'ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1909-1910' [‎165r] (61/148)

REVENUE AND RENT-PaYING CLASSES*
23
drfllly f oun ^ amongst those who had least excuse to adopt the position. The poliev of
^pensions and remans m times of stress has led many to postpone payment as
f^VpossiUe. Generally, throughout the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. the condition of the revenue-paying
mlation has improved appreciably through better seasons and the existence of opportunitil
ionf. their income by earning- Ingn wages m the eent.rp« rf .i • n
^supplement their income by earning high wages in the centres of i abour durin ^ ^ time
Ihen cultiyat 1011 . >s nt a standsti 1 . 1 heir increased well-hemg is reflected in better raiment
!„d in the growing demand for luxuries of food and drink. The improvement effected by
t i, Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act continued to be observed and to this must be added the
V&T7* Irhpi Or fiho nrprlif a Trot am -rV, rv
h produced by the extension of the co-operative credit system, the unalienable tenure and
(b . widespread grants of taicm. Though the Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act has resulted
i restriction of the rayat s powers of borrowing, as is indicated by the dislike of the Act
hown by money-lender, his agricultural operations have been in no way hampered. It is
S k extravagance in personal expenditure that has been checked by the Act.
2, The relations of landlord and tenant were generally satisfactory during the year and
the increase in the resources of the latter seems to be indicated by the decrease in the number of
ren t suits in most districts.. Rack-renting was uncommon. It prevailed in the coast villao-es
\ Kinara but in Ratnagiri the amended Khoti Act tended to secure the tenants of the ktot
f ro ni the tyranny of rack-renting by the substitution of a fixed cash demand in place of the old
arbitrary and fluctuating system. Elsewhere the improved economic conditions are rendering
tenants more independent and landlords more accommodating, as the tenant finds an aid to his
fortunes in the demand for labour or in the new tenure whereby he can obtain a holdino* with
little expenditure of capital. Gen daily, therefore, the present tendency is for the tenant to
oain the upper hand. The only serious ease of collision happened in the Malsiras taluka of the
Sholapur district where a dispute had been raging for some time between certain inamdars and
their tenants. When the Civil Courts upheld the right of the former to enhance their rents,
the aggrieved tenants set upon and caused grievous hurt to three in^mddrs. In Nasik it
appears that a succession of bad seasons has led persons to accept land on rent in kind whereby
the position of landlord and tenant is equalized in times of distress. In Sind the hari has still
the best of the zemindar owing to the shortage of labour.
3. The area held on the restricted tenure continues to increase. There is no doubt of the
popularity of the tenure with those classes—the wild tribes and the more improvident of the
rayats—for whose benefit it was introduced and by whom it is now regarded as a boon. The
conditions of credit under it are somewhat uneven. Generally, it does not appear that rayats
who have accepted the tenure iu lieu of the old survey tenure have had their agricultural
operations materially restricted by the diminution of their credit which inevitably followed the
curtailment of the right of alienation. Difficulties with the village money-lender can usually
be overcome by recourse to tagai. In the case of new holders of land it often happens that
they find difficulty in borrowing money because the land itself is of inferior quality, but in
ordinary circumstances cultivators of this class, also, can, with the aid of taJcdvi, borrow all
they require for their agricultural operations. It is reported, however, particularly from
Gujarat, that there is a tendency to take up land on this tenure and, after working it at little
expense, to relinquish it when it is exhausted for the purposes of immediate profitable cultiva
tion. This may be partly due to an insufficient distribution of takdvi to the cultivators.
Evasions of the conditions of the tenure are not uncommon and seem to indicate that lands are
sometimes taken up in the hope that they may be alienated without detection. Sufficient care
is not always shewn in entering in the Record of Rights the conditions attached to land held on
the tenure, and this facilitates the transactions of holders who fraudulently conceal their
restricted title.
4. In most districts recourse was had to the Courts by superior holders with less frequency
than in the preceding year, the probable reason being that the favourable season put the inferior
holder in a better position. In S^tdra, however, the number of such rent suits shewed an
extraordinary increase—from 530 in the preceding year to 4,132 in the year under report.
Chap. II.
ADMINISTRA
TION OF THE
HAND.
Rent-paying
classes.
Working of
Act VI of 1901*,
Assistance and
other suits.