West Bengal Gramdan Act, 1964

No: 27 Dated: Jan, 04 1965

THE WEST BENGAL GRAMDAN ACT, 1964

West Bengal Act XXVII of 1964

    An Act to provide for the establishment of gramdan villages and for matters ancillary thereto.

    WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the establishment of gramdan villages in pursuance of the Bhudan Yagna movement as initiated by Acharya Vinoba Bhave and matters ancillary thereto;

    It is hereby enacted in the Fifteenth Year of the Republic of India, by the Legislature of West Bengal, as follows:—

CHAPTER I

Preliminary

1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal Gramdan Act, 1964.

(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

2. Definitions:- (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) "adult" means a person who has completed twentyone years of age;

(b) "allottee" means a person to whom land has been allotted for cultivation by a Gram Parishad under section 17;

(c) "bargadar" means a person who under the system generally known as adhi, barga or bhag cultivates the land of another person on condition of delivering a share of the produce of ouch land to that person;

(d) "common land" in a village means waste land owned by the State Government and includes land used or reserved for use for the common purposes of the village;

(e) "donor" means a person who has donated land by way of graandan under section 4 or section 7;

(f) "family" means a set of persons of near relationship ,to one another living together in commensality and includes the dependants of such persons living with them;

(g) "gramdan" means a donation of land situated in a village which is made voluntarily for the purposes of this Act;

(h) "gramdan village" means a village or a part of a village declared to be a gramdan village under section 5;

(i) "Gram Panohavat" means a Gram Panchayat constituted under the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1957;

(j) "Gram Parishad" means a Gram Parishad established under section 8;

(k) "head of family" means the senior male member of a family who manages its affairs;

(l) "land" does not include homestead land;

(m) "landless persons" includes a person owning land not exceeding such limit as may be determined by the Gram Pariahad of the gramdan village coneerned;

(n) "owner" means—

(i) in relation to land held by a tenant with permanent or alienable interest in the land, the tenant; .

(ii) in relation to land held under a grant, lease or assignment from the State Government, the holder ; and

(iii) in relation to any other land, the person to whom the land belongs;

(o) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act ;

(p) "prescribed authority" means an authority appointed by the State Government, by notification in the Offkcial Gazette, for all or any of the purposes of this Act ;

(q) "regulations" means regulations made by a Gram Parishad under this Act;

(r) "village" means an area defined, surveyed and recorded as a distinct and separate village in the revenue records of the district in which it is situate.

(2) The expression signifying 'residing' in a village or a part of a village means residing ordinarily in such village or such part, and the expression 'resident' shall be construed accordingly