4

S.NO PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

1 MEANING OF CONSOLIDATION 5
2 SCOPE OF LAND CONSOLIDATION 5
SCHEMES

3 SECTION 3(2) 5
4 WAYS BY WHICH CONSOLIDATION 7
OF LAND CAN TAKE PLACE

5 CONSOLIDATION DECLARATION 7
AND NOTIFICATION

6 REVISION OF MAPS AND RECORDS 9

7 PREPARATION OF STATEMENT OF 9
PRINCIPLES

8 INVITING OBJECTIONS AND APPEAL 10

9 11
ASSESSMENT OF LAND REVENUE
HOLDING

10 PREPARATION OF CONSOLIDATION 11
SCHEME

11 COMPENSATION WHICH WILL 12

ENSUE ON EXCHANGE OF
POSSESSION

12 13
CONCLUSION
 5

UP CONSOLIDATION ACT, 1953

MEANING OF CONSOLIDATION
Land consolidation is the reallocation of parcels with the goal of obtaining bigger parcels at one
or more locations in return for their formerly smaller and fragmented land holdings. The term
"Land Consolidation" is derived from the Latin commassatio (grouping). Land consolidation has
always been more than just rearranging parcels to eliminate the consequences of fragmentation
in the pursuit of improved agricultural production and cheaper costs.

SCOPE OF LAND CONSOLIDATION SCHEMES

● The emphasis has switched from reconstructing and organising agriculture to attaining
more efficient various regions of rural space by balancing agricultural, landscape, nature
conservation, recreation, and other interests
● Environment conditions are given increasing priority.
● Land consolidation now includes village renewal operations. Projects involve acquiring
sufficient land for additional homes and workplaces.
● Land consolidation, like other developments in the concept of rural development, now
prioritises women engagement and the adoption of alternate conflict resolution
procedures.
● It also serves to update tenure arrangements by removing obsolete rights of use such as
grazing, haymaking, wood cutting, fishing, and so forth.

CONSOLIDATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE UP CONSOLIDATION

OF HOLDINGS ACT OF 1953 CONSOLIDATION IS DEFINED IN
SECTION 3(2) AS:
In easy words, Section 3(2)1, Consolidation is the reorganisation of holdings in a unit among
numerous tenure-holders in order to make their separate holdings more compact.

1
Section 3 , UP Consolidation Act 1953, Parliament of India, India.
 6

Explanation - Holding does not include the following for the purposes of this clause:

● Land that was grove in the agricultural year immediately preceding the year in which the
notification under Section 4 was issued;
● land subject to fluvial action and intensive soil erosion;
● land mentioned in Section 132 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act,
1950;
● such densely packed locations that are generally prone to protracted waterlogging;
● plots of usar, kallar, and rihala constituting a tight area including cultivated land;
● land devoted to the cultivation of pan, rose, bela, jasmine, and kewra; and
● such other areas as the Director of Consolidation may declare to be unsuitable for the
purpose of Consolidation.

Section 3 (2A) defines "consolidation area" as "the area in respect of which notification under
Section 4 has been issued, excluding those portions thereof to which the provisions of the U.P.
Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950, or any other Law by which the Zamindari
System has been abolished do not apply."

Holding is defined in Section 3 (4C). 'Holding' refers to a portion or parcels of land held under
one tenure by a tenure-holder, either alone or in collaboration with other tenure-holders];

Section 3 (5) defines "land" as "land held or occupied for purposes connected with agriculture,
horticulture, and animal husbandry (including pisciculture and poultry farming) and includes: the
location, as part of a holding, of a house or other similar structure; and trees, wells, and other
improvements existing on the plots forming the holding."

Tenure-holder denotes a bhumidhar with transferable rights or a bhumidhar with non-transferable

rights, as defined in Section 3(11), and includes:

● an asami
● a lessee or grantee of the government, or
 7

● a co-operative farming society that meets the necessary conditions

WAYS BY WHICH CONSOLIDATION OF LAND CAN TAKE PLACE

● Consolidation Declaration and Notification.

● Revision of Maps and Records.
● Preparation of Statements and Principles.
● Inviting objections and filing an appeal.
● Land Revenue Assessment on Holdings.
● Consolidation Scheme Preparation.
● Enforcement of the Scheme.
● Compensation
● Consequences which will ensue.

CONSOLIDATION DECLARATION AND NOTIFICATION

First, a declaration is made pursuant to Section 42 of the Act. If the State Government believes
that a district or a portion of a district should be placed under consolidation operations, it may
issue a declaration in the Gazette to that effect, at which point any official or authority
empowered in this regard by the District Deputy Director of Consolidation:

● to enter and survey, in connection with rectangulation or otherwise, and take levels of any
land in such area;
● to fix pillars in connection with rectangulation, and;
● to do all acts necessary to ascertain the suitability of the area for consolidation operations.

The District Deputy Director of Consolidation shall cause public notice of the declaration issued
under clause (a) to be given at convenient locations in the said district or part thereof.
When the State Government decides to begin consolidation operations, whether in an area
covered by a declaration issued under subsection (1) or in any other area, it may make a

2
Section 4, UP Consolidation Act 1953, Parliament of India, India.
 8

notification to that effect, which must be published in the Gazette and a daily newspaper having
circulation in that region.

In Mahabeer vs. State Of U.P.3 Through Consolidation Commissioner, decided on 8 February,

2017, it was observed that if notification under Section 4 of the Act is issued in a case where an
appeal against the preliminary decree is not pending, the latter, namely, the preliminary decree,
will remain unaffected and will not abate; however, if the preliminary decree has been assailed in
appeal, and the appeal is pending on the date of Notification, the latter, namely, the Notification,
will have the effect of abating the entire suit/proceedings including the preliminary decree passed
therein. On the contrary, if an appeal is filed against the final decree without an appeal against
the preliminary decree, and the preliminary decree becomes "unassailable" due to Section 97,
C.P.C., the Notification under Section 4 would end the proceedings relating to the final decree
without touching, impairing, or affecting the preliminary decree in any way.

Under Section 5, Upon the publication of the notification under sub-section (2) of Section 4 in
the Official Gazette, the consequences, as hereinafter set forth, shall, subject to the provisions of
this Act, from the date specified thereunder till the publication of notification under Section 52 or
sub-section (1) of Section 6, as the case may be, ensue in the area to which the notification under
Section 4(2) relates, namely:

(a) The district or a portion of it shall be deemed to be under consolidation operations, and the
duty of maintaining the record-of-rights and preparing the village map, field-book, and annual
register of each village shall be performed by the District Deputy Director of Consolidation, who
shall maintain or prepare them, as the case may be, in the manner prescribed.

(b) notwithstanding anything contained in the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act,
1950, no tenure-holder, except with the permission in writing of the Settlement Officer,
Consolidation, previously obtained shall-

● use his holding or any part thereof for purposes not connected with agriculture,
horticulture or animal husbandry including pisciculture and poultry farming; or

3
Mahabeer v. State of Uttar Pradesh, C.N. 624 of 2002 8 Feb 2017, Allahabad High Court
 9

● Provided that a tenure-holder may continue to use his holding, or any part thereof, for any
purpose for which it was in use prior to the date specified in the notification issued under
sub-section (2) of Section 4.

REVISION OF MAPS AND RECORDS:

With reference to section 74 of the act, in order to facilitate the revision of records of each village
or part thereof in the unit, and subject to the provisions of the Act, the District Deputy Director
of Consolidation shall, prior to the preparation of the provisional consolidation Scheme for a
unit, cause the village maps of such units to be revised. Similarly, Section 85 requires the revision
of the field book and the current annual record, as well as the assessment of valuations and
shares in joint ownership.

PREPARATION OF STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

Section 8A states,
(1) The Assistant Consolidation Officer shall prepare, in consultation with the Consolidation
Committee, a statement in the prescribed form (hereinafter called the Statement of Principles)
setting forth the principles to be followed in carrying out the consolidation operations in the unit.

(2) The Statement of Principles must also include:

● details of areas to be earmarked for abadi extension, as far as they can be identified at this
time, including areas for abadi sites for Harijans and landless individuals in the unit, and
for such other public objectives as may be prescribed;
● the basis on which the tenure-holders will contribute land for extension of abadi and for
other public purposes; and
● details of land to be earmarked for public purposes out of land vested in a Gaon Sabha or
a Local Authority under Section 117 or Section 117-A of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari
Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950.
● the standard plots for each unit.

4
Section 7, UP Consolidation Act 1953, Parliament of India, India.
5
Section 8, UP Consolidation Act 1953, Parliament of India, India.
 10

(3) The standard plots referred to in clause (d) of sub-section (2) shall be determined by the
Assistant Consolidation Officer after ascertaining from the members of the Consolidation
Committee and the tenure-holders of the units, the best plot or plots of the unit, regard being had
to productivity, location and the existing soil class of the plot or plots.

INVITING OBJECTIONS AND APPEAL

Issue of extracts from records and statements and publication of records mentioned in Sections 8
and 8-A and the issue of notices for inviting objections. After completing the records and
statements referred to in Sections 8 and 8-A, the Assistant Consolidation Officer must:

a. correct the clerical mistakes, if any, and send, or cause to be sent, to the tenure-holders
concerned and other persons interested, notices containing relevant extracts from the
current annual register and such other records as may be prescribed showing,

i. their rights in and liabilities in relation to the land;

ii. mistakes, undisputed cases of succession and disputes discovered under Section 8
in respect thereof;
iii. specific shares of individual tenure-holders in joint holdings for the purpose of
effecting partitions, where necessary, to ensure proper consolidation
iv. valuation of the plots
v. valuation of trees, wells and other improvements for calculating compensation
therefor and its apportionment amongst owners, if there be more owners than one;

Any person to whom a notice under sub-section (1) has been sent, or any other person interested,
may file objections in respect thereof before the Assistant Consolidation Officer within 21 days
of receipt of notice, or of publication under sub-section (1), as the case may be, disputing the
correctness or nature of the entries in the records or in the extracts furnished therefrom, or in the
Statement of Principles, or the need for partition.
 11

The apex court in the matter of Mohd. Shakoor Mian v. Raj Mangal Mishra6 held that the
consolidation authorities cannot be equated with the regular courts. Under Section 11, any party
to the proceedings under Section 9-A who is aggrieved by an order of the Assistant
Consolidation Officer or the Consolidation Officer under that section may, within 21 days of the
date of the order, file an appeal before the Settlement Officer, Consolidation, who, after giving
the parties concerned an opportunity to be heard, shall give his decision, which, except as
provided by or under this Act, shall be final and not subject to any further question.

ASSESSMENT OF LAND REVENUE HOLDING

In accordance with Section 12A of the Act, notwithstanding anything in the U.P. In accordance
with the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act of 1950, the Settlement Officer,
Consolidation, may:
1. Determine the amount of land revenue due a tenure-holder on land over which he has
rights as a result of orders issued under this Act, and
2. Determine the amount of land revenue due in respect of a section of the tenure-holding,
holder's if necessary.

PREPARATION OF CONSOLIDATION SCHEME

Under Section 19(1) A Consolidation Scheme shall fulfill the following conditions:
1. The rights and responsibilities of a tenure-holder, as recorded in the annual register
compiled under Section 10, are secured in the lands allotted to him, subject to any
deductions made on account of contributions to public purposes under this Act
2. The valuation of plots assigned to a tenure-holder is equivalent to the valuation of plots
originally held by him, subject to any reductions made for payments to public purposes
under this Act. Provided that, except with the permission of the Director of
Consolidation, the area of the holding or holdings allotted to a tenure-holder shall not
differ from the area of his original holding or holdings by more than twenty five per cent
of the latter.
3. Compensation is awarded in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the rules
enacted thereunder.
6
Mohd. Shakoor Mian v. Raj Mangal Mishra JT 1999 (9) SC 293
 12

4. The principles laid down in the Statement of Principles are followed,

5. Every tenure-holder is, as far as possible, allotted a compact area at the place where he
holds the largest part of his holding
a. Except with the written approval of the Deputy Director of Consolidation, no
tenure-holder may be assigned more than three chaks,
b. Furthermore, no consolidation shall be invalidated only because the number of
chaks given to a tenure-holder exceeds three
6. Every tenure-holder is assigned, as far as feasible, the plot on which he has a private
source of irrigation or any other improvement, as well as an area in the vicinity equal to
the value of the plots he had previously owned there,
7. Every tenure-holder is given chaks in accordance with the process of rectangulation in
rectangulation units, to the extent possible.
8. Before being made final under Section 23, a Consolidation Scheme must be drawn up
temporarily in accordance with Section 19-A.

COMPENSATION WHICH WILL ENSUE ON EXCHANGE OF

POSSESSION
The following consequences shall apply as of the day on which a tenure-holder enters, or is
believed to have entered, into possession of the chak assigned to him in accordance with the
provisions of this Act:

1. The following rights, titles, interests, and liabilities of the tenure-holder entering, or
deemed to have entered into possession, and of the former tenure-holder of the plots
comprising the chak, in their respective original holdings shall cease,
2. The tenure-holder who takes possession, or is deemed to have taken possession, has the
same rights, title, interest, and liabilities in his chak as he had in the original holdings, as
well as the same other benefits of irrigation from a private source as the former
tenure-holder of the plots comprising the chak had in regard to them.
3. Lands vested in the Gaon Sabha or any local authority and allotted to the tenure-holder
shall be deemed to have been resumed by the State Government and settled with the
 13

tenure-holder under the provisions of Section 117 or Section 117-A, as the case may be,
of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950.
4. Following a declaration made under the proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 19-A, the
rights of the public as well as all people in or over land contained in a chak shall
terminate and be created in the land indicated for the purpose in the final Consolidation
Scheme; and
5. Encumbrances on the original holding of the tenure-holder entering, or deemed to have
entered, into possession, whether by lease, mortgage, or otherwise, shall cease in respect
of that holding, and new encumbrances shall be created on the holdings, or on such part
thereof, as may be specified in the final Consolidation Scheme.

CONCLUSION
There is no escape from the conclusion that equitable distribution will require creating good jobs
in the industries and services to which some landless rural workers and marginal farmers can
migrate.Land use and consolidation can improve household crop production productivity through
several mechanisms, including a reduction in transaction costs, including the costs of
transporting inputs and outputs across plots, and other operational difficulties, which should
increase labor productivity and enable more efficient use of land if implemented effectively.
Improvements in land quality must be made by increased access to agricultural inputs, fertilizers,
and fertilization techniques, particularly the inputs and initiative for distributing agricultural
facilities, as well as proper farm design.

**************