State Lands Devoted to the Extension of
Cultivation.
Contents
FINANCIAL COMMISSIONER’S STANDING ORDER NO. 35
State Lands Devoted to the Extension of
Cultivation
Original Issue, dated 24th November, 1909.
First Reprint, dated 28th September, 1920.
Second Reprint, dated 10th September, 1951.
In
connection with this Standing Order Chapter XXII and Appendices III and IV of
the Land Administration Manual should be consulted.
1. Whenever it is proposed to sell
waste land or to give it away as a reward grant, care must be taken that a
proclamation is issued giving notice of the intended sale or grant, and making
the completion of the sale or grant contingent on the rejection of any claims
that may be brought under Act XXIII of 1863.
Small plots of nazul land are sold from time to time. As to these Government runs little risk and
no special procedure is required. No
case of the sale of grant of the proprietary right in land of any value should
if the whole or part of the land is cultivated, be disposed of until a deed of
sale or gift containing all covenants necessary to safeguard Government, has
been approved by the Legal Remembrancer. [See also Appendix III(6) and (7),
Land Administration Manual].
2. Execution of deeds - The execution of the instruments
noted below should be performed by the Deputy Commissioner in all ordinary
cases and in those cases in which forms are prescribed, but in cases where the
forms are varied or any special conditions are inserted, but in cases where the
forms are varied or any special conditions are inserted, the approval of
Government should be obtained to the deeds, which would then most conveniently
be signed by a Secretary:-
(a)
Instruments
of free grants of proprietary right in land.
(b)
Instruments
whereby property is mortgaged to the Government as security for a loan.
(c)
Instruments of exchange of land.
3. Additions to, and
deductions from, the Land Revenue Roll on account of grants or leases: - Sanction to the additions to, or
deductions from, the Fixed Land Revenue Roll which are necessitated by grants,
sales and leases of waste land, sanctioned or cancelled should be obtained on
the Form of Comparative Demand Statement prescribed in paragraph 9 of Standing
Order No.31, as soon as possible on receipt of orders: and in any case in time
for the necessary changes to be incorporated in the next year’s roll.
B—Alienation and Assessment of Town
Sites, the property of the State
4. The following paragraphs contain the
orders of the Government of India on this subject:-
(i) Treatment of small plots: - Where
Government property in any town or station consists merely of isolated plots
the areas of which are inconsiderable, effective control by Government is
difficult, and the income derived is seldom commensurate with the trouble of
management. In such cases no change
should be made in the existing practice.
(ii) Treatment
of large plots: - But where Government is the owner of the land upon which
a town or station stands, save in so far as it has been already alienated, or
where there are plots of land belonging to Government of larger area than is
contemplated in the preceding paragraph, the interests of the State are of
importance, and it is desirable that the main principles upon which they are
dealt with should be uniform. The objects which these principals should secure
are three-fold: first, that the grantee should in all cases acquire such security
of tenure as to afford a sufficient inducement for the expenditure of capital
in building and improvement; secondly that the source of revenue should in no
case be permanently alienated, but that a rent should in all cases be fixed,
subject to periodical revision; and, thirdly, that the amount of rent to be
taken at each revision should be subject to such limitations as may be
necessary to secure the grantee in his property.
(iii) Possible
forms of tenure: - The Government of India have left it to State
Governments to decide whether sites should be sold, or leased, or granted on a
permanent occupancy right. The tenure
may take the form of (1) the
full proprietary rights, subject to periodical revision of the land assessment;
(2) a leasehold tenure for a term of years, with or without right to renewal,
the incidents of which would be regulated by the instrument of lease; or: (3) a
statutory occupancy tenure, some or all of the incidents of which would be
regulated by the local law applicable to such tenures in force for the time
being. It is not intended to imply that
sale should be resorted to only in the case in which the proprietary right is
disposed of. The State Government can
allow the local authority to put up for sale, or to grant, subject to a
premium, a lease of or a right of occupancy in town-land plots belonging to the
State which it is proposed to make available for building purposes. If sites are leased, the lease should not
ordinarily be for a shorter period than thirty years, and should in all cases
provide for renewals up to a minimum period of ninety years, if not in
perpetuity.
(iv) Ground
rent to be fixed: - Ground rent should in all cases be fixed. It should not ordinarily exceed 33 per cent
of the letting value of the site, or be less than the highest rate at which
land revenue is assessed on lands in the neighbourhood. It should be subject to revision not less
frequently than at each renewal, or, if the grant is in perpetuity, at
intervals not longer than thirty years; and at each revision the above
limitation should apply. It is not
intended by this that the full value of such lands, being the property of the
State, should be foregone. In towns
where sites are valuable, the restriction of the ground-rent to one-third of
the full competitive rent is either inapplicable, or, if adopted, should be
accompanied by provisions requiring an initial payment to be made by the
grantee for the remainder of the value.
(v) Renewals
of leases:- The above principles should be followed in future, and applied,
not only to all new grants, but also to all renewals of existing grants or
leases which may fall in future, so far as they are not inconsistent with their terms.