The Assam Gramdan (Amendment) Act, 1966
The 2nd Ju ne 1966

**N o.L JL.12/66/8.—The** following Act of the Assam Legislative

Assembly which received the assent of the Governor is hereby published
for general information.

ASSAM ACT XIX OF 1966

**[R ec eive d th e ass ent o f th e Gov erno r on the 31 st** **May. l** **[c]** **66]**

TH E ASSAM GRAMDAN (AME ND ME NT) ACT, 7966

[Published in the _Assam Gazette_ Extraordinary, dated the 3rd June 1966]

**An**

**Act**

**fa rth er to am en d th e A ss am Gra m dan Act, 1961**

Preamble. Whereas it is expedient further to amend the

Assam Gramdan Act, 1961, hereinafter called the j ^ ^ ci

principal Act, in the manner hereinafter appearing ; 0


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It is hereby enacted in the Seventeenth Year of the

Republic of India as follows :—

extent and I* (^) This Act may be cailed the Assam Gramdan

commence- (Amendment) Act, 1966.
merit.

(2) It shall have the like extent as the principal

Act.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

Insertion of 2. After Section 4 of the principal Act, the following

hi^Assam [A] shall be inserted as Section 4A, namely :—
Act I of

**IN S .**

“ Persons who
may join 4A. (1) Any adult person residing in a village, who

Gramdan does not own any land in that village, may file a
Coram unity declaration in the prescribed form and manner and

without do> before the prescribed authority, undertaking ;—
eating land.

(i) to join the Gramdan Com munity of that village,

and

(ii) to make a periodical contribution of one-fortieth

of his net annual income or such other share as the
Gram Sabha for that village may fix, to be computed

in such manner and to be paid within such time as
may be prescribed, for community purposes.

(2) The prescribed authority shall, as soon as

may be, alter the receipt of the declaration publish
the same in prescribed manner together with a

notice requiring all peisons to submit their

objections, if any, in writing to it within thirty

days of such publication.

(3) Sub-sections (4), (5) and (6) of Section 4

shall apply to a declaration filed under sub-section
(1) of this Section in the same manner as they

apply to a declaration filed under sub-section (1)
of Section 4.

(4) The declaration under sub-section (1) of this

Section may be made by the persons referred to
therein either individually or collectively.

(5) Where a declaration is made under sub­

section (3) of Section 5 that a village is not

qualified to be a Gramdan Village, then notwith­
standing anything contained in sub-section (3) of
this Section, all declaration made and confirmed

under this Section shall cease to have effect with
effect from the date on which the declaration

under sub-section (3) of Section 5 is ma de,”


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Aimnd- 3. In clause (a) of sub-section (l) of Section 5

m;nt of Q [f ] t [j] l c [p]r [j]n e [ip]a [i Act, between ] the words “under

Assam" Act P[r] i[v a t e] ownership” and “in that village” , the

I of 1962, word} “of the residents” shall be inserted.

Substitution 4. For Section 16 of the principal Act, the

of Scctron^lfi fo j| o w j n g ^3 11 he substituted, nam ely: —

**Act** **I** of

1962.

“ Powers and }6, (i) The Gram Sabha shall manage the lands

the^Gram a r e vested in it including such other lands

Sabha. a s m a y c o m e under its management and undertake

activities for the welfare of the village community

and of the members thereof and do all other

things incidental thereto.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the

generality of the foregoing pow er, the Gram Sabha
may,—

(a) take steps to inculcate and develop in the

village community the spirit of collective

                    - responsibility, mu tual a id, and to promote
the undertaking and participation in co­

operative activities ;

(b) take steps to promote multi-sided and

integrated development of the village com­
munity ;

(c) arrange for the maintenance of destitute

children and old and infirm persons ;

(d) prepare and implement schemes for the

improvement of agriculture in the village
and the best utilization of lands in the
village ;

(e) set ap art land for community purposes ;

(f) prepare and implement schemes for the

general development of the village including
promotion of small scale industries therein

and the proper utilization of local resources
and man-power ;

(g) allot such lands as are available for the

purpose to landless persons ;


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(h) prepare and implement schemes for

regional self-sufficiency in articles of food,

clothing and oth er necessities of life and

to that end secure the co-operation and
the assistance of the Government and

oth er institutions or agencies ;

(i) promote consolidation of holdings ;

(j) grant loans to any member of the Gram

Sabha, whether an allottee of land or not,
for any purpose whether agricultural or not;

fk) take measures for improvement of lands and

reclamation of waste lands and introduce
improved methods of cultivation ;

(1) promote the industrial development of the

village ;

(m) facilitate the elimination on unemployment

in the village ;

(n) raise voluntary contributions from the

village for community purposes ;

(o) maintain the accounts of the Gram Nidhi ;
(p) prepare and maintain village records in­

cluding register giving details of land

holdings in the possession of persons under
the Gram Sabha ;

(q) raise a village Peace Force or Shanti Dal

for the maintenance of peace in the village
by peaceful means ; and

(r) perform such other functions and duties and

exercise such other powers as may, from
time to time, be prescribed.”

Substitu- 5_ p o r Section 23 of the principal Act, the following

don *23Se of ke substituted, namely :—•

Assam Act
**I of 1932.**

“Allot- 23. (1) A G ram Sabha shall allot 95 per cent of the

Ia n? n°d ^[a n c] ^ donated by a donor to him for the purposes of

conditiomi cultivation, such lands being specified by the donor at

thereof. the time of donating his land. Other lands vested in

or coming under the management of a Gram Sabha
shall be allotted to such oth er landless members of the
Gram Sabha as the Gram Sabha thinks fit :

Provided that if any donor himself is a landless

person, the remaining 5 per cent of the land donated

by him shall also be allotted to him for cultiva­

**tion.**


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(2) Every allotment of land made under sub­

section (1) shall be subject to the following conditions,
namely;—

(a) the allottee shall be liable to pay annually to

the G ram Sabha an amount equal to the land reve­
nue, rent, cesses, rates and other taxes payable in
respect of the land allotted to him before such

date or dates as may be prescribed ;

(b) the allottee shall contribute annually to the

Gram Sabha one-fortieth of his net agricultural

income or such oth er share, quantity or proportion
of his income as the Gram Sabha may determine ;

(c) the allottee shall not allow the land allotted

to him to rem ain uncultivated for a period ex­

ceeding two yea rs;

(d) the allotment made to person shall be

heritable ;

(e) the allottee may transfer his allotment for

consideration either to the Gram Sabha or to any
person joining the gramdan community of the

village, or to the State Government or a Co-opera­
tive Society to secure the payment of a loan

contracted by him :

Provided that no allottee shall have any such

power of transfer if the lands are not included

in the lands donated by him, except with the

previous permission of the Gram Sabha concerned ;

( f ) the allottee must cultivate the land allotted

to him personally if the lan d allotted to him is

not included in the land donated by him, if any ;

(g) except as otherwise provided in this Act,

the allottee shall not be disturbed from the posses­
sion of such lan d by the Gram Sabha without his
consent.

(3) Nothing contained in this Section shall be

deemed to confer on the allottee any rights which
the Gram Sabha did not possess immediately before
making the allotment.


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