Rural Administration in India - Polity NCERT Notes for UPSC

A large population of India lives in villages. Thus, the government has to take care of their needs for water, electricity, road connections, land records etc. Rural administration is an enormous challenge in the context of administration. Read this article to understand why is it so and give an extra edge to your IAS exam preparation. 

Maintaining Law and Order through Police Force

Area of Police Station

• Every police station has an area that comes under its control. 
• All persons in that area can report cases or inform the police about any theft, accident, injury, fight, etc. 
• It is the responsibility of the police of that station to enquire, to investigate and take action on the cases within its area.

Maintenance of Land Records

Role of Patwari

• Measuring land and keeping land records is the main work of the Patwari. 
• Each Patwari is responsible for a group of villages. 
• The Patwari maintains and updates the records of the village. 
• The Patwari usually has ways of measuring agricultural fields. 
• The Patwari is also responsible for organizing the collection of land revenue from the farmers and providing information to the government about the crops grown in this area. It is important as farmers may change the crops grown on their fields or someone may dig a well somewhere.
• Revenue department supervises the Patwari's work.

Also Read : Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA)

Panchayati Raj System in India

Management of Land Records

• All states in India are divided into districts. 
• For managing matters relating to land, these districts are further sub-divided which are known by different names such as tehsil, taluka, etc. 
• It is headed by the District Collector and under his/her are the revenue officers known as tehsildars.
• They have to hear disputes. They also supervise the work of the Patwaris and ensure that records are properly kept and land revenue is collected. 
• They make sure that the farmers can easily obtain a copy of their record, students can obtain their caste certificates etc. 
• Land disputes are also heard at the Tehsildar's office.

Also Read : Rural Development in India- NCERT Notes UPSC

Interesting Points

• There are more than six lakh villages in India.
• The Patwari is known by different names in different states - Lekhpal, Kanungo or Karamchari or Village Officer. 
• Hindu Succession Amendment Act, 2005:
  • With this new law, sons, daughters and their mothers in Hindu families can get an equal share in the land. 
  • The same law will apply to all states and union territories of the country. 

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