CHAPTER V
210. Revenue officers under the
land revenue and tenancy acts. The Deputy commissioner as the head of the revenue administration of
his district is known as the collector, and his assistants, including
tahsildars and nain-tehsildars as assistant collectors of the first of second
grade. Under the land revenue and tenancy acts there are the sane classes of
revenue officers, and a revenue officer of any grade so deemed to be a revenue
court of the same grade. The powers of the collector and assistant collectors
as revenue officers are described in the next chapter, and their jurisdiction
as revenue courts in chapter XXIII On first appointment , assistant
commissioners and extra assistant commissioner, exercise ex-officio the powers
of assistant collectors of the second grade. As soon as they have been invested
with second class magisterial and civil powers, they become ipso facto
assistant collectors of the first grade. Tehsidars and naib-tehsildars,as such
are assistant collectors of the second grade but the former may be appointed
assistant collector of the first grade. The deputy commissioner is a collector
by virtue of his office, under the acts and so it is not necessary to gazette
him such powers but the local government nay confer all of any of the powers of
a collector on any other revenue officer in the district. When a general
reassessment is in progress, it is usual to give to the settlement officer all
the powers of a collector under the land revenue act, except those which relate
to the collection of revenue. Instruction as to the division of work between
the deputy commissioner and the settlement officer will be found in appendix vi
of the settlement manual.
211. Revenue officers also
magistrates. The
collectors and his assistant’s are also magistrates. This concentration in a
single hand of executive and judicial functions has been a subject of
controversy. The advantages resulting from it were thus set forth by Thomason-
“the influence and the opportunity of beneficial exertion which result
from this are great . it is essential to the advancement of the public
interests, entrusted the collector that complete security of life and property
should exist throughout the district. It is essential to the development of
industry that all lawless violence should be repressed, and so repressed as
least to interfere with the comfort and welfare of the peaceful and well
disposed. The strong establishments in the revenue department may be made the
efficient agents for strengthening and regulating the police, and the
magistrate, in the discharge of his duties as collector, will have opened out to
him channels of information and sources of influence which when duly improved,
cannot fail to exercise a most beneficial effect.”
212. Relations of deputy commissioner with officers of other
departments.
Thomson’s remarks on the many-sided character of a deputy commissioner’s work
are also worth quoting-
“nothing can pass the district of
which it is not the duty of the collector to keep himself informed and to watch
the operation. The vicissitudes if trade, the administration of civil justice,
the progress of public works, must all affect materially the interests of the
classes of whom he is the constituted guardian. Officers interference in
matters beyond his immediate control must be avoided, but temperate and
intelligent remonstrance against anything which he sees to be wrong so one of
his most important duties.” !
if he shows tact and discretion, and cultivates personal relates
with officers of other departments employed in his district, he will usually
find that they are ready to attend carefully to any representations which he
finds it his duty to make to them. The administration of civil justice is no
longer within his orbit, but even here it is his duty to report to his
commissioner matters affecting the welfare and contentment of the people.
213. Cancelled.
214. Qualification required for successful district administration. To manage a district successfully require qualities rarely found united in a single person. No man can properly represent government to the people who is lacking in sympathy or in the power of conversing with them easily in their own tongue. But to these qualities must be added patience and promptitude, tact and firmness, accessibility without familiarity, a Sherwood appreciation of knowledge of the details of all branches of his duty and great capacity for personal exertion, with a willingness to hand over to trustworthy subordinates a large share of the work, while maintaining complete control over the machinery of administration. One great secret of success is the power of making full use of assistants in all grades. The collector who insists on doing everything himself is sure to leave many things undone and to fritter away on small details time that should be devoted to more important matters. At the same time ,he is responsible for and bound to control, all the doings of his subordinates ,and there is nothing they more readily believe then that this or that official, whose duties bring him much in contact with his master has an unique influence over him. The work should be carefully laid out the part of it which is entrusted to each officer and the limits within which he may act in his own authority being explained to him. No one can do this who has not himself a thorough acquaintance with every branch of district work and of the powers and capacities of his establishment it may be said that much of the success of district administration depends on accuracy of judging of how much may suitability be left to others and how much must be done by the deputy commissioner himself.
215. Aids to rapid acquisition of knowledge of a district. Every deputy commissioner is bound,
when making over charge, to hand to his successor a confidential memorandum
calling his attention to the most important features of the district
administration and supplying him with notes as to the chief matters which are
pending and as to the character and capabilities if his principal subordinates.
Much information regarding the district lies ready to hand in the gazetteer and
on settlement and assessment reports. If these sources of information are
supplemented by diligent personal
enquiry and systematic touring,
it is possible to obtain a real grasp of the work in a comparatively short
space of time.
216
Cancelled
217. Extra assistant
commissioners and tahsildars. The efficiency of a collector’s administration depends greatly on the
extent to which he can get good work out of his colleagues and subordinates and
this in turn depends to large extent on his own conduct towards them. Under the
peculiar social difficulties of the country, the accurate estimate of character
obtainable from the confidences of private intercourse is difficult to secure,
and it becomes ass the more important to give free access to them in all
official matters and to take every step to inspire them with confidence in his
judgement , rectitude and impartiality. Unwarranted suspicion may be as fatal
as unwarranted confidence. These officers are the expectants of the collector’s
orders, they must be in great measure, the exponents of his will, and should be
to some degree his confidential advisers in cases of difficulty. It will be
found good policy to consult these who are best able to give advice, and to
weight their expressed opinions impartially and dispassionately.
218. Clerks and readers. The sympathetic treatment of clerks
and readers is usually well repaid by better quality of work; forcing upon them
irregular hours, keeping them waiting at the officer’s house, or insisting upon
their standing for long stretches of time is apt to interfere with the
rendering of full reduced.
219. Training of assistant commissioners. The responsibility of deputy commissioners
towards assistant commissioners under them is if a very special character in
view of the fact that they may themselves in a few years be placed in charge of
districts.
It is of great importance that they
should receive a thorough training in the different branches of district
administration, and the following orders have recently been issued on the
subject:-
During his first year the newly
joined officer should-
(a)
pass
the departmental examinations in all subjects, including urdu and Punjabi;
(b)
familiarize
himself with the people os the Punjab,
especially the villagers, so that he may be able toured stand their dealings
with each other and relations with Government;
(c)
do
enough magi’s magisterial work to be able that a fairly early date after
passing his examinations to perform the
duties of ill was magistrate, or even sub-divisional officer, with confidence;
(d)
acquire
a working knowledge of elementary revenue work, both as a revenue officer and
as a revenue court; and
(e)
undergo
training in treasury, office work and general administration.
It is a mistake to give
newly joined officer routine executive work during their first six months of
service. The average assistant commissioner arrives without any experience of
essentials. He hopes and expects to be given work at once, and is only too
pleased to take over a “subject” such as passports of the licensing of motor
vehicles. His request for work is sometimes difficult to resist , but if it is
acceded to, he is almost certain to be deceived by his clerks and may learn
habits of inaccuracy which he will later regret.
It should be recognized
that newly joined officers are for at least six months merely pupils in
executive matters and should have no independent responsibility.
2. The following
considerations should be borne in mind with regard to the matters mentioned in the
preceding paragraph:-
(a)
Departmental
Examinations- the learner must read booked in his own time. The main difficulty
is with the languages. A pass in the examination does not always mean that a
candidate is intelligible in the field. Assistant commissioners under training
should speak nothing but undue to the tahsildars and revenue assistants with
whom they tour, and these officers should have orders to correct their
mistakes. Urdu and Punjabi are best learned from selected court readers, who
are less prone to “talk down” to their pupis than the illqualified professional
teacher usually available in small stations. Urdu should be passed in may and
Punjab in October.
To fulfil the language test so far as that relates to
judicial work, officers should make a practice of reading through an easy
petition or other simple vernacular record every day from the time they
commence to study the language with a munshi, and should seek to acquire as
quickly as possible a knowledge of the translation of the translation of the
commoner terms used in the principal acts which they have to take up, and in
rules under them, particularly those under the land revenue and tenancy acts.
Parts of these should be read with the court reader and a careful record should
be made of the translation of all terms as they are met. As soon as a knowledge
of these has been acquired, officers should commence to practice themselves in
re-writing translations of as judgements, etc, which they will translate from
the vernacular as explained above.
Junior officers should
take every opportunity of mixing and talking with all classes of Indians, and
especially the agricultural classes. No one should ever be discouraged at slow
progress in speaking the language. Even in the case of those who find special difficulty in picking up a language
colloquially, experience shows that if only one struggles on persistently,
fluency is bound to come in the long run. It is a good plan to note under
various heads for ready reference all new words that one heads, and it is an
excellent plan for acquiring the accent and run of the language to repeat over
to oneself the words spoken by others as exactly as possible whether they
intend to go in for language reward examinations or not, all junior officers
should make a point of carefully reading through a certain number of good urdu
books vocabulary. Those offices, who, while studying the language , will take
the trouble to acquire some facility in oriental penmanship will find that they
will never regret the spent on this accomplishment.
(b)
Contract
with the people—a
knowledge of the people and their ways can be acquired only by systematic
touring. Newly joined officers should be told to keep their eyes open on tour
and to add questions about everything that they do not understand.
Administration matters such as crime, medical relief, education, the
co-operative movement, communications, agricultural improvement and public
health should be borne in mind and studied.
(c)
Magisterial
work—as regards
training in judicial work, the best plan at
first if for a junior officer to sit some hours daily in the court of
another magistrate or judge for a week or two, and with his codes in his hand
learn for by observation something of the actual practice of procedure and get
a flair for the method of reasoning which an intelligent magistrate employs in
arriving at his decisions. In learning this he will probably also pick up a
number of the terms of procedure. He should at the same time begin to work
through evidence and the proceedings as he does so, and afterwards using these
translations for re-translation into the vernacular. After two weeks of such
work an officer will probably have gained sufficient experience to enable him
to try very simple cases which the district magistrate into ordinary matters.
Every officers should continue for some methods to translate his English
judgements into the vernacular so as to acquire increased facility in this
respect.
(d)
Revenue
work—a properly
arranged program should give the assistant commissioner a general outline of
the routine revenue work of a district. Form his third month the learner will
do 2nd grade revenue court work. From his seventh or eighth month he
should be given the work of one or two kanungo’s circles. He should propose the
mode of partition in a few partition grade work in the circle selected
including revenue court work.
(e)
Training
in treasury, office work, and general administration—treasury training is best done in
the summer, whether in the plains of hills. The outlines of office organization
should be taught early-say, in the second month; no independent office work
should be given to a pupil until about the eighth month. The best” subject” to
be entrusted to him then are local bodies and or exercise. Both these subjects
involve the application of acts and rules; vernacular correspondence with
subordinate authorities; and formal English correspondence with superiors. By
“general administration” is meant those administrative matters which cannot be
grouped under any one head, but which occupy much of a depute commissioner’s
time, e.g. crime, the activities of the beneficent departments, elections,
political unrest and the like. The learner can best inform himself on these
matters by discussions with his deputy commissioner. He should also spend some days in the office of the
district board, which, when the deputy commissioner is chairman, is not under
the officer-in-charge of local bodies. These several matter require attention
on tour and the assistant commissioner should be instructed accordingly when
orders for each tour are given to him.
220. Tahsil may be made over to
assistant commissioner. After a time it is a good plan to put an assistant commissioner in
charge of a particular tahsil, and to make him spend in it a large part of the
cold weather. If this is done, he will take an interest in the welfare of his
charge, and exert himself to become fully acquainted with all that concerns it
and to prevent the occurrence of anything that is wrong. He will have an
opportunity of gaining a knowledge of every branch of his duty which will fit
him to manage a sub-division or a district when entrusted to him. An assistant
in charge of a tahsilhas an excellent opportunity, while refraining from any
undue interference with the tahsildar, of making himself familiar with the
daily routine of the work of a tahsil office, which is sure to be of great use
to him in the future.
221. Assistant commission not to
assume authority.
An assistant commissioner is subject to the control of the deputy commissioner
in all his work and should not, without his permission, issue orders making
important changes, lying down rules of practice or censuring or punishing
officials but he may recommend such measures to the deputy commissioner. He
should not correspond with the deputy commissioner by official letter or
robber, as through his office were separate and distinct, but by demi-official
letter and personal conference, or by sending up the vernacular file which
leads to the reference, usually with an English memorandum prefixed.
222. Settlement training of assistant commissioner. A certain number of assistant
commissioner are deputed, as opportunity offers, for a four months course of
training in tracts in which a general reassessment of land revenue is in
progress. Rightly employed, this period is long enough to give an intelligent
man a competent knowledge of survey and record work, and also of the board
features of assessment work. If a newly-joined assistant is sent for settlement
training, it is usual to give him two months training in his fist cold weather
and two in a later year. The instructions as to the nature of the training ti
be given will be found in standing order no.8. as the opportunity for
settlement training is now less frequently available, officers are being sent
to a revenue training class in the cold weather.
223. Appointment of extra
assistant commissioners. Extra assistant commissioners are appointed partly by selection by
selection of men who have done approved service in lower appointments, partly
by competitive examination and partly by the direct appointment of young men of
good family. The rules on the subject will be bond in the punjab government
notification no.9490, dated 19th 1930. Candidates who obtain the
post of extra assistant commissioner by competition or by direct appointment
are on probation for two years. For the first nine months of this period they
receive training in a district under settlement or they may be sent to the
revenue training class.
224. Revenue assistant. An assistant or extra assistant commissioner is posted
to every district, except shimla, as revenue assistant. An officer in charge of
an outpost os the revenue assistant for his own sub-division, and during a general
reassessment the extra assistant settlement officer is generally considered to
be the revenue assistant of the district.
225. Duties of revenue
assistant. The
revenue assistant disposes of whatever share of magisterial work the district
magistrate thinks fit to allot to him. But the bulk of his time must be given
to the revenue business of the district, that is to say speaking broadly to the
classes of work subscribed in this book. He is not available for the duties of
treasury officer or subordinate be judge, and should never be given any share
of civil judicial work.
226. Tours of deputy
commissioners.
Obviously a deputy commissioners cannot manage with success the great committed
to his care without an intimate personal knowledge of every part of it. Much of
the work, moreover, that is carried on can only be effective supervised by him
on the spot. Above all it is impossible to keep in touch with the people unless
he seeks frequent opportunities of that informal and frank intercourse with
them which is only possible in camp. A deputy commissioner is therefore
expected to pass a considerable part of each cold season on tour and to visit
as far as possible, every part of his charge no. 67 nights. The work which must
be performed at the headquarters of the district should be so arranged as to
make this feasible.
227. Tours
of deputy commissioners. Obviously a deputy commissioners cannot manage with success the great
committed to his care without an intimate personal knowledge of every part of
it. Much of the work, moreover, that is carried on can only be effective
supervised by him on the spot. Above all it is impossible to keep in touch with
the people unless he seeks frequent opportunities of that informal and frank
intercourse with them which is only possible in camp. A deputy commissioner is
therefore expected to pass a considerable part of each cold season on tour and
to visit as far as possible, every part of his charge no. 67 nights. The work
which must be performed at the headquarters of the district should be so
arranged as to make this feasible.
228. Tour of assistant and extra
assistant commissioners. During each touring season every assistant commissioner should be sit
into camp in turn ,and as far as possible, extra assistant commissioners should
be given opportunities of going into camp. The revenue assistant must spend the
greater part of the cold weather in moving through the different tahsils, and
it is essential that he should be on tour in the months during which the crop
inspections of the spring and autumn harvests are in progress. Unless there are
special reasons to the contrary, he should normally spent at least 120
days(including 90 nights) away from the headquarters during the year, of which
84 days should ordinary be between 1st October to 31st
march and 36 days between 1st April to 30th September.
229.Tour of assistant and extra assistant commissioners. During each touring season every assistant
commissioner should be sit into camp in turn ,and as far as possible, extra
assistant commissioners should be given opportunities of going into camp. The
revenue assistant must spend the greater part of the cold weather in moving
through the different tahsils, and it is essential that he should be on tour in
the months during which the crop inspections of the spring and autumn harvests
are in progress. Unless there are special reasons to the contrary, he should
normally spent at least 100 days(including 50 nights)away from the headquarters
during the year, of which 63 days should ordinary be between 1st
October and 31st march and 27 days between 1st April and
30th September.
230.Instructions to be given to assistant going on tour. It rests with the deputy
commissioner to arrange what parts of the district an assistant or extra
assistant commissioner should visit, and to indicate the subjects, to which he
should specially direct his attention. Before he starts he should be given a
good detailed map of the tact through which he is to pass with a skeleton map
on which to mark the line of his route, and a written memorandum of
instructions. The last may be very brief, except in the case of a newly-joined
assistant. It should contain among other things, a detail of the expenditure on
public works and takavi had of wells, the assessment of which has been remitted under the rules
given in paragraph 558 of this manual, during the past year in the tract to be
visited so that the works which have been constructed, or repaired or fallen
out of use may be inspected. The first tour of a young assistant commissioner
is the best in the company of the deputy
commissioner himself and later he should be sent on short tours with the
revenue assistant and tahsildar and then alone.
231. Chief object of tour. The chief object be to kept in view
by an officer when in camp s to become acquainted with the people himself, and
to give them an opportunity of becoming acquainted with him. For this purposes
it is necessary to see the people in their own villages, to encourage their
visits and talk with them frankly so as to ascertain their thoughts ans.
feelings, the matters in which they are chiefly interested and the manner in
which they regard them.
232. Advantage of local enquiry
in revenue cases.
It is generally adjustable to decide many revenue cases on the spot. When these
are mere matters of the routine, and present no difficulty, they are perhaps
better settled in office then elsewhere. But there are many cases, for example
contested partitions, which for their right decision nay depend almost entirely
on local peculiarities, and these can obviously be investigated better on the
spot then elsewhere. As regards disputes about land and rent, while it is
difficult, owing to local feuds, to get at the truth anywhere there is most
hope of doing so in the village than in the district court house.
233. Inspection of alluvian and
dilution returns and of village records. The inspection of alluvion and diluvion
returns, and of the village records prepared by petwards and kanungos should be
done locally. Attention should be directed to the questions weather the
prescribed paper and registers ave been prepared in accordance with the rules
and circular orders on the subject, whether they are complete to the date and
whether the entries correctly represent the facts to which they relate.
234. Enquiry into management of
government forests. Where
there are government forests, their condition should be ascertained, the
methods of management should be enquired into and attention should be paid to
the relations between the forests establishment and the people. Forest
management is often regarded by the people as a grievance, and there are
undoubtedly many points of detail in which local enquiries alone may bring
proper understanding. But all matters of this kind require to be very carefully
and discreetly handled and should not be taken o without sufficient reason. All
roadside groves and avenues should receive attention.
235. Ascertainment of characters
of Indian subordinates. It is a matter of great importance to learn what character is borne by
the tahsildar and naib-tahsildar and by the subordinate Indian officials in the
tahsil. As regards subordinate officials, there is usually no harm in making
direct enquiries from respectable persons. But great care must be taken to
preserve the dignity of an official of the rank of a tahsildar, and to question
the people of his own tahsil as to his conduct would generally be indiscreet.
But, if an officer is freely accessible to people of all classes, hints will be
dropped and matters will be brought to his notice from which he can gradually
form a very good idea of the estimation in which the tahsildar is held.
236. Enquiry into general state
of tract visited. The
general condition of the tract should come under review. The principal points
for enquiry are the following:-
(a)
crop-are those on the fraud and good
condition? What has been the history of previous three or four harvests ?have
any new varieties been introduced /
(b)
cultivation
and irrigation- are
they contracting of expanding? Is takavi freely taken for the construction of
wells?
(c)
People- is the population increasing of
falling off? What is its conditions as regards health ? are owners holding
becoming unduly small by sub-division? is much land changing hands ? if so,
what is the reason ? and who are the principal purchasers and mortgagees ?
(d)
Lives
stock – is it
increasing of diminishing ? and what is its condition ? how are the well cattle
proured ? and what do they usually cost if not home-bred ? is there any sale of
surplus stock ?
(e)
Land
revenue-what
proportion does the assessment bear to the value of the produce? is its
distribution over estates and holdings equitable ? are collections easily made
or are coercive processes necessary ? have there been any large remission and
suspensions ? and, if so, why ? what is the prospect of recovering the land
revenue under suspension ?
237. There are many other matters which an officer
has to look into when on tour which do not fall within the scope of this
manual, such for example as education, co-operation, sanitary measures,
vaccination, the state of crime and the conduct of the people, the exercise
arrangements and the extent to which smuggling and illicit distillation
prevail. All than as, dispensaries and schools should be carefully inspected,
and roads, rest-houses, sarais and encamping-grounds should be examined, and
their condition noted. If there are co-operative societies their working should
be enquired into.
CAUTION : Read separate para for Punjab and
Haryana
238. Inspection of tahsil
officers. When an
officer halts at the headquarters of a tahsil, he should inspect the
tahsildar’s office. Every tahsil office should be thoroughly overhauled every
six months. The deputy commissioner should himself inspect it at least once a
year. If he cannot make the second inspection himself, he should direct the
revenue assistant, or some other experienced assistant or extra assistant commissioners, to make it for him.
The scrutiny should include all branches of work-judicial treasury, stamps,
excise, takavi, land revenue and the kanungo’s record. Special attention should
be given to the examination of the records of rights and the agricultural
registers and of the accounts relating to the deferent branches of revenue. As
to the latter, the inspecting officer should ascertain whether they are
regularly kept up and without any unnecessary resort to coercive processes. The
causes of all outstanding balances should be traced. Particular attention
should always be paid to the running register of miscellaneous revenue. A
searching scrutiny of tehsil accounts on the spot os far more likely to detect
irregularities and prevent their recurrence than fifty calls for written
explanations from the district office. Even if an officer had no other duties
to perform, it would be difficult for him to overhaul the work of a tehsil
thoroughly in a single day. A perfunctory inspection is worse than useless and
will merely encourage the establishment of continued irregularities and
malpractice’s which have escaped detection. A tour should therefore be so
arranged as to allow of a halt of several days at the headquarters of a tehsil.
If this is not possible, it is best to take up one or more branches of work and
examine them thoroughly, and to leave the rest for a future occasion. Tehsil in
section can sometimes be done most thoroughly in the hot season. Through
ordinary camping is out of the question, there is nothing to prevent an officer
from spending some time at each tahsil headquarters.
239. Inspection of tehsil
officers halts at the headquarters of a tahsil, he should inspect the
Tehsildar’s office.
Every tahsil office should be thoroughly overhauled every six months. The sub
divisional officer(civil)will cinduct inspetion of the tahsil office under his
charge after close of Kharif harvest while that of the other tahsil of the same
dialect after the close of Rabi harvest of the same year. The Deputy
commissioner should himself inspect to at least once a year. If he cannot make
the second inspection himself, he
should direct the Revenue assistant, or some other experienced Assistant pr
Extra Assistant Commissioner to make it for him. The scrotum should include all
branches of work-judicial treasury, stamps, excise, takavi land revenue and
the kanungo’s record of rights and the
agricultural registers and of the accounts relating to the different branches
of revenue. As to the latter the inspecting officer should ascertain whether
they are regularly kept up and whether
the amounts due to Government are punctually realized, and without any
unnecessary resort to coercive processes. The causes of all outstanding
balances should be traced. Particular attention should always be paid to the running register of
miscellaneous revenue. A searching scrutiny of tehsil accounts on the spot os
far more likely to detect irregularities and prevent their recurrence then fifty calls for written explanations
from the district office. Even of an officer had no other duties to perform ,it
would no difficult for him to overhaul the work of a tahsil thoroughly in a
single say. A perfunctory inspection is worse than useless and will merely
encourage the establishment of continued irregularities and malpractice which have escaped
detection. A tour should therefore be
so arranged as to allow of halt of several day sat the headquarters of a
tahsil. If this is not possible, it is best to take up in or more branches of
work and examine them thoroughly and to leave the rest for a future occasion.
Tahsil inspection can sometimes be done mone thoroughly in the hot season.
Though ordinary camping from spending some time at each tahsil headquarters.
240. Diaries of assistant and extra assistant commissioners. Assistant commissioners, European
Extra assistants and Indian Extra Assistants under training who know English
sufficiently well, while on tour, are required to keep a diary. It must be
written up in the spot from day to day, or every short intervals during the
tour, and must not take the shape of a report or narrative prepared at the and
of the tour. The order will be chronological and not by
Subject. The diary should be written
on half-margin, and attention should be paid to the legibility of the writing.
In order that it may be really useful, and that my practical suggestions
contained in it may receive due attentions, it should be as concise as
possible, and all unnecessary discussions on the theoretical subjects and
remarks on the ordinary incidents of travelling should be avoided. Marginal
references starting the subject matter of each paragraph should be inserted.
The dairy should be forwarded weekly to the collector of inspection and
remarks. At the close of the tour the memorandum furnished by the collector
should be attached to it, and a rough sketch map of the route taken should also
be appended. The conclusions drawn from the materials collected should be
embodied in a brief general note on the state of the tracts visited, which
should be form an appendix to the diary. The papers, thus put together, and
submitted to the commissioner, who forward, for the perusal of the financial
commissioners, and diaries which he considered deserving of special notice, and
the financial commissioners lay before government those which in their opinion
are worthy of special commendation. The commissioner is empowered to exempt
senior assistants, who have held charge of a district, and assistant
commissioner in charge of sub-divisions, from keeping up a diary while tour,
but this exemption should rarely be made in the case of young officers as the
necessity of writing a dear develops powers of observation. Indian extra
assistant commissioner not under training should keep such notes of the work
done while on tour as the deputy commissioner may prescribe.
241.Time-scale pay of tahsildars and
naib-tahsildars.
The time scale pay of tahsildars is RS. 200-10-270-10-350, with an efficiency
bar at Rs. 270. There is also a selection grade of tour posts at Rs. 400 and of
eight posts at Rs. 375 per mensem each. The time-scale pay of naib-tahdsildars
is rs.80-5-140—7 ½-185 with an efficiency bar at Rs. 140.
242.Appointment,
etc., of tahsilders and naib-tahsildes, Tahsildera are appointed by the
financial commissioner and naib-tehsildars by the commissioner of the division.
Tahsildars may be dismissed by the Financial commissioner and naib-tahsildar by
the commissioner. For full instructions as to the qualifications required, the
examinations which canidares muster pass, promotions, etc. the Financial
commissioner standing order No.12 may be consulted. The local Government may
direct to the financial commissioner to appoint a person not eligible under the
rules to be either a tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, but it is a concision of such
an appointment that the haled shall,
within two years, pass the prescribed
examination.
243.Settlement training of
naib-tahsildars and naib-tahsildar can-didates. Any naib-tahsildar who has passed the
tahsildar’s examination may be sent by the commissioner of the division for a
year’s training in a district under reassessment. The commissioner may also
require any candidate for the past of naib-tahsildatr to undergo the practical
training in revenue work prescribed by paragraph 7 of financial commissioners
standing order No 12 in a district under settlement.
244.Duties of tahsildar. The duties of the tahsildar within
his tahsil are almost manifold as those of the Deputy commissioner within
his district. He is not expected to
hear any civil suits, but his magisterial work is important. In all matters of
administration he must be, within his own charge ,the Deputy commissioner’s
principal agent and his power for good or evil is very great. His revenue
duties are so important that there has occasionally been a tendency to make
them all in all. But it must be admitted that his efficiency, more than that of
am other affaire in the district, except the Revenue assistant, depends on
capacity for revenue work. No degree of excellence in other respects can alone
for failure properly to direct and control the patwari and kanungo agency, to
collect the revenue punctually where the people are climate of season, which
renders suspensions of remissions necessary, and to carry out, within his own
sphere the other duties connected with land administration which are described
in this book.
245.Division of tahsil for inspection
work. For
inspection work and the attestation of mutations in records, the estates of
each tahsil are divided yearly between the tahsil date and the naib-tahsildar.
The portions if the tahsil allotted should be changed every year on October 1st
so that the responsibility of the tehsildar for the whole of his charge may not be impaired. It is within
the direction of the deputy commissioner to postpone redistribution for special
reasons, such as the prompt disposal of pending revenue work.
246.Extra naib-tahsildars for mutation
work. In the cold
weather extra niab-tahsildars are sometimes posted to districts where mutation
work is very heavy. These men should not be employed as general assistants to
the tahsildar, but should be required to devote the whole of their time to the
attestation of mutations. At the same time, the tahsildar and the
naib-tahsildar should not be relieved of all their mutation work. The best plan
is to transfer the whole mutation work of certain zails or kanugo’s circles to
the extra naib-tahsildar.
247.Tours of tahsildars and
naib-tahsildars. Tahsildars
and naib-tahsildars should spend alternate fort nights in camp during the seven
months from the beginning of October to the end of April. During the rest of
year systematic touring is impossible, but an active tahsildar will take
opportunities management of his charge cannot be efficient unless he has a
through knowledge of his village.
248.Plan of tours should be drawn up. A plan of cold –weather inspection
work should be drawn up, through the duties of a tahsildar are so multifarious
and he is liable to so many unexpected calls upon his time that it is
impossible to adhere to it strictly. If the work is properly laid out
beforehand, the tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should be able in the seven
months of camping to make between them a through security of every kanungo’s
and patwari’s work and to visit most of the estates in the tahsil. Deputy
commissioner should impress on their subordinates that perfunctory inspections
are worse than useless, and that a man who has done his best will not be blamed
because he has failed to see every village. A task which in many cases, is
impossible. The tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, when on tour, should always carry
with him a small-scale sketch map of his charge, showing village boundaries and
sites, main roads, and canals, and the limits of zails and of kanungos and
patwaris circles. He should also have with him a list of all takavi loans
grante in the tract to be visited.
249.Inspection of estate. On visiting on estate the tahsildar
should attest the mutations. He should also inspect the village site and lands,
if he is not already familiar with them, and should examine the village revenue
registers and note points for enquiry. He should then discuss the condition and
circumstances of the estate with the land owners, the village officers, the
zaildar and the kangungo paying special attention special attention to the
cause of any large amount of alienation and the reasons for any difficulty
experienced in collecting the revenue. He should take the opportunity of seeing
any works for which takavi has been given. The tahsildar’s hairiest inspection
work is referred to in chapter ix
250.Revenue work to be dealt with in
village to which it legates. In order to avoid taking agriculturists away from their homes, all
revenue work, especially disputed partition, lambardari and muafi cases should,
as far as possible, be dealt with at the village to which they relate. By this
means the attendance of all the parties will be secured, and the facts of each
case will be easily ascertained. In the case of estates for which a detailed
jamalndi is to be drawn up during the agricultural year mutation work must be
disposed of in the village itself. In there cases, the naib-tahsildar or
tahsildar, if he cannot conveniently visit the estate, may pass orders on its
mutations at any other place within the patwari’s circle.
“Revenue officers should attest mutations according to
priority based on the date of try of report in the patwari’s diary. In cases
where a mutation cannot be attested interim orders must in variably be
recorded.”
Powers of revenue officers
251.Powers of revenue officers. There are five classes of revenue
officers: the financial commissioner, the commissioner, the collector, the
assistant collector of the 1st grade, and the assistant collector of
the 2nd grade. The deputy commissioner of a district is by virtue of
his office its collector a revenue officer who is transferred from one district
to another retains the powers with which he was invested in the former
district.
252.Powers of financial commissioner. There are many matters on which the
financial commissioner is empowered by the land revenue and tenancy acts to
make rules, but these do not take effect till they have been sanctioned by the
local government. There are also a number of executive proceedings regarding
which his special orders required. For example he fixes the amounts and dates
of the installments by which land revenue is paid, and if, to recover an error,
the extreme step of annulling the assessment of an estate or holding, or of
selling it outright has to be taken his sanction must first be obtained.
253.Power of commissioner. While the land revenue and
tendency acts confer ample powers of general control on commissioners, there is
practically no particular matter which they can legally deal with on their own
initiative, or for the very few exception is that sales of immovable property
for the recovery of arrears are not complete will they have received their
confirmation.
254.Powers of collector and assistant
collection. The
land revenue act declares that certain things must be done and certain orders
must be passed by the collector and that other things may be done, and other
orders may be passed, by “a revenue officer” there are but two cases in which
any difference between the powers of the two grades of assistant collectors is
mentioned in the act. Section 126 provides that proceedings relating to the
partition of land must be taken an assistant collectors of the 2nd grade
do not of compelling parties before them to submit certain matters to
arbitration. But by section 10 the local government has power ,where the act does not expressly by what class of revenue officers
any function to be discharged, to determine the matter by notification, and
this was done soon after the enactment came into force. The class of revenue
officer which can dispose of the enactment came into force. The class of
revenue officer which can dispose of the various applications and proceedings which
arise under the tenancy act is stated in its 76th section. It will
be observed that in the distribution of business, there is given no distinction
made between the powers of a collector and those if an assistant collector of
the 1st grade. But the application of a landlord for leave to take
an improvement on the holding of a tenant with a right of occupancy must be
presented to the collector, and he alone can enhance the rent after the
improvement has been made and reduce it again after it has ceased to exist.
255.Enquiries
by subordinate officers. It would be absolutely impossible for superior revenue
officers, and especially for the deputy commissioner, to dispose of the
numerous matters on which their orders are required, if the proceedings from
first to last had to be held before themselves. Provision has therefore been made that “a revenue officer may refer
any case which he is empowered to dispose of ….to another revenue officer for
investigation and report, and may decide the case upon the report” this useful
power must be exercised with discretion. In matters of any importance the
parties who will be directly affected by an order should be present when it is
passed, and should be head as far as is necessary. However unpalatable a
decision may be to a man, it loses half its sting if he feels that his case has
been fully understood and carefully considered.
256.Exclusion of jurisdiction of civil
courts. Civil
courts have no jurisdiction in respect of any matters of which revenue officers
are empowered by the land revenue and tenancy acts to dispose of.
257.Execution by revenue officers of
certain orders of civil courts. On the other hand, any order which a civil or criminal court issues for
the attachment, sale, or delivery of land, must be executed through the
collector or a revenue officer appointed by the collector for that purpose. The
rules on the subject will be found in the financial commissioner’s standing
order no. 64 and the rules and orders of the high court, volume 1, chapter
xii-order xxi, civil procedure code. When the produce of land is attached no
obstacle must be placed in the way of the person to whom it belongs reaping,
gathering or storing it, and every care must
be taken for its preservation. As executing of the orders of civil and
criminal courts the function of a revenue officer is purely ministerial. He is
not concerned with the priority of the order passed. But if it is on the face
it illegal, if, for example, it directs the collector to sell land belonging to
a member of an agricultural tribe, he will be justified in pointing this out to
the civil court and, if necessary, to the commissioner.
258.Functions of collector under section
72 of the civil procedure code. Under the provisions of section 72 of the civil procedure code (act v of
1908) a court may authorize the collector to arrange for the satisfaction of a
decree by the temporary alienation or management of land belonging to a
judgement-debtor. The rules on the subject are quoted in the financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 64. Any alienation approved of would
naturally take the form of one or other of the kinds of the mortgage allowed by
act xiii of 1990. Where the judgement –debtor is deprived of cultivating
occupancy of the transferred land enough should be excluded from the transfer
to furnish at least a bare subsistence for himself and his family.
259.Procedure of revenue officers. The produce of revenue officers is
mainly governed by sections 18-23, 127-135 and 152 of the land revenue act, and
by a law rules issued under various sections of the land revenue and tenancy
acts. Any number of tenants cultivating in the same estate may be made parties
to proceedings under chapter iii of the tenancy act, but no order or decree
must be made affecting any of them who has not had an opportunity of appearing
being heard.
260.Arbitration.
Sections 127-135 of the land revenue act relate to arbitration which may be
employed with the consent of parties in any proceeding, and in a few proceeding
without their consent. A revenue officer is not bound by the reward, but may
modify it or reject it altogether. Whatever his decision may be, it is open to
appeal, just as if there had been no arbitration. There are no provisions about
arbitration in the tenancy act, but a rule under it has made the provisions on
the subject in the land revenue act applicable to most of the proceedings under
the tenancy act.
261.Legal practitioners. Legal practitioners may appear in
proceedings before revenue officers, and law present applications on beheld of
their clients. Through a person chooses to be represented by a pleader his own
attendance may also be required, and no formal pleading will be head except in
lambardari, zaildari, mafi, mutation, and partition cases. A revenue agent
cannot, without the permission of the presiding officer, take any part in the
examination of witness, or address to him any argument on behalf of his client.
The fees of a legal practitioner are not allowed as costs in any proceeding
without an express order of the revenue officer passed for reasons which he is
bound to record. Legal practitioners cannot appear in proceedings under the
Punjab alienation of land Act. (xiii of
1990)