Village accountant

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The Village Accountant is an

administrative government position found
in rural parts of the Indian subcontinent.

History
The Patwar system was first introduced in
the Indian subcontinent, during the short,
but eventful rule of Sher Shah Suri, and
was further enhanced by Emperor Akbar.
The British colonial era made minor
amendments but maintained the system.

In 1814, legislation was enacted requiring

all villages to maintain an accountant
(talati) as an official agent of the
government.[1] The Kulkarni Watan was
abolished in 1918 and paid talatis from all
castes who were appointed to the new
office of the Talati. In some cases, the
talatis were the oppressed castes, and the
abolishing of the Kulkarni Watan system
was viewed as a progressive move.[2]

The word is derived from the Sanskrit root

tal which means to accomplish a vow, to
establish or to fix, havin the same meaning
in the Marathi languages of India.[3] It is
used to denote the office of the Talati in
rural parts of the Indian states of Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Karnataka. The office
and its holder are both called Talatis.
Bearers of the office have adopt this as
their family last name. The duties of a
Talati include maintaining crop and land
records (record of rights) of the village,
collection of tax revenue, collection of
irrigation dues.[4][5][6] The post of the Talati
replaced that of the Kulkarni which no
longer exists in Gujarat and
Maharashtra.[7] The duties of a talati are
performed in other states of India under a
different title, for example, the talati is
called a Patwari in Telangana.[7] Originally
a land holding clerk, the talati is now a
government appointed paid official.[5][8] A
Patil (Patel in the state of Gujarat) is from
outside the village and assists the Talati in
collecting revenue. It has been alleged that
the records maintained by the talati do not
reflect the actual position on the ground
because the talati did not take into
account the tribal custom of using the
name of the adult male member of the
family for land possession.[9]
Amongst the administration, the talati has
the closest connection with the village
people.[10] The talati is generally in charge
of a group of villages called a saza and
they are required to reside in that saza
unless they get approval from the
Collector to reside outside of the saza.
However the majority of the talatis were
found to be in violation of this rule.[11] The
talati belongs to the Brahmin caste in
most cases[6] and is generally looked up to
in the villages because of being a
representative of the government.[12]

Duties of the Talati …

In 1814, duties of the talati included

preserving village records, monitoring daily
activities, and gathering information about
individuals, including mukhis and village
elites.[1]

In 1882, the Gazetteer of the Bombay

Presidency records the duty of the talati as
that of a village accountant with a charge
of about 8-10 villages. The talati's pay
scale for this was £12 - £18 (Rs. 120 – Rs.
180) per year. The talati was supposed to
live anywhere within these villages and
was supposed to visit each village every
month to understand people's needs. The
talati then reported these needs to the
sub-divisional manager in the sub-
divisional office. Additionally, the Talati
was also required to give each landholder
an account showing the landholders
dues.[10] In August 1891 the pay of the
talati is recorded as being poor.[13]

In 1884, Elphinstone says that the duties

of the talati are excellent in promoting the
advantage of the government but they
have a tendency to extinguish the authority
of the Patel and recommends that care
should be taken to bring talati's power
within its natural bounds to remove
interference from the duties of the
Patel.[12] The appointment of the talati was
viewed negatively by village chiefs who felt
he assumed the characteristic of a
representative of the government,
receiving complaints. The talati was
appointed when the Kulkarni or Watandar,
the hereditary accountant is absent from
the village or district scene.[14] The talati is
also involved in collecting data related to
census. This is an annual activity
occurring after the Mrig each year.[15]

The talati's peers are called the patwari in

Bengal, Karnam in Andhra Pradesh and
Northern India, and Kanakku Pillai in Tamil
village community: examined with
reference to the physical, ethnographic,
and historical condition of the provinces;
chiefly on the basis of the revenue-
settlement records and district
manuals[14].

Parth
Patwari or Patel are terms used in South
Asia for a land record officer at sub-
division or Tehsil level. As the lowest state
functionary in the Revenue Collection
system, his job encompasses visiting
agricultural lands and maintaining a record
of ownership and tilling (girdawary). The
Government of India has developed a
software system called Patwary
Information System (PATIS) which was
deployed in at least two districts as of
2005 with deployment at the Tehsil level
underway.[16] Patwary reports to Tehsildar
or a chief clerk of Tehsils land records.[17]
The Government of Punjab (Pakistan) as
well develop a Land Software with the
name of Land Revenue Management
Information System (LRMIS).

The Patwari can wield significant power

and influence with even feudal lords
seeking his favour.[18] There have been
cases of corrupt patwaris escaping
punishment due to their position and
political connections.[19]

Patwari …

A patwari has three chief duties:

 1. Maintaining records of the crops
grown at every harvest.
2. Keeping records of rights up to date
by the punctual record of mutations.
3. The account of preparation of
statistical returns embodying the
information derived from the harvest
inspections, register of mutation and
record of rights.[17]

Land and revenue

terminology
Girdawary …

Under the Indian land record system,

Girdawary is the record of land cultivation.
It records crops and ownership over the
crops. The record is maintained by the
Patwari in Andhra Pradesh, by the Talati in
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka and
other similar title holders in other states of
India. The Government of India has
developed a software system called
Patwari Information System (PATIS) that
includes girdawary in its scope.[16] PATIS
was deployed in at least two districts as of
2005 with deployment at the Tehsil level
underway.

Local landlords must ensure that

Girdawary stays in their name, otherwise; if
someone else is shown as cultivating the
land for an extended period of time, they
can claim possession of the land, resulting
in a dispute of land ownership.[14]

Jamabandi …
A jamabandi is a term used in India
meaning "RECORD OF RIGHTS" and refers
to land records.

These records are documents which are

maintained for each village within its
Tehsil.[20][21] It contains the name of the
owners, an area of cultivation/land, shares
of owners and other Rights. It is revised
after a certain period of time for e.g. every
5 years in the states such as Haryana,
Punjab and Rajasthan.
After it is prepared by Patwari (Govt.
official who keeps and maintains RECORD
OF RIGHTS) it is attested by Revenue
Officer of that division. Two copies of
jamabandi are made, one is kept in
Government's Record room and other is
kept with Patwari. All changes in
title/interests of the revenue estate
coming into the notice of Revenue
Authorities are duly reflected in the
Jamabandi according to set procedures.
In many states like Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab land
records have been computerised. In these
states, Jamabandi is prepared using
software, and it is later checked by the
patwari for errors. After it is corrected or
approved by the patwari, a final printout is
taken which is later attested by the
Revenue officer. In these states,
Jamabandis are also made available on
websites.

Lal Dora …

Lal Dora, is a term that introduced by

British Raj in 1908, is a red line drawn on
the maps delineating the village
population from the nearby agricultural
land in the revenue records and villagers
can build houses without building by-laws
without the mandatory change in land use
(CLU) permission that would otherwise be
needed to convert agricultural land to
commercial or residential purpose.[22]

See also
Khasra
HALRIS
Adverse possession

References
1. Chaturvedi, Vinayak (2007). Peasant
pasts: history and memory in western
 India. University of California Press.
p. 40. ISBN 978-0-520-25078-9.
2. Naqvi, K. A. (1978). The Indian
economic and social history review.
15. HighWire Press. p. 15.
3. Monier-Williams, Sir Monier (1963). A
Sanskrit-English dictionary. Motilal
Banarasidas. p. 440. ISBN 81-208-
3105-5.
4. Heredia, Susana (1972). A patriot for
me: a biographical study of Sardar
Patel. p. 239.
5. India Office of the Registrar General
(1962). Census of India, 1961, Volume
5, Part 6, Issue 6. 5.
. Fukutake, Tadashi; Ōuchi, Tsutomu;
Nakane, Chie (1964). The socio-
economic structure of the Indian
village: surveys of villages in Gujarat
and West Bengal. Institute of Asian
Economic Affairs. pp. 76–77.
7. Shukla, J. D (1976). State and district
administration in India. pp. xii, 63.
 . Ātre, Trimbaka Nārāyaṇa. The village
cart: translation of T.N. Atre's Gaav
gada. pp. 65, 78. ISBN 978-81-7154-
863-7.
9. Trivedi, Harshad R. Tribal land
systems: land reform measures and
development of tribals. p. 154.
10. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency:
Thana. VIII. 1882. p. 573.
11. Dantwala, Mohanlal Lalloobhai; Shah,
C. H. (1971). Evaluation of Land
 Reforms: General report. pp. 167,
179–180.
12. Elphinstone, Mountstuart; Forrest, Sir
G. W. (George William) (1884).
Writings of Mountstuart Elphinstone.
pp. 490, 479.
13. Shelly, C. E. (1892). Transactions of
the Seventh International Congress of
Hygiene and Demography. 11. p. 116.
14. Baden-Powell, Baden Henry (1896).
The Indian village community:
examined with reference to the
 physical, ethnographic, and historical
condition of the provinces; chiefly on
the basis of the revenue-settlement
records and district manuals. pp. 598,
735–736.
15. Baines, J. A. (1882). Imperial census
of 1881: Operations and results in the
Presidency of Bombay including Sind.
I. p. 260.
1 . Habibullah, Wajahat; Ahuja, Manoj,
eds. (2005). Land Reforms in India:
Computerisation of Land Records. 10.
 Sage Publications India. pp. 42, 195,
197–198, 202. ISBN 978-0-7619-3347-
2.
17. "District administration - Naib
Tehsildar" .
1 . "Power of the patwary" . Dawn.
19. "Corrupt Patwarys go scot-free : ACE
helpless" . Dawn.
20. Jambandi Haryana , Haryana Revenue
Department.
21. Belgaum Jamabandi .
 22. What is Lal Dora , Daily Pioneer, 11
June 2013.

External links
Patwaris
'Proposal to abolish 59 posts of Patwari'
- News item - The Tribune

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