose of rendering benefit to a group of farmers;
(j) ''Super intending Engineer" means the Superintending Engineer of the Irriga tion Department ;
J ..
- TB:E ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. I, 1978 819 ,__ {k) "under-ground water" means water avail able below top soil layers ;
(l) "well" means a well sunk for the search for extraction of under-ground water within any area for irrigation and inclu des an open well, dug well, bored well, dug-cum-bored well, tube well and filter point. ~· ·"~-''-·-~;':.~ - ~--~, ~ --~1\12~ . 3. (1) Any two or more farmers owning or ~~~~~~f-0r~~~·having a right in any agricultural land in com mers and pact area may form a group and apply to the request for I · t' Offi · h 'b d preparing a rnga 10n cer in t e prescn e manner re- >chem e. questing him to frame a scheme for the purpose of implementation of the provisions of this Act.
(2) On receipt of such. application, the Irriga tion Officer may enter- upon any land proposed to be affected by the scheme and make the necessary enquiry or survey about the feasibility of the scheme and if he is satisfied about the feasibility of the scheme, he shall prepare a draft scheme and forward it to the applicant farmers for suggestions and objections.
(3) After considering such suggestions and objections as may be made by the applicant far mers, the Irrigation Officer may make such modifications in the draft scheme as he may think fit, and the draft scheme, as so modified, should be sent by him to the bank to enable it to consider the feasibility of the scheme, the credit worthiness of the farmers in question and the question whether it is prepared to finance the scheme.
( 4) If the bank indicates tts willingness to finance the scheme, the Irrigation Officer shall finalise the scheme and send a copy of the finalis ed scheme to the applicant farmers and also to the bank.
e20 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXT~AORDINARY, SEPT. 1, 1971
(5) On receipt of th~ notice from the Bank each farmer shall deposit the margin money with the Bank in the manner prescribed. If any far.::
mer refuses OT fails to deposit the margin money within the time prescribed, any one or more of the other farmer s of the gr oup concerned may deposit the margin money of the defaulting farmer with the Bank.
(6) Whenever required by the Bank, the farmers will execute mortgage deed or deeds of charge in respect of the lands made charge able for securing repayment of the loans to be advanced by the Bank to the farmers -of _the group. ·,_-i:.-_ v 2-..:~~'.. ii. Sil Enforcement 4 (1) When it appears to any Irriga_ tion of Scheme · · on unwil!ingOfficer having jurisdiction over the area that farmer£. framing and implementation of a scheme under Implementa• tion of scheme.
this Act for any compact area is not possible owing to the failure of any one or more of the farmers having interset in any portion of such area to join the group, he may, on being satisfi ed after giving an opportunity to the farmer of being heard, in the manner as may be prescrib ed, that there is no reasonable ground for the farmer or farmers refusing to jo~n a group and that such joining is necessary and essential in the public interest, direct him to join the group within such time as may be prescribed.
(2) If such farmer fails to join· the group, the other farmers of the group formed for the purpose, may deposit the margin money in the manner laid down in sub-section (5) of section 3 and thereafter all the provisions of this Act shall apply to the defaulting farmer concerned.
5. · (1) · The Irrigation Officer or the group of farmers, as the case may be, shall implement all schemes, framed under this Act in the manner prescribed.
THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SEPf. I, 19 /8 821 ---------- -·-----··- Penalty for obstruction to the scheme.
(2) Any scheme, framed and implemented under this Act shall be maintained by the group of farmers in the manner prescribed.
(3) If the Irrigation Officer at any time finds that the group of farmers has not im plemented or maintained the scheme or has failed or refused to do so, he may, after giving in writing a notice to the farmers, carry out such implementation and maintenance and the cost incurred for s-uch implementation or main tenance shall be recover able from farmers as public demand under the Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913.
6. Any farmer of a group, refusing to adopt the cropping pattern specified in a scheme or obstructing the construction of field channels or other works necessary for the pur poses of dis tribution of irrgation water to every part of the area as required under the scheme, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with a fine which may extend to five hundred rupees or with both.
Charge over 7. Notwithstanding anything in any morcrops. tgage deed or loan bond executed by a farmer for obtaining a loan for the purpose of imple menting a scheme under this Act the mortgagee Bank shall have a first charge over the crops that may be raised on the land included in the scheme: ...... "'11£~''"~~ ~ .... ~ :.,.~-.,-- _: - -----~- - - IP"'
Provided that if the Bank financing the in vestment under the scheme is not' financing the farmers for raising crops and such crop loans are given by another financial institution for raising that crops shall have proportionate charge over the crops.
822 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. 1, 1978 ·------------- ------------- ~P~:;le~g~r 8. (1) Any farmer aggrieved by any order Irrigation passed by an Irrigation Officer under the provi- Officer. · f th" A t 1 · th s10ns o is c may appea, m e manner prescribed, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the order, to the Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department having jurisdiction over the area in which the agricul tural land of the farmer concerned is situated.
(2) The Superintending Engineer, after giv ing an opportunity to the parties to be heard, may within fifteen days of the date of appeal, confirm or modify the ord~r of the Irrigation Officer or reject the appeal or remand the case for decision of the Irrigation Officer in the light of observations made by the Superintending Engineer.
Applica.ti_on • 9. (1) Any farmer aggrieved by an order or rev1s1on, . ' passed by the Superintending Engineer under the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 8, may apply in the manner prescribed to the State Government within fifteen days of the date of passing of the order for revising the same on the ground of hardship.
(2) The State Government may, within fifteen days of the date of appeal, call for the records of the case and pass orders as may be deemed fit, and such orders shall be final.
Bar of juris· 10. ( 1) Except as provided in Sections 8 and diction of couns or 9 above, no order passed in exercise of any Tribunals power conferred by or under this Act shall be etc. called in question in any proceedings before a court or tribunal or any other a.:uthority.
(2) No Civil Court shall have jurisdiction in respect of any matter or action which the Irriga- . tion Officer, Superintending Engineer or the State Government is empowered by or under this Act to determine or take and no injunction shall be granted by any court or other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken in oursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act.
' THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT 1, 1978 823 ,,.,r~tection of 11 No sult or other legal proceedings shall ,.ctions taken · i o good faith.lie against any person for anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule or order framed or made thereunder. · Power to remove obs- 12. when for the purpose of making any tructions etc.enquiry or survey, whether in the course of framing of a schem e under this Act or other wise, the Irr igation Officer finds that it is expedient to remove any obstruction or clear any par t of the land or any standing crop or cu t down t r ees or jungles from any such land he may ask the farmers to remove such obst ructions or crops or jungles and to cut down trees within such time as may be specified in writing by him and if the farmers either refuse or neglect to comply with any su ch order the Irr igation Officer shall himself arrange rem oval of the obstructions or crops or jungles and cut down trees, as the case may be, and the costs for such removal or cutting down shall be treated as costs for implementing the scheme and shall be recoverable from the farmers as public demand under Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, in such proportion as may be speci- . fied in writing by the Irrigation Officer.
Recovery of 13. (1) When any farmer refuses to pay the expenditure. . bl b h• p a margm money paya e y 1m or . refuses to obtain any loan for implementing a scheme, the Irrigation Officer shall apportion the expenditure incurred in implementing or maintaining the scheme amongst all the farmers of the group and the defaulter's share of such expenditure shall be recoverable from him as a public demand under Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, and _payments should be made to the other farfuers of the Group and their loan accounts with the Bank in appropriate pr?por ..
tions. -.
824 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRA~RDINARY, SEPT.), 1978 L
(2) Notwithstanding any terms and conditions provided for in the mortgage deed or loan bond executed by a farmer of a group for the implementation of a scheme under this Act, if any farmer of the group defaults in payment of any instalment of the · 1oan, due from him, such instalment of the loan shall be recoverable from him as a public demand under Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913:
Provided that the provisions of Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913 shall not be applied against the defaulting farmers except on application by the Bank concerned to the Col lector of the District or such other authority as may be empowered by the State Government in this behalf.
~0~!=c~Y 14. No court shall take cognizance of any court. offence punishable under this Act or of abetment of any such offence save on complaint made by an officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf.
Effe~t. of r 15. The prov1s10ns of this Act and the rules fb"~~~~i!~.made thereunder shall have effect notwith ns15h· ten 1 t with standing anything inconsistent therewith contained ot er aws. . h l m any ot er aw. .
Power to make rules.
16 (1 ) The St at e Governmen t m ay, by not i fication in the Official Gazette, m ake ru les for car rying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the for egoing powers, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :-
(a) the manner in which the application for farming a scheme under sub-section (1) of Section 3 is to be made ;
THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, SEPT. 1, 1978 825
(b) the manner in which margin money is to be deposited with the bank and the time for deposit thereof under: sub-section
(3) of Section 5 ;
(c) the manner for enforcement of the scheme on unwilling farmers under sub section (1) of Section 4;
(d) the manner in which the scheme is to be implemented and maintained under sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 5;
{e) the manner in which appeal is to be made under sub-section (1) of Section 8;
'f) the manner: in which the application for revision is to be made under sub-section
(1) of Section 9;
[g) and such other matters provisions where of is necessary to be made in the rules.
{3) Every rule made under this Section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before the Assam Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry o·f the session in which it is so laid or the sessions immediately following the Assam Legislative Assembly agree in making any modification in the rule or the Assam Legislative Assembly agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect, only in such modi fied form or be of no effect, as the case may be;
so however, that any such modification or annul ment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
U. TAHBILDAR.
Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Legislative Department.
Gauhati-Printed and published by the Supdt. l/c., Assam Govt. Printing Pren.
{Jb.Gauttc) No.251-800-500-1-9-1978.