Assam Farmers (Group Irrigation) Act, 1978
No: 10 Dated: Sep, 01 1978
THE ASSAM FARMERS (GROUP IRRIGATION ) ACT, 1978
ASSAM ACT X OF 1978
An Act to provide for creation of irrigation potential by the formation of groups amongst farmers.
Preamble. - Whereas it is expedient to make provision for creating irrigation potential through utilisation of surface and underground water by formation 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:
1. Short, title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Assam Farmers (Group Irrigation) Act, 1978.
(2) It extends to the whole of Assam.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) "agricultural land" includes land used or capable of being used for raising of crops, grass or garden produce, vegetables, seed farming, pisciculture, horticulture, growing of fruits or other similar purpose;
(b) "bank" includes-
(i) a banking company as defined in Section 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 ;
(ii) 'State Bank of India' constituted under the State Bank of India Act, 1955 ;
(iii) a subsidiary bank as defined in the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 ;
(iv) a 'corresponding new bank' constituted 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 Mortgage 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" constituted under the Regional Rural Bank Act, 1976 ;
(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 on garden produce and vegetables ;
(ii) seed farming;
(iii) pisciculture;
(iv) horticulture;
(v) growing of fruits ;
(vi) other purposes as any be notified by the State Government ;
(d) "defaulter" means any member of a group who refuses to make any contribution 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 department 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 Stare Government;
(g) "Margin money" means the money required to be paid by a farmer for obtaining loan from a bank for implementing 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) "Superintending Engineer" means the Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department;
(k) "under ground water" means water available 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 includes an open well, dug well, bored well, dug-cum-bored well, tube-well and filter point.
3. Formation of group of farmers and request for preparing a scheme. - (1) Any two or more farmers owning or having a right in any agricultural land in compact area may form a group and apply to the Irrigation Officer in the prescribed manner requesting him to frame a scheme for the purpose of implementation of the provisions of this Act.
(2) On receipt of such application, the Irrigation 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 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 farmers, 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 its willingness to finance the scheme, the Irrigation Officer shall finalise the scheme and send a copy of the finalised scheme to the applicant farmers and also to the bank.
(5) On receipt of the notice from the bank each farmer shall deposit the margin money with the bank in the manner prescribed. If any farmer refuses or fails to deposit the margin money within the time prescribed, any one or more of the other farmers of the group 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 chargeable for securing repayment of the loans to be advanced by the bank to the farmers of the group.
4. Enforcement of scheme on unwilling farmers. - (1) When it appears to any Irrigation Officer having jurisdiction over the area that framing and implementation of a scheme under this Act for any compact area is not possible owing to the failure of any one or more of the farmers having interest in any portion of such area to join the group, he may, on being satisfied after giving an opportunity to the farmer of being heard, in the manner as may be prescribed, that there is no reasonable ground for the farmer or farmers refusing to join 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. Implementation of scheme. - (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.
(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 implemented 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 such implementation or maintenance shall be recoverable from farmers as public demand under the Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913.
6. Penalty for obstruction to the scheme. - 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 purposes of distribution of irrigation 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.