The Punjab Bhudan Yagna Regulations, 1961

Published vide Notification Punjab Government Revenue Department No. 2550-ARI/61/1801, dated the 3rd May, 1961.

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Short title.- These regulations may be called the Punjab Bhudan Yagna Board Regulations, 1961.
Definitions.- [Section 35] - In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) "Act" means the Punjab Bhudan Yagna Act, 1955;

(b) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Board;

(d) "Convener" means the convener of a Tehsil Committee;

(e) "Form" means a form appended to these regulations;

(f) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Board; and

(g) words and expressions used but not defined in these regulations and defined in the Act and rules made thereunder, shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Act and the rules, as the case may be.

Procedure and disposal of business of Board.- [Sections 10 and 35 (a)] - (1) (a) A meeting of the Board shall either be ordinary or special.

(b) The date, time and place of the meeting of the Board shall be fixed by the Chairman, or the Secretary after consultation with the Chairman.

(d) Notice of the meetings of the Board giving date, time and place and accompanied by the agenda of the meeting shall be sent by post under postal certificate to all members of the Board on the members' addresses recorded in the register maintained for the purpose.

(e) The Chairman may, whenever he thinks fit, call a special meeting after giving such notice as he may deem necessary.

(2) No business other than that specified in the agenda shall be transacted at the Board's meeting without the permission of the Chairman.

(3) The agenda of the meeting shall be taken for consideration in the order the Chairman deems fit.

(4)(a) The Secretary shall record or cause to be recorded the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting in a book to be kept for the purpose. The recorded minutes shall bear the signature of the Secretary and shall be read out and got confirmed at the next meeting. After these are confirmed the Chairman shall put his signatures thereon in token of their having been so confirmed :

Provided that the minutes of the last meeting shall not be submitted for confirmation at any meeting held before the expiry of a period of seven days of the meeting to which the minutes pertain.

(b) Any member of the Board may raise any objection with regard to the proceedings of the last meeting before the minutes are confirmed. It shall be for the Chairman to decide the matters objected to, and if necessary he may, after taking consensus of opinion of the members of the Board, make such alterations, variations or modifications in the minutes as he may deem proper.

(5)(a) If it is not possible to call the meeting of the Board, the decision may be taken by circulation.

(b) Any decision taken and implemented in accordance with clause (a), shall be read out to the members in the next meeting for their information.

(6) All matters concerning the work of the Board, which require instantaneous and immediate attention and action shall be dealt with either by the Chairman or by the Secretary:

Provided that anything done or any action taken under this sub-regulation shall be submitted in the next meeting of the Board for approval.

Remuneration and conditions of service of employees of Board.- [Sections 8, 9 and 35 (b)] - (1) The remuneration of the officers and servants of the Board shall be as mentioned against each :-

(i) Joint Secretary	fixed pay Rs. 175 per mensem.
(ii) Office Assistant	fixed pay Rs. 150 per mensem.
(iii) Clerks	fixed pay Rs. 125 per mensem each.
(iv) Field Officers	fixed pay of Rs. 125 per mensem each.
(v) Sewak	fixed pay of Rs. 75 per mensem.

Explanation. - The remuneration mentioned above includes deadness allowance.

(2) The officers and servants of the Board mentioned in sub-regulation (1) shall be entitled to rent free quarters. But in case the Board is unable to make suitable arrangement for their accommodation, the Joint Secretary, the Office Assistant and the Field Officer shall be given rent allowance of Rs. 25 per mensem and the Clerks and the Sewak not exceeding Rs. 15 per mensem, in each case.

(3) In case of emergency, like sickness or accident, the Chairman of the Board may sanction special financial help to the Secretary and the staff out of the Board's funds which shall be rupees 50.

(4) The services of any officer or servant employed by the Board, who fails to perform his duties efficiently, may be dispensed with by giving one month's notice.

Leave, travelling and daily allowance.- [Sections 8, 9 and 35 (b)] - (1) The Board shall, on account of a journey undertaken on Board's business, pay to the Chairman, the members of the Board, the Conveners, the regular employees of the Board and other workers specially engaged for land distribution work, actual travelling expenses not exceeding third class railway fare or bus fare, as well as tonga, rickshaw and coolie charges incurred during the journey. They shall also be eligible to actual daily expenditure, other than travelling expenses; subject to a maximum of Rs. 2.50 P., when on tour in connection with the work of the Board.

(2) If any person undertaking any journey in connection with the work of the Board finds it necessary to travel by upper class, he may, with the permission of the Chairman, be paid extra expenses incurred by him in this behalf.

(3) Suitable advances may also be granted to persons undertaking journeys in connection with the work of the Board.

(4) An employee of the Board shall be entitled to 15 days' casual leave in aggregate during one year.

Remuneration and duties of Secretary.- [Sections 4 (3), 9 and 35 (b)] - (1) The Secretary shall be paid an honorarium of Rs. 200 per mensem in addition to a rent free quarter or an allowance of Rs. 30 per mensem in lieu thereof.

(2) The duties of the Secretary shall be -

(a) to maintain or cause to be maintained the record of minutes of the meetings of the Board;

(b) to undertake all correspondence on behalf of the board;

(d) to prepare the annual budget of the Board for the financial year commencing from first April, not later than the thirty first day of January;

(e) to implement the decisions taken by the Board;

(f) to supervise and control the work of the officers and servants of the Board; and

(g) to sign contracts or appear on behalf of the Board, wherever necessary.

(3) (a) The Secretary may sanction contingency expenditure up to seventy- five rupees at a time.

(b) The Secretary shall open an account in the name of the Board in a Scheduled Bank, which shall be operated upon by the Chairman and the Secretary jointly.

Constitution and supersession of committees, filling of vacancies and removal of members thereof.- [Sections 15 & 32 (2) (c)] - (1) The term of office of Committee shall be one year and at the expiry of this period a new Committee shall be constituted :

Provided that the outgoing Committee shall continue in office till the new Committee is constituted.

(2) The outgoing members of the Committee shall be eligible for renomination.

(3) One of the members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board as Convener who shall preside over its meetings.

(4) The Convener or any other member of the Committee may, at any time, resign his office by submitting his resignation to the Board :

Provided that no such resignation shall take effect until it is accepted.

(5) The Board may, without assigning any cause, remove from office any member of the Committee who, in its opinion, has failed to perform or is unable to carry out his duties or has so abused his position as a member of the Committee as to render his continuance as such detrimental to the interest of the public or the Committee.

(6) The Board may supersede any Committee if it is satisfied that the Committee has failed to discharge its duties or to perform its functions without any reasonable cause.

(7) Any vacancy caused in a Committee either through death, removal or resignation or otherwise shall be filled in by the Board by nominating any other person for the remaining period for which his predecessor would have held office.

Procedure and disposal of business.- [Sections 16 and 35 (c)] - (1) The Convener shall call a meeting of the Committee wherever he feels necessary :

Provided that a period of one month shall not elapse between any two meetings.

(2) The notice of a meeting of the Committee stating time, date and place accompanied by the agenda shall be sent by the Convener to every member of the Committee by post under postal certificate at least six days before the date of the meeting.

(3) The quorum for the meeting shall be of three members.

(4) In the absence of the Convener, the meeting of the committee shall be presided over by any member chosen by the Committee to preside for the occasion.

(5) All questions at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of the members present.

(6) The agenda for a meeting shall be taken up in the following order -

(a) confirmation of the minutes of the last meeting,

(b) consideration of the items of the agenda of the last meeting which were left out for deliberation in the next meeting,

(7) The minutes of the proceedings of each meeting shall be recorded in the minute-book and shall be signed by the Convener. The minutes shall be read out and confirmed at the next meeting. If any member raises any objection in writing the Convener may, after taking the opinion of the Committee, make suitable alterations or modifications in the minutes.

(8) Any thing done or any resolution passed by the Committee shall not be questioned on account of the existence of any vacancy in the Committee.

(9) The Convener may dispose of any business he considers to be important and urgent without consulting the Committee :

Provided that anything done or any action taken by the Convener under this sub-regulation shall be put up before the Committee in its next meeting for approval.

(10) The Committee shall function strictly in accordance with the instructions of the Board.

Principles for distribution of land.- [Sections 23, 24 and 35 (d)] - (1) The members of the Board or the Committee, as the case may be, shall visit the village in which the land to be allotted is situated and carry out the survey of that land.

(2) They shall obtain full particulars of the land from the Lambardars and Patwaris and shall, for the purposes of allotment, prepare lots having approximately the same income annually. They shall also collect full particulars of the landless claimants of the land vesting in the Board.

(3) Each lot shall comprise of as much land as may, from time to time, be specified by the Board or the Committee with the approval of the Board.

(4) (a) Ordinarily five standard acres shall be allotted to a family :

Provided that the Board may, in any suitable case, enhance this limit.

(b) While making a lot of land, each lot shall be so prepared that there is least fragmentation of holding involved and the land comprised in the lot is convenient for cultivation by the allottee.

(5) As far as possible one-third of the land vesting in the Board shall be distributed amongst those members of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes who are landless.

(6) The land shall be distributed as far as possible amongst the inhabitants of the village in which the land is situated and while selecting landless persons for allotment preference shall be given in the following order :-

(i) persons who have bullock and ploughs but have no land to cultivate;

(ii) persons who were Seeris in cultivation but are now unemployed;

(iii) landless person who are tilling the land of others;

(iv) persons who are acting as Seeris with others; and

(v) persons who do not own any land and are desirous of cultivating land as they have no other means of livelihood.

Procedure for distribution.- [Sections 23, 24 and 35 (d)] - (1) Selection of persons to whom land vesting in the Board is to be given and the distribution of the land amongst them shall be made after holding an open meeting for which a previous notice shall be given in the village in which the land is situated by beat of drum. All the villagers including landless persons shall be invited to attend the meeting. The Deputy Commissioner, Revenue Officer concerned and the Patwari of the village may also be requested to attend the meeting.

(2) Any person desirous of being allotted land vesting in the Board may make an application in Form A. Such an application may also be made at the time the meeting referred to in sub-regulation (1) is being held.

(3) Every person, to whom land vesting in the Board is allotted, shall sign a Partigya Patra in Form B against which the Board or the Committee shall issue a grant deed in Form C, a copy whereof shall be sent to the Patwari and the Tahsildar concerned for the purpose of making necessary entries in the revenue records.

(4) Any person aggrieved because of the land distribution by the Committee, may, within thirty days from the date of decision of the Committee, file an appeal to the Board.

(5) The decision of the Board on the appeal preferred under sub-regulation (4) and subject only to such decision, the decision of the Committee shall be final.

Form A

[See Regulation 10(2)]

Application for the allotment of land vesting in the Punjab Bhudan Yagna Board.

The Chairman

Punjab Bhudan Yagna Board.

Sir,

I beg to approach you with the request to allot me __________________acres of land out of the land received in Bhudan Yagna in Village __________, Tehsil ________________, District_________to be cultivated personally by me. My family consists of __________ members __________adults and _______ minors

I am a landless tiller/possess an uneconomic holding of _________ acres ________ kanals. I am versed in the work of cultivation of land and shall try my best to make the land allotted to me more productive.

I shall pay on due dates the land revenue of the land allotted to me.

I hereby agree to accept all the terms and conditions of allotment by the Punjab Bhudan Yagna Act, 1955.

Signature of Applicant.

Name _________________________________________________

Village ________________________________________________

Post Office _____________________________________________

Tahsil _________________________________________________

District ________________________________________________

Dated _________________________________________________

Form B

[See regulation 10(4)]

Partigya Patra

I ________________, son of _________of Village __________ Tahsil _______, District ____________ accept the allotment of __________acres ___________ kanals of Bhudan land Khasra No. _______________Khata No. _____________, situated in village from the Punjab Bhudan Yagna Board in whom the aforesaid land vests for cultivating the same personally subject to the terms and conditions mentioned in section 25 of the Punjab Bhudan Yagna Act, 1955.

If there is a breach of any of the conditions mentioned in section 25 the Revenue Officer may, after such inquiry as he may deem fit, determine the right granted to me whereupon the aforesaid land shall vest in the Board without my liability to pay the arrears of land revenue recoverable from me.

Signature of the Bhudan holder.

Place

Date

Signature of the representative of the Punjab Bhudan Yagna

Witnesses and their full addresses

Form C

[See Regulation 10(4)]

Grant Deed of Bhudan Land

Shri _________________, son of _____________, caste _____________hereby allotted land situated in village _______________, Tahsil __________, District ___________ of which the particulars are given below, out of the land donated for purposes of Bhudan Yagna initiated by Acharya Vinoba Bhave

Village and Tahsil ______ Khasra and Khata No._______ Area _______ Remarks

Signature

Place

Date

Chairman,

Punjab Bhudan Yagna Board,

Convener, Tahsil Committee

District