Modular Infotech Pvt. Ltd
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
REPORT • 'op THE KHEDUT DEBT lNQU]RY COMMITTEE. BHAVNAGAR STATE "'•• ":iI _ BHAVNAGAR. To THE P~I!SIDENT, COUNCIl. OF ADMINISTRATION, . BHAVNAGAR. BHAVNAGAR, Dated 1St April '931. SIR. l have the honour to submit herewith the report of the Khedut Debt Enquiry Committee appointed by the Council Resolution No. 297. dated 12-6-u. The notes of Evidence and Statistical tables are published in a separate volume which has already been submitted ere now. I have honour to be, SIR, Your most obedient servant, T. K. TRIVEDI, Chairman. Bhavnagar Khedut Debt Enquiry Commit/ee. CONTENTS. Page .. Introd uctory- •• Area ~n(1 I'OI'UI;llioll ... ••• ••• ... ... I SlIhdil'i,ion of the State into Districts ••• ... .. ib . Physical Aspect anel Climate ... ... ... .. ib • ,\rea of Darbari Assessed Land ... ... ... ib . Crball and l~ural Population .. , ... ib . Kh"hl' han(li Tenure ... ••• 2 Con"titulion of the I~e\'cnue Department ... ... ... ib • Appointment of the Committee- Petition of the Kheouts ,.,r Sajan.Timba to the Re\'enue Conllnissioner ••• ••• ... ... 3 Re\'enue Commissioner's Inquiry and Report on the Petition. <l. Committee Appointed... ......... ih. Prtliminary Inquiry by the Chairman ... •.. .'i Comprehensive enquiry embracin~ the whole State decided on I &c. • ••• ••• ••• ••• 6 The Committee \·isit Lilia 1\[ahal ... ... ... ib . Form of Tahulal' Statement for cnterinl-: tignrc;; of rleht" &l'., re\'iserl an (I finally settled -I Collecting of the fignres of debts, &l'. _ ~ The· Committee's Tour in the Districts ... .. , ib • Chapter I.-Dasltroi Mahal. 1. Tap!," nha\'n1g:-lr ... q 2. ,. Bhromhhali ... ... 17 Bhandaria 2I S· II ... ... ••• ... Bhal ... ... 22 4· " ... Chapter II.-Sihor Mahal. ?4 1. Tappa Sihor ... ." ... .. ... 2l> 2. Knmbhan ... .. ... " 2j Tana .•• ... ... ... .. 3· " --- Chapter 111.-Umrala Mahal. 2() J . Tappa l:mrala ••• ... ... ... ... '0 1. Sanosra ... ... ... ... .' , " ... -,• J .' . Noghal1\'adar ... ••• .. ... + ..'. J)hasa ... ... ... ••• 33 Chapter IV.-Gadhada Mahal. l'agc. 1. Tappa Gadhad.l ... .- , .. .H 2. .. Ningala ... ... .. 35 Chapter V.-Botad Mahal 1. Tappa Botad .•. ... ... ... ... .. of" Lathidad 2. " ... ... ... ... of2 3· :' Patna -. ... ... ... ... 43 Chapter VI.-Lilia Mahal. Introductory ... ... ... ... .. 45 1. Tappa Saldi ... ... ... ... oft) 2. Panch-1alavda ... ... ... ... ... ib. • " Amba .). " ... ... .. ... -47 General ... ... ... ... 411 Chapter VII.-Kundla. Mahal. t. Tappa Kundla ••• ••• ... ... .. 5% 2. Jira ... ... ... ... 53 " .. 3· .. Krankach ... ... ... 54 4· ,. Yanda ... .. , ... ... lb. Jesar ... ... 5() 5· " .-. ... 6. Vijapdi ... ... 5i " ... Thordi ... ... ... ... Sf! 7· " Chapter VIII.-Victor Maha:l. I, Tappa Hajllla ... ... ... ... ... eJU 2. Doongar ... ... ... ib. " Chapter IX.-Mahuva Mahal. t. Tappa hIahm';1 .:;. ... .. ... ... ti·.> 2. Bhadrocl ... ... ... ('4 , .. - ()C I .J' Khllntavda ... ... " ... ... '" 4. Bagdana ... ... ... 70 " Malva\' ... 5· " ... ." 74 Chapter X.-Talaja Mahal. 1. Tappa T .• I;I).I ... ... • •• ... 7'/ -. J Jihur ... i'l " ... 3· " L'nchadl ... ~I Trapaj x.! 4· " ... ... ... Chapter XI. Conclusion ... 8" ... ... - ... ::> Appendix 1,-\)l1\:~lionn"irc pn:pared by the Ch .• irmdn .. n,-Specilllen SI"lement showing Ihc imkbtcJncs~ Ie So\\'car ek, of the Darbari Khcduls of "illage Thalia of 'Lippa T"laia of Ihe Talaia ~lilhill ' •• ••• • .. III.-Comparative Statement of debt and a:;scssmcnl liabilities of the Darbar Khedub ... ib. .. IV,-CQmparali\'c Statement showing the extent (Jf Indcbtedness and Assessment Liability uf the Khcduts of the Bha\'llagar Slate .. V. ,Sl.demcnt showing the number of Imlivicillctl Kheduls of the Bhallnag;,u' State, lheir Assess ment and Debt Liabilities, Numerical strength of Fillllilies, Caltle Wealth, Average of Hold- ing and Indebtedness, &c. • • ... ... il>. " VI.-Khcdllt Prutection Ad ')7 .. VII.-Uc\\'an Bahadur T. K. Trivcdi, !llcmbcr of COllncil's preliminary minule reviewing the Commillec's work ;;Ild recomlllending Legis- laliv.: and olher lIlea:;uTes... 101 " VIII.-Khedul Debt Hedemptiun Schcllle " IX.-I~cganlillg Ihe Establishment of Vilbgc chayats-Coullcil Hc~olution Xo, :?!O ... 121 ;Intro(fuctory. It might be as well, before coming to the subject proper of the report, to begin by giving a few broad facts regarding the physical features, area and population of the Bhavnagar State and ils land revenue administration. Area a lid population :-The Slate ()f Bhavnagar lies at the head aua west of the Gulf of Cambay, in the Peninsula of Kathiawar. The area of the State is abont 2,860 Sq. miles, or 18,07,810 acres, and it has a populalion of 4,26,404 souls, as returned by the last census of I92I. Of these, 2,20,303 are 'males and 2,06,101 females. The mean density of population per square' mile works Ollt at 149 '09. \§jlb_dit'is;(}!,~ of ti,e State illio Distriels:-The State is divided for administrative purposes into ten Mah:..ls or Districts, viz., Daskroi, Sihor, Umrala, Gadhada, Botad, Lilia, KUlldla, Victor, Mahuva and Talaja. Again each Mahal is sub.divided, according to its size. into a number of Tappas, each comprising a group of contiguous villages. There are in all. 37 Tappas. .' Physi(fli aspects and climate :-The different par.ts of the Slate present· a wide variety of physical aspects and climate. The Bhal area is a mere salt fiat devoid of any vege;:tation; Lilia is a rich plain of black soil, though more or less bare of trees; the Sihor range and the hills in Kundla. Victor ,md other parts give an almost mountainous aspect to the country and are fOllOd covered here and there with scrubby growth. The southern districts are better wooded; and the rich cocoanut and mango plantations of Mahuva and the rank '1egelation so common in the coastal areas, are almost remi.· niscent of the garden lands of Southern Gujarat. The climate. especially of the coastal Districts, Mahuva, Talaja, etc., is temperate and pleasant; but the interior paris and especially the hilly districts are much hotter though the heat in the hottest part of the territory is ordinarily much less th.an that of the Gujllrat main-land. Area oj Darbari I.ssessed land :-Of the tolal area of 18,07.&10 acres· the Dar1>ari land proper assessed imd held by ReRistered Khatedars and inclusive of Darbari Barkhali land, comprises an area of about 7,39,807 acres· Ol" 18,49,517 Bighas. This is exclusive of the assessed but unoccupied area of acres 21,8<)2 and the unassessed and unoccupied area of acres 4.°5039. The balance of the total area includes Mul-giras and other Barkhali lands as· also the area covered by lown and village sites, roads, river-beds, & elc. Urball alld rur"l poplIlation:-The total population divided into' \111>an and rural, the first comprises 1,2{,57" persons and the second 3,OI.83{. The nrban population is made UI~ of Ihe total of the inhabitants of the teno head.quarter towns of the ten District~ of the Siale; "nd as the population of these town areas DlUS{ inclUde a fairly large numb~r, who are eithel' holders of the llgriculturallands surrounding the towns 'w 01 herwise dependent on lIgriculture (or their.lh.elihood, the figure of urb,1Il ropulation given above- :I would be misleading, were the same taken by itself as an index of persons earning their livelihood by some urban· occupation or other only. The numerical strength of the families of agriculturists dwelling in town areas is alone 7,560; and this of course does not include farm and other labourers dependent on' agriculture. So if the rural. population is taken as inclusive <>f all persons carrying on agriculture or otherwise dependent on it, the figure of the. rural population, viz.~ 3,01,8H will have to be. considerably in creased, by including therein cultivators, farm-labourers & etc., dwelling in town-areas ;. and .the figure of urban population correspondin gl y decreased. Khala,bandlziTenurc.-The prevailing tenure is ,what is known. as the Khata.·bandhi tenure under which the Darbar Khalsa lands are leased out tl) permanent tenants •• The main characteristic of thi~ tenure is that the use and occupation of the Khata land is secured in perpetuity to the registered tenant and his lineal male descendants, so iong as there is no default in payment of Darbari assessment dues. The tenant can neither sell nor mortgage his .\and-in fact, has 110 transferable interest ill his h"lding, a restricted right of leasing for a period of five years being only recently conceded_ The State on leasing a new holding or one that has fallen vacant owing to its having escheated to Ihe Darbar, does so by public audi'ln and levies a Sukhadi or premium charge from the incoming tenant. COIISiitulion of the ReVCIIlle Dc?parlmeut :-At the hcad of the Revcnue Department of the State is the VasLJlati Adhikarior Revenue Commissioner. Under hilIiare the two Assistant Revenue Commissioners the one heing in charge of the Northern Di\'ision comprising the five l\hhals of Daskroi, Sihor, Urilrala. Gadhada and Botad; and the other in charge of the Southern Division 'consisting of the remaining ·fiveMahals, 'vi::;.,· Lilia, Kundla, Victor. l\iahuva'and Talaja.. Each· of Ihe tell 'Mahals is in the charge of a Vahivatclar ; and each of Ihe group of villages constituting it Tappa or sub division of a Mahal, as staled aboVe, is in the charge of a ·Tlllndar. III fhe larger Mahals. the Vahivatdar has a Deputy Vahivatdar to ,,,sist him. III each village thei'e is at least olle yahivati or Revenue Patel, the larger vil lages having often more than one~ The total receipts and expenditure for SI- J983, correspondin;! II) I<)2i. were respectively Rs. 95,65.795 and <P,9-1-,898, thllS leaving a halance of t~s.· 2,7°,897. The above expenditur~ includes Rs. 2,00,000 contributed to the Cultivators' Amelioration Fund and II.20,oS8 carried to· the Railv.;ay Reserved :Fl1l1d~ The receipts comprise Hs. 28,79.000 of Railway revenue, Rs: 14;66;229 of Customs, which are more or less a wind-fall, and Rs. 12.3(,,1)27 under Interest and exchange, which are off;et by Rs.