Soil and water conservation. In order to prevent soil deterioration owing to erosion, most of the states have enacted legislation, empowering their governments to take up early antisoil-erosion measures.

Legislative measures dealing with soil and water conservation have been passed in all the states, except Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. Among the Union Territories, the Land Development Schemes Regulations, 1963, is in force in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In other Union Territories, the question of enacting suitable legislation is in various stages of examination and consideration. In many states, there are other Acts which have an indirect bearing on the subject of soil and water conservation dealing with the preservation and protection of forests, etc.

Command and Development Programme. An integrated area development programme is being taken up in selected irrigation commands in various states. The programmne inter alia includes on-farm developments including the consolidation of holdings, boundary alignment, land- levelling, construction of field channels, field drains, etc. in command area of irrigation projects. It will he necessary for the state governments to provide legislative support for the implementation of the programme to cover the difficulties which may arise. The Rajasthan government has already enacted the Rajasthan Colonisation Amendment Act, 1974 (Act No. XXHI of 1974) under which the allottees and the tenants can be directed to carry out land development work at their own cost as per plans and specifications approved by the Project Officer. The Government of Madbya Pradesh is also considering the issue of Madhya Pradesh Bhoomi Sudhar Yojna (sanshodhan Adhyadesh, 11)75. The approval of the President has been conveyed by the Ministry of Home affairs to the state government on 11 June 1975. Similar enactment may come up in other states also in due course.

Irrigation. Provision has been made in a number of ,states for constructing, improving irrigation works. The legislative measures passed in Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra provide for the irrigation works. The policy of entrusting the maintenance of small irrigation works to the Panchayati Raj organizations has been accepted by the states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and in some other states, the implementation is under way.

The Kerala Irrigation Works (Execution by Joint Labour) Act, 1967, is meant to facilitate the execution of certain works connected with irrigation, flood control and drainage under the Act. The officer authorized by the government is empowered to deviate from any Padasikbaram for paddy cultivation on the application of one or two proprietors and to recover the cost thereof from all the proprietors. With the increasing exploitation of ground-water resources for irrigation, the need for regulating such exploitation within the limit of annual ground-water recharge in different regions of the country was felt. As there existed no enactment on the subject, a Model Bill, namely, the Ground-Water (Control of Regulation Bill) was formulated by the, Govermnent of India in 1970, and was circulated to all the states for guidance in introducing their respective enactment on the subject. The formulation of such enactments is in an advanced stage in the states of Gujarat, and Rajasthan. With the instance of the Irrigation Commission, a commission of experts recently went into the general enactments on irrigation and examined the Question of unification and simplification of the existing laws in the country. This Commission since prepared a draft lrrigation Bill which would now be circulated to the states for enacting simplified and uniform irrigation Acts. As regards the state tube-wells, it was felt that the present enactments governing their manufacture, development, operation, and maintenance be updated so as to make them more conducive to effective functioning and utilization.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation is considering to undertake a study of all the existing enactments on state tube-well in the various states with uniform model circulating it to the states of entrusting the main- works to the Panchayati Raj has been accepted by the states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, in some states the implementation of this policy is under way.

The ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has impressed upon the state governments the need for introducing legislation on ground-water and has circulated a draft model Bill for the purpose. The purpose of the Bill is to regulate and control the development of ground-water to Prevent over-exploitation and deterioration in water quality. It has been suggested to the state governments to introduce legislation authorizing them to notify the areas for controlling and regulating ground-water development, granting permits for lifting and using water and for registering the existing users in such areas. Laws for this purpose are under consideration in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Goa.

Crop protection. The Destructive Insects and Pest Act, 1914, passed by the central Government provided for means against the entry of diseases from other countries into India. Suitable provisions also exist in the Act for preventing the spread of plant pests and diseases from one state to another in the country. For implementing the provisions relating to the prevention of the entry of injurious pests and diseases into the country, a chain of plant quarantine and fumigation stations has been established in all important airports and seaports and land frontiers. The state governments have also passed suitable legislative measures for dealing with tile epidemics of plant diseases and pests, empowering them to organize measures for chemical control. The success of plant protection measures largely depends upon the efficacy of the chemicals used for controlling the plant pests and diseases. At the same time, it is important that the chemicals used do not pose any serious risk to human and animal life. It is necessary to ensure the quality of chemicals manufactured in the country or imported and marketed for undertaking plant protection measures.

With the objective of preventing any hazards to human and animal life and to ensure the efficacy of the pesticides, a legislation called the Insecticides Act was passed by the Central Government in 1968. A Central Insecticides Board has been set up to advise the Government on the various aspects of the implementation of the provisions of the Act. A Registration Committee has also been set up. This committee register's the various insecticides and their formulations after scrutinizing and verifying the claims made, by the importer or manufacturer as regards their efficacy in the field and safety to human beings. Any person, desiring to manufacture or sell, stock, exhibit for sale or to distribute, is required to take a licence. Any person manufacturing, stocking or selling misbranded insecticides is liable to bet punished with imprisonment or fine. The Act also provides for the appointment of inspectors to draw samples of insecticides manufactured and get them analysed in the insecticides laboratories established for the purpose and take steps to launch prosecutions for marketing substandard material. These provisions in the Act are intended to ensure quality control on the pesticides.

IMPROVEMENT OF LIVESTOCK. Recognizing the importance of livestock in the rural economy, Article 49 of the Constitution prescribes that the State shall endeavour to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving breeding, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught cattle. Upgrading of livestock Legislation for the uprading of livestock through improved breeding has been passed in all the states, except Assam and Tripura. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Livestock Improvement Act is in force in Bagpat, Mawana, and Meerut in the Mecrut district and in the Dehra Dun in the Dehra Dun district. The legislative measures provide for the elimination of defective breed in bulls through compulsory castration of scrub animals. Most of the Acts lay down that unless the owner of a breeding bull takes out a licence, the licensing officer cannot order the castration of such a bull. In the states of Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura also, enactments of legislation on these lines are under consideration.

Contagious diseases. Legislative measures have been taken by all states, except Uttar Pradesh, where the Prevention and Control of Animal Contagious Diseases Act is under consideration of the government. The Act provides for the regulation of the entry and movement of infected animals into diffirent states, their registration and treatment, regulation of markets, fairs and exhibitions, cleaning, and disinfection of vehicles used for the transport of diseased animals and reporting the occurrence of scheduled diseases. There is also a Central Act, called the Livestock Importation Act of 1898, under which the Central Government has the authority to regulate, restrict or prohibit the entry by sea, land or air into India of any livestock affected or is liable to be affected by diseases, or the importation of fodder, dung, clothing, harness, etc. pertaining to such livestock. State Governments have been empowered by the Central Government to frame rules under the Act and set up quarantine stations for the purpose. Another Central Act is the Glanders and Farey Act, 1899. The following Acts way be mentioned -

  • The Madhya Pradesh Cattle Diseases Act, 1934.
  • The Madras Rinderpest Act, 1940.
  • The East Punjab Animal Contagious Diseases Act, 1948.
  • The Bengal Diseases of Animals Act, 1944.
  • The Assam Cattle Diseases Act, 1948.
  • The Bombay Diseases of Animals Act, 1948.
  • The Orissa Animal Contagious Diseases Act, 1959.
  • The Diseases of Animals Act Mysore, 1949 repealed by the Mysore Animal Diseases (Control) Act, 1961.
  • The Madhya Bharat Animal Contagious Diseases Act, 1959.
  • The Rajasthan Animal Contagious Diseases Act, 1959.
  • The Madhya Pradesh Sickness Act, 1960.
  • The Gujarat Diseases of Animals (Control) Act, 1963.

The main objectives of these Acts are to control the spread of notifiable infectious diseases and to entail the infliction by vaccination, treatment and destruction of infected livestock. The notifiable diseases are :

  • rincterpest or cattle plague,
  • foot-and-mouth diseases,
  • haemorrhagic septicaemia,
  • black quarter,
  • anthrax,
  • tuberculosis,
  • Johne's diseases,
  • rabies,
  • glanders and farey,
  • epizootic lymphangitis
  • ,donvine and dourine, and
  • surna.

The notification of diseases outbreak preventive vaccination of the cattle, control of the movement of animals in the diseases-affected area, compulsory quarantining for fresh birds and animals, compulsory segregation and treatment of cattle in the infected area are the steps taken under these Acts. The director of animal husbandry of a state shall appoint a veterinary officer or inspectors who may take the help of police officers to implement the law in the event of outbreaks.

Marketing of livestock and certain livestock products. Regulated markets have been established in the states under the Agricultural Produce Market Act for regulating market practices in respect of agricultural commodities including livestock products.