Land Laws Bill passed in Assembly, to lay 200-yr-old regulations to rest
Kolkata: The West Bengal Land Laws (Repealing) Bill, 2018, was passed in the state Assembly on Thursday, thereby making the Patwari and Kanungos, village level land revenue collectors, auditors and settlers that were first introduced by Sher Shah Suri in Bengal, a thing of history.
While placing the Bill, minister of state for Land and Land Reforms Chandrima Bhattacharya said: "The state Law Commission headed by former Justice Pranab Chattopadhyay has recommended repealing of these laws, which date back to more than 200 years. These laws have no relevance in the present context and had relevance only during the existence of undivided Bengal."
Among the 200-year-old regulations which will be repealed, are the Bengal Ghatwali Lands Regulation 1814, the Bengal Kanungos Regulation 1816, the Bengal Patwaris Regulation 1817, the Bengal Kanungos and Patwaris Regulation 1819 and Bengal Land Revenue (Assistant Collectors) Regulation 1821. These laws were related to the appointment and functions of Patwaris and Kanungos in Bengal.
According to experts associated with the land reforms movement, these posts were integral to the Zamindari system. In 1793, Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement Regulation, which started the Zamindari system.
The Kanungos managed settlement of revenue to be paid to the Zamindars. Whereas the Patwaris were revenue collectors and auditors at the village level.
During the rule of Aurangzeb, these posts were used effectively for revenue collection. The Mughal emperor also set up native Zamindars and introduced Hindus in the revenue-collection framework. Hence, today we have surnames like Kanungo, Sarkar and Talukdar among Bengalis. The Patwari system was introduced by Sher Shah Suri and later, emperor Akbar also put it into effect.
It may be mentioned that Bengal had implemented the West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act in 1953, with the objective to wipe out the Zamindari system after Independence. It was further changed barely two years later in 1955, with the introduction of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act.
