(1) The Consolidation Officer shall, after publication of the statement under sub-section (2) of section 20 and decision of objections, if any, under section 21 obtain in prescribed manner the advice of the landowners and tenants of the estate or estates concerned and thereafter prepare a scheme for the consolidation of holdings in such estate or estates or part thereof, as the case may be.
(2) In preparation of the scheme under sub-section (1), the Consolidation Officer shall have regard to the following principles, namely-
(a) the land in each village may be divided and grouped under the following blocks, namely:-
(i) block of land producing rice only;
(ii) block of land producing mainly Ekfasli crops, other than rice;
(iii) block of land which is mainly Dofasli;
(iv) block of land subject to fluvial action of any river; and
(v) classification and valuation of land for the purpose of consolidation and the exchange ratio for conversion of one class into other;
(b) every tenure-holder is, as far as may be, allotted land in the block in which he holds the largest part of the holdings;
(c) only those tenure-holders shall get land in any particular block who already hold land therein;
(d) the number of chaks to be allotted to each tenure-holder excluding areas earmarked for abadi and shall not exceed the number of blocks unless there is only one block and the land is more or less of a uniform quality;
(e) the number of plots should not exceed the number of plots held by a landlord or tenant before the consolidation proceedings; and
(f) such other principles as may be prescribed.