while those of the general public are of the slightest nature. It follows that the principles which have been already laid down for the management of minor forests apply, if possible, with even greater force to the management of grazing areas, pure and simple. 13. The difficulties which arise in connection with these areas are apt to present themselves in their most aggravated form where the tenure of land is ryolwari. In zamindari tracts, the Crown lands generally assume the second of the two forms indicated in paragraph 10 of this Resolution. But where the settlement is ryolwari, every survey number or field that is unoccupied or unassigned is in the possession and at the disposal of Government, and trespass upon it is prima facie forbidden. In some cultivated tracts, these unoccupied and waste lands are the only source available from which the grazing requirements of the resident population can be met. The Government of India are clearly of opinion that the intermixture of plots of government land which are used for grazing only, but upon which trespass is forbidden, with the cultivation of occupancy or proprietary holders, is apt to lead to extreme abuses and especially so when these plots are under the management of the Forest Department. The inferior subordinates of the Forest Department are perhaps as reliable as can be expected on the pay which we can afford to give; but their morality is no higher than that of the uneducated classes from which they are drawn ; while the enormous areas over which they are scattered and the small number of the controlling staff render effective supervision most difficult. It is not right, in order to protect the grass or the grazing dues on plots of waste scattered over the face of a cultivated district, to put it into the power of an underling to pound, or threaten to pound, cattle on the plea that they have overstepped the boundary between their owner's field and the next. Still less right is it to permit the exercise of the power of compounding offences allowed by section 67 of the Forest Act to depend upon the mere report of a subordinate servant, or to expose him to the temptations which such a power holds out. Where the interests involved are sufficiently important, it may perhaps be necessary to accept the danger of extortion while minimising as far as possible the opportunities for it. But in the case under consideration the interests involved are trifling, while the opportunities are unlimited. 14. It is to be distinctly understood that the Government of India do not desire that grazing should be looked upon primarily as a source of income. But it by no means follows that all revenues from scattered government lands should be relinquished. It is, indeed, inadvisable that this should be done, as to do so would give the ryots an interest in opposing allotment and making things unpleasant for new occupants. But the objec tions to direct management which have just been pointed out are reduced to a minimum or altogether avoided, when the management is placed in the hands of the resident cultivators or of representatives from among them. It will generally be possible to lease or otherwise manage the unoccupied lands of a village through the agency of the community not, indeed, at the highest price which they are ready to pay to escape such evils as have just been alluded to; but at a moderate estimate of their value to them fixed in view of the fact that herds and flocks which cannot exist without grazing, are often a necessary condition of the successful conduct of that cultivation upon which the government land revenue is paid. In no case should fields that have been relinquished be let to outsiders at a reduced assessment for grazing purposes for then we might have speculators taking up such fields, mainly in order to make what they can out of trespassing cattle. 15. One more point of principle remains to be noticed. The procedure under Chapter IV of the Indian Forest Act, whereby forests are declared to be protected, has been in certain cases regarded by the Government of India as a provisional and intermediate procedure designed to afford time for consideration and decision with the object of ultimately constituting so much of the area as it is intended to retain, a reserved forest under Chapter II, and of relinquishing the remainder altogether. The Act provides two distinct procedures. By the more strict one under Chapter II,* existing rights may be either settled, transferred or commuted and this procedure will ordinarily be applied to forests of the first and second classes indicated in paragraph 3 of this Resolution. By the second procedure under Chapter IV, rights are recorded and regulated and this procedure will often be properly followed where the rights to which the area is subject are extensive, and the forest is to be managed mainly in the interests of the local community. It will ordinarily be applied to forests of the third and fourth classes. This second procedure may indeed be provisional, and introductory to reservation under Chapter II, but there is in the Forest Act nothing repugnant to giving it a larger and even a permanent operation. *The references here are to Act VII of 1878 as amended by Act V of 1890 and Act XII of 1891. The Act at present in force is Act XVI of 1927. Chapters II and IV of the Act of 1927 deal with reserved and protected forests respectively as did the corresponding chapters of the Act of 1878, and the statements made in the text remain unaffected. As regards Government, the chief difference between the two procedures is that new rights may spring up in a protected but not in a reserved forest, and that the record-of-rights framed under Chapter II is conclusive while that framed under Chapter IV only carries a presumption of truth. It is believed that this presumption offers ample security where the object of regulating the right is to provide for their more beneficial exercise rather than to override them in the public interest. As regards the people the chief difference is that, speaking broadly, in a reserved forest everything is an offence that is not permitted, while, in a protected forest, nothing is an offence that is not prohibited. In theory it is possible so to frame the permission and the prohibition as to make the results identical in the two cases, but in practice it is almost impossible to do so. If it were not so, the distinction drawn by the legislature would be unnecessary and meaningless. It is only where the public interests involved are of sufficient importance to justify the stricter procedure and the more comprehensive definition of forest offences that the latter should be adopted. The Governor General in Council desires, therefore, that with regard both to fuel and fodder preserves and to grazing areas pure and simple, and especially to such of them as lie in the midst of cultivated tracts, it may be considered in each case whether it is necessary to class them, or if already so classed, to retain them as forest areas; and if this question is decided in the affirmative, whether it would not be better to constitute them protected rather than reserved forests. 16. Such are the general principles which the Government of India desire should be observed in the administration of all State forests in British India. They are fully aware that the detailed application of these principles must depend upon an infinite variety of circumstances which will have to be duly weighed in each case by the local authorities to whose discretion the decision must be left. One of the dangers which it is most difficult to guard against is the fraudulent abuse of concessions for commercial purposes, and only local considerations can indicate how this can best be met. The Government of India recognise the fact that the easier treatment in the matter of forest produce which His Excellency in Council desires should be extended to the agricultural classes may, especially in the case of true forest areas, necessitate more careful supervision in order that the concession may be confined within its legitimate limits. But, on the other hand, they think that, in some provinces, it will render possible a considerable reduction of existing establishment, and they desire that this matter may be carefully considered with reference to what has been said above in paragraph 12. They know also in some provinces forest policy is already framed on the lines which they wish to see followed in all. But the Governor General in Council believes that local governments and administrations will be glad to receive the assurance now given them that the Supreme Government will cordially support them in recognising and providing for local requirements to the utmost point that is consistent with Imperial interests. Where working-plans or plans of operation are framed for forests the provisions necessary for this purpose should be embodied in them. The exercise of the rights that have been recorded at settlement will necessarily be provided for in these plans. Where further concessions are made by way of privilege and grace, it will be well to grant them for some such limited period as ten years, so that they may, if necessary, be revised from time to time as the circumstances on which they were moulded change. APPENDIX VIII All-India Forecasts of Crops issued by the Department of Commercial In Madras, the first crop is sown between April and October and the second crop between September and March. The first crop is harvested between September and March and the second crop between January and May. The forcast is general for all three crops. In parts of southern India, sowing continues till December and harvesting till July or later. A sum ner variety is grown in Madras which is sown in February-March and harvested in JulyAugust. § An irrigated variety is grown in Madras which is sown in December-January and harvested in March-April December-May in Madras, Issued by the Director of Agriculture, Bengal. |