Village Panchayats’ Common Lands

Abstract

The statutory authority pertaining to management of common lands lies with the state legislatures and administrations, which enact and effect laws pertaining to the subject of land including common lands. Hence, Haryana State has adopted ‘The Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act 1961.' The Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules 1964 (for Haryana) provides an account of comprehensive details of various kinds of provisions necessary for regulating and managing the common lands in the state. Some relevant provisions to this effect are also made there in the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act-1994. It is concluded that there is complete control of the State Government in managing the village common lands of the state. The State Government possesses all requisite executive and administrative powers for the said purpose. The executive authority vested in officials from secretariat to village levels enables the Government for effective management of shamlat land related affairs in the state. The Gram Panchayat is entrusted with the significant responsibility to perform all kinds of functions relating to the utilization, protection and preservation of these lands. But inspite of an effective constitutional arrangement, it is found that a large area of common land in the state has remained unutilized mainly because of the absence of resources and innovative ideas in this regard. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evolve a policy measure for improving the potentiality of common lands to earn more income for the village panchayts in the state.