(1) The Governm ent may, by notification, ap point such officers from tlie Ir rig at ion or any othe r Go ve rnmen t or Gov er nm en t Aided De partm ent as it may conside r nec essary to be the com pet ent authori ty to every fa rmers' organisat ion fo r the purpo se of this A ct
(2) the competent authority appo inted under sub-section (1) shall be responsible to respective farmers ' organization in the implementation and execution of all decisions taken by the farm ers' organ isation .
The office bearers of the committees of the farmers ' organisation shall act voluntarily.
i THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 19, 2005 65 Resources of fanners' organisation.
Offences and penalties.
CHAPTER-IV RESOURCES
22. The fund of the farmers' organisation shall com prise of the following, namely
(i) grant received from the Governm ent as a share of the wa ter tax col lec ted in the area of op er at io n of the fa rm ers' organisation;
(ii) such other funds as may be gran ted by the State and Central Governmen t for the development of the area of o pe ratio n;
(iii) resources raised from any financing agency for unde rtaking any economic deve lopment activities in its area of operations;
(iv) income from the properties and assets attached to the irrigation system within its area of opera tion ;
(v) fees collected by the farmers' organisation for the services rendered in bet ter management of the irrigation sys tem ; and
(vi) amoun t received from any oth er sources such as gr an t/ do na tio n/loan on the basis of app rov al of the Man aging Committee.
CHAPTER-V OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
23. Whoever withou t any lawful authority does any of the following acts, namely
(a) damages, alters, enlarges or obstructs any irrigation system,
(b) interferes with, increases, dimin ishes th e w ater supp ly in or the flow of water from, th rough , ove r or und er any ir rigation system,
(c) being responsible for the maintenance of the irr igation system neglec ts to take pro per precau tion s for the pre ven tion of wa sta ge of the wa ter thereo f or in ter feren ces with the authorized distr ibution of wate r there from or use w ater in an unau thor ized manner or in such manne r as to cause damage to the ad jacent land holdings,
(d) corrupts orfouls , water of any irriga tion system so as to render it less fit for the purposes for which it is ordina rily used,
(e) obstructs or remove any Level Marks o r Water Ga uge or any other mark or sign fixed by the Au thority or a Public Servant, and 66 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 19, 2005
(f) opens, shut s, or obstructs or atte mpts to open, shu t or obs truct an*; sluices or outle ts or any oth er sim ilar struct ure s in any irrigat ion system , shall, on a c om pla int ma de by a farm ers' orga niza tion , if c onvicted, be punis hed wi th impri son me nt which may extend to one year or with fines w hich may extend to f ive t hou sand rupe es or w ith bo th.
Punishment 24.
under other laws not barred.
Nothin g in this Act sha ll pre ven t any perso n being prosecuted and punis hed unde r any o ther law for the t ime be ing in force fo r any act or o mmissio n made pun ishable by o r u nd er this A c t:
Provided tha t no per son shall be pro sec ute d and punished for the same offences more tha n once.
Compounding of 25. (1) Farmer s' organizat ion ma y accept from any person w ho com mitted offences. o r i n r e S pe c t o f whom a re ason able be lief can be infer red that he has com mit ted an offence pun ishable un de r this Act of tire ru les made the re under , a sum of money no t exce eding Rupees two tho usand by way of comp oun ding of such offence.
(2) On pay me nt of such sum of m oney, the sai d per son , if in c ustody, shall be d ischarged and no fur the r p roc eed ing shal l be taken against him in re gar d to the offences so com pounded.
CH APTER-V I SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES Settlementof 26. (1) Any dis pute or diffe rence touching the c onstit ution, management , disputes. po we rs Or fun ctions of a farme rs' orga ni sa tio n ari sin g between mem bers , shall be det erm ined by the Ma nag ing Com mit tee df the Water Users' Association.
(2) Any such d ispute s or diffe rences ar isin g betw een a me mber and the Man agin g Committee or a W ater Use rs' Assoc iati on o r between two or more Wate r Us ers ' Assoc iat ion sh al l be de te rm in ed by the Man aging C omm ittee of the D istr ibu tary Com mittee.
(3) Any such d isp ute or diffe rence aris ing between a member and the Man agin g C omm ittee of a Distr ibu tary Co mm itte e o r between two or more Distr ib ut ary Co mmittees sh al l be de te rm in ed by the Managing C omm ittee or the Project Com mit tee.
(4) An y such di sp ut e or dif ferenc e ar ising be tw een a me mb er and Managing Comm ittee or Project Com mittee or b etw een two or more Project Com mittees shall be de termined by the Apex Committee, whose de cisio n shal l be final.
THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 19, 2005
(5) Every dispute or difference under this section sha ll be disposed of within 15 (fifteen) days from the date of reference of the dispu te or difference.
Appeals. 27. (1) A party to a dispute or difference aggrieved by any decision m ade or orde r passed by the Managing Committee of a Water Users' Association may appeal within 15 days to the Managing Committee of the Distributory Committee whose decision there ot fshall be final.
(2) ' Any party to a dispute or difference aggrieved by any decision made or ord er passed by the Man agin g Comm itte e of Distr ibu tor y Committee may appeal to the Managing Committee of a Project Committee within 15 days whose decision thereon shall be final.
(3) Any party to a dispute or difference aggrieved by arty decision made or orde r passed by the Managing Committee of a Project Committee may appeal to the Apex Committee within 15 days whose decision thereof shall be final,
(4) Any appeal made unde r sub-section (1) or sub-sect ion (2) or sub section (3) shall be preferred within 15 days of communication of the decision of the o rder to the person aggrieved.
(5) Every appeal unde r this section shall be disposed of within 15 days from the date of filing of tire appeal.
CHAPTER-VII MISCELLANEOUS Records. 28. (1) Each farmers' organisa tion shall keep at its office the following accounts, records and documents, namely :-
(a) an up to date copy of this A ct;
(b) a map of the area of operation of titre farmers' organisation along with the map of the structure and distributory. networks prepa red in consultation w ith the Irrigation D epartme nt;
(c) a statement of assets and liab iliti es;
(d) minutes book ;
(e) books of accounts showing receipt and paym ents;
(f) books of accounts of all purchases and sales of goods by the Associations ;
(g) a register of measurement book, level field books, work orders and the l ik e;
68 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 19, 2005 Audit.
Recovery of dues.
Meetings.
Resignation.
Appo intment of a Commissioner.
(h) copies of aud it reports and enq uiry're por ts ; "
(i) all such other accounts, records and docu ments as may be prescribed from time to time.
(2) The books of acco unts and oth er rec ords shal l be opene d for informatio n to the member of the farmers' organ isation .
29. Every farmers' organisat ion shall get its accounts aud ited in the manner prescribed.
30. All the amounts payable or due to farmers' organ isation shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue by local Land Revenue Officer as per rules.
31. The me eting of the far mers ' orga nisa tio n and the Manag ing Committee thereof at such intervals, the procedure, the presidency and the quorum thereof and the cessation of mem bership thereof shall be such as may be prescribed.