In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) "able-bodied persons" means healthy adults of both the sexes in case of labouring classes and healthy male adults only in the case of any class other than the labouring classes :
Explanation -The expression "adult" means a person who has completed his seventeenth year.
(b) "embankment" includes a bank, dam, dyke, wall, groyne, anicut of spur made, erected or maintained either by officers of Government or bound to be maintained by any local authority or private individuals for the protection of any such embankment or of any land from erosion or overflow by or of rivers, canals, tides, waves or waters ;
(c) "labouring classes" includes not only persons who let their labour for hire but also persons who habitually engage in manual labour although they may at the same time be employers of labour ;
(d) "Panchayat" means the Panchayat established under any law for the time being in force in any local area but shall not include a Panchayat exercising solely judicial functions;
(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules4 made under this Act.