Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Reservation and settlement of Government land :– 2[(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law or any custom, practice or usage having the force of law ,Government shall not be deemed to be debarred from exercising all or any of the following powers in respect of Government lands, namely : (a) to reserve such portion of the lands as they deem proper for the purpose of being used as house-sites or for any communal or industrial purpose or for any other purpose whatsoever; (b) to charge premium for settlement of any such land; (c) to charge rent for the lands so settled; (d) to charge fees on applications for settlement of lands and such other fees as may be necessary for or incidental to the disposal of such fees shall be payable in the prescribed manner; and 3[(e) to authorise any officer of Government not below the rank of a Tahasildar to dispose of applications for settlement of lands and to settle the same in such manner as may be prescribed and subject to the provisions of Sub- sections (2) & (3) :] 4[Provided that no Government land recorded as Gochar shall be reserved for any purpose mentioned in Clause (a) or settled under Clause (e) without being dereserved in accordance with the provisions contained in Section 3-A.] 4[(2) In the settlement of lands under Clause (e) of Sub-section (1), seventy per centum thereof shall be settled with the persons belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes in proportion to their respective populations in the village in which the lands are situated and the remaining lands shall be settled with the other persons not belonging to the aforesaid categories: Provided that if sufficient number of persons belonging to the aforesaid categories are not available in the village in which the lands are situated, or being available, are A-1. Added vide Odisha Act No. 26 of 2013,O.G.E. No. 2206, dated 13.11.2013.