What is rural?
The word rural denotes an area that is undeveloped, or under developed. It refers to small settlements which is outside the boundaries of a city, commercial or industrial area and may include countryside areas and villages, where there is natural vegetation. The primary source of income is agriculture and animal husbandry. Cottage and small-scale industries also form a source of income.
In India, a town whose population is below 15000 is considered rural, as per the planning commission.
What is rural administration?
India is made of many states. The states are further divided into districts. The districts are further divided into tehsils(sub-districts) and talukas. Gram panchayat is responsible for looking after such areas, as further they have no municipal board.
Agriculture is the main occupation and lands are sometimes leased on long-term basis for cultivation, by poor farmers. Sometimes land grabbing by people who are powerful also takes place. To settle land disputes or discourage this practice, it is very important to maintain proper land records. Records of the land are maintained by the patwari.
What is a Patwari’s function in rural administration?
A patwari is a person appointed by the local government or land authority to maintain and update land ownership records for a specific area as well as to undertake collection of land taxes. The records maintained by the patwari are used for calculating land revenues.
What is a Tehsildar’s function?
- Tehsildars are appointed by the Financial Commissioner, and Revenue and Naib Tehsildars by the Commissioner of the Division.
- The duties of the tehsil office (Panchayat Samiti) exercises certain fiscal and administrative power over the villages and municipalities within its jurisdiction.
The duties of the tehsildar are :
- They enjoy the powers of Executive Magistrate, Assistant Collector and Sub Registrar/Joint Sub – Registrar.
- Is Incharge of tehsil Revenue Agency and is responsible for proper preparation and maintenance of tehsil Revenue Record and Revenue Accounts.
What is the function of the District Magistrate?
A district magistrate, also known as district collector, is an officer of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS). They have been empowered as executive magistrates and are also incharge of revenue collection and administration of a district in India.
As an IAS officer, the duties of the district magistrate or collector are very extensive. They are:
As District Magistrate:
- Maintenance of law and order.
- Supervision of the police and jails.
- Supervision of subordinate Executive magistracy.
- Hearing cases under the preventive section of the Criminal Procedure Code.
- Supervision of jails and certification of execution of capital sentences.
- Arbitrator of land acquisition.
- Disaster management during natural calamities such as floods, famines or epidemics.
- Crisis management during riots or external aggression.
As Collector:
- Land assessment
- Land acquisition
- Collection
- Collection of income tax dues, excise duties, irrigation dues etc.
- Distribution of agricultural loans
- Chairman of the District Bankers Coordination Committee
- Head of the District Industries Centre
As Deputy Commissioner/District Commissioner:
- Reports to Divisional Commissioner on all matters.
As District Election Officer:
- Conducts Elections in the district, be it General, Assembly or Municipal.
- Acts as the Returning Officer for the Lok Sabha constituency in the district.
What is the role of a Police Station?
The police have to ensure enforcement of law and order in the area of their charge. In rural areas, sometimes a police station will cover several villages.
Station House Officer (SHO)
A police station is headed by the Station House Officer. In other words, the SHO is the in-charge of the police station. The SHO registers complaints. Complaints are usually registered in the form of an FIR(first information report) and after an investigation by a constable, the SHO may take the help of the Gram Panchayat or village elders in finding a solution. The SHO can also go to the court to reach a solution.
The Hindu Succession Amendment Act, 2005
According to the Hindu Succession Act 1956, daughters did not have any right to ancestral property. This act was amended in the year 2005, to grant daughters the same rights, duties, liabilities, and disabilities that were earlier limited to sons.