Section 31: Vesting of management of other unoccupied lands of the State Government in Gram Sabha

(1) Subject to any general or special order of the State Government where the whole of a village entered as such in the revenue records has been declared as a Gramdan village, the management of the unoccupied land of the State Government in the said village shall vest in the Gram Sabha and the Gram Sabha shall have the power to improve such land without obtaining any permission from any authority, and shall further have the power to get the same cultivated or otherwise utilised for agricultural purposes in any manner it thinks fit either by itself or by granting lease of the whole or any part thereof to any person on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit. (2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall be construed as conferring any power on the Gram Sabha to transfer by way of sale, gift, mortgage or exchange any such land or to lease it for a longer period then prescribed or to utilise it without the previous permission of the Collector for non-agricultural purposes or in any way to cause damage to it so as to diminish permanently its value. (3) The Gram Sabha shall be liable to pay the rent, cesses or any other taxes to the State Government on any land of the State Government cultivated or utilised as aforesaid or fixed in accordance with the provisions of any law.