THE
Burma Village Manual
containing the
Burma Village Act, 1907, as amended by the
Burma Towns and Village Amendment Act,
1912, the Burma Village Amendment Act, 1914,
the' Burma Village Amendment Act, 1921,
the Burma Village Amending Act, 1924, and
the Burma Village (Amendment) Act, 1925, and
Rules and Orders issued thereunder-
(Ctrreeted up to th* 15th April 1926.)
Rangoon:
Supdt., Govt. Printing and Stationery, Burma
1926
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PREFACE.
A fresh edition of the Village Manual of 1917 has been
entailed by the passing of the Village Amending Act of 1924.
The new Act modified the Act of 1907 in certain fundamental
particulars and an extensive revision of the Manual has in
consequence been necessary- The attention of officers is
drawn to the Executive Orders which have been largely
rewritten. The differences between the old and the new Act
are there brought out. References to the appropriate por-
tions of these orders are contained in the foot-notes to the
Act. Act V of 1925 was a short Act varying in certain small
particulars Act IV of 1924. Here also the foot-notes to the
Act indicate where the changes have been made.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I.
page
The Burma Village Act, 1907, as amended 3
Part II.
STATUTORY" RULES AMD ORDERS UNDER THE ACT.
Commencement of the Act—section I (3) ... ... ... 27
Appointment of headmen—section 5 (•) ... ... ... ib.
Election and procedure of village committees—section 29(1) (cc) .. â–
Offences specially declared to be triable by village committees or head-
men— section 9 (2) (e) ... ... .. ... 30
Trial of civil suits by headmen or village committees—section 39 (1) (f) 31
Disposal of fees levied under section 6-4) or section 9(9)—section
29 (t)(£-) ... ... ... ... ... 33
Rules prescribing headmen's register and requiring written receipts-
section 29 (1) (i) ... ... ... 34
Remission or refund of fines—section 29 (1) (i) ... ... ib•
Supply of information to Military Officers—section 29 (i) (i) ... ib.
Rules requiring headmen to report establishment of cutch camps—
section 39 (1) (i) ... ... ib.
Revision of decisions of village committees or headmen in civil suits-
section 6 (2) ... ... .. ... 35
Delegation to subordinate officers of the powers of a Deputy Commissioner
under the Act—section 24 ... ... ... ib.
Powers and privileges of police officers conferred on headmen and on
rural policemen and duties to be performed by rural policemen—
section 29(1) (a), (b) and (c) ... ... ... 36
Orders regarding Fives—section 21 (3) ... 33
Registration of births and deaths— section 29 (1) (d) ... 39
Duties of headmen for the prevention of the spreading of small-pox —
section 29 (1) (d) ... ... ... ... 42
Duties of persons residing in a village-tract in respect of public nuisances
and sanitation, contagious or infectious disease among human
beings and fires and the duties of headmen in respect of public
nuisances and sanitation,^contagious disease among human beings
and fires—section"29(1 )(d) ... ... ... ib.
Duties of headmen and residents of a village-tract in respect of the
prevention of the spreading of leprosy—section 29 (1) (
Duties of headmen and residents of a village-tract in respect of the
prevention and suppression of cattle disease—section 29(1) (d) and
(h) ... ... ... 49
Registration of deaths of cattle—section 29 (1 ){d) ... 55
Duties of headmen and residents of a village-tract in respect of the
slaughter of cattle—section 99 (1) (d) ... ... ... 56
Regulation of pawn-shops' in village-tracts—section aoA (a) and (3) ... 63
11
Part III.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS UNDER THE ACT.
Chapter I—
Preliminary
Chapter II—
Appointment of Headmen^ constitution of Village Committees, et
Chapter III—
Status and privileges of Headmen
Chapter IV—
Duties of Headmen, Village Committees and Villagers ...
Chaftbr v—
Collective punishment of villagers accessory to crime
Chapter VI—
Provisions respecting residence in village-tracts and erection
houses ...
Chapter VII—
Miscellaneous orders
APPENDICES.
I.—The Village-System. Minute by Sir Charles Crosthwaite
II.—Revenue Collection by Headmen—Circular No. 6 of 1899
I1L—Rules for the levy and assessment of the thathameda-tax
IV.—Control of Horse and Pony Race-Meetings ...
V.—Instructions regarding Forest Villagers ...
VL—Heads of information for Village Sanitary Records ...
VII.—Instructions for the Prevention of Cholera
INDEX.
PART I.
The Burma Village Act (Burma Act VI of 1907),
as amended by Burma Acts II of 1912, I of
1914, I of 1921, IV of 1924 and V of 1925.
THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907
As amended by the Burma Towns and Village Amendment Act,
13x2, the Burma Village Amendment Act, 1914., the Burma
Village Amendment Act, 1921 the Burma Village Amending
Act, 1924, and the Burma Village (, Amendment) Act, 1925.
CONTENTS.
Preliminary
Sections.
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
2. Repeal.
3. Effect of Aci.
Definitions.
5. Determination of village-tracts and app )intment of headmen
and rural policemen.
+5a. Constitution of village committees.
Duties and Powers of Headmen and Rural Policemen.
6. Civil jurisdiction of headman.
7. Headman bound to report certain matters.
8. (ieneral duties of headman and rural policeman.
9. Disposal of petty criminal ca>es by headman.
10. Penalty for neglect of duty or abuse of authority by headman .
or rural policeman.
General Duties of Villagers,
11. General duties of persons residing in village-tracts.
12. Penalty on villagers tor negie a of such duties or failure to
assist headman or rural policeman.
13. Fine on villagers accessory to crime.
* 14. [Fine on villagers where ho micide is committed or attemped~\.
Provisions respecting Residence in Village-tracts and
Erection of Houses.
♦ 15. \Notification of residence of strangers in village-tracts].
*iu. [Penalty for breach of section 15 and disposal by headman
of such cases~\.
17- Prohibition of unauthorized settlement of strangeri in village-
tracts.
t Inserted by section 4 of Burma Act IV of 1.324..
* Repealed by section 12 of Burma Act IV of 1924.
;IO
PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
Sections.
18. Prohibition of the establishment of new villages without per-
mission and of the erection of houses outside villages.
19. Penalty for breach of orders under immediately preceding
sections.
Procedure for evicting persons convicted under this section.
*2o. [Power to require residents to removeJ.
Pawnshops.
f2oA. Licensing and regulation of pawn-shops.
P-ves.
a 1. Penalty for holding, promoting or taking part in an unlicensed
fwe.
{21 a. Surrender of offensive weapons to headman on demand.
a
Supplemental provisions.
22. Mode of recovering fines.
23. Finality ol orders.
24. Delegation of powers of Deputy Commissioner, Subdivisional
Officer and Township Officer to certain classes of officers.
25. Provisions with respect to emolum nts of headmen and mral
policemen.
26. Bar to jurisdiction of Civil Courts in matters relating to
appointment of headmen, etc.
27. Amendment of section 9 or* Act 11 of r8So to provide for
remuneration of headman and maintenance of rural police.
28. Protection to headman or rural policeman in execution of his
duty.
§28a. Transfer of cases bv Magistrates to village committees.
89. Power to make rules.
H30. Penalty on non-residents of village-tract for breach of rule
under section 29 [/) (h).
THE SCHEDULE.
ENACTMENTS REPEALED.
* Repealed by st-cti^n 14 of Burma Act IV ol 1924.
t Inserted by section 3 of Burma Act 1 of iqsi.
J Insetted by section 4 of Hurma Act 1 of iQr4.
§ Inserted by section 6 of Burma Act V of 1925-
[| Inserted by section 8 of Burma Act II of 1912.
THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907
As amended by Burma Act II of 1912, Burma Act
I of 1914, Burma Act I of 1921, Burma Act IV of
1924, and Burma Act V of 1925.
Passed by the Lieutenant-Governor of Burma
in Council.
{Received thi assent of the Lhu1 enant-G over nor on the 30^
September 1907, and of the Govirnor-Gencral on the 6th
Novembir 1907, and was publis'nid in the Burma Gazette
of the 30th Nove?nber 1907.)
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to
the Village-system and Rural Police in Burma.
Whereas it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law Preamble-
relating to the village-system and rural police in Burma ; It is
hereby enacted as follows :—
Preliminary.
1. (/) This Act may be called the Burma Village Act
I 907 . mencement.
(2) It extends to the whole of Burma ; and
(3) It shall come * into force on such date as the Local
Government may, by notification, appoint on this behalf.
2. The enactments mentioned in the Schedule are hereby RePeaI'
repealed to the extent mentioned in the fourth column thereof.
3- This Act shall take effect notwithstanding anything in EsectofAct.
any enactment for the time being in force.
4- In this Act unless there is anything repugnant in the Deantuon..
subject or context,—
(1) "headman" means the person appointed to be the "Headman"
headman of a village-tract under section 5 :
. * The Act came into force on the ist January 1908 (General Department
Notification No. 445, dated the 14th December 1907, page 27). The Burma
Village Amending Act, 1914 (IV of 1934) came into force on the 20th December
1924 (General Department Notification No. 218, dated the 20th December 1924,
not reproduced).
6
/
PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
(2) "rule" means a rule made by the Locai Government
under this Act :
(3) "stolen property" has the meaning assigned to that xlvoiiwo
term by section 410 of the Indian Penal Code :
(4) " Subdivisional Officer" means the officer in charge of
a subdivision of a district as constituted for revenue and
general purposes :
(5) " Township Officer " means the officer in charge of a
township as constituted for revenue and general purposes:
(6) " town" means a local area declared to be a town for Bat. Act n
1907
the purposes of the Burma Towns Act, 1907 :
(7) " village" means an area appropriated to dwelling
places not included within the limits of a town :*
»vniage-tract." ^ " village-tract " means the local area under the juris-
diction of a headman, including a village or group of villages
and adjacent lands : and*
+ (9) "village committee" means the village committee
established for a village-tract under section 5A.
Determination 5* (7) The Deputy Commissioner may declare that any
muppSnta™" l°cal area shall be a village-tract, and, when necessary, may
Tirai'poTcLfen'! determine t the limits of any village-tract.
J (.2) The village headman for every village-iract shall be
appointed by the Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy
Commissioner shall, however, in all cases ascertain the wishes
of the villagers by means of an election, and shall only
overrule the result of the election in accordance with rules
made bvthe Local Government in this behalf.
(j) § The Deputy Commissioner, or a Subdivisional or
Township Officer empowered by the Deputy Commissioner in
this behalf may appoint a rural policeman or more than one
such policeman in any village-tract.
Rule."
•• Stolen
property."
11 Subdi visional
Officer."
"Township
Officer."
Town."
Village."
* Amended by Burma Act IV of ig2+, section 2 (a), (M and \c). For orders
relating to village committees of amalgamated-vilkge tracts, see, paragraph 16,
page 79.
t For orders about fixing of and changes in village jurisdictions, see paragraphs
134—136, pages 106 and 107.
I A mended bv Burma Act IV of 1924, section 3. On this subject see General
Department Notification No. 319, dated the 20th December 19^4, as amended by
General Department Notification No. 113, dated the 13th July 1925, page 17, and
paragraphs 5—8, pages 76 and 77, Instructions about Myothugyis in Upper
Burma are contained in paragraphs 18—-25, pages 7j— 81. About status and
privileges of headmen, see Chapter 111. page 8a For registers to be maintained
by headmen, see paragraph 164, page 117.
§ For instructions about the appointment of rural policemen in Lower Burma
and Yviagaungs in Upper Bu'ma,see paragraphs 30—3^, pages 8t and 82. In
addition to his duties under the Act as an ordinary villager, a rural policeman in
Lower Burma has to perform the duties set forth in rules 3 and 4, page 37.
SECTIONS 7A—25.
19
(4) livery local area constituting, immediately before the
niofiBss. commencement of this Act, a village, as defined in the Lower
xiv°o£1887'. Burma Village Act, 1889, or in the Upper Burma Village
Regulation, 1887, shall be deemed to have been declared to be
a village-tract for the purposes of this Act; and all appoint-
ments, rules, orders and notifications made or issued under any
enactment repealed bv this Act and in forcc immediately
before ihe commencement of this Act shall mutatis mutandis
be deemed to have been made or issued under tins Act.
*5A. (1) For every village-tract there shall be constituted of»?™gctatlon
a village committee for the purpose of exercising such powers commU,ee,>
as are or may be conferred upon the village committee under
this Act or any other law, and for the purpose of advising the
headman in matters concerning the general welfare of the
village-tract; provided that the Local Government may by
notification f exclude any village-tract from the operation of
this section, in which case all the provisions of this Act
relating to village committee shall, where the context so
permits, be deemed to apply to the headman.
(2) 1'he headman shall be a member and the chairman
of the village committee.
(3) The remaining members of the village committee
shall be not more than (our persons elected by the residents
of the-village-tract in accordance with such rules \ as may be
made in this behalf. Each of such members shall be entitled
to remain in office for three years from the date of his election
unless he resigns before the expiration of that period;
provided that any such member shall be deemed to have
resigned his office if the Deputy Commissioner, by order made
upon sufficient grounds, declares that the continuance in office
of such member is contrary to the interests of the residents
of the village-tract.
Duties and Powers of Village Committeis, Hiadmin and
Rural Policemen.
§6. (/) The Commissioner may, by notification, invest any ojh«dmnl?U(m
village committee with the powers of a Civil Court for the
* Inserted by Burma Act IV of 1924, section 4.
t >uch N otifications arp not reproduced.
J For rules, see pages 27 -
§ Amended by Burma Act IV of 1934, sections 5 and 6.
For rules regarding the trial of Civil suits, see General Department Notifica-
tion No. 22r, d*ted th% 20th December ig»4, page 31.
For orders relating to village committees, see paragraphs 9 to 17^ pages77
to 79 Villa , e committees or headmen when specially empowered under this
. . r~ Miscellaneous,
section are given appointment orders in t-orm -—j-
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
trial of suits between persons of whom both or all, as the case
may be, reside within the village-tract, and may, by general
or* special notification,, specify the classes, and the value not
exceeding fifty rupees, of the suit which such village
committee may try.
,2) In any suit tried in exercise of powers conferred under
sub-section (/), the decision of the village committee shall,
subject to revision by such authority as the Local Government
may appoint + in this behalf, be final.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in the Code of Civil XIVo'M®
Procedure, a person shall not be bound to institute a suit in
the Court of a village committee.
(4) A fee J shall be paid to the headman on the institution
of a suit in the court of a village committee at the following
rate : —
One anna in the rupee on the value of the suit with a
a minimum fee of one rupee, or two rupees if the suit is
a matrimonial suit or otherwise not capable of valuation.
Headman 7- ("0 Every headman shall forthwith communicate to the
reMrtca- nearest Magistrate, or the officer in charge of the nearest
matters. police-station, whichever is the nearer, any infurmation which
he may obtain respecting—â–
(a) the permanent or temporary residence of any notori-
ous receiver or vendor of stolen property in his
village-tract;
(b) the resort to any place within or the passage through,
his village-tract of any person whom he knows, or
reasonably suspects, to be a dacoit, robber, escaped
convict or proclaimed offender ;
(c) the commission of, or attempt or intention to
commit any of the following offences within his
village-tract, namely :—
(?) murder;
(n) culpable homicide not amounting to murder ;
{iii) dacoity ;
(iv) robbery ;
(v) offence against the Indian Arms Act, 1878 ; or
* The practice is to issue a special notification in each case,
f The Township Officer has been appointed to be the revising authority : see
General Department Notification No. 249, dated the 14th July 19OS, as amended
by General Department Notification No 78, dated the 23rd May 1935, page 35.
I The headman is entitled to retain these fees under Rule 10 at page 3a.
SECTIONS 9A—25.
19
xtof 1878. (dV) any other offence respecting which the Deputy
Commissioner by general or special order,
made with the previous sanction of the
Commissioner, directs him to communicate
information ;
(d) the occurrence in his village-tract of any sudden or
unnatural death or of any death under suspicious
circumstances ;
(e) *any matter likely to affect the maintenance of order
or the prevention of crime or the safety of person
or property respecting which the Deputy Commis-
sioner by general or special order, made with the
previous sanction of the Commissioner, has directed
him to communicate information.
(2) Section 45 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898,
votJ888 shall n°t apply to the areas \n which this Act is in force.
8. (/) Kvery headman shall be bound to perform the £2JSef
following public duties, namely :—■andd^S
(a) to investigate every offence respecting which he is p°llceB,a,I«
required by section 7 to communicate information;
(b to search for and arrest any person whom he has
reason to believe to have been concerned in the
commission or attempted commission of any such
offence, and to recovei, if possible, any property
taken by anv such person;
(c) to arrest any person found lurking within the limits
of the villape-tract who cannot give a satisfactory
account of himself;
(d) to forwa'rd, as soon as may be, to the nearest police-
station any person arrested by him or made over to
his custody, together with any weapon or other
article likely to be useful as evidence;
(«) to resist any unlawful attack made upon any village
within the village-tract ;**
if) f to take such measures for the purpose of
protecting the villages within his tract from attack
as the Deputy Commissioner may advise ;
* Added by section 4 ol Burmrt Ac- II of 1912. For instructions under this
clauses paragraph 132,page 104. '
** Village watchmen may carry spears: paragraph 154., page 112. For
orders about the issue of gun licenses and Government guns to villagers, see page
112. For orders about the issue of guns to and the carriage of dalwes and spears
by headman, see< paragraph 154, page 112. For orders about the issue of gun
licenses and Government guns to villagers, see page 112.
+ Substituted by section 7(a) of Burma Act IV of 1924. See explanation in
paragraphs 61 and 62, page 88.
;IO
PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
(g) *to collect and furnish, upon receipt of payment for
the same in advance, at such rates as the Deputy
Commissioner, with the sanction of the Commis-
sioner, may from time to time fix, guides, supplies
of food, carriage and means of transport for any
troops or police posted in or near or marching
through the village-tract or for any servant of the
Government travelling on duty and, on the written
order of the Deputy Commissioner, for any traveller:
fProvided that except in the case of troops or police,
the provisions of this clause shall apply only to the
headman of village-tracts which are notified by the
Deputy Commissioner, with the sanction of the
Commissioner, as being village-tracts where the
conditions are such that the furnishing of services
or supplies as specified above at reasonable rates
is not ensured:
J Provided also that no headman shall be bound to collect
supplies beyond the limits of the village-tract of
which he is headman, or to furnish carriage or
means of transport for more than twelve hours'
journey from such village-tract unless the
Deputy Commissioner certifies in writing that it is
necessary in the public interests that carriage or
means of transport should be supplied for a longer
period in which case the Deputy Commissioner
shall fix higher rates of payment than the rates of
payment for journeys of twelve hours or less :
Provided also that no headman shall requisition for
personal service any resident of such village-tract
who is not of the labouring class and accustomed
to do such work as may be required;
Explanation.—A servant of the Government proceed-
ing on or returning from authorized leave shall be
deemed to be on duty for the purposes of this
clause ;
(h) ^Repealed by Burma Act IV of 1924).
(i) to collect or aid in collecting revenue and other
money due to the Government from residents of
the village-tract or persons holding land therein ;
* The question of how far services under this and the following sub-Sections
can be demanded free of payment is discussed in paragraphs 63—71, pages 89—91.
t Inserted section 7(6) of Burma Act IV of I9»4.
j Amended by section 5 of liurma Act II of 191a and section 7 (c) of
Burma Act IV of 1924.
SECTION 8.
II,
(j) if so ordered, and in accordance with such rules *
as may be made in this behalf, to register all births
and deaths which take place within the village-
tract, and any other vital statistics which may be
prescribed by such rules ;
(A) to superintend and control and to take such
measures as may be prescribed in any rulssf made
in this behalf for—
firstly,—the prevention of public nuisances ;
secondly,—the cure or prevention of the spreading of
any contagious or infectious disease among human
beings or domestic animals of any kind ;
thirdly,—the prevention and extinction of files;
fourthly, — the general sanitation of the village-tract;
X fifthly,—the regulation of the slaughter of horned
cattle, ponies, sheep, goats and swine, and the sale
of the flesh thereof ;
(/) to supply to the best of his ability any local infor-
mation which any Magistrate or officer of police may
require ;
{m) $ to disarm any person found in possession of any
weapon of the kind mentioned in section 21A while
proceeding to, returning from or being present at a
fwe held in the headman's village-tract; and
(n) generally to assist all officers of the Government in
the execution of their public duties. II
(2) Every rural policeman shall be bound to perform such
public duties similar to those imposed on a headman by sub-
section (1) as may be imposed upon him by rules made in
his behalf.
(3) ** Every headman shall have power to arrest any
person who commits an offence punishable under section 510
of the Indian Penal Code. 0
* See Rules published in Department of Public Health Notification No. 10
dated the nth |February 1915, pages 39—42, and Agricultural (Vety.) Depart-
ment Notification No. 7, dated the 4th September 1995, pages 55 and 56.
t The rules are printed on pages 42—55 and 56—63.
^'Amended by section 2 of Burma Act i of 1921.
§ This clause was inserted and the original clause (m) re-lettered clause (») by
section 2 of Burma Act 1 of 1914.
|| Rule 7 at page 34 provjdes that headmen in Upper Burma shall give
information to Military Officers in command of posts or of parties or columns or
travelling on duty when required- Rule 8 requires headmen in Upper Burma to
report establishment of cuich boiling camps in or near their village-tracts. Forest
Department Circular 8 of 1891 (reproduced in paragraphs 98—100, pages 98 and
99 imposes on headmen the duty of giving effect to the orders prohibiting the
felling of trees on the banks of streams and on the sides of roads.
if See Rules 3 and 4 on page 37-
** Inserted by section 5 of Burma Act II of 1912-
2
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
Dlipsu] of Q.* (/) If any of the offences mentioned in the next follow
ouMbjrTead- ing sub-section is committed in a village-tract, the village com-
m"* mittee may, on complaint made to the headman take cogni-
zance of it and try any person accused thereof.
(2) The offences referred to in sub-section (1) are the
following, namely:—
(a) assault;
(b) theft when the value of the property stolen does not
exceed five rupees ;
(c) mischief when the mischief causes damage to an
amount not exceeding five rupees ;
(d) criminal trespass ;
(e) any other offence + which the Local Government
may, by notification, declare to be triable by a village
committee under sub-section (1).
(3) If the accused is convicted, he may be sentenced to
fine not exceeding five rupees or,"if the offence was theft or
mischief, twice the value of the property stolen or twice the
amount of the damage caused, as the case may be, or to
confinement for a term not exceeding twenty-four hours in
such place as the Deputy Commissioner may appoint t in this
behalf, or to both
{4) § A village committee specially empowered by the
Commissioner in this behalf may, on complaint, try any person
accused of theft or mischief when the value of the property
stolen or the amount of the damage caused does not exceed
fifty rupees, and may in any case so triable, sentence the
. accused, on conviction, to fine || not exceeding fifty rupees.or
to confinement for a term not exceeding fifteen days in such
place as the Deputy Commissioner may appoint + in this behalf,
or to both,
(5) II Proceedings under this section shall be held in th
presence of the complainant and the accused.
* Amended by section 9 of Burma Act IV of 1924. and section a of Burma
Act V of 1925.
f See Notifications printed on page 30.
+ As regards places of confinement, sec paragraph 138, page 107 Para-
graph 139 prescribes a form of warrant.
§ For orders relating to special powers of village committees and headmen,
see paragraph 13, page 78. A village committee when specially empowered
under this sub-section is given an appointment ord^r in form * 'y'laglT^B*—
|| These fines are credited to *'XXXV—Miscellaneous—Other Fees, Fines
and Forfeitures (a) .Fines, etc., levied under the Burma Village Act." paragraph
i-57, page 114.
II Regarding power of the village committee or headman to require the
attendance of an accused person, see paragraph 140, page 108.
SECTIONS 13A—25. 19
16) The offence out of which the proceedings have arisen
may be compounded at any time before the village committee
pronounces its decision.
(y) The proceedings need not be reduced to writing, but
such record shall be kept of the cases decided as the Deputy
Commissioner directs.
(8) The whole or any part of any fine imposed for an
offence referred to in this section may be awarded as compen-
sation to any person injured by the offence,
(9) * A fee of one rupee may be levied on a complaint
under sub-section (1 ) and of two rupees on a complaint under
sub-section (4) but no otherfees shall be leviable in any case
under this section.
(10) If the accused is convicted, the amount of any fee
paid in respect of the complaint shall be recovered from him
as if it were a fine imposed under this Act and be repaid to the
complainant.
(//) Nothing contained in this section shall enable a village
committee to try any person who is accused of an offence
punishable under Chapter XII or Chapter XVII of the Indian
LVof 1880. .penal Code with imprisonment for a term of three years or
upwards and who has been previously convicted of any offence
punishable under either of those Chapters with imprisonment
for a term of three years or upwards.
10. + If a headman or rural policeman neglects to perform Penalty tor
r 1 ii- i • 1 I.■• 1 1 • a neglect ol duty
â– any of the public duties imposed upon him by this Act or any
rules thereunder, or abuses any of the powers conferred upon ^adman^r
him by this Act or any such rule, he shall be liable, by order"".
bf the Deputy Commissioner, to pay a fine not exceeding fifty
rupees.
General Duties of Villagers.
11. Every person residing in a village-tract shall be bound
to perform the following public duties, namely:— tracBts!nT" ge"
(a) to communicate forthwith to the headman any infor-
mation which he may obtain respecting the commission
of, or, attempt or intention to commit, within the village-
tract, any offence with respect to which the headman is
required by section 7 to communicate information ;
* For orders as to the amount of fees to be levied by headman specially
empowered under section 9 (+), see paragraph 137, page 107. The fees are
retained by the headman : see Rule <, page 53.
t Eines levied by Deputy Commissioners! under this section and under section
13 and finss levied by village committees or headmen under sections 9 and ia
arecredited to XXXV.—Miscellaneous—Other Pees, Fines and Forfeitures—(a)
Fines, etc., levied under the Burma Village Act." 'paragraph 157, page'i1!^.
For orders about fining of headman, see paragraph 39, page 83.
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
(b) to resist any unlawful attack made upon any village
within the village-tract * ;
(c) to take such measures as may be prescribed in any
rules t made in this behalf for—
(i) the registration of births, deaths and vital statistics ;
(ii) the prevention of public nuisances ;
(iii) the care or prevention of the spreading of any
contagious or infectious disease among human
beings or domestic animals of any kind ;
(iv) the prevention and extinction of fires ;
(v) the general sanitation of the village-tract; and
(vi) £ the regulation of the slaughter of horned cattle,
ponies, sheep, goats and swine, and the sale of the
flesh thereof;
(d) on the requisition of the headman or of a rural police-
man to assist him in the execution of his public duties.
Explanation.—A requisition under clause d) may be
either general or addressed to an individual.
Penalty on 12. § If any person residing in a village-tract refuses or
neg^erto/such neglects to perform any of the public duties imposed upon
to asiast head* him by this Act or by any rule thereunder, he shall, in the
policeman. absence of reasonable excuse, the burden of proving which
shall lie upon him, "be liable—
(i) by order of the headman, to fine not exceeding five
rupees, or
(ii) by order of the village committee, on the case
being referred to it by the headman, to fine not
exceeding ten rupees, or to confinement for a
term not exceeding 48 hours in such place as the
Deputy Commissioner may|| appoint in this behalf,
or to both, or
(iii) on conviction by a Magistrate,^ to fine not
exceeding fifty rupees or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding one month, or to both.
Fine on Til- 13. ** The Deputy Commissioner may, with the sanction
toata"c"'017 of the Commissioner, impose fines on all or any residents of a
village-tract if after enquiry he has found that they or any of
• For orders on this subject) see paragraphs 61 and 62, page 88.
f For rules, see pages 39—63.
X Amended by section a of Burma Act I of 1921.
§ Amended by section 10 of Burma Act IV of 1924 and section 3 of Burma
Act V of 1925.
|| For orders on the subject, see paragraph 138, page 107, post,
% Cases tried by Magistrates under this Act will be entered in the ordinary
Judicial registers and returns,
** Amended by Burma Act IV of 1924. Instructions regarding the working
of this section are contained in Chapter page 100.
SECTIONS 19A—25. 19
them have failed to resist an attack on the village or to take
all reasonable means to prevent the escape of any criminal,
and may, with the like sanction, order the whole or any part
of the fines recovered to be applied in compensation for the
injury, damage or loss to person or property caused by such
attack or by the offence of which the criminal is accused.
14. (Repealed by Burma Act IV of 1924.)
Provisions respecting Rtsidinci in Villaqz-tracts and
Eviction of Housts.
15- (Repealed by Burma Act IV of 1924.)
16. (Repealed by Burma Act IV of 1924.)
17.* A person who is not a resident of a village-tract shall unauthorised
not build any house, hut or enclosure, or take up his residence strangers In
in the village-tract without the permission of the village T11'ase"tract''
committee.
18.t (/) No person shall, without the permission of the Prohibition oe
Deputy Commissioner, establish a new villaee or group of raent of new vil-
, 1 J 0 ° 1 lagcs without
ilOUSeS I permission and
and no person shall build or occupy a house on land ot housesoSt.011
which is not within a village at the commencement of this Act, 5 eUllage'*
until it has been appropriated to dwelling places with the
permission of the Deputy Commissioner.
(2) Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed
to require a cultivator or fisherman, or other person whose
vocation during a season of the year is carried on at a distance
from a village, to obtain the permission of the Deputy Com-
missioner to build a house on the locality where his vocation
is carried on, or to occupy it for any season of the year,
during which, having regard to the custom of his vocation,
it is necessary that he should reside in such locality.
19. (/) Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 17 Penaityfor
■o 1 11 1_ -ill ■, • 1 ■»«••, breach of ord«M
or section 10 shall be punishable on conviction by a Magistrate, underimmedt-
with fine which may extend to fifty rupees, or with imprison- .e^ons.
ment for a term which may extend to fifteen days, or with
both.
(2) When a person has been convicted under this section,
the Deputy Commissioner may issue an order requiring him su°nnd"e"jl{,ictei
icction.
* Amended by Burma Act IV of 1924, section 13.
+ For instructions regarding this and the subsequent sections, see paragraph
133. page 105.
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
and any other person (if any) occupying the houses and land
in respect of which he was convicted to quit the same, and to
remove therefrom all property other than Government pro-
perty within a specified time.
A copy of such order shall be posted up in some conspi-
cuous position on the land or upon a building thereon.
(3) If after the time specified in the order any person
remains upon or in occupation of the land the Deputy Com-
missioner may, by warrant under his hand, cause such person
to be arrested and may commit him to imprisonment in the
Civil Jail â– for such period, not exceeding thirty days, as he
may consider necessary for the purpose of preventing resis-
tance or obstruction to his order.
{4) If any property other than Government property
remains on the land after the time specified in the order, the
Deputy Commissioner may cause the same to be removed and
sold for the purpose of defraying the cost of its removal,
custody and sale ; and thereupon the surplus proceeds of the
sale (if any) shall be paid to the owner of the property.
(5) Nothing shall be-deemed to be Government property
within the meaning of this section merely by reason of its
having been put into or affixed to the soil.
20. (Repealed by Section 14 of Burma Act IV of 1924.)
Pawn-shops.
Licensing and * 20A- (7) No person shall keep a pawn-shop or carry on
pawnshops °£ t^e business of a pawn-broker except under and in accordance
with f rules made by the Local Government in this behalf.
(,2) The Local Government mav make rules—
(.7) regulating pawn-shops and rendering licenses neces-
sary for pawn-brokers ;
(b) prescribing the form of such licenses and the con-
ditions subject to which they shall be granted and
may be revoked ;
(c) providing for the sale, issue, production and return
of licenses ; and
(d) generally for carrying into effect the objects of this
section.
(3) The Local Government may, by rule J under this
section, attach to the breach of any rule thereunder any
punishment which may extend for a first offence to a fine of
* Inserted by section 3 of Burma Act I o! 1921.
t For rules, see pages 63—71.
X See Rule 6 at page 67.
SECTIONS 19A—25. 19
Burma Act III
rupees one hundred, and for each subsequent offence to
imprisonment for one month, or to a fine of two hundred
rupees or both :
Provided that this section shall apply only to such
villages as the Deputy Commissioner * may direct and shall
not apply to any area notified under section 210 of the Burma
Municipal Act, 1898. ofi698.
«
Pwes.
t 21. (/) Whoever—
{a) holds a pwe in any village-tract, without a license fi,1^40^^
granted by the Deputy Commissioner or by an instating
officer or other person j appointed by the Deputy nniicen.ed
Commissioner in this behalf, or
(b) promotes the holding of a pwe held without such
license, or
(c) takes part in or in any manner assists the race,
performance or other entertainment (if any) con-
stituting a pise held without such license, or takes
part in or in any manner assists the arrangement or
management of a pwe held without such license, or
{d) being present thereat, permits the holding of a. pwe
without such license, on any land or premises under
his control,
shall be punishable, on conviction by a Magistrate, with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months,
or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with
both.
(2) No fee shall be paid on the application for, or on the
issue of, the license required by sub-section (/).
(j) For the purposes of this Act "pwe " ordinarily means
a puppet-show or other theatrical or dramatic performance, or
a native cart, pony, boat or other like race, held for public
entertainment, whether on public or private property ;
and, in respect of any local area, also includes public
entertainments or assemblies of any such class as the Local
* The words " with the previous sanction of the Commissioner " were deleted
by section 4 of Burma ^ct V of 1925.
t Amended by section 3 of Burma Act I of 1914 and section 15 of Burma
Act IV of 1934. See paragraph 144. page no, post, about licensing of p-wis.
J Divisional Forest Officers are: to be empowered under this clause, set
Appendix V, page 138, post.
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
Government may by notification * declare to be pwes for the
purposes of this Act when held in such local area.
snTOBderoi 2lAf (/) No person being present at a pwe shall have in
txbcadman possession a da of a kind exempted from the provisions of
on demand the Indian Arms Act, 1878, knife, bludgeon, loaded stick, xi ofiara.
hunting-crop or any other instrument which the Deputy Com-
missioner may declare for the purpose of this section to be an
offensive weapon.
{2) Every person proceeding to, returning from or being
present at a pwe and having in his possession any such weapon
shall upon demand deliver up the same to the headman of the
village-tract in which the pwe is being held or to any rural
policeman in such village-tract or to any person employed by
the said headman to assist him in keeping order at the fiwe or
to any police-officer within the said village-tract ; and every
weapon delivered up in accordance with the provisions of this
sub-section shall be made over to the headman as soon as
possible :
Provided that any weapon delivered up in accordance with
the provisions of this sub-section may at any time be returned
to the owner at the discretion of the headman.
{3) Whoever contravenes the provisions of this section
shall be punishable on conviction by a Magistrate with fine
which may extend to Rs. 50 or with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to fifteen days or with both.
{4) The headman may within eight days from the com-
mission of an offence under this section at his discretion either
report the matter to the nearest Magistrate or try the accused
himself and upon conviction sentence him to a fine not exceed-
ing Rs. 5 or to confinement for a term not exceeding .24 hours
in such place as the Deputy Commissioner may appoint in
this behalf or to both.
{ (5) Proceedings before a headman shall be held in the
presence of the accused and such record shall be kept thereof
as the Deputy Commissioner directs.
(6) When any person is convicted of an offence under
sub-section (j) or sub-section^) the instrument in respect of
which he has been convicted shall be liable to be confiscated.
* For notification relating to pu>es, see page 38. See also paragraph 144, page
110, pott.
t Inserted by section 4 of Burma Act I of 1914.
J Amended by section 16 of Burma Act IV of 1924 and siction r of Burma
Act V of igas.
SECTIONS 21A—25.
19
(7) This section shall not apply to any person exempted
under the provisions of section 27 of the Indian Arms Act,
» jiiit«. t878, or to any person employed by a headman to assist him
in keeping order at a/wor exempted by special or general
order of the Deputy Commissioner.
Supplemental Provisions.
22* (1) A fine imposed under this Act may be recovered rtngfine"c°Te*
as if it were an arrear of land-revenue.
(2) (Repealed by section 17 of Burma Act IV of 1924.)
23. (/) An appeal shall not lie from any order made under o£
this Act.
'2) f But the Deputy Commissioner may revise any such
ord er made by any authority subordinate to him ; the Com-
missioner may revise any such order made by the Deputy
Commissioner ; and the Local Government may revise any
order made by the Deputy Commissioner or Commissioner.
(j) Save as provided by this section, an order made under
this Act shaU be final and shall not be liable to be contested
by suit or otherwise.
(4) The word " order " in this section does not include a
decision of a village committee in a suit tried in exercise of
powers conferred under section 6, sub-section (1).
24. JThe Local Government may authorise any Settlement Delegation of
Offi cer, Assistant Commissioner, Extra Assistant Commissioner Deputy f ommto-
or Subdivisional Officer, or any Forest Officer, as defined in 6ionafOflicer
9nr.Ktiv oe section 3 (5) of the Burma Forest Act, 1902, above the rank of omcJtoTertlSu
,,0, Assistant Conservator to exercise all or any of the powers of the ora"â„¢0
Deputy Commissioner, and any Forest Officer above the rank
of Forest Ranger to exercise all or any of the powers of a Sub-
divisional or of a Township Officer under this Act in any district
or part of a district.
25. ^7) The emoluments of a headman or rural policeman Provision,
shall not be liable to attachment in execution of a decree or emoinment» of
order of any Civil Court. rural policemen,
* A D
fine imposfd under the Act provided that if the amount exceeds Rs. 500, the
sanction of the Commissioner is necessary : Rule 4, page 34. A Subdivisional
Officer may trder the remission or refund of any fine imposed by a village
commit tee oriieadn an unaer section 9 in any case that comes before him in revision:
Rule 5 page 34.
t Amended by section 18 of Burma Act IV of 1934.
J Substili'ied by section 4 of Burma Act I of 1921. For notifications under
this section, ite. page 35. For instructions regarding forest villages, see Appendix
V, page 138, post.
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
Bar to Jurisdic-
tion of civil
Court; In â–
matters relating
to appointment
of headmen, etc.
Amendment of
section 9 of Act
II of 1830 to
provide for remu-
neration of
headman and
maintenance
of rural police.
Protection to
headman or rural
policeman in
execution of his
duty-
Transfer of
cases by MagiS'
trate to village
committees.
(2) An assignment of or charge on, or an agreement to
assign or charge any such emoluments shall be void.
(3)* Where the emoluments of a headman consist wholly
or in part of a grant of land, the title to the grant shall pass
with the office of headman, and the Deputy Commissioner
may, upon such terms, if any, as to compensation for improve-
ments or otherwise as he thinks fit, enforce the surrender of
the land to the person for the time being holding that office.
{4), In enforcing a surrender under sub-section (3) the
Deputy Commissioner may proceed in the manner provided in'
sub-sections (2) to (5V- of section 19.
f26. A Civil Court shall not have jurisdiction over any
claim to the office of headman or other village-officer or to the
position of member of a village committee or in respect of
any injury caused by exclusion from such office, or position
or power to compel the performance of the duties, or a division
of the emoluments, thereof.
27- For clause (a) of section 9 of the Burma District Cesses
and Rural Police Act, 1880, the following shall be substituted,
namely :—
"(«) the remuneration of the headman and the maintenance
of the rural police appointed under the Burma Village Act,
1907."
|28. No complaint against a headman or member of a village
committee or rural policeman of any act or omission punish-
able under this Act shall be entertained by any Court unless the
prosecution isjnstituted by order of, or under authority from,
the Deputy Commissioner.
§28a. (/) Notwithstanding anything contained in section
I92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, any Magistrate v of m.
who has taken cognizance of a case may transfer it for
enquiry or trial to any village committee which could have
taken cognizance of it under section g, and such village
committee shall take cognizance of it accordingly.
(2) The District Magistrate may withdraw any case which
has been transferred to a village committee under the pre-
ceding sub-section and may inquire into or try such case him-
self, or refer it for inquiry or trial to any Magistrate competent
to inquire into or try the same.
* Orders about grant of thugyisa land to headmen are indicated in paragraph
43, page 84.
t Amended by sectior 19 of Burma Act IV of 1924.
t Amended by section ao of Burma Act IV of 1924,
§ Inserted by section 6 of Burma Act V of 1925,
SECTIONS 25A—25.
19
29. (/) * *** the Local Government may, by notification, Powenomake
make rules f consistent with this Act— """"
(a) conferring on headmen or on rural policemen any
powers or privileges, which may be exercised or
are enjoyed by police-officers under any enactment
for the time being in force ;
(b) prescribing the duties to be performed by rural
policemen, including any duties imposed upon
police-officers by any enactment for the time being
in force;
c) regulating the exerciss, enjoyment and performance
of those powers, privileges and duties by rural
policemen ;
+ (cc) (i) prescribing the qualifications of electors and
regulating the manner in which members of
village committees shall be elected ;
(zV) prescribing the number of members to be elected
for village committees generally or with reference
to certain village-tracts ;
{tit) prescribing the procedure in enquiries and trials,
the times at which meetings of the village com-
mittee shall be held, the manner of summoning
the same, the quorum necessary therefor, and the-
conduct of business thereat, with reference to the
discharge of the special duties to be performed
by the village committee under this Act and
generally ;
(cd) prescribing the duties to be performed by the head-
man and residents of a village-tract in respect of
the matters mentioned in section 8, sub-section (/),
clauses (j) and (k), and in section 11, clause (c) ;
(e) regulating the emoluments of headmen and rural
policemen ;
§(/) prescribing the procedure to be observed by a
village committee trying a suit in exercise of
powers conferred under section 6, sub-section (/),
the record which is to be made of the suit and the
mode in which that record is to be disposed of, the
powers which the village committee and the head-
man may exercise as regards the costs of the suit
* The word9 " subject to the control Of the Governor-General in Council " were
omitted by the Devolution Act, 1910.
t For rules under this section, see pages 37 -30, 31—35, 36, 37 and 39—58.
I Inserted by section 21(0; '<( Burma Act IV of i9»4.
§ Subitituted by section 21 (6) of Burma Act IV of 19J4.
;IO PART I.—THE BURMA VILLAGE ACT, 1907.
and of any proceeding arising thereout, the manner
in which a decree or order made by the village
committee may be executed by the headman, and
the manner, circumstances and conditions in and on
which such a decree or order may be sent for
execution to, and be executed by, another village
committee or a civil court ;
â– (g) for the disposal of fees levied under section 6, sub-
section (4) , and section 9, sub-section (p);
*(h) for the prevention and suppression of any contagious
or infectious disease among human beings or
domestic animals of any kind coming into or pass-
ing through a village-tract ; and
(0 generally, for carrying into effect the purposes of
this Act.
(2) All such rules shall, when published in the Gazette,
have the same effect as if enacted by this Act.
30. t Whoever, not being a resident of a village-tract,
Tduta nof°n~ refuses to obey or contravenes any rule made under clause (h)
mcii of rule
of sub-section (/) of section 29 shall be punishable, on con-
sider Mctionaj vjC£jon by a Magistrate, with fine which may extend to 50
rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
fifteen days, or with both.
THE SCHEDULE.
(See Section 2.)
Enactments Repealed.
I a 3 4
Year. No. Short title or subject. Extent of repeal.
Acts of the Governor Gevera.1 in Council.
1880 II The Burma District Sections 12 to a 1 (both
Cesses and Rural Police inclusive) in so far as
Act, 1880. they may not already
have been repealed.
1889 III The Lower Burma Vil- The whole.
lage Act, 1889.
1894 XI The Lower Burma Vil- The whole.
lage Act (1689) Amend-
ment Act, 1894. •
* This clause was inserted and the original clause (A) re-lettered (i) by section
,7 cf Burma Act II of 191a.
t Inserted by section 8 ol Burma Act II of 1912.
SECTION 30—THE SCHEDULE- 2<$;
THE SCHEDULE—concluded.
I 2 3 4
Year. No. Short title or subject. Extent of repeal.
Acts of the Governor-General in Council—Concld.
The Lower Burma Vil-
lages and Towns Law
Amendment Act, 1895.
The Burma Laws Act,
1898.
1895 ... XVIII ... The Lower Burma Vil- The-* heading " Lower
Burma Village Act,
1889," and sections if
2 and 3.
1898 ... Xlll ... The Burma Laws Act, So much of the Third
Schedule as relates to-
Act III of 1889 a nd
Regulation XIV of
1887.
Regulations made under the Government of India. Act, 1870 (33
Vict., C. 3).
1887
1891
1894
1896
XIV
I
IV
IV
The Upper Burma
Village Regulation,
1887.
The Upper Burma
Village Regulation
(1887) Amendment
Regulation, 1891.
The Upper Burma
Village Regulation
(1887) Amendment
Regulation, 1894
The Upper Burma
Villages, Towns and
Land-revenue Law
Amendment Regu-
lation, 1896.
The whole.
So much as has not
been repealed.
The whole.
The heading "Upper
Burma Village Regu-
lation, 1887," and
lections 1, 2 and 3.
Acts of Lieutenant-Governor of Burma in Council.
190* I The Burma Village Law The whole.
Amendment Act, 1902.
1904 II The Burma Towns and Sections 2 and 4.
Village Laws Amend- ment Act, 1904.
PART II.
Statutory Rules and Orders under the Burma
Village Act, 1907, as amended.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTIONS I, 5 AND 29.,
n
COMMENCEMENT OF THE ACT.
In exercise of the power conferred by section 1, sub-section Sec. 1.
(3), of the Burma Village Act, 1907 (Vl of 1907), the o.D.Not. n.,
Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to appoint the ist January D«.di907.Uth
1908 as the day on which the Act shall come into force.
*APPOINTMENT OF HEADMEN.
In exercise of the power conferred by section 5, sub-section sec.s(2).
(2), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, as amended by theG-DiNot^o
Burma Village Amending Act, 1924, the Governor in Council d1®^^'
makes the following rule to regulate the action of Deputy d^'nSI no°"
Commissioners in appointing village headmen otherwise than jSj-luSs
in accordance with the result of an election by the villagers :—
The Deputy Commissioner may, with theprsvious sanction
of the Commissioner, overrule the result of an election by the
villagers—
(a) if the candidate so elected is plainly a person of no
standing or influence, or is of bad character ; or
(b) if the candidate so elected owed his election to the
exercise of undue influence or to intimidation ; or
(c) if in a village where the appointment of headman has
been hereditary for two or more generations, the
candidate so elected is not an hereditary claimant
and an hereditary claimant was among the
candidates and is a man of approved character; or
(d) if the candidate so elected cannot furnish security as
required by Direction 267, Land Revenue Manual.
Provided that before according sanction under this rule the
Commissioner shall give the elected candidate an opportunity
of showing cause why the election should not be overruled.
1
ft ELECTION AND PROCEDURE OF VILLAGE
COMMITTEES.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29, Sec „, «
sub-section (/), clause (cc), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, («:). *
as amended by the Burma Village Amending Act, 1924, g.d. Not. n0.
the Governor in Council makes the following rules to regulate D^ia^a!0"1
the matters referred to therein :— cu^nI,^ n*
* For orders on this subject, see paragraphs 5 to 8, pages 76 and 77.
t For orders relating to village committees, see paragraphs 9 to 17, pages 77
to 79.
3
23, dated 19th
Feb. 1924.
28
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
1. Every person residing in a village-tract shall be qualified
to vote at the election of members of a village committee,
whose name has been entered in the capitation-tax assessment
roll of that village-tract for the preceding year as liable to pay
the said tax or in the ihathameda-t&x assessment roll of the
preceding year as head of the household liable to pay
thathameda-ta.'x., including any person svho, although his name
is so entered, is exempt from payment on any ground,
unless—
(a) he is of unsound mind, or
(b) he has during the preceding three years been punished
with imprisonment for a term exceeding one month, or been
ordered to give security under the preventive sections of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, or been restricted under the
* Burma Habitual Offenders Restriction Act.
2. The election shall be held by the headman of a neigh-
bouring village-tract selected for the purpose by the Township
Officer or the Assistant Township Officer. The said headman,
hereinafter referred to as the presiding officer, shall inform the
headman of the village-tract in which the election is to be
held of the date on . which he proposes to hold the election,
giving such warning as will enable him to announce the date
to the villagers at least ten days before the election.
3. After the date has been so announced and at any time
before the election any person qualified to vote may give
notice in writing to the headman of his intention to be a
candidate provided that two other qualified electors endorse
his candidature.
4. On the. date fixed the presiding officer shall come to
the village-tract, and where there are more villages than one in
the said tract, shall hold the election in the village in which
the headman of the tract resides.
5. The headman shall then make over to the presiding
officer all notices received from intending candidates.
6. If the presiding officer finds that there are not more
candidates than there are vacancies, he shall declare the said
candidates, on being satisfied that they are duly qualified, to
be duly elected.
7. If the number of candidates exceeds the number of
vacancies, the presiding officer shall proceed to hold the
election, and may select with the consent of the candidates
any suitable persons to assist him.
* Burma Code, Volume II, page 621.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
29!
8. The election shall be held in a zayat, or other suitable
building, hereinafter referred to as the polling booth and
receptacles with names of candidates thereon shall be placed
there. Each voter shall be given a token or tokens with which
to vote and shall exercise his vote or votes by placing the
said token or tokens in the said receptacles. The presiding
officer will keep a record of the names of villagers to whom
a token or tokens is or are issued.
9. No one shall be present in the polling booth when votes
are being given except the presiding officer and the person
•or persons selected to assist him. The presiding officer
shall be responsible for seeing that no person votes who is
not qualified under Rule 1.
10. A period of four hours shall be allowed for voting, the
said period to start not earlier than 8 a.m. or later than 12 noon.
11. At the close of the voting the votes shall be counted
by the presiding officer and the persons assisting him, and
the presiding officer shall declare the names of the persons
elected and shall report the result to the Township Officer or
the Assistant Township Officer.
12. When the votes for any two candidates are equal and
both of them cannot be elected, the decision between such
candidates shall be by lot.
13. Casual vacancies shall be filled by election in the
same manner.
14. Any appeal regarding irregularities in regard to election
of members of village committees shall lie to the Township
â– Officer whose decision shall be final.
15. The number of members to be elected to the com-
mittee shall be three if the number of houses in a village-tract
is fifty or under and four if it is over fifty.
16: The headman shall receive complaints and arrange
for meetings of the committee. He shall be responsible for
the maintenance of all registers and records.
17. When opinions are equally divided the headman shall
have the casting vote.
18. The headman may delegate his position as chairman to
any other member of the committee to act, during his absence,
at any meeting, and such member shall have a casting vote.
19. The chairman and two other members shall constitute >
a quorum.
20. Every 'decision arrived at by a committee shall be
recorded in writing and shall be signed by'all members present
-when the said decision is arrived at *
30 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
21. No member who is personally interested in any
criminal or civil case shall sit on the committee which takes
cognizance of such cases.
22. Witnesses in cri.ninal and civil cases tried by village
committees may be put on oath.
OFFENCES SPECIALLY DECLARED TO BE
TRIABLE BY * VILLAGE COMMITTEES OR:
HEADMEN.
Sec. 9(2){c) With reference to section 9, sub-section (2), clause (e), of
g.d^no^no. the Burma Village Act, 1907, the Governor in Council is
Mayiss5,a« Q pleased to declare that the undermentioned offences, when
noto. no. 133, * committed in a village-tract, shall be triable by village
1825,and No. ' committees or headmen in the areas indicated in each-
198, dated 20th
Oct. Mas. case :—
(1) Throughout Burma.—Offences punishable under
sections 294, 504 and 510 of the Indian Penal Code, and cases
of simple hurt, where such cases would fall under section 323
of the Indian Penal Code.
(2) In Lowzr Burma only.—Offences punishable under
section 9 of the Burma Embankment Act, 1909.
(3) In the Insein, Amherst, Magwe, Minbu, Pakdkku and
Thayetmyo Districts and in tin Mogok Subdivision of thi
Katha District.—Offences punishable under section 26 of
the Cattle Trespass Act, 1871.
(4) In the Insein, Hanthawaddy, Tharrawadd), Pegu,
Promt, Bassein, Henzada, Toungoo, Amhzrst, Minbu
Mandalay, Lower Chindwin and Miiktila Districts and in the-
MogSk Subdivision of the Katha District.—Offences punish-
able under section 3 of the Burma Highway Act, 1907.
15) In the Minbu, Mandalay, Shwzbo and Kyaukse
Districts. — Offences punishable under clause (4) of section
75 of the Burma Canal Act, 1905.
(6) In the Mandalay, Shw&bo, Miikiila and Kyaukse
Districts and in the Sagu, Pwinbyu and Salin Townships of
thz Minbu District.—Offences punishable under clause (11)
and clause (12) of section 75 of the Burma Canal Act, 1905.
The following notifications t are hereby superseded :—
1 # * # * *
* For orders regarding powers of village committees or headman in criminal!
cases, see paragraph 13, page 78.
f List of notifications omitted.^,
/
RULES AND ORDEfeS UNDER SECTIONS 6, 24 AND 29. 33
* RULES TO REGULATE THE TRIAL OF CIVIL
SUITS BY HEADMEN OR VILLAGE COM-
MITTEES.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29, sub- Sec.29(1)6).
section (1), clause (/), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, as g.d.noi.no.
amended by the Burma Village Amending Act, 1924, the D^CMa*.20"*
Governor in Council is pleased to make the following rules to
regulate the matters referred to in that clause:—
1. The plaintiff may begin his suit either by making an
oral complaint, to be reduced to writing by or under the orders
â– of the headman, or by presentation of a written plaint.
2. On the institution of a suit the chairman of the commit-
tee shall cause to be served on the defendant a written notice
specifying the name of the plaintiff, the nature of the claim
and the time and place at which the suit will be tried, and direct-
ing the defendant if he wishes to dispute the claim, to appear
with his witnesses at the time and place fixed. He shall also
inform the plaintiff of the date so fixed.
3. At the time and place fixed the committee shall pro-
ceed to hear and try the case. They shall examine the parties
and their witnesses and deliver judgment.
4. The chairman shall record or cause to be recorded the
names of the witnessess and the substance of their evidence
and a brief statement of the grounds for the committee's order
which statement shall be signed by all members present.
5. The committee may adjourn the case from time to
time, noting the dates of adjournment on the record, either to
obtain the attendance of further witnesses or for any other
reasonable cause.
6. The committee shall decide whether the unsuccessful
party shall pay the costs of the other party or not. They may
award as costs any reasonable charges incurred by the
successful party for the purposes of the suit, provided that the
total costs, including the fee prescribed by section 6, sub-section
(4), of the Act, shall in no case exceed one-quarter of the
value of the suit.
7. If the plaintiff does not appear at the time and place
fixed, the committee shall dismiss the suit, unless for any
reasonable cause they think proper to adjourn it. Similarly
if the defendant fails to appear, the committee shall proceed
with the trial in his absence, unless for some special reason they
•think better to adjourn. In the former case, if their decision is
• For orders on this subject, ste paragraph 12, page 77.
32 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
in favour of the plaintiff, a copy of it shall be served upon the
defendant, and if the latter within ten days appears before the
committee and proves that he was unable to attend, the
committee shall hold a fresh trial, provided that the costs of
the second trial shall in all cases be borne by the defendant,
whatever the result. A suit dismissed on account of the non-
appearance of the plaintiff may similarly be re-opened within ten
days on sufficient cause shown.
8. If the unsuccessful party neglects or refuses to pay
the amount awarded within ten days, the committee may, on
the application of the other party, serve the unsuccessful party
with a notice, directing him to pay to the headman the amount,
with one rupee additional as a fee, within five days- If the debtor
still neglects to pay, the headman shall, after the expiry of the
five days, attach and sell by public auction so much of the
debtor's moveable property as is sufficient to defray the amount
awarded together with the fee. The headman shall, out of the
proceeds of the property, pay the amount awarded to the
successful party ; the balance, after deducting the fee of one
rupee, shall be returned to the judgment-debtor. The head-
man shall record a brief note of any action taken by him under
this rule and shall file it with the record of the suit.
9. If the judgment-debtor has removed to another village-
tract the committee shall inform the headman of the debtor's
new village-tract by writing to him and sending the notice
above mentioned, and the second headman shall then proceed
to recover the amount as if he had passed the order himself
the only difference being that he will pay the amount awarded
the first headman instead of to the successful party,
10. The headman shall be entitled to retain all fees for
execution of judgments as well as all fees levied under section
6, sub-section (4;, of the Act.
11. The headman shall keep an account of all fees in the
following form :—
Name of person from whom levied. Amount. Whether levied on the institution of a suit or On executing a judgment.
Rs. A. P.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
33!
12. This account, together with the records of all suits
tried by the committee during the month under section 6,
shall, provided that the judgment has been satisfied, be sent
to the Township Officer not later than the 20th of the
following month : Provided that in the case of any particular
headman, the Deputy Commissioner may direct that the
account and records shall be submitted quarterly instead of
monthly. All such records shall be destroyed at the end of
the year following that to which they belong.
13. Whenever, after the institution of a suit before them, it
appears to the committee that the decision of the case involves
a difficult question of law, it shall be competent for them to
stay proceedings, to refund the institution fee and to recom-
mend the plaintiff to file a suit in a Civil Court.
General Department Notification No. 453, dated the gth
December 1908, is hereby superseded.
RULES FOR DISPOSAL OF FEES LEVIED
UNDER SECTION 6 (4) OR SECTION 9 (9) AND
FOR GENERALLY CARRYING INTO EFFECT
THE PURPOSES OF THE ACT.
In exercise of the power conferred by section 29, sub-Sec. 29(1)^)
section (/), clauses [g) and (z) of the Burma Village Act,
1907, the Governor in Council is pleased to make the following ?3,datSafith'
rules for the disposal of fees levied under section 6, sub- May1M6-
section (4), and section 9, sub-section (9), and for generally
carrying into effect the purposes of the Act:—
RULE UNDER CLAUSE (g) FOR THE DISPOSAL
OF FEES LEVIED UNDER SECTION 6, SUB-
SECTION (4) AND SECTION 9, SUB=SECTION
(9).
1. All fees levied under section 6, sub-section (4), and
section 9, sub-section (p), of the Act, may te retained by the
headman.
34 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
RULES UNDER CLAUSE (?) PRESCRIBING!
HEADMEN'S REGISTER AND REQUIRING!
WRITTEN RECEIPTS.
2. A register of all cases decided by a village com-
mittee or headman under section 9, sub-section (1), and of all
fees levied and fines imposed under section 9 or section 1 a
of the Act, shall be kept by every headman in the form
prescribed by the Local Government.*
3. The headman shall give a written receipt for all fines
paid to him under section 9 or section 12 of the Act.
RULES UNDER CLAUSE (i) REGARDING REMIS-
SION OR REFUND OF FINES.
4. The Deputy Commissioner may order the remission
or refund of any fine imposed under the Act, provided that
when the amount to be remitted or refunded exceeds Rs. 500,
the previous sanction of the Commissioner to the refund or
remission shall be necessary.
5. A Subdivisional Officer may order the remission or
refund of any fine imposed by a village committee or headman
under section 9 of the Act in any case that comes before him
in revision.
6. Any fine imposed under the Act may, if irrecover-
able, be written off bv the authority competent, under Rules 4
and 5, to remit or refund such fine.
RULE UNDER CLAUSE (i) REGARDING SUPPLY;
OF INFORMATION TO MILITARY OFFICERS.
7. All headmen in Upper Burma shall, when required»
give information to Military Officers in command of posts or
of parties or columns or travelling on duty.
RULE UNDER CLAUSE 0 REQUIRING HEAD-
MEN TO REPORT ESTABLISHMENT OF
CUTCH CAMPS.
8. With the view of furthering the detection of persons
engaging illicitly in the cutting and boiling of cutch, every
village headman in Uppar Burma shall report to the nearest
♦ t'i- f ■Miscellaneous
The form is nrr-==—•
Villages 27
RULES AND ORDEfeS UNDER SECTIONS 6, 24 AND 29. 35
Civil Officer the establishment of any cutch-boiling camp in
or near his village-tract. The officer receiving the informa-
tion will, without loss of time, communicate it through the
Deputy Commissioner, to the Divisional Forest Officer
concerned.
General Department Notifications Nos. 454, dated the
9th December 1908, 367, dated the 2nd December 1910, and
249, dated the 22nd September 1919, are hereby superseded..
* REVISION OF DECISIONS OF VILLAGE COM-
MITTEE OR HEADMEN IN CIVIL SUITS-
With reference to sub-section (2) of section 6 of the Sec.(6)(2).
Burma Village Act, 1907 (Burma Act VI of 1907 , the
Lieutenant-Governor appoints the f Township Officer to be the
authority to revise the decisions of village committees or
headmen in suits tried in exercise of the powers conferred vm.
under sub-section (/) of the said section.
General Departmfent Notification No. 17, dated the 22nd
January 1904, is hereby superseded.
-* DELEGATION TO SUBORDINATE OFFICERS
OF THE POWERS OF A DEPUTY COMMIS-
SIONER UNDER THE ACT.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 24 of the Sec<24*
Burma Village Act, 1907 (Burma Act VI of 1907), the g.d. noto.no;
Lieutenant-Governor authorises Subdivisional Officers to exer- i^a1,4"1
cise within the limits of their respective subdivisions the power dTn^no?'®
of the Deputy Commissioner, under sub-section (2) of section m's'!astbMv
23 of the said Act, to revise orders passed by village com-
mittees or headmen under section 9.
In exercise of the power conferred by section 24 of the Sec. 24.
Burma Village Act, 1907, as amended by the Burma Village <*.d.Note.No.
/ A J \A i • i e / \37>datcd ^^
(Amendment) Act, 1921, and with reference to paragraph 2 {2) Feb.i92«.
(a)—(a?) of Forest Department Circular No. 42 of 1923,$ dated
* For instructions regarding- the exercise of these powers, ste paragraphs
141 and 141, paues 108 and 109,
t Township Officers, as revising authorities have inherent powers under
section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code to examine parties and witnesses in civil
cases on oath which ihey are empowered to administer (vide General Department
letter No. 196D26, dated atst May 1926, to Commissioners and Deputy Commis-
sioners).
J This circular relates to instructions regarding forest villages and is
rep roduced in Appendix V, at page 138, post.
36
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
the 15th October 1923, the Governor in Council is pleased to
empower Divisional Forest Officers to exercise the following'
powers under the said Act in administering forest villages
which have been declared by the Deputy Commissioner to be
village-tracts under section 5 (/) thereof:—
(a) to appoint rural policemen in Lower Burma under
section 5 (3) of the Act ;
(b) to issue orders for the requisitioning of supplies for
travellers other than Government servants under
section 8 (/) (£•) of the Act ;
(1c) to impose fines under section 10 of the Act on head-
men or rural policemen subject to revision by the
Commissioner ;
(.d) to exercise all the powers of a Subdivisional Officer
under the Act.
POWERS AND PRIVILEGES OF POLICE OFFI-
CERS CONFERRED ON HEADMEN AND ON
RURAL POLICEMEN AND DUTIES TO BE
PERFORMED BY RURAL POLICEMEN.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29 of the
Sec.29(1)(a) Burma Village Act, 1907 (Burma Act VI of 1907), the Lieu-
(b) and (c). tenant-Governor is pleased to make the following rules under
Soldatedsth' clauses (a). (b) and (c) of sub-section (/) of the said section.
des.1908.
RULES UNDER CLAUSE (a), CONFERRING ON
HEADMEN AND ON RURAL POLICEMEN
POWERS AND PRIVILEGES OF POLICE
OFFICERS.
1. Headmen of village-tracts are empowered to search for
and arrest any person who is liable to be arrested by a police
officer under any of the circumstances mentioned in section 54
of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
2. The powers and privileges exercised or enjoyed by a
police officer under the Police Act, 1861, and the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898, shall be exercised and enjoyed by
rural policemen in Lower Burma.
RULES AND ORDEfeS UNDER SECTIONS 6, 24 AND 29. 39
RULES UNDER CLAUSE (6), PRESCRIBING THE
DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED BY RURAL'
POLICEMEN IN LOWER BURMA.,
3. Every rural policeman shall be bound—
(i) to search for and arrest any person whom he has
reason to believe to have been concerned in the
commission, or attempted commission, of any
offence referred to in section 7 of the Act and to
recover, if possible, any property taken by any
such person;
(ii) to arrest any person found lurking within the limits
of the village-tract who cannot give a satisfactory
account of himself ;
(iii) to deliver to the headman any person arrested by
him or made over to his custody, together with
any weapon or other article likely to be useful as
evidence ;
(iv) to resist any unlawful attack made upon any village
within the village-tract ;
(v) to assist the headman in registering all births and
deaths which take place within the village-tract,
and any other vital statistics which the headman
may be required to register;
(vi) to supply, to the best of his ability, any local infor-
mation which any Magistrate or officer o.f police
may require ;
(vii) generally to assist the headman and all officers of
the Government in the execution of their public
duties.
4. Every rural policeman shall perform all the duties
imposed on a police officer by the Police Act, 1861, and the.
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
RULES UNDER CLAUSE (c) REGULATING THE
EXERCISE, ENJOYMENT AND PERFORM-
ANCE OF THEIR POWERS, PRIVILEGES
AND DUTIES BY RURAL POLICEMEN IN
LOWER BURMA.
5. The powers privileges and duties above described shall
be exercised, enjoyed and performed by every rural policeman
in subordination to the Deputy Commissioner, Subdivisional
Offi cer, Township Officer, District Superintendent of Police*
^and heaidman of the village-tract.
38 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
Sec. 21(3).
G. D. Not, No.
SB, dated 6th
Feb. 1986.
Rules i to 4 of the rules published in Judicial Department
Notification No. 332, dated the 7th August 1889, Judicial
Department Notification No. 337, dated the 26th November
1895, and Judicial Department Notification No. 283, dated
the 18th August 1896, are hereby superseded.
ORDERS REGARDING PWES.*
In exercise of the power conferred by section 21, sub-
section (j), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, the Governor in
Council is pleased to declare that the entertainments, perfor-
mances or assemblies enumerated in the first column of the
subjoined table shall'be deemed for the purposes of that section
to be pwes in respect of the local areas noted opposite in the
second column of the subjoined table.
Entertainments, performances or
assemblies.
Payapvies (Pagoda festivals), Pongyi
byans (obsequies for Buddhist monks)
.and circuses.
Local areas.
The Pegu and Irrawaddy Divisions, the
Akyab District except the Minbya
Township and the Kyaukpyu, Ramree,
Cheduba and Myeb&n Townships of
the Kyaukpyu District in the Arakan
Division, the Sagairig, Shwebo and
Lower Chindwin Districts, the village-
tracts forming MogSk and Thabeik-
kyin in the Katha District, the Mingin^
Kalewa, Masein and Kindat village-
tracts of the Upper Chindwin District
in the Sagaing Division, the Kyauksfe,
Meiktila, Yamfethin and Myingyan
Districts, the Amarapura, Patheingyi,
Singu and Madaya Townships of the
Mandalay District in the Mandalay
Division, the Allanmyo Township of the
Thayetmyo District, the Magwe,
Yenangyaung and Satthwa Townships
of the Magwe District, the Sagu,
Pwinbyu and Salin Townships of the
Minbu District, the PakSkku and
Yesagyo. Townships of the Pak6kku
District in the Magwe Division, the
Toungoo, ThatSn, Amherst, Tavoy and
Mergui Districts in the Tenasserim
Division, except (i) t'ne Township of
Leiktho and the Mebalan ard Tabye
Circles in the Tantabift TownShip of
the Toungoo District; (a) the village-
tracts in the Pa-an and Hlaingbwfe
Townships of the 'I'hatSn District ex-
cluded in Schedule I to the Burma
Rural Self-Government Act. 1921, and
(3) the village-tracts lying out-
side Supplementary Survey in the
Kawkareik and Kya-in Townships oif
the Amherst District.
ealso paragraph 144, page 110.
RULES AND ORDEfeS UNDER SECTIONS 6, 24 AND 29.
39
Entertainments, performances or assemblies. Local areas.
Wrestling matches The Arakan Division.
Foot-races Public performances known as anyein pvies when performed for profit or by travelling troupes who tour for the pur- pose of performing such pioes and all horse and pony * race-meetings. The Irrawaddy Divfsion, the Pegu Division and the That&n Distiict of the Tenasserim Division. The whole of Burma.
Cinematograph exhibitions, variety entertainments and fancy fairs held for public amusements. * The Pegu Division, the Mandalay, Kyauksfe, Meiktila, Yamfethin and Myingyan Districts of the Mandalay Division, the Shwebo, Katha, Bhamo and Myitkyina Districts of the Saga- ing Division, the Arakan Division, the Irrawaddy Division, the Tenasserim- Division and the Magwe District of the Mag we Division.
Assemblies known as nat pviUs The Tavoy District of the Tenasserim Division and the Magwe District of the Magwe Division.
General Department Notifications Nos. 449, dated the 9th
December 1908, and 74, dated the 19th May 1925, are hereby
superseded.
f REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29, sub-,
section (/), clause (d), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, the N^iofdSJ;0^
Government of Burma (Ministry of Public Health) is pleased
to make the following rules for the registration of births and
deaths in village-tracts, in supersession of the rules promul-
gated in General Department Notification No. 154, dated the
17th April 1922, as amended by this Department Notification
No. 107, dated the i4th November 1923, and to declare that
* For instructions regarding the issue of licenses for horse and pony race-
meetings, see Appendix IV, page 136, post.
t For instructions for the collections and record of vital.statistics laid down with'
reference to these rules, see paragraphs 77 to 87, pages 94 to 96.
42 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
the registration of births and deaths shall, in accordance with
the rules prescribed hereunder, be enforced in all village
tracts in the undermentioned areas : —
Arakan Division. North-West Border Division.
All districts (excluding the Hill All Districts (excluding the
District of Arakan). Pakokku Hill-tracts, Chin
Hills and Hkamti, Thaung-
dut andtheSomra Tracts)
Plgu Division.
All Districts.
Rangoon Division. North-East Frontier Division.
All Districts. All Districts (excluding the
Irrawaddy Division. ^ Kachin Hill Tracts) except
All Districts. Putao.
Mandalay Division.
Tenasserim Division. All Districts.
All Districts.
1. Every birth and death ocearring in a village-tract shall
'be reported to the headman within seven days of the date of
such occurrence by the owner of the house in which it occurs,
or if the owner is absent or unable to report, then by the eldest
adult male living in the house, or if such eldest male is unable
to report, then by the eldest adult female living in the house.
Note.— If a death occurs in the case of a traveller, the fact shall be imme-
diately reported to the headman by the attendant or person taking charge of
or finding the body.
2. The headman shall make it generally known that any
person, being bound to report a birth or death and neglecting
to do so within the prescribed period, is liable to punishment
under section 12 of the Burma Village Act, .1907.
* 3. On receipt of information as to the occurrence of a
birth within his village-tract, the headman shall enter it first
in the birth register in Form H and then in the bifoil book in
Form C. One of the foils shall be sent when due to the
Township Office, unless the Deputy Commissioner otherwise
directs, in which case he shall send it to the nearest police-
station, and the other shall be retained until the child's name
is reported. At the time of registration of birth the person
reporting the event shall be instructed by the headman to
report the name of the child as soon as it is named when it
shall be recorded in the Birth Register in Form H and a
completed foil shall be handed to the person reporting the
name.____
* For rules relating to duties of headmen in connection with vaccination, set
page 42.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
43!
4. On receipt of information as to the occurrence of a
death within his village-tract,'the headman shall enter it first
in the death register in Form I, and then in the bifoil book in
Form D, giving one of the foils to the person reporting the
death and keeping the other to be sent when due to the
Township Office unless the Deputy Commissioner otherwise
directs, in which case he shall send it to the nearest police-
station.
5. When, for any reason, the headman is obliged to leave
his village for some time or is incapacitated from performing
his duties by illness or other cause, he shall deposit the foils
collected with a member of the village committee, or failing
such member, any other elder of the village or some other
responsible person, and shall make the necessary arrangements
to ensure the foils being safely despatched to the Township
Office or the police-station, as the case may be, if they should
become due during his absence.
6. The'headman shall send the birth and death foils within
three days at the end of the month for which they are due to
the Township Office, unless the Deputy Commissioner other-
wise directs, in whieh case he shall send them to the nearest
police-station as under : —
(а) From villages within 5 mil-is o* a p )'ice-s:ation Monthly.
(б) From villages over 5 miles a id u idsr 2 ; miles
from a police-station ... ... Quarterly.
(c) From distant village-tracts ... ... Half-yearly
(January and July)
Example,.—Headmen of village-tracts within 5 miles of
a police-station shall send foils for October, November and
December by the 3rd of November, December and January
respectively. The headman of village-tracts over 5 miles of a
police-station shall send their foils' for October, November
and December on or before the 3rd of January. The foils
from distant village-tracts for six months from January to
June and July to December shall be sent on or before the 3rd
of July and 3rd of January, respectively.
7. When the headman sends in the foils to the Township
Office or the police-station, as the case may be, the book of
Form E " '^aS-ea shall accompany them. This shall be
signed by the head clerk of the Township Office or by the
station-writer and be returned to the bearer.
44 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
Note-
Form C Public Health Guard Book Form 20S
Form D Do. Do. 21S
Form E Do. Do. 22S
Form H Do' Do. 20S (6)
Form I Do. D6. 21S (b)
DUTIES OF HEADMEN FOR THE PREVENTION
OF THE SPREADING OF SMALL-POX.
Sec. 29(i)(d) In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29, sub-section (1),
D ofPH Not c'ause (^)t Burma Village Act, 1907, and with reference to the
No.78,"dated ' provisions of section 8, sub-section (I), clause (k), of the Act, the
u*ameBdedSby Governor in Council is pleased to make the following rules prescribing
Souri "99 the duties to be performed by the headmen for the prevention of the.
icarrig!, dated spreading of small-pox in all village-tracts in the areas mentioned under
Sod Oct. 1S25 r ^ 1 o
' this Department* Notification No. io, dated the nth February 1925 :—
1. The headmen of villages shall give such assistance to Inspec-
tors of Vaccination and Public Vaccinators, as the Deputy Commissioner
may on the advice of the Superintendent of Vaccination from time to
time direct.
2. When the birth of a child isreported for registration-under rule 3
of the rules published in this Department* Notification No. 10, dated
the nth Fearuary 1925, the headmen in districts to which the
Vaccination Acts have been extended shall issue the following notice
to the parents of the child:—
Notice to Parents regarding Vaccination.
Dated
No:
To
You are hereby informed that under the t .Vaccination Act of 1880
you are required to have your child vaccinated not later
than six months afteri^i- birth
her
RULES PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF PERSONS
RESIDING IN A VILLAGE-TRACT, IN RE-
SPECT OF PUBLIC NUISANCES AND SANI=
TATION, CONTAGIOUS OR INFECTIOUS
DISEASE AMONG HUMAN BEINGS AND
FIRES AND THE DUTIES OF HEADMEN
IN RESPECT OF PUBLIC NUISANCES AND
SANITATION CONTAGIOUS DISEASES
AMONG HUMAN BEINGS AND FIRES.
Sec.29(i)(d) In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29, sub"
G.D.Notfl.No section 1, clause (d), of the Burma Village Act, 1907 (Burma
<61. dated Sth '____
Dec. 1908, as —-----: ~
amended byG. • paee ,Q ante. t Burma Code, Volume 1, page 54.
D. Not. No. a "
888, dated 28th
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29. 43
Act VI of 1907), the Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to make ^"M?'
the following rules :— ^wlSf
Jan. 1912, No.
8C2, dated »th
RULES PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF PERSONS MM
RESIDING IN A VILLAGE-TRACT, IN RE-*^.^
SPECT 6F PUBLIC NUISANCES AND SANI-aa^jft
TATION.
Sep. and
1. No person residing in a village-tract shall allow any Sec. 19%."
house or land occupied by him to be kept in a filthy or insani-
tary condition, or overgrown with weeds or rank vegetaiion.
2. No person residing in a village-tract shall allow any
corpse of a human being, unless embalmed or enclosed in an
airtight coffin, to be kept unbuiied or uncremated for more
than 48 hours in any house or land occupied by him without
the special sanction in each case of the Deputy. Commissioner,
' Civil Surgeon, Subdivisional Officer or Township Officer :
Provided that between the first day of November and last day
of February inclusive, corpses may be kept unburied or
uncremated for 72 hours.
3. No person residing in a village-tract shall burv a corpse
or cause a corpse to be buried at a depth of less than five feet,
or within thirty yards of any well tank or stream, or of any
dwelling-house. No person residing in a village-tract shall
throw a corpse or cause it to be thrown into a river, creek qr
water of any kind.
4. Except with the permission of the headman no person
residing in a village-tract shall burn or bury or deposit the
corpse of a human being in or at any place other than a burial-
ground set apart by the headman.
• 5. No person residing in a village-tract shall allow any
latrine or cess-pit on any house, enclosure or land occupied by
him to be kept in a filthy or insanitary condition. Cess-pits
shall be closed periodically.
6. No person residing in a village-tract shall build any new
house in any village within 20 feet of the front or back or 6
feet of the side of any existing house.
RULES PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF THE HEAD-
MAN OF A VILLAGE-TRACT, IN RESPECT
OF PUBLIC NUISANCES AND SANITATION.
7. The headman shall require residents of the village-tract
to carry out the provisions of the preceding rules.
4
u
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
8. The headman shall set apart one or more places in each
village-tract as burial grounds.
9. The headman shall cause to be removed immediately
from any canal, tank or other source of water-supply within the
limits of his village-tract, the dead body of ariy animal found
therein and shall cause the same to be buried.
9A. The headman shall cause the immediate destruction of
any flesh or article of food or drink which has been declared
by a District Public Health Offi cer, or any Sanitary Officer
empowered by the District Public Health Officer in this behalf,
to be unfit for human consumption.
10. The headman shall set apart in each village under his
control one or more wells for drinking purposes, and shall
cause to be constructed round each well a parapet two feet
high, and shall not allow bathing or washing of clothes within
20 yards of any such well, and shall not allow the ground"
within 20 yards of such well to be defiled by filth, rubbish or
otherwise. If the water-supply is from tanks, the headman
shall reserve one tank for drinking purposes only, shall keep
clean the banks thereof, and shall not allow bathing, washing
of clothes or watering of cattle therein.
11. The headman shall cause the villagers to undertake
annually such measures for the maintenance of and the
removal of silt from all drinking-water tanks in his village-tract
which are not the property of private individuals as the Deputy
Commissioner may, on the advice, if necessary, of the Execu-
tive Engineer, direct,
12. If so directed by the Deputy Commissioner of the
Myitkyina District in respect of the village-tracts of Myitkyina,
Myoma, Minyat and Shanzu in the Myitkyina District, the
headmen of these village-tracts shall, during the months of
November to May inclusive, reserve the Irrawaddy river above
the American Baptist Mission compound for the drawing of
water for domestic purposes, and in such case the headman
shall not allow bathing, washing of clothes or other articles,
watering of cattle or mooring of boats alongside the bank above
the said Mission compound.
12A. If so directed by the Deputy Commissioner of the
Bhamo District, the headman of the village-tract of Shwegu in
the Bhamo District shall throughout the year reserve on the
western bank of the Irrawaddy such places not exceeding nine
in all, which shall be notified by public notice as required for
approaches to the river, for drawing drinking water and for
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
45!
bathing and for washing clothes, and at these places after they
have been clearly demarcated by posts, he shall not permit
rafts o' timber or bamboos to be tied up.
13A. In the case of villages which are situated near the
bank of a river or stream, the headman shall, as far as possible,
keep the foreshore free from houses up to a distance of forty
feet from the bank. He shall require all houses hereafter built
or re-built to face the bank of the river or stream, and shall
not allow latrines to be erected between the houses and the
bank of the river or stream: Provided that this rule shall not
apply in Lower Burma except to the Thayetmyo District and
the Pegu Division.
13B, In the case of villages which are situated near the
bank of a river or stream, the water of which is ordinarily
used for drinking purposes, the headman shall, as far as
possible, keep the foreshore free from houses up to a distance
of forty feet from the bank. He shall tequire all houses here-
after built or re-built to face the bank of the river or stream,
and shall not allow latrines to be erected between the houses
and the bank of the river or stream : Provided that these rules
shall be in force in the Arakan, Irrawaddy and Tenasserim
Divisions only,
14. The headman shall see that all latrines in each village
under his control are screened by a sufficient roof and wall
from the view of passers-by or persons residing in the neigh-
bourhood.
15. The headman shall cause the streets and lanes in each
village under his control to be kept free from weeds, ia good
order, and in a sanitary condition.
16. The headman shall mark out a place near, but outside
each village under his control where rubbish may be deposited,
and shall cause the rubbish to be burnt or worked into the land
at ploughing time.
RULES PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF PERSONS
RESIDING IN A VILLAGE=TRACT, IN RE=>
SPECT OF CONTAGIOUS OR INFECTIOUS
DISEASE AMONG HUMAN BEINGS.
17. No person residing in a village-tract shall keep the
corpse of a human being who has died of cholera, small-pox,
unusual fever accompanied by glandular swellings, or other
infectious or contagious disease, for more than six hours
unburied or uncremated in any house or land occupied by him.
46
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
17A. Every person residing in a village-tract shall, witho at
delay, report to the headman the occurrence of any disea se
of the kinds described in Rule i8a which iru.y come to his
knowledge. *
17B. Every person residing in a village-tract shall rep ort
forthwith to the headman the occurrence in the premises
owned or occupied by him of any unusual mortality am ong
rats.
RULES PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF THE HEAD=
MAN OF A VILLAGE-TRACT IN RESPECT
OF CONTAGIOUS OR INFECTIOUS DIS=
EASE AMONG HUMAN BEINGS.
1 8a. The headman shall at once send a report in form
" Sanitary 9S " to the Township Officer, Subdivisional Officer
or Deputy Commissioner, whichever officer happens at the
time to be nearest (in the Tenasserim Division he may, instead
of sending it to any of these officers send it to ihe officer in
charge of the police-station or police outpost within the
jurisdiction of which his village-tract is situated) of the
occurrence of cholera, sn all-pux, or any case of unusual fever
accompanied by glandular swellings within his village-tract.
He shall also send a regular weekly report of the progress of
the disease, so long as it continues.
i8b. The headman of a village-tract which is not infected
with cholera or small-pox may forbid and take all reasonable
means to prevent the entrance into his village-tract of any
person (other than a Government officer on duty) who comes
from an area infected with cholera or small-pox for a period
of ten days from the date on which he left the infected area.
18c. Should any such person as is mentioned in Rule
18b of these rules enter the village-tract notwithstanding such
prohibition by the headman, the headman may take all reason-
able means to expel him.
i8d. Should any person be found to be suffering from
cholera or small-pox within a village-tract, the headman may
require him, either to remain segregated within his house if
this is sufficiently distant from other dwellings to avoid risk of
spread of infection, or to remove to a specified area within the
village-tract, and there remain segregated until cured ; in the
case of cholera for 10 days from commencement of the illness
and in that of small-pox for 30 days from commencement of
the illness, or until shown to be free of infection by the skin,
being wholly clean of scabs.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
47!
i8e. The headman of a village-tract may exercise similar
powers to those conferred by the preceding rule with reference
to any person who shall have been in contact with a sufferer
from cholera or small-pox, either by residence in the same
house or otherwise ; the period of segregation to extend to to
days in the case of cholera and 13 days in that of small-pox
after atl contact with an infected person, his effects, or
premises, has ceased. If within the oerio^ of segregation
such p ;rson be attacked by the disease, the headman may
proceed in accordance with the provisions of Rule i8d.
i8f. In the cases mentioned in Rules i8e and i8d the
"headman may require ' the villagers to provide accommo-
dation for and to maintain persons who are unable to support
themselves.
x8g. The headman may require a'l or any of the residents
of a village infected wieh cholera within his village-tract, to
which the Deputy Commissioner may by special order declare
this rule to apply, to evacuate such village, and to occupy
and remain within a specified area within the limits of the
village-tract for such period as the Deputy Commissioner
may by such order prescribe.
?8h. The headman may require the villagers to bury the
body of any person who has died of any disease mentioned in
Rule 17
181. The headman on receiving a report of unusual
mortality among rats shall verify the same and thereafter
report it to the Township Officer, ^ubdivisional Officer or
Deputy Commissioner, whichever officer happens at the time
to be nearest. In the Tenasserim Division the headman may,
instead of reporting it to any of these officers, report it to the
officer in charge of the police-station within the jurisdiction of
which his village-tract is situated.
JRULE PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF PERSONS
RESIDING IN A VILLAGE=TRACT IN RE-
SPECT OF FIRES-
19. Each house-owner or occupier in a village shall main-
tain two hooked bamboos, two fire-beaters, and as many pots
filled with water as there are front posts of his house.
48 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
RULE PRESCRIBING DUTIES OF THE HEAD-
MAN OF A VILLAGE-TRACT IN RESPECT
OF FIRES-
20. The headman shall see that fires or lights are not
ignited, handled, or used in any village under his control in
such a manner as to be dangerous to life or property. In
teally serious cases, or wheie a fire results from careless
action on the part of any of the villagers, he shall send a report
of the matter to the nearest magistrate or police-officer.
Rules made in this behalf by Commissioners of Divisions
i section 6, sub-section (i), clause l/i. of the Lower Burma Villnge Act,
sections, clause
1889 (III of 18891 , , , ,
Xiv of iss7— » are hereby superseded.
DUTIES OF THE HEADMAN AND RESIDENTS
OF A VILLAGE-TRACT IN RESPECT OF THE
PREVENTION OF THE SPREADING OF
LEPROSY.
Sec 29(1 )(rf) exercise °f the powers conferred by section 29, sub-
g d not n ' sect'on (')» clause {u), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, the
notuiis1'*' Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to make the following rules
amendediJyg. prescribing the duties to be performed by the headmen and
D. Nots. No. . , r -ii • r i • r^i
17a, dated isth residents or village-tracts in respect of the prevention or the
Tone 1917, No. J" fl
247*dated8th spreading or Jeprosv :—
Amr. 101 7 Wn 1 or J
ie undermentioned *areas :—
Magwe Division.
All Districts.
Mandalay Division.
All Districts.
Sagaing Division.
Shwebo District.
Sagaing District.
Bhamo District.
Myitkyina District.
Katha District.
61, dated 12th
Mar. 1919, No.
191, dated 30th
July 1919, No.
7, dated 8th
'Feb.iS)2I, No.
362, dated 20th »
Oct. 1921, No.
630, dated 27th
Jan. 1923, No.
185, dated 13th
Oct. 1925 and
No. 44, dated 9th
March 1926.
i. These rules shall apply to th
Arakan Division.
Hill District of Arakan
Pegu Division.
Hanthawaddy District.
Tharrawaddy District,
Pegu District.
Prome District.
Irrawaddy Division.
AH Districts.'
* Divisions and Districts have been re-arranged in accordance with General
Department Notification No. too, dated the 2cth Jure 'â– g'-S,
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
49!
Tenasstrim Division. Sagaing Division—concld.
The village-tracts of Waing- Lower Chindwin District,
pat, Saze and Songon in the Upper Chindwin District.
Shwegyin Township, and
Taungseik and Daungun in
the Kyaukkyi Township of
the Toungoo District,
Amherst District.
Thaton District.
Tavoy District.
2, The headman shall call upon any person residing within
the village-tract, who has been declared by the Civil Surgeon
of the district, or by any other medical officer not below the
rank of Sub-Assistant Surgeon deputed in that behalf by the
Civil Surgeon, to be affected with leprosy, to remove his
residence to a place to be prescribed by the Deputy Commis-
sioner in this behalf.
3. In any place to which such persons have been removed
under Rule 2, the headman shall provide wells or tanks for
their use, one of which shall be reserved for drinking purposes
only. The headman shall prohibit such persons using for any
purpose the water of any river, stream, canal, tank, pond or
well other than that of the wells or tanks so provided..
4. Any person residing in a village-tract who has been so
required by the headman as aforesaid shall be bound within
seven days to remove his residence to such place as may be
prescribed by the Deputy Commissioner in this behalf and
shall refrain from using for any purpose the water of any river,
stream, canal, tank, pond or well other than that of the wells or
tanks provided by the headman under Rule 3.
5. The headman shall not allow any leper to expose for
sale any articles of food or drink or to act as a water carrier
outside the place set apart uhder Rule 2.
The following notifications t are hereby superseded :—
4S * » *
DUTIES OF THE HEADMAN AND RESIDENTS
OF A VILLAGETRACT IN RESPECT OF
THE PREVENTION AND SUPPRESSION OF Sec. 29(1)^)
CATTLE DISEASE.
_ In exercise of the power confeired by section 29, No^Ma"^
sub-section (/), clauses (d) and (h) of the Burma Village« amended by
Act, 1907, as amended by the Burma Towns and Village N""s?,'dat£»
Amendment Act, 1912, tfie Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to No'.Iil&tcd'wi
____May 1919 and
f List of notifications omitted. w'hSepfiMO.
50 IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
make the following rules in supersession of those published in
this department Notification No. 90 of the 9th December 190S,
for the prevention and suppression of contagious and infectious
disease among cattle in village-tracts : —
GENERAL RULES.
1. These rules which ma)'be cited as "The Cattle
Disease Rules, 1914," apply to all areas in which the Burma
Village Act, 1907, is in force except the undermentioned
areas:—
(1) In the Toungoo District: the Tantabin. Township
except the Bonmadi and Tantabin Circles, and the whole of
the Leiktho Township.
(2) The Salween District; except the part of that district
described in General Department Notification No. 313, dated
the 1 st December 1905,
(3) In the Mergui District ; the Tenasserim, B8kpyinand
Maliwun Townships,
(4) In the Mandalay District: the Eastern and Western
Subdivisions.
Provided that the Commissioner may at any time direct
that the rules shall apply, either temporarily or permanently,
to any part of the excluded areas which falls within his
jurisdiction and may at the same time declare the Officer,
who shall be Township Officer, Subdivisional Officer or
Deputy Commissioner for the purposes of the rules.
2. In these rules :—
(1) "Animal" and "Cattle" mean kine, buffaloes,
sheep and goats, and such other beasts* as the Commissioner
* Ponies were declared to be cattle or animals for the purposes of these rules
in the Sagaing Division, the Bhamo and Ruby Mines Districts (now IVogSk Sub-
division of the Katha District), and the Amherst and Toungoo Districts, by
notification by the Commissioner, Sagaing division No. 129, dated the 13th
December 191S, by notifications by the Commissioner, Mandalay Division, Nos.
155 and 156, dated the 14th December 1915. and by notification by the Commis-
sioner, Tenasserim Division, N0.18, dated the 20th January 1916.
Mules were declared to be cattle or animals for the purposes of these rules
in the Sagaing Division and in the Bhamo and Ruby Mines Districts (now Mogdk
Subdivision of the Katha District) by notification by the Commissioner, Sagaing
Division, No. 120, dated the 13th December 1918, and by notifications by the
Commissioner, Mandalay Division, Nos. 155 and 156, dated the 14th December
191
Elephants were declared to be cattle or animals for the purposes of these rules
in the Toungoo, Tavoy, Salween and Amherst Districts, and the Pegu, In^ein and
Tharrawaddy Districts, by notifications bv the Commissioner, Tenasserim
Division, No. 7, dated the 13th January 1916, and Mo. 18, dated the 20th
January 19x6, and notification by the Commissioner, Pegu Division, No. 156,
dated the nth December 1915.
Pigs were declared to be cattle or animals for the purposes of tliese rules in
the Bha li'. Disitrict by notification bv the Commissioner, Mindalay Division,
No. 215, dated the 21st December ig«o.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
51!
may from time to time declare to be cattle or animals for
the purposes of these rules,
(2) " Cattle-owner " includes any person who has cattle
in his possession or under his charge.
(3) " Commissioner " means the Commissioner of a
Division and includes the Superintendent and Political Officer,
Southern *Shan States and the Superintendents of the
Northern *Shan States and the Chin Hills.
(4) " Disease " means rinderpest, anthrax, foot-and-
mouth disease, contagious pleuropneumonia, tuberculosis,
glanders, and any other cattle-disease t which the Com-
missioner may, from time to time, declare to be a disease for
the purposes of these rules in respect of any area within his
jurisdiction.
(5) " Infected " means infected with any disease.
3. (1) In every village-tract in which there is suitable
waste land or grazing-ground the headman shall set apart a
place or places for the segregation of infected cattle and, in
the case of rinderpest, for cattle which have been in the same
herd with infected cattle.
(2) If there is no waste land or grazing-ground available
for such purposes, the headman shall report the fact to the
Township Officer, who shall set apart for the cattle of such
village-tract a suitable place or places in an adjoining villaga-
tract or elsewhere, regard being had to the convenience of the
villagers concerned.
4. All persons resident in a village-tract shall immediately
report to the headman the outbreak of any disease in the
village-tract, or in any neighbouring village-tract which may
â– come to their knowledge.
5 Everv cattle-owner who brings cattle into any village-
tract shall, if he has knowledge of the existence of any disease
among such cattle or in any neighbouring village-tract through
which they have passed, report the same to the headman.
'The Burma Village Act, 1907, has ceased to apply to the Shan States {vide
Political Department notification No. 35, dated the 7th July 1925).
t" Hsemorrhagic Septicemia " was declared to be a contagious or infectious
disease for the purposes of these rules in the Sas
District, by notification by the Commissioner, Sagaiu^ Division, No. 129, dated
the 13th Dsce-nber 1518, and notification by the Commissioner, Mmdalay Division,
No. 215, dated the sist December 1920.
Surra has been similarly declared to be contagious or infectious disease for
the purpuses of ihese rules in the Bhamo and R toy Mines Districts (now Mog6k
Subdivision of the Katha District) and the Sagaing Division, by notifications of
the Commissioner, Mandalay Division, Nos. 155 and i"6, dated the 14th
December 191.5, and notification by the Commissioner, Sagaing Division,
No. 129, dated the 13th December 1918.
52
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
6. The headman of a'village-tract, on becoming aware of
an outbreak of disease, shall take action as follows ; —
(A) If the outbriak is in a neighbouring village-tract—
he shall without delay inform the headman of that tract unless
he has already received from that headman the intimation
prescribed under (L?) (4):
(B) If the outbreak is in his own village-tract—he shall
(i; within 24 hours send a report * of the fact to the
Township Officer, or to the Subdivisional Officer, or Deputy
Commissioner, if either -of these officers is nearer than the
Township Officer ;
(2) cause the place or places set apart for infected or
in-contact cattle under rule 3 to be enclosed and such cattle
to be penned therein until permission for their removal has
been granted by the Deputy Commissioner or an officer
authorized by him in this behalf;
(3) protect cattle watering-places from infection by
infected or in-contact cattle or cattle in transit;
(4) cause the headmen of adjoining tracts to be informed
of the outbreak ;
(5) cause cattle-owners in his tract to carry out any
orders issued by an inspecting officer under rule 7.
7. On receipt of information that disease has broken out
in a village-tract, the Deputy Commissioner, Subdivisional
Officer, or Township Officer may appoint an officer to inspect
all the cattle in that village-tract. Such inspecting officer
may require all cattle-owners resident in or passing through
the village-tract to bring their cattle for inspection to such
place and at such time as he may direct, and may issue such
orders for the better carrying out of rule 6 as may seem to
him to te called for as a result of such inspection :
Provided that any Veterinary Officer of the rank of
Veterinary Assistant and upwards may perform the duties of
an inspecting officer without further authorization under this
rule in any village-tract under his charge which he has reason
to believe to be infected.
8. On learning of the outbreak of disease within his juris-
diction the Townsihp Officer shall at once inform the officers
in charge of townships adjoining the infected area of such
outbreak. Similarly the Deputy Commissioners shall inform
the Deputy Commissioners of districts.adjoining the infected
area.
♦ ,n form Miscellaneous „ Headman>s tt of outbreak of cattle disease."
Villages 13
RULES UNDER SECTION 29.
53
9. Every cattle-owner resident in or passing through a
village-tract, on the outbreak of any disease among his cattle
shall drive the infected cattle and, if the disease be rinderpest,
all other cattle which have been in the same herd with the
infected cattle, to a place set apart for this purpose under
rule 3, and shall not remove the cattle therefrom without the
permission of the headman.
10 Every cattle-owner resident in or passing through an
infected village-tract shall—
(a) produce his cattle at the place and time (if any)
appointed for their inspection under rule 7. and shall obey all
orders issued by their inspecting officer under that rule;
(b) obey all the directions of the headman issued under
these rules and render him such assistance as he may require
in enclosing the places set apart for infected cattle ;
(c) burn daily all dung, grain, fodder, straw, litter, refuse
or other thing which has or may have been in contact with
an infected animal.
11. If an infected animal dies the owner shall bury the
carcase within twelve hours after death at, or as near as possi-
ble to, the spot where-the animal died, but at a distance of not
less than 300 yards from,any houses, cattle-pens and customary
watering-places a;id at a depth below the surface of not
less than six feet. The carcase shall be buried with thn hide
and horns, and after the carcase has been put into the ground
the hide shall be slashed so as to render it unfit for tanning or
any other use. If by reason of flood or for any other cause it is
not possible to bury the carcase it shall be burnt together with
the hide and horns.
11 A. No person shall disinter the carcase of an infected
animal which has been buried or possess or sell any part of the
carcase of such animal.
12. On the outbreak of disease the Deputy Commissioner
or Subdivisional Officer may by order direct that the headmen
of villages specially selected by him as being situated on the
main roads or lines of communication shall for a period not
exceeding three months from the date of such order cause
notices proclaiming the existence of such disease to be affixed
to trees on the roads, grazing-grounds, z.^yats, etc., or such
other public places as such headmen may think fit, and that
they shall also take such measures for the due segregation of
all cattle passing through their village-tracts as may be, by
general or special order, prescribed by the Inspecting Officer
under rule 7 or any officer superior to him in rank.
54
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
13. On the outbreak of any disease in his district or in a
locality adjacent to his district, the Deputy Commissioner may
direct that within such area of his district as he may define in
this behalf, cattle shall not be removed from one village-tract
into or through any other village-tract, or that cattle may be
removed from all or certain of such village-tracts by certain
routes only and subject to such conditions as he may prescribe.
Within such area or areas a cattle-owner shall not remove or
permit the removal of his cattle into or through a village-tract,
except along the routes, if any, and subject to the conditions, if
any, prescribed bv the Deputy Commissioner.
14. When an order has been issued by the Deputy Commis-
sioner under the preceeding rule, the declaration setting out
the area to which the order applies, the general prohibition
2gainst the removal of cattle and the routes and conditions,
if any, prescribed for removal .shall be published by affixing a
copy on the village notice-board in each village-tract within the
area and in such other manner as the Deputy Commissioner
may direct
INOCULATION RULES.
[The following rales apply Only to the Pegu Division and to the Bassein an
Amherst Districts but n commissioner may in case of any outbreak occurring
direct thai they shall apply to any area within his jurisdiction in which rules 1—
14 are in force.]
15. When rinderpest or any other contagious disease for
which inoculation is practised under the authority of Govern-
ment has appeared in any part of his district, the Deputy
Commissioner may, cause the cattle in the infected area and
in such adjoining areas of his district as he thinks fit, to be inocu-
lated with the consent of the owners.
16. The Deputy Commissioner shall notify to the head-
men of the village-tracts selected for inoculation that they are
required to take the special measures prescribed by the follow-
ing rules for the prevention of rinderpest.
17. The headmen on receipt of such notice shall direct
cattle-owners who do not wish to have their cattle inoculated
to construct, at their own expense, enclosures in which to pen
their cattle, such enclosures to be distant at least a quarter nf
a mile from the nearest village. The headmen shall also forbid
owners of cattle which have not been inoculated to pen such
cattle in any village.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
55!
18. Where possible a special grazing-ground at a distance
from any village shall be set apart by each headman for cattle
belonging to owners who do not wisn to have their cattle
inoculated, and where such a grazing area has been set apart,
the headman shall forbid the owners of such cattle to,graze
their cattle on their grazing-grounds, and in any case the
headman shall forbid the owners of such cattle to graze cattle
which have not been inoculated, in the portion of the village
grazing-ground set apart by him for cattle belonging to owners
who are willing to have their beasts 'inoculated. The restric-
tions on the grazing of cattle which have not been inoculated
shall continue until such time as the locality is free from
disease.
* REGISTRATION OF DEATHS OF CATTLE.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 29, sub-section (1),
clause {d), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, ihe Government of Burma Sec.29(x)(d)
(Ministry of Agriculture) is pleased to make the following rules for AgrJ D
the registration of cattle deaths in village-tracts, in supersession of Not.No.7,y" *
the rules promulgated in Revenue Department Notification No. gv, llaj^'tmSded
1. These rules which may be citeci as The Registration of Cattle
Deaths Rules, 1925, ' shall apply to all areas in which the Burma
Village Act, 1907, is in force except the undermentioned areas :—
The Pyinwa Circle of the Akyab District, the Hill District of
Arakan, the Salween District, the Tabye and Mebalan Circles of the
Tantabin Towns>hip, and the whole of the Leiktho Township of the
Toungoo District, and the districts and parts of Districts in Upper
Burma where the tBurma Rural Self-Government Act, 1^,21, does not
apply.
2. The term " cattle in these rules includes cows, bulls, bullocks,
calves, buffaloes, horses, ponies and elephants.
3. Every death of cattle occurring in a village-tract shall be
reported within 48 hours to the headman by the owner or keeper of
the animal, or if the owner or keeper is absent or unable to report,
then by the eldest adult male living in the house, or if such
eldest male is unable to report, then by the eldest adult female living
in the house.
4. The headman shall make it generally known that any person,
being bound to report a^leath and neglecting to do so within the
prescribed period, is liable to punishment under section 12 of the
Burma Village Act, 1907.
dated 86th Nor.
1916.
*For instructions for the collection and record of statistics of cattle, deaths,
see paragraphs 8S to 97, pages 96 to 98, post.
f Burma Code, Vol. II, page 756.
56
IP ART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
5. On receipt of information as to the occurence of a death within
his village-tract the headman shall enter it, or cause it to be entered,
in the counterfoil register in the form prescribed by the Veterinary
Adviser. The foil shall be sent when due to the Township Office,
unless the Deputy Commissioner directs that it shall be sent to the
nearest police-station. The headman shall retain the books containing
the counterfoils as part of the village records.
6. When for anv reason the headman is obliged to leave his village
for sometime or is incapacitated from performing his duties by illness
or other cause, he shall make arrangements with a member of the
village committee or, failing sTuch member, some other elder or respon-
sible person of the village to have deaths of cattle registered and to
ensure that the foils are despatched to the Township Office or the
police-station, as the case may be, if they should become due during
his illness or absence.
7. The headman shall send cattle death foils not later than three
days after the end of the month or period to which they relate to the
Township Office, unless the Deputy Commissioner otherwise directs,
in which case he shall send them to the nearest police-station/as
under:—
(а) From villages within 5 miles of police-station—Monthly.
(б) From villages over 5 miles and under 20 miles from a police-
station—Quarterly.
(c) From distant village-tracts—'Half-yearly (Jannary and July).
Example—Headmen ot village-tracts within 5 miles of a police-
station shall send foils for October, November and December by the
3rd of November. December and January respectively. The headman
of village-tracts over 5 miles from a police-station shall send foils for
October, November and December on or before the 3rd of January.
The foils from distant village-tracts for six months from January to
June and July to December shall be sent on or before the 3rd of July
and 3rd of January, respectively.
Notb.—In cases where the Government of Burma has made special arrange-
ments with timber firms and other large employers of cattle-power for direct
returns by them of the mortality of any kind of cattle, the above rules will not
apply.
DUTIES OF THE HEADMAN AND RESIDENTS
OF A VILLAGE=TRACT IN RESPECT OF
THE SLAUGHTER OF CATTLE.
Sec.»9(i)(d) In exercise of the power conferred by section 29, sub-
gS.Not. no-section (1 , clause {d), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, as
luV?iMda"!hB subsequently amended, and in supersession of the rules
DmN°otdXG" published in this department Notification No. 50, dated the
>nedi922."hd 8th February 1915, as amended by this department Noti-
No. 136, dated
9th Aug. 1923.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
57!
ficationNo. 372, dated the 31st August 1920, the Lieutenant-
Governor is pleased to make the following rules for the
regulation of the slaughter of horned cattle, sheep, goats, swine
and ponies, and of the sale of the flesh thereof in village-tracts
which are not situated within an area subject to the authority
of a District Council established under the * Burma Rural Self-
Government Act, '921.
1. In these rules the terms ' cattle ' includes horned cattle,
sheep, goats, domestic swine and ponies.
2. The Deputy Commissioner may establish or permit the
€Stabli=>ment of a slaughter-house in any village-tract for the
slaughter of all or any specified kinds of cattle, and may grant a
lease for such slaughter-house in the form attached to these rules.
The lease shall ordinarily be disposed of by auction sale.
3. The lessee shall post up a notice in the form annexed
to these rules in a conspicuous place outside the slaughter-
house, in such language or languages as are likely to be
understood by persons bringing cattle for slaughter and shall be
bound to permit the slaughter of cattle in the slaughter-house
in accordance with the conditions of the notice.
4. When a lease has been issued under Rule 2 or under
the t Burma Municipal Act, 1898, or under the *Burma Rural
Self-Government Act, 1921, for a slaughter-house and such
slaughter-house has been duly established, no person shall
within a radius of five miles from the slaughter-house, without
the special sanction of the Deputy Commissioner or Subdivi
sional'Officer, slaughter or cause to be slaughtered any cattle
of the kind referred to in such lease, otherwise than at such
slaughter-house.
5. All animals intended for slaughter at a slaughter-house
shall be exposed for such period not exceeding four days, as
the Deputy Commissioner may direct, in the pound, bazaar
or other place named in the notice published under Rule 3.
Within twenty-four hours of the expiry of such period they
shall be brought before the Sub-Assistant Surgeon or police-
officer or such other person as the Deputy Commissioner may
direct for inspection. If passed, they shall be slaughtered at
such time within twenty-four hours of such inspection as the
Deputy Commissioner may direct, and the hides of the animals
shall be exposed for twenty-four hours at the slaughter-house
or at such other place as the Deputy Commissioner may
prescribe.
* Burrm Code, Vol. II, page 756.
t Burma Code, Vol. II, page »6o.
58 PART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND " ORDERS.
6. Before cattle are slaughtered in slaughter-house the
prescribed fee shall be paid or tendered to the lessee, and the
person bringing the cattle shall inform the lessee of his name
and residence and of the name and residence of the owner of
the cattle.
7. In any village-tract to which the Deputy Commissioner
may declare this rule to be in force, and in which a Govern-
ment or Deputy Commissioner's Local Fund bazaar has been
provided the flesh of cattle shall not be sold or exposed for
sale except in such bazaar. Provided that this rule shall not
apply to cooked flesh sold or exposed for sale in a bona, fid&
eating house.
fc>. No person shall, within a radius of five miles from any
slaughter-house, sell or expose for sale the flesh of any kind
of cattle for which a slaughter-house has been provided,
unless such cattle have been slaughtered at such slaughter-
house in compliance with the provisions of these rules.
9. Any lease granted under these rules may be cancelled
by the Deputy Commissioner for any breach of these rules or
of the conuitions of the lease.
RULES AND ORDERS UNDER SECTION 29.
59!
[Form of Least mentioned in R tie 2.]
SLAUGHTER-HOUSE LEASE.
IN THE OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER,
District.
By authority of Rule 2 of the rules published in General
Department Notification No. 109, dated the 14th March 1922,
and framed under the provisions of section 29 (1) (d), of the
Burma Village Act, 1^07, this lease of the slaughter-house
provided for the slaughter of * in * Here ipedfy
village-tract in the Township, of the
District, is granted by me to son of
for the sum of Rs.
This lease (unless sooner cancelled or withdrawn) expires
on the 19 , and is subject to the conditions
set out on the reverse,
Dattd 19 Deputy Commissroner.
CONDITIONS,
(i) This lease shall be given up on expiration, cancellation 4
or withdrawal, and it must neither be sublet nor transferred
without the written permission of the Deputy Commissioner.
(ii) The sums payable in respect of this lease must be
punctually paid on or before the following dates :—
Rupees being one-fifth of the whole
Rupees on the fall of the hammer and the balance in
eight instalments on the following dates:—
ist instalment Rs. payable on
2nd instalment Rs. payable on
jrd instalment Rs. payable on
4th instalment Rs. payable on
5th instalment Rs. payable on
6th instalment Rs. payable on
7th instalment R;-. payable on
8th instalment Rs. payable on
(iii)The slaughter-house and premises shall be kept by
the lessee from day to day in as clean and wholesome a state
as possible, and all dirt and refuse shall be removed daily.
6o PART II.—STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS.
Cattle
sheep
(iv) Goats shall be exposed for a period of
Swine
Ponies
â– days before slaughter. Within twenty-four hours of the
expiry of that period they shall be brought before the -
of for examination between the hours ol—and
-. If passed, they shall be slaughtered at such time
within twenty-four hours as the Deputy Commissiontr may
direct and the hides of the animals shall be exposed for
twenty-four hours at the slaughter-house or at such other
place as the Deputy Commissioner may prescribe.
The lessee shall not permit any animal to be slaughtered
at the slaughter-house unless it has been passed and unless a
certificate of the pound-keeper or bazaar-^ait^ is produced
as to the period of exposure.
The certificate given by the pound-keeper or bazaar-gating
shall be endorsed by the officer authorized to examine and
pass cattle for slaughter, when passing the animal, and shall
be surrendered to the lessee for cancellation when the animal
is actually slaughtered.
(v) The undermentioned fees may be levied by the lessee
for permission to slaughter in the slaughter-house :—
Rs. A. p.
Oxen, cows and buffaloes, each
Calves, sheep and goats, each
Full-grown pigs, each
Sucking pigs, each
Ponies, each
Fees shall be levied only at the slaughter-house and only
before slaughter is permitted. A receipt in the prescribed
form below shall be given for each fee levied, No larger fee
than that prescribed above shall be levied. The lessee shall
permit the slaughter in the slaughter-house of all animals for
rules and orders under sections 20a and 29 29
63!
which the prescribed fee has been tendered and for which
condition, (iv) has been fulfilled.
Received from
Nairn
Risidencz.
Rs.
a. p.
Date
for slaughter of
Number.
Oxen, cows or buffaloes.
Calves, sheep or goats.
Full-grown pigs.
Sucking pigs.
Ponies.
Signature of Lessee or his Agent
(vi) A register of slaughtered cattle shall be kept up in
Burmese in the following form by the lessee :—
Date.
Number.
(») (3)
Person bringing
cattle for
slaughter.
Name
Resi-
dence.
Owner of cattle.
Description of cattle.
Name
U) J (5)
Resi-
dence.
(6)
(a)
d)
nl
fcL rt
E
(b) I (c)
c Si
S 3
S m
Eo
u tn
a.-*
o
(d)B
X
V
tn
(«)
OA
<
a
e
v
cc
(8)
The register shall be shown by the lessee on demand to
any Magistrate or police-officer or to the headman of the
ward or village-tract in which the slaughter-house lies,
62
ip art ii.—statutory rules and orders.
(vii) As a security for the due observance by him of the
conditions of the lease, the lessee shall place a de,posit of
Rs. 50 with the Deputy Commissioner which shall be
returned to him on the termination of the lease by cancel-
lation or otherwise unless it is already forfeited. In case of
any breach of the conditions of the lease by the lessee, the
Deputy Commissioner may either forfeit the whole or any
portion of the said deposit or, in lieu of such forfeiture,
cancel the lease.
Note.—The Deputy Commissioner may, instead of requiring a deposit under
this condition, accept such security as he may fix from the lessee or from one or
more sureties on his behalf for the due observance by the lessee of the conditions
of the lease.
(viii) This lease may be cancelled by the Deputy Com-
missioner for any breach of the rules or of the conditions of
the lease.
(ix) On the expiry of the lease, the lessee shall hand
over the slaughter-house and premises to the Deputy Com-
missioner in good condition.
[Form of Notice mentioned in Rule 3.]
NOTICE.
Slaughter-house.
• Here specify This slaughter-house is set apart for the slaughter of *
toeHndot ]essee ;s bound to permit the slaughter, at such hours
as the Deputy Commissioner may direct, of any cattle of the
kinds abovementioned which may be brought for slaughter,
provided the following conditions are complied with :-—
(1) That, unless the Deputy Commissioner otherwise
directs, the animal has been exposed for
whole days at the and has been passed by the
Sub-Assistant Surgeon.
of
rules and orders under sections 20a and 29 63
(2) that fee according to the following scale has been
paid or tendered to the lessee :—
Rs. A. p.
Oxen, cows and buffaloes, each
Calves, sheep and goats, each
Full-grown pigs, each
Sucking pigs, each
Ponies, each
REGULATION OF PAWNSHOPS IN VILLAGE-
TRACTS.
In exercise of the power conferred bv section 20A, sub- Sec 2Q , .
sections (2) and (j), of the Burma Village Act, 1907, as ^3,)
amended by Burma Act I of 1921, the Lieutenant-Governor
is pleased to make the following rules for the regulation of
pawnshops in village-tracts in Burma excluding areas notified ^eldaSf^i?*
under section no of the * Burma Municipal Act, 1898: — ?£nd®dVG
1. In these rules— _
(a) " Pawn-broker " means every person who carries on siD"
the business of taking goods and chattels in pawn for loans ^tidGfot
of money not exceeding Rs. 200 in any one transaction : jâ„¢
provided that nothing in these rules shall apply to persons 192B-
taking goods and chattels in pawn for loans exceeding Rs. 100,
when the rate of interest or other profit does not exceed 15
per cent, per annum, nor shall they apply to persons genuinely
carrying on the business of money-lender and advancing ifloney
on a promissory note or other document ;
b) " Pledge" means an article delivered to a 'pawn-
broker in pawn ;
(c) " Pawnor " means the person who delivers an article
to a pawn-broker in pawn ;
(d) " Shop " includes any place where the business of
a pawn-broker is carried on.
2. In any village-tract to which the Deputy Commissioner
has directed that section 20A of the Burma Village Act, 1907,
as amended by Burma Act I of 1921, shall apply, no person
shall carry on the business of a pawn-broker except in accord-
ance with a license granted by the Deputy Commissioner or by
an officer authorized by the Deputy Commissioner in this
behalf.
3. The right to be granted a license may be disposed1 of
by auction which shall be held by such officer as the Deputy
* Burma Code, Vol. II, page 2601.
64 ip art ii.—statutory rules and orders.
Commissioner may direct ; or a license may be granted in
such other manner as the Deputy Commissioner may see fit.
It shall be valid for such period as the Deputy Commissioner
may direct, and shall be issued in the form annexed to these
rules. If the license is disposed of by auction, the officei
holding the auction shall not be bound to accept the highest
or any bid.
4. The number of licenses, the period for which licenses
will be granted, and the date and manner of disposal of the
licenses shall be notified by advertisement for a period of not
less than fourteen days before the date fixed for the disposal.
Save as otherwise directed by the Deputy Commissioner the
licensee shall pay one-fifth of the purchase price on the fall
of the hammer ana the balance in eight monthly instalments
thereafter.
4a. Where the license is for a term of more than one
year, the licensee may surrender his license at the end of any
year, without penalty on three months' written notice.
5. Licenses shall be granted on the following conditions
and a license may be revoked by the officer who granted it
for breach by the licensee, his servants or agents of any one
or more of such conditions:—
(i) That the licensee shall carry on his business as
pawn-broker only at the premises specified upon the face of
his license.
(ii) That the licensee shall keep exhibited outside his
shop a signboard, on which shall be legibly printed or painted
in Burmese or in such other language or languages as may be
specified in the license, the license number and the words
"Pawn-broker's Shop."
(iii) That the licensee shall keep a set of thumb
impression instruments for the purpose of taking the thumb
impression of a pawnor pledging any article. But no thumb
impression of the pawnor shall be taken by any person who
cannot produce from the District Superintendent of Police a
certificate of competency to take finger prints in a proper
manner.
(iv) That the licensee shall keep a book in the form set
out in Form II annexed hereto, in which he shall enter or
cause to be entered in Burmese or in such other language as
the officer granting the license may direct, at the time of each
transaction, the following particulars, namely :—
(a) a description of the articles taken in pawn ;
rules and orders under section 20a.
65
(b) the time agreed upon for redemption of the same ;
(c) the sum of money lent thereon;
(d) the rate of interest or other profit to be charged ;
(e) the day of the month and the year in which the
transaction took place ;
(f) tha name and address and the left thumb
impression of the pawnor and, where the pawnor
is not the owner of the articles pawned, the name
and address of such owner;
(g) the date of redemption of the articles ;
(h) if unredeemed, the number of the page in Book III
on which the transaction is entered ;
and a duplicate of such entries shall be delivered to the
pawnor.
(v) That the pages of the book and duplicates mentioned
in the preceding condition shall be numbered consecutively,
and each page and duplicate shall contain the name of the
pawn-broker and the address of his shop.
(vi) That the licensee shall not charge or demand in
respect of any loan made by him any interest or other profit
exceeding the following rates :—
If the sum lent does not exceed Rs. 5, one anna for
each rupee or part of a rupee for each month or
part of a month-
If the sum lent exceeds Rs. 5, but does not exceed
Rs. 20, nine pies for each rupee or part of a rupee
for each month or part of a month-
If the sum lent exceeds Rs. 20, six pies for each rupee
or part of a rupee for each month or part of a
month.
(vii) That the licensee shall keep conspicuously exposed
in his shop a legibly printed copy of the rates mentioned in
the last preceding condition in such language or languages as
may be specified in the license.
(viiiy That the licensee, his servants or agents, shall not
receive anything in pawn between the hours of 6 p.m. and
6 a.m., and shall not at any time take anything in pawn fn>m
any child apparently under 14 years of age.
(ix) That the licensee, his servants or agents, shall
deliver to the owner thereof any pledge when demanded
between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. within the period
agreed upon for redemption thereof upon tender by the owner
or his agent of the sum borrowed, with the interest due
66
ip art ii.—statutory rules and orders.
thereon according to condition (vi) or any less sum which
may have been agreed upon.
(x) That the. licensee shall not sell, without the consent
of the pawnor, any pledge before the expiration of the time
agreed upon for redemption thereof, or otherwise than in
accordance with these conditions.
(xi) That the licensee shall himself dispose of all articles
pledged and unredeemed at the time agreed upon for
redemption at a public auction held not more often than once a
quarter, of which at least ten days' notice with a list of the
articles to be sold shall be sent to the officer in charge of the
police-station.
(xii) That the licensee shall keep a printed book in the
form set out in Form III annexed hereto, in which he shall
enter or cause to be entered in English or Burmese or such
other language as the officer who granted the license may
direct, a true and correct account of all pledges sold, showing
the date on which and the persons by whom the goods were
pledged, the number of the page in Book II on which the
original transaction is entered, the amount due at the time of
sale, the amount, realised on the sale, the date of sale, the
name and address of the person to whom sold, and in any case
where the amount realised on the sale exceeds the amount
lent and the interest or other profit due thereon at the date
of sale and expenses attending such sale, the overplus due to
the pawnor.
(xiii) That the licensee, his servants or agents, shall
permit his shop to be entered between the hours of 6 a.m. and
8 p.m. by any person authorised by the Deputy Commissioner
in that behalf, and by any police-officer not under the rank of
sub-inspector, and shall produce for the inspection of such
person or officer, the books required by these conditions to be
kept, and also all or any pledges which such person or officer
may require and further shall allow such person or officer to
take copies of the entries in such books.
(xiv) That, if any article is offered to the licensee, his
servants or agents in pawn, which he or they shall have
reason to believe to have been dishonestly acquired, or if, after
any article has been received in pawn, the licensee shall have
reason to believe that such article was dishonestly acquired by
the pawnor, then in any such case the licensee, his servants of
his agents, shall forthwith make a report regarding such
rules and orders under section 20a.
67
pledge to the headman and to the officer in charge of the
nearest police-station.
(xv) That after the expiration of the period for which
the license is granted, or after its cancellation, the licensee
shall be entitled to carry on his business as a pawn-broker so
far only as relates to the redemption of articles pledged with
him.
(xvi) That on receipt from the police of a list of stolen
property the licensee shall examine the articles in pledge with
him and immediately report to the officer in charge of the
nearest police-station if any of the articles resemble those
described in the list.
6. Whoever carries on the business of a pawn-broker
without a license, or a licensee who fails to comply with any of
the conditions laid down in these rules, shall be punishable with
fine which for a first offence may extend to fifty rupees, and
for each subsequent offence to imprisonment for one month,
or to a fine of two hundred rupees or both.
FORM I.
Pawn-shop License.
By authority of Rule 2 of the rules published in General
Department Notification No. 366, dated the 25th October
1921, and framed under the provisions of section 20A of the
Burma Village Act, 1907, as amended by Burma Act I of 1921,
is hereby licensed to carry on
business as a pawn-broker1 at
subject to the conditions stated in the conditions * on the
reverse hereof and prescribed by the abovem'entioned rules.
The license may be cancelled for breach of any one or
more of the said conditions.
The license will be in force until the
unless previously cancelled.
Whoever carries on the business of a pawn-broker without
a licensee, or a licensee who fails to comply with any of the
conditions laid down on the reverse, shall be punishable with
fine which for a first offence may extend to fiftv rupees, and for
each subsequent offence to imprisonment for one month, or to
a fine of two hundred rupees or both.
* Page b*,posi.
68
ip art ii.—statutory rules and orders.
[ Reverse. ]
CONDITIONS.
(i) That the licensee shall carry on his business as
pawn-broker only at the premises specified upon the face of his
license.
(ii) That the licensee shall keep exhibited outside his shop
a signboard, on which shall be legibly printed or painted in
the license number
and the words " Pawn-broker's Shop."
(iii) That the licensee shall keep a set of thumb
impression instruments for the purpose of taking the thumb
impression of a pawnor pledging any article. But no thumb
impression of the pawnor shall be taken by any person who
cannot produce from the District Superintendent of Police
a certificate of competency to take finger prints in a proper
manner.
(iv) That the licensee shall keep a book in the form set
out in Form II annexed hereto, in which he shall enter or
cause to be entered in
at the time of each transaction, the following particulars,
namely :—
(
(b) the time agreed upon for redemption of the same ;
(c) the sum of money lent thereon ;
(d) the rate of interest or other profit to be charged ;
(e) the day of the month and the year in which the
transaction took place;
(f) the name and address and the left thumb impression
of the pawnor and, where the pawnor is not the
owner of the articles pawned, the name and
address of such owner ;
{g) the date of redemption of the articles ;
(A) if unredeemed, the number of the page in Book III
« on which the transaction is entered ;
and a duplicate of such entries shall be delivered to the
pawnor.
(v) That the pages of the book and duplicates mentioned
in the preceding condition shall be numbered consecutively,
and each page and duplicate shall contain the name of the
pawn-broker and the address of his shop.
rules and orders under section 20a. 69
(vi) That the licensee shall not charge or demand in
respect of any loan made by him any interest or other profit
exceeding the following rates : —
If the sum lent does not exceed Rs. 5, one anna for
each rupee or part of a rupee for each month or
part of a month.
If the sum lent exceeds ?s. 5, but does not exceed
Rs. 20, nine pies for each rupee or part of a rupee
for each month or part of a month
If the sum lent exceeds Rs. 20, six pies for each
rupee or part of a rupee for each month or part of
a month.
(vii) That the licensee shall keep conspicuously exposed
in his shop a legibly printed copy of the rates mentioned in the
last preceding condition in such language or languages as may
be specified in the license.
(viii) That the licensee, his servants or agents, shall not
receive anything in pawn between the hours of 6 p.m. and
6 a.m., and shall not at any time take anything in pawn from
any child apparently under 14 years of age.
(ix) That the licensee, his servants or agents, shall
deliver to the owner thereof any pledge when demanded
between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. within the period
agreed upon for redemption thereof upon tender by the owner
or his agent of the sum bor owed, with the interest due thereon
according to condition (vi) or any less sum which may have
been agreed upon.
(x) That the licensee ihall not sell, without the consent
of the pawnor, any pledge before the expiration of the time
agreed upon for redemption thereof, or otherwise than in
accordance with these conditions.
(xi) That the licensee shall himself dispose of all articles
pledged and unredeemed at the time agreed upon for redemp-
tion at a public auction held not more often than once a
quarter, of which at least ten days' notice with a list of the
articles to be sold shall be sent to the officer in charge of the
police-station.
(xii) That the licensee shall keep a printed book in the
form set out in Form 111 annexed hereto, in which he shall
enter or cause to be entered in
, a true and correct
account of all pledges sold, showing the date on which and
the persons by whom the goods were pledged, the number
of the page in Book II on which the original transaction is.
72
ip art ii.—statutory rules and orders.
entered, the amount due at the time of sale, the amount
realised on the sale, the date of sale, the name and address of
the person to whom sold, and in any case where the amount
realised on the sale exceeds the amount lent and the interest
or other profit due thereon at the date of sale and expenses
attending such sale, the overplus due to the pawnor.
(xiii) That the licensee, his servants or agents, shall
permit his shop to be entered, between the hours of 6 a.m.
and 8 p.m. by any person authorised by the Deputy Commis-
sioner in that behalf, and by any police-officer not under the
rank of sub-inspector, and shall produce for the inspection of
such person or officer, the books required by these conditions
to be kept, and also all or any pledges which such person or
officer may require, and further shall allow such person or
officer to take copies of the entries in such book's.
(xiv) That, if any article is offered to the licensee,
his servants or agents in pawn, which he or they shall have
reason to believe to have been dishonestly acquired, or if after
any article has been received in pawn, the licensee shall have
reason to believe that such article was dishonestly acquired,
by the pawnor, then and in any such case the licensee, his
servants or his agents shall forthwith make a report regarding
such pledge to the headman and to the officer in charge of
the nearest police-station.
(xv) That after the expiration of the period for which the
license is granted, or after its cancellation, the licensee shall
be entitled to carry on his business as a pawn-broker so far
only as relates to the redemption of articles pledged with him.
(xvi) The licensee shall pay Rs. being one-fifth
of the whole Rs. on the following dates:—
First instalment Rs. payable on
Second instalment Rs. payable on
Third instalment Rs. payable on
Fourth instalment Rs. payable on
Fifth instalment Rs. payable on
Sixth instalment Rs. payable on
Seventh instalment ... Rs. payable on
Eighth instalment Rs. payable on
(xvii) That on receipt from the police of a list of stolen
•property the licensee shall examine the articles in pledge with
him and immediately report to the officer in charge of the
nearest police-station if any of the articles resemble those
described in the list.
rules and orders under section 20a.
71
Original.
No.
Name of pawn-broker—
Address of shop—
(*)
(3)
(4)
(5i
(6)
17)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(i>)
(.2)
Description of goods—
Time within which to
be redeemed—
Amount lent—
Rate of interest-—
Day of month and year
on which goods are
pawned—
Name of pawnor—
Address of pawnor—
Name of owner of
goods uf other than
pawnor)—
Address of owner of
goods (if other than
pawnor)—
Left thumb impression
of the pawnor-—
Date of redemption—
If unredeemed, page
of Book in Form III
on which the transac-
tion is entered.
FORM II.
Duplicate.
No.
Name of pawn-broker—
Address of shop—
(1) Description of goods—
(2) Time within which to'
be redeemed—
Amount lent—
Rate of interest—
Day of month and year
on which goods are
pawned— *
Name of pawnor—
(7) Address of pawnor—
(8 Name of owner of
goods (if other than
pawnor)—
(9) Address of owner of
goods (if other than
pawnor)—
Left thumb impression
of the pawnor—
Date of redemption—â–
If unredeemed, page of
Book in Form III on
which the transaction is
entered.
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6,
(IO)
(» 0
[12)
)
Name of pawn-broker—
Address of shop—
FORM III.
(1) Description of goods sold—
(2) Date when goods were pawned—
(3) Person by whom goods were pawned—
(4) Page of Book in Form II on which the transaction is
entered—
(5) Amount due at time of sale—
Rs. A. P.
Principal
Interest
Total
(6) Amount realised on sale—
(7) Date of sale—
(8) Name and address of the person to whom sold-
PART III.
Executive Orders under the Burma Village
Act, 1907, as amended.
chap. i, paras. i—3] system of village
administration.
75'
Executive Orders.
CHAPTER I.
Preliminary.
System of Village, Administration.
1. With the passing into law of Act IV of 1924, Sir
Charles Crosthwaite's famous Minute (still reproduced as
Appendix I*) has become largely historical.
His two fundamental principles may remain baldly true—
(1) that every village-tract must have a headman residing in it
and (2) that every headman is responsible for the collection of
revenue. But Act IV of 1924 has in certain vital particulars
altered the spirit of the previous Act. In the old system the
village headman held his appointment by virtue of hereditary
right and of appointment by Government, with or without the
concurrence of his villagers. The effect of the new Act is to
make him more the elected representative of his villagers, who,
in the form of a committee of not more than four, assist him in
his duties as magistrate, judge and general executive officer.
Another fundamental conception of the old Act which has
been eclipsed, is the idea of collective responsibility. Formerly
the villagers were bound to co-operate with the headman in
carrying out all the duties imposed on him and on them by
Government. If they did not, they were held collectively
responsible and fined. Now it is presumed that the villagers
will co-operate with the headman whom they themselves have
elected to supervise the working of the Act and rules.
2. It is true that in both the cases mentioned above the
Government has reserved to itself certain powers. It is not
always bound to accept the headman elected by the villagers
and it may in certain circumstances enforce collective respon-
sibility. These reserve powers, however, only serve to
emphasize the new departure. They will be discussed below in
their proper place.
3. The first of Sir Charles Crosthwaite's principles—that
every village-tract must have a headman—though remaining
generally true, has^been largely modified. At its inception it was
directed against the taik-thugyi and myo-thugyisystem, which,
though satisfactory from the revenue point of view, was
incompatible with the enforcement of village duties and
6
"Page 127.
76
part iii.—executive orders. [chaps. ill—iV.
responsibilities. But the taik and the myo were divided into
areas which though co-terminous with a village, were too
small to support an individual headman in comfort and dignity.
It is now the declared policy of the Government when vacan-
cies occur so to amalgamate village with village that a headman
should get an income from revenue collections of about Rs. 300
per annum provided that the village-tract so created can be
efficiently administered by one man. In practice this means
that each headman as a rule has or should have two or more
villages in his charge.
* 4- The second of Sir Charles Crosthwaite's two princi-
ples—that the headman should be responsible for the collect-
ion of revenue in his jurisdiction—has not been modified by the
new Act. The village committee, which assists the headman
in criminal, civil and general duties, is not concerned with the
collection of revenue. The headman, therefore, remains
solely responsible in that respect and he alone draws commis-
sion. Certain taik-thugyi-shifs and myo-tHngyi-ships still
persist and this principle is not followed there. But these are
marked for dissolution as occasion offers.
CHAPTER II,
Appointment of Headmen.
5. Headmen are ordinarily appointed on the result of an
election, and ths only cases in which a Deputy Commissioner
(with the previous sanction of the Commissioner) may over-
rule the result of an election are those specified in the notifica-
tion issued under section 5, sub-section (2) of the Act, vide
page 27 ante. If, however, the villagers elect the hereditary
claimant and he is a minor, the Deputy Commissioner shall
desire them further to elect a temporary headman to hold
charge of the village-tract until that hereditary claimant
reaches the age of 2 i. In such cases the Deputy Commis-
sioner may order that a share of the commission is to be
devoted to the support of the minor. In making such order
the Deputy Commissioner shall be guided by local custom.
If a Deputy Commissioner should overrule the result of an
election for the reasons given in (a) and (£) of the above-
mentioned notification, he has discretion to appoint as headman
any person whom he may consider most suitable for the
appointment. This discretion does not preclude him, if under
* In this connection, see Appendix II, page 13i, post.
paras. '4—12] system of village administration, 77
appointment of headmen and con-
stitution of village committees.
the circumstances he considers such a course desirable, from
holding a further election in order to ascertain the villagers'
second choice. It is to be noted, however, that the Deputy
Commissioner is not in any way bound to take this course.
6. If on the occurrence of a vacancy there is any question
of amalgamating the village-tract with a neighbouring village-
tract, that question must always be decided before an election
is held, and the question of amalgamation must not be left to
be decided by the result of an election.
7- If the Deputy Commissioner can himself hold the
election, so much the better. If the Deputy Commissioner
cannot do so, the Subdivisional Officer should hold it if he
possibly can. It should be the exception rather than the rule
for the Township Officer to hold it.
8. Ample notice should be given to the villages concerned
of the intention to hold an election, so that all candidates may
arrange to be present and have time in which to whip up their
supporters. The names of all persons voting for each candi-
date shall be recorded in writing.
Village Committees.
9. The rules for the election of the three or four
members of the village committee are given in full in General
Department Notification No. 220, dated the 20th December
1924, on page 27 of the. Manual.
10. It should be noted that while the headman chosen by
the villagers is appointed by the Deputy Commissioner and
may be removed or dismissed by him, the members of
village committee hold office solely in virtue of their election
by the villagers. But though the Deputy Commissioner does
not appoint them, he may terminate their appointment by
declaring that their continuance in office is contrary to the
interests of the residents of the village-tract. Such a declara-
tion by the Deputy Commissioner will be equivalent to
removal.
11. The activities of village committees may be grouped
under (1) the trial of civil suits ; (2) the trial of criminal cases ;
(3) aiding the headman in the general administration ; (4)
actino- as a link between the District Council and the official
o
administration.
12. As regards civil suits, the village committee has no
power to try such suits until so invested by the Commissioner,
vtdt section 6 (x) of the Act. When it has been so invested, it
78
part iii.—executive orders. [chapS. ill—iV.
must follow the procedure laid down in Notification No. 221,
dated 20th December 1924, printed on page 31. It is to be
noted that the headman, as chairman of the committee and
as the person responsible for the upkeep of the registers, is
permitted to retain all the fees, vide rule 10 of the Notification.
This helps to distinguish further between the committee and
the headman. The former serves throughout in an honorary
capacity. The notification in question gives not only full
details for the trial of suits, but also the procedure in execution.
13. In the matter of criminal cases, the position is rather
different. The effect of the amendment of section 9 by Act
IV of 1924 is to give the village committee all the ordinary
criminal powers which were exercised by the headman under the
old Act. The committee need not be invested with these
powers. In villages where the headman has already special
powers under section 9 (4) of the Act, it has been decided
to grant the committee special powers. In all other villages
the committee will exercise ordinary powers until experience
has been gained whether to grant the extended powers of
section 9 (4). The actual procedure in criminal trials to be
adopted by committees does not differ from that prescribed'
under the old system for headman. It is to be noted, however,
that the committee does not take cognizance of an offence
directly, but only on report being made to it by the headman.
If the special power headman dies on whose account any
committee has been invested with special powers, that com-
mittee will remain invested with such powers until the end of its
term of three years.
14. Besides its civil and magisterial duties the committee
is bound to advise the headman in matters concerning the
general welfare of the village-tract. The committee should
therefore assist the headman in obtaining information about.
criminals, as set out in section 7. It should help him to perform
the public duties detailed in section 8 ; and it should take
the lead in respect of the general duties of villagers given in.
section 11. Under section 12 (i) a headman may, without
referring to the committee, fine a villager for neglecting a
public duty. But he may also under section 12 (ii) invoke
the committe,e to deal with the matter in which case the fine
may be double. This discretionary power of the headman
refers only to fining villagers for breach of public duties. It
does not give him power at his discretion to try a criminal case.-
alone.
paras. 13—18] appointment of headmen and 79
constitution of village committees.
I5. The last group of duties which falls on a village
committee is new and important. As explained in the state-
ment of Objects and Reasons, annexed to the Act of 1924 when
•introduced in Council, village committees " will form a body
which will link on to village administration the duties with
regard to local self-government and especially with regard to
sanitation, public health and the prevention of disease among
human beings and cattle, which have been made over to
District Councils by the Burma Rural Self-Government Act, *
1921." Section 25 of that Act has now been amended and
in consequence a Circle Board may place any matter under
its control in charge of a village committee and may transfer
funds for the purpose. The village committee may exercise
the powers of the Circle Board in respect of the matter
transferred and it is subject to the control of the Circle Board
in the samie respect. This is an amendment of importance. It
indicates the direction in which the village system is moving.
It is a measure of decentralization and of village self-government.
16 When one village-tract is amalgamated to another
ivillage-tract, the Deputy Commissioner should pass the
following three orders in the village proceeding :—-
(1) He should declare that inasmuch as the existing
village committees were elected to represent the tracts A and B
and inasmuch as the tracts A and B have now ceased to exist
and have become the new tract A plus B, the village commit-
tees in question have become fundi officio.
(2) He should declare under section 5 (1) of the Act the
new tract A plus B to be a village-tract and he should call
upon it to elect a village committee.
(3) He should appoint the surviving headman of the two
original village-tracts to be the headman of the new village-
tract A plus B.
17. (1) Every headman is granted an order of appointment
, Miscellaneous
rln form Villages 5 '
(2) Members of village committees should also be
^provided with appointment orders, f
Myothugyis in Upper Bwrma.
18. When the headman of a village-tract by custom
exercises authority over one or m ore other headmen the
"headman who exercises authority shall be called myothngyi for
* Burma Code, Vol. II, Page 756. ,
T These appointment ordes should be in the form prescribed in Ge neral
'Department endorsement No. IQ9D14, dated the aist May 1925. t® Commissioners
and Deputy Commissioners. The form has not been brought op the Guard-Book,
'but copies should be printed locally or issued in manuscript.
80
part iii.—executive orders.
[chapS. ill—iV.
the purposes of these orders. For other purposes he may be-
known by his customary local appellation.
19. The myothugyi shall exercise a power of control and
supervision over the headmen in his circle, and shall be held
responsible for their good conduct, and they shall be subordi-
nate to hiro and shall be bound to obey him in all lawful
matters.
20. A myothugyi may at any time apply to the Deputy
Commissioner to be relieved of his responsibility under the
preceding paragraph, and thereupon his connection with the
subordinate headmen shall cease, and he shall no longer receive
the commission, or the share thereof, which may have been
hitherto payable to him on Account of the villages under those
headmen.
21. On the death, dismissal or resignation of a myothugyi,.
no successor shall be appointed to his myothugyiship without
the previous sanction of the Commissioner. Except with such
previous sanction his heirs or successors shall not succeed to-
• any part of his authority or emoluments as myothugyi save
as they may be elected by the villagers and appointed by the
Deputy Commissioner as hpadman of a village-tract.
22. No new myothugyiship or circle thugyiship under
whatever designation shall. be created without the previous
sanction of the Local Government. Neither shall several,
headmen be grouped together in subordination to another
headman for revenue or other purposes, nor the commission^
payable to a headman be subdivided or taken away, without the
same sanction.
23. On the occurrence of a vacancy a myothugyiship may
be abolished by the Commissioner, and myoth gyi ships created
after the year 1885 may be abolished by the Commissioner-
otherwise than on the occurrence of vacancies. But this latter
power is to be used by Commissioners with discretion and,,
where a myo or circle-thugyiship was created by our officers
for distinctly good service, or where the incumbent of such a
British created mvo or circle has done really good service
since the annexation and where to break it up would involve
hardship to him, his circle need not be broken up during his
lifetime even though its creation was not strictly in accordance
with the intentions of Government.
24. Cases in which it is proposed to abolish a myothugyiship
created before the year 1886 otherwise than on the occurrence
of a vacancy must be reported for the Local Government's-
previous sanction.
paras. 19—30] Myothugyis and ten-house gaungs. 8h
25. Until a myothugyiship is abolished under the preceding
orders, myothugyis dating their office from Burmese times who
by custom have received the whole or part of the commission
on revenue collections shall continue to do so, and the Commis-
sioner has authority to give a similar privilege to a myothugyi
appointed by our officers, and it is advisable to do so where
-the myothngyi was appointed for specially good services, or
where his control over subordinate headmen has been a real
help to the administration. In such cases the Commissioner
is to use his discretion in apportioning the commission.
26. When a myo is split up, it should be divided into
village-tracts of suitable size, each providing sufficient
remuneration for a headman. To these revised village-tracts
a selection of the non-commission drawing headman of the old
myo should be appointed. An election by the villagers
concerned is not necessary as the persons in question may be
regarded as already headmen. The balance of the non-
commission drawing headmen should have their appointment
orders withdrawn and should revert to the position of
ywagaungs.
27. Village committees should be elected in the villages
comprising a myo.
Miscellaneous rulings concerning the aff ointment of
Headmen.
28. An arrangement made by a Deputy Commissioner
under which a retired headman was granted a pension charge-
able on the income of the office was considered inadmissible
and was not upheld by the Local Government.
29. The dismissal of a headman does not necessarily
disqualify other members of his family from holding office, nor
should it be considered an absolute disqualification except in
cases which inevitably involve the disgrace of the family or
where the family is itself implicated in the offence.
Appointment of Rural Policimm in Lower Bu,rma\
30. The system under which villages are divided into
blocks of about ten houses, each under a ten-house gating, who
is subordinate to the headman, is an old institution in Lower'
Burma, is well understood by the people, and steps 'have been
82 part hi.—executive orders. [chaps. ii—iii.
taken to graft it on to the system of village administration laid
down in the Act by the appointment of ten-house gaungs to be
rural policemen. Ten-house ganngs should be appointed in
villages, whether in charge of paid or unpaid headman, and will,
for their blocks, exercise the powers and perform the duties of
rural policemen under the Act.
31. Ten-house gaungs are appointed by the Deputy Com-
missioner or by a Subdivisional Officer or Township Officer
empowered by the Deputy Commissioner in this behalf [section
5 (3) of the Act] and are granted orders of appointment in
p Miscellaneous
torm -frvi-•
Villages 15
Appoint mint of Ywagaungs in Upptr Burma.
32. If a headman holds charge of more than one village, he
may appoint for each village a person to be his agent. The
person so appointed shall be designated ywagating, and the
term ywaganng shall be applied only to persons who have
been duly appointed to be ywagaungs under this paragraph.
33. The ywagaung shall be appointed by the headman
subject to the approval of the Deputy Commissioner, which
shall not be withheld unless the nominee is a bad character or
otherwise disqualified for the performance of the duties of his
post.
31. The ywagawng cannot be invested with the powers of
a headman under the Act. He is bound under section 11 to
perform certain public duties and to assist the headman in the
execution of his public duties.
35. One selected Hn-hou,si gaung and in Upper Burma the
ywagawng are exempted from capitation-tax and thathamedo:
respectively.
CHAPTER III.
Status and Privileges of Headmen
36. It should be clearly understood that the new Act does
not detract in any way from the existing status and privileges
of headmen. Indeed the fact that the headman is now 1
generally the choice of the majority of the villagers should
strengthen his hands against those who break the law or fail in
their duties.
paras. 31—41] Ten-house gaungs, Ywagaungs and 83
status and privileges of headmen.
37- The headman shall reside within the local limits of his
jurisdiction and he is personally responsible to Government for
the duties imposed on him by the Act. The village committee
shall assist him. It does not lessen his responsibility. While
for sufficient grounds the Deputy Commissioner may cause
any member of the committee to resign, he shall open pro-
ceedings against the headman alone for any failure to perform
-the duties laid down in sections 7 and 8 of the Act.
38. Government from time to time has pointed out that the
headman should not be regarded as an inferior link in the official
chain ; that he should not be at the beck and call of subordi-
nate officials ; and that he should not be summoned beyond the
limits of his village-tract except in unavoidable circumtances.
These well-known orders are again emphasized. The .head-
man remains the basis of the administration. It should be the
-object of all district officers to increase his dignity in the eyes
of the local inhabitants. Any tendency among subordinates to
deal with the headman in an off-hand manner should be sup-
pressed. Township Officers should be made to understand that
they have not power to pass orders in matters within the sphere
â– of the headman. If they find that a headman abuses his
powers or neglects his duties, they should report the matter
to the Subdivisional Officer. But they should not interfere
unnecessarily with headmen or usurp to themselves the powers
and functions which have been vested in headmen by the
legislature.
39- Officers should note that though the headman is now as
a rule the elected-nominee of the villagers, he can only be fined,
-removed or dismissed by the Deputy Commissioner. His elec-
tors have no power to terminate his appointment, which is for
life, though any specific complaint which they may make should
receive full consideration. Headmen should be admonished
and instructed rather than peremptorily fined for petty
delinquencies, and should not be deprived of their appointments
• except as a last resort and for strong reasons.
40. Every headman is entitled to carry a silver mounted
dalwi and every myothngyi or headman declared by the
Deputy Commissioner of the District to occupy a position
similar to that of a myothugyi is entitled to carry a gilt-mounted
dal-we.
41. Headmen should be liberally rewarded for any good
-work done by them.
84
PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS. [CHAPS. Ill—iV.
42. Except where the whole or a part of the commission is
drawn by a taikthugyi in Lower Burma or is assigned to a
myothugyi in Upper Burma as provided in paragraph 25 the
headman during his tenure of office shall receive the commis-
sion on the revenue collected by him according to such rate as.
the Financial Commissioner, with the sanction of the Local
Government, may from time to time direct, and shall hold and
enjoy the land, if any, assigned for the support of the office.
43- Rules relating to the allotment of revenue-free land
(thugyisa) to headmen are contained in Land Revenue Direc-
tions 42—61 A.
Education of Sons and Heirs of Headmen*.
44-Government, Municipal and Aided schools the eldest
sons or other male heirs of headmen who are too poor to pay
the necessary fees themselves may be granted free education at
the expense of the Government. The concession of free
education is limited to the eldest son or other male heir of the
headman and is not admissible to the younger sons. As a
condition of the grant of the concession, the headman must be
too poor to pay for the education of his heir himself.
45- It is only in very rare cases that it is in the interest of
Government that a future headman should receive an English
education. The aim should be to furnish a good vernacular
education. Exceptional cases may arise in which a
free Anglo-Vernacular education might be granted. For
example, if an influential headman of a large village-tract, who
would ordinarily give his heir an Anglo-Vernacular education is
unable to do so for special reasons ; if the village-tract is a
trading centre or otherwise so constituted ks to render an Anglo-
Vernacular education useful to the headman in the discharge
of his duties ; or if such an education would be of advantage to
the headman in his ordinary occupation. The concession of
free Anglo-Vernacular education may be sanctioned by the
Deputy Commissioner after due consideration. When it is
proposed to admit a boy to a Government Anglo-Vernacular
School, final orders of admission will be passed by the Director
of Public Instruction, who should be addressed on the subject
by the Deputy Commissioner.
* Includes taikthugyis and myotkugyis, vide letter No: 374 14E -20, Part II,
dated the 13th July 1920, from the Secretary to Government to the address of the:
Commissioner, Pegu Division.
PARAS. 42—50] STATUS AND PRIVILEGES OF HEADMEN. 85
46. Save in exceptional circumstances and with the sanc-
tion of the Deputy Cdmmission'er, the concession of free
education should be limited to the provision of Vernacular
education up to the Seventh Standard. In every case in which
it is proposed to grant free education under this scheme at a
Municipal or Aided Anglo-Vernacular School, or a Government
or Aided Vernacular School, the Deputy Commissioner should
make arrangements for the admission of the boy in consulta-
tion with the Inspector of Schools in whose charge the school-
is situated.
47' It is only in comparatively rare cases that it will be
necessary to send a headman's son to distant Vernacular
school, and it is undesirable that this should be done if
it can be avoided. Vernacular schools which take in boarders
are situated for the most part in the larger towns, and
it is not desirable that future headmen should acquire the
habits and tastes of townsmen. it should be the object
of Government on the contrary to encourage them tO'
keep in touch with the people of the village over whom they
will eventually be called upon to rule. There are cases,
however, where a sound Vernacular education can only be
obtained by sending the lad to a distant school. In such cases,
free board and books should be given by Government but,
save in very exceptional circumstances, pocket money should1
not be given in addition. These additional concessions, like
free education at an Anglo-Vernacular School, may be sanc-
tioned by the Deputy Commissioner.
48. Under Article 1006 of the Civil Account Code, expen-
diture incurred on free education should be debited to the
Educational Budget.
49. Cadets of headmen's families may, at the Deputy
Commissioner's discretion, be exempted from the payment of
fees at Government Survey Schools *
Procedure for the grant of leave to Headmen.
50. A headman may absent himself from his village-tract
on his private business for a period not exceeding seven days
on his own responsibility. He should leave a ten-house ga'tng
or other suitable person in general charge of the village-tract
* See Government of India letter No. 2105-932-2, dated the 16th July I £95.
86
PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS. [CHAPS. Ill—IV.
during his absence, but it should be understood that this sub-
stitute has no legal powers and cannot be held legally respon-
sible in the same way as a headman.
51. Leave of absence for more than 'seven days and not
exceeding one month may be granted by the Township Officer
who will arrange for the general charge of the village-tract
.during the headman's absence.
52. If the absence is to exceed one month the orders of
Deputy Commissioner should be taken as to whether an election
â– should be held for the appointment of a temporary headman.
53. Ordinarily, except when a temporary substitute is for-
mally appointed, a headman shall not be absent from his
village-tract during a revenue-collecting season unless his
O O
revenue has been collected and paid in fully.
CHAPTER IV.
Duties of Headmen, Village Committees and
Villagers.
.instruction of Headmen and members of Village, Committees
in their duties.
54- It is the duty of Deputy Commissioners, Subdivisiona'
Officers and Township Officers to explain clearly to headmen
and members of the village committees the meaning of the
Act, the nature and extent of their powers, and the manner in
- which the provisions of the law should be worked. If Deputy
Commissioners and their subordinates are, as they should be,
-constantly on tour in their charges and if they make a
-point of becoming personally acquainted with the headmen
and members of Village Committees and assisting them in their
work, there need be no difficulty in making them thoroughly
^acquainted with the Village Act.
Headman^s Manual.
55. Copies of the Headman's Manual in Burmese will be
.distributed to all headmen. Inspecting Officers should make
a point of seeing that every headman has a copy of the Manual
and of the books, etc. (so far as may be necessary) , enumerated
jin the last section of that Manual.
paras. 51—60] status and privileges of headmen 87"
and duties of headmen, village
committees and villagers.
D uiizs of Headmen and Villagers wndir Sections 8 and n-
of the Act.
56. The following rules lay down the nature and extent of:
the services which villagers can be called upon to perform
under the Village Act and. indicate which of these services
should be paid for and which should be performed without
payment.
57- The principal provisions of the law on the subject are
contained in sections 8 and 11 bf the Act. The former section
lays down the duties of the headman, while under the latter
section every person residing in a village-tract is bound, on the
requisition of the headman or of a rural policeman, to assist him
in the execution of his public duties and is also required to
perform certain specified duties without requisition. Except
in regard to the furnishing of guides, supplies and carriage
[section 8 (1) (£") ] the Act says nothing of payment, and' it would
appear therefore that as the law stands the headman can be
required to perform all the duties enumeratey in section 8
without remuneration, and that the villagers are bound to assist
him, equally without payment, to perform all these duties, with <
the exception of furnishing guides, supplies and carriage.
58. While, however, it appears that these services can in
case of necessity be demanded without remuneration, it is clear
that in ordinary cases many of them ought to be paid for.
This is indeed the ordinary practice. The general principle is
that where villagers are required to perform any service for
their own benefit or for that of the community at large the
service need not be paid for, but that where the service is not
for their own advantage it should be remunerated. This
principle is approved by Government in a general way anil so
long as the services demanded are not of a very onerous
nature. But the rule must be subject to exceptions, and more
especially in cases where the services involve considerable
labour or an absence of two or three days from home. In such
cases it is not reasonable to expect that the services should
ordinarily be rendered free of payment.
59. Subject to these general remarks, it will be convenient
to discuss briefly in the order in which they are set out in
section 8 of the Act the various kinds of service which can law-
fully be demanded.
60. Clauses (a) to (e) lay down the ordinary police duties of "
the headman. The powers of search by headman are limited
88
PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS. [CHAPS. Ill—iV.
to the search for such property as is' concerned with cases
specified in 7(c) of trie Act. He has no power to search the
•houses of suspects in cases which do not come within that
section. Headmen appointed to exercise the powers of police
officers have power to arrest persons committing an offence
under section 5 of the * Gambling Act, which is a cognisable
offence for which a police officer can arrest without warrant.
In the performance of these duties the villagers are bound to
assist him without payment- Remuneration if given at all
should take the form of reward for specially good service rather
than of payment for services performed at the call of public duty.
61. By clause (f) the headman is bound " to take such
measures for the purpose of protecting the villages within his
•tract from unlawful attack as the Deputy Commissioner may
advise." The genesis of this new clause will be explained in
the following extract from the Report of .the Crime Enquiry
Committee, 1923—â–
" The question of village defence is one on which we have
â– heard a large amount of evidence, and we agree with the great
majority of witnesses in thinking that the existing arrangement,
however excellent in theory, are in fact ineffective. In the
first place we think that the compulsory fencing of villages is
generally not worth the trouble which the proper upkeep of
the fences imposes on the villagers ; nor as a rule as the posting
of kins of any practical value in regard to the prevention of
crime, as it is impossible to expect men to be alert all night
.after a day's work and with another day's work before them.
We are of opinion therefore that both fencing and the posting
of kins should be left entirely to the option of the inhabitants
of each village. We agree, however, with the majority of
witnesses with whom this matter of village defence was
discussed in thinking that some form of village organization
should exist in each village, the scheme of defence in each case
being worked out with due regard to the size, shape and situation
of the village. The main idea would be that trustworthy indivi-
duals in every village should have specific duties to perform.
Such schemes could, we think, be worked out ,by village-
committees with the assistance and advice of officials ; and in
order to keep up interest, committees should be encouraged
to hold periodical practices. "
62. It was to give effect to these new principles of village
protection that section 8 (f) was drafted. In order tc put this
new policy into practice, the following procedure should be
.observed:—
* Burma C.de, Vol. 11, page 353.
■PARAS. 61—64] DUTIES OF HEADMEN AND VILLAGERS. 89
Deputy Commissioners should on this subject invite head-
men to consult their village committees and those persons of
â– property and standing resident within the tract with a view to
the formulation of concrete proposals, if such are considered
necessary by the villagers, for the defence of the village. It
will probably be found that headmen will require the assistance
of Township Officers to enable them to prepare village defence
schemes. This assistance should be freely given. When the
Township Officer has submitted to the Deputy Commissioner
a consolidated report indicating those villages in his township
the headmen of which with the concurrence of those most
interested in the safeguarding of their property have formulated
schemes of village defence, the Deputy Commissioner should
be able in most cases to approve of the schemes in bloc or
with such modifications as the villagers raav be willing to
accept. It may, however, be found in certain notoriously
criminal areas, where life and property are endangered, that it
will be in the public interest for the Deputy Commissioner to
advise villagers to take special measures for defence in addition
to those which they themselves have proposed. In giving
such advice, which under section 8 the headman is bound to
accept, the Deputy Commissioner should be careful not to
violate the spirit of the amending Act by resorting to,this
-course more frequently than necessity demands.
63. As clause {§) of Section 8 now stands, it is not
permissible for a touring official to demand as of right from the
headman either guides, provisions or transport, except in
those villages which have been listed by the Deputy Commis-
1 sioner as being so situated that services of the kind are not easily
available. All Deputy Commissioners should compile such a
list, copies of which should be supplied to the district touring
officers. In all other villages the touring officer will have to
make his own arrangements for food, guides and transport.
Orders 64 to 68 which follow, apply only to notified
villages and to the case of troops and police.
64. In such notified villages there may be difficulty or
impossibility in making payment for supplies' of water, firewood
and grass for a single day in such a way that the payment shall
reach the persons who provide the articles. The practice is
for a crowd of women and children to bring these articles for
the use of the officer, and, if payment is made, the money, it is
said, finds a resting place in the headman's pocket. It is clear
•that (away from regular halting places and main routes) the
90
PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS. [CHAPS. Ill—iV.
provision of these articles is a very slight burden, and that it is
impossible to divide the payment among the women and
children who bring the supplies.
65. It has been decided, however, after due consideration,
that it is desirable that payment should be made by officers
for these supplies either to the headman or his agent (e.g., the
cooly gaung where there is one), and that the headman should be
left to settle with the women and children. In many villages
there are village funds to which the marriage fees and other
miscellaneous receipts are credited and from which expenditure
on festivals is defrayed. The money paid for water, firewood
and grass could be credited to these funds. Another suitable
method would be for the headman to keep an account'book in
which he would enter supplies of water, firewood and grass
furnished to an officer and present it to the officer for payment
and signature. The villagers would furnish the supplies in the
manner most convenient to themselves and the headman would
keep the money received from the officers and either divide it
when a considerable sum had been collected or in Upper
Burma he might pay it into the thathameda collection of his
village reducing the demand upon the assessees by that
amount. Officers checking the assessment rolls could see
whether this system was honestly carried out. Any of these
plans or any other suitable system may be adopted, but officers
must understand that they have no right to free firewood, grass
and water.
66. All supplies which it costs money or labour to procure
and all carriage should be paid for at full rates, and where the
number of carts required is large, special care should be taken 1
and arrangements made to render the duty of providing them
as little irksome as possible and to apportion it as equally and.
fairly as possible among the people affected. The provision
of carts for the Police, Public Works, the Military and
other departments, is believed to be one of the duties which
fall most hardly upon the people. Commissioners are expected
to see that the. rates of hire are fixed at a remunerative scale ;
in districts where the requisitions are numerous Deputy
Commissioners should give their personal attention to the
arrangement of a roster, whereby the burden may be distributed
as widely and as fairly as possible; and officfers of all depart-
ments should keep their requirements within the narrowest
limits and call for no more carts or coolies than are absolutely
necessary.
PARAS. 65—71] DUTIES OF HEADMEN AND VILLAGERS. 91
67. It has been found necessary especially to regulate
requisitions by officers for ihe hire of ponies as some officials
were in the habit of hiring ponies through headmen to do long
marches when either they ought to have had ponies of their
own or they ought not to have ridden at all. This practice
discourages villagers from keeping and breeding ponies. The
remedy appears to lie in fixing a rate for the hire of ponies that
shall be practically prohibitive, and it has accordingly been laid
down that one rupee a fl?«/«g or eight annas a mile shall be
paid for the hire of each pony requisitioned.
68. A form of receipt (Form for the use of
headmen who furnish supplies to officers on tour, has been
included in the Guard-Book.
69. Clauses (t) to (k) require the headman to collect the
revenue, to register vital* statistics if so ordered and to take
various measures necessary for the health and safety of the
community. In matters of this kind the headman may pro-
perly require the villagers to assist him without remuneration,
but care must be taken that he does not abuse his powers or
needlessly harass the people.
70. Clause (/) requires the headman to supply informa-
tion and clause (n) " generally to assist all officers of the
Government in the execution of their public duties." This last
clause is widely worded and must be worked with discretion.
The clause does not cover requisitions for coolies to carry out
forest and other departmental work. Services obtained under
clause (n) legitimately for what are in fact private purposes,
e.g., repairing the roof of a zayat or clearing a camping ground
or carrying a letter (except from village to village in
accordance with the custom of the country), should be paid
for.
71. Deputy Commissioners should bear in mind that the
wide powers conferred upon them and upon Township officers
and headmen by the Village Act should be exercised with
judgment and consideration ; and that the people of Burma, and
especially of Upper Burma, are apt to submit without much
complaint to annoyances and extortions which are in reality very
burdensome ; they should remember that it is their duty to
protect the people from such treatment, and to see that subor-
dinate officials are kept in check and are not allowed to abuse
their position and power to the harassment and annoyance of
the residents in the tracts committed to their charge.
7
92 PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS., [CHAP. IV,
Prevention and Suffrzssion of Cholera.*
72. (I'iThe attention of District Officers is drawn to the
heavy toll of life taken by the yearly visitation of cholera which
few districts of the province escape. The recorded statistics,
which doubtless represent only a portion of the actual mor-
tality, show that the loss of life from cholera is far greater
than that from plague, while owing to the rapidity with which
it overruns a district, an outbreak of cholera is harder to check
than one of plague. Yet the causes of a cholera epidemic are
not obscure. In nearly every case in which such an epidemic
has been traced to its source, it has been found that it has had
its origin in a polluted water-supply and its spread has been,
facilitated by failure to report promptly the first cases.
73. In village-tracts which are dependent on wells for their
water-supply, the wells act as distributing agents in spreading
the disease in a variety of ways. The ground round the well
is polluted with infected matter which percolates into the
water, or the water is directly infected by buckets from
infected houses being used; quite frequently persons who have
contracted the disease and their clothing are washed in close
proximity to the wells. Much could be done to remedy
this state of affairs if Rule io of the rules under section 29,
sub-section (i), clause I d), of the A^t published in General
Department Notification No. 451, dated the 9th December
1908 page 42),lwere strictly enforced and separate wells set
aDart for drinking purposes, parapets constructed round such
wells, and bathing or the washing of clothes and pollution of
the soil generally within 20 yards of the wells prohibited.
Where a village-tract is dependent on tanks for its supply,
the rule makes similar provision for the setting apart of special
tanks for drinking purposes, and the protection of such tanks
from pollution. It is the duty of all officers to see that the
rules for the protection of the water supply are properly
enforced. They are far from drastic, and in village-tracts
where the headman is intelligent and has authority, it should
be possible to supplement them by requiring, e£.,that where
a well has been set apart for drinking purposes, a bucket shall
be provided which shall be exclusively used for drawing water
from the well, and no one allowed to draw water with their
own buckets. Where a village-tract gets its water from a
river it is equally possible to prevent pollution of the foreshore,
while, in the event of an outbreak of cholera, the danger of
* General Department Circular No. 16 0(1909.
■PARAS. 61—64] DUTIES OF HEADMEN AND VILLAGERS. 93
infection can be lessened by having wells dug on the foreshore,
if that is feasible, and keeping them properly guarded or by
arranging that water shall only be drawn from mid-channel
where the current is swiftest.
74 As regards the reporting of outbreaks, it is necessary
that in season and out of season it should be impressed on
headmen hoiv essential it is that the first case of cholera should
be promptly reported, as required by the rules, in order that
measures may be taken to check the spread of the disease.
Government is well aware of the difficulty of securing the
co-operation of the people in this matter. When a man dies
of cholera, his relatives are tempted to conceal the real cause
of death from a desire not to forego the funeral ceremonies to
which relatives and friends are invited. The company gathers
in the infected house, and, on dispersing, spreads the infection
far and wide. When this happens, steps should be taken to
ensure that those responsible for the concealment of the cause
of death are severely punished. In this matter also intelligent
headmen who have authority can do much to prevent conceal-
ment, if they can be won over to a belief in the efficacy of
prompt measures dependent on prompt reporting of the first
cases.
75- The danger of an outbreak of cholera can to some
extent be lessened if due attention is paid to the enforcement
of the rules which require latrines or cess-pits to be kept in a
'sanitary condition, and streets and lanes to be kept clean and
free from weeds. When the disease has once broken out, its
virulence can be checked by such measures as the closing of
infected wells, the protection of other wells by permanganate
of potash, the distribution of cholera pills, the disinfection of
infected houses and house-sites, the burning of infected
clothing and bedding, and, last but not least, by evacuation.
Plague has in many cases been stamped out of districts by
prompt evacuation, and it is desirable that evacuation should
be freely resorted to in cholera epidemics.
76. The prevention and suppression of disease and the
consequent saving of human life are not the least important
duties of a District Officer. All officers should give a due
share of their personal attention to the improvement of sani-
tation in their charges, to the enforcement of the few simple
rqles which have been passed for that purpose, and to the
carrying out of the preventive and remedial measures which
have been briefly indicated above. Such personal attention
is particularly necessary in persuading the inhabitants of
94 PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS. [CHAPS. Ill—iV.
a village or district to agree to anti-cholera inoculation, by
which preventive measure a large degree of protection
against cholera infection can be obtained during epidemics.
A supply • of cards containing simple instructions (vide
Appendix VII) translated into Burmese or other local dialect
can be obtained from the office of the Director of Public
Health, Burma, for free distribution in the affected area, so
that the inhabitants may be educated to safeguard their own
articles of food and drink, and to take other necessary
sanitary measures.
Rzgistrati'on of Births and Deaths*
77. The following instructions for the collection and record
of vital statistics are laid down with reference to the rulesf
framed under section 29 (/) (d) of the Act.
78. For the registration of births and deaths in each
district, the headman of each village-tract shall be supplied
with birth and death registers of fifty leaves in Forms H and
I and bifoil books in Forms C and D. Kach register and book
will contain 100 pages, and the pages will be numbered from
I to 100 in the Press.
79- The station-writer of a police-station to which the
Deputy Commissioner has directed that the foils shall be
sent shall send once a month to the Township Officer all
the birth and death foils received from headmen of village-
tracts in accordance with the requirements of Rule 7 of the
Rules in this department Notification No. 10, { dated the nth
February 1925. The Township Office Head Clerk shall
check, sign and return the list.
80. In each police-station to which the Deputy
Commissioner has directed that the foils shall be sent there
shall be maintained a list of village-tracts from which birth and
death foils will be received monthly, quarterly or half-yearly.
81. On receipt of the foils from the village headman
and from all the police-stations to which the Deputy
Commissioner has directed that the foils shall be sent in his
township, the Township Officer shall forthwith prepare returns
in Forms A and B separately for each English month of the
* See Department of Public Health Notification No. 11, dated the nth
February 1925 as amended by Department of Public Health Notification
No. 123 (corrig.), dated the 16th December 1925.
t5« Rules published in Department of Public Health Notification No. 10,
dated the nth February 1925, page 39,ante.
t Page 39, ante.
■PARAS. 61—64] DUTIES OF HEADMEN AND VILLAGERS. 95
preceding quarter, and in these returns the information for
each village-tract shall be shown separately, the village-tracts
being grouped according to the police-station jurisdictions.
The returns, together with the foils arranged by village-tracts,
should be despatched to the Civil Surgeon not later than the
2oth of the month succeeding the quarter to which the foils
relate.
Examph—On receipt of the foils for December sent by'
police-stations on or before the 7th January the Township
Officer should prepare his returns for October, November and
December separately and should despatch them to the Civil
Surgeon not later than the 20th January.
82 The Township Officer shall also prepare returns for
distant village-tracts for January to June in Forms A and B
(a separate return for each month) in the month of July and
send them to the Civil Surgeon on or before the 20th of that
month. Similarly he shall prepare and forward returns for
these distant tracts for July to December on or before the 2dlh
January
83. In preparing his returns, the Township Officer should
not include events which occurred in the current month.
These foils should be sorted out and retained for inclusion in
the next return.
Examph—Among the foils sent by police-stations on or
before the 7th January there may be some relating to events
which occurred in January. These should not be included
in the December returns, which are due for despatch not later
than the 20th January, but should be sorted out and retained
for inclusion in the January returns, which will be due for
despatch to the Civil Surgeon not later than the 20th April.
If among the foils sent on or before the 7th January are
found some relating to events which occurred in September,
or earlier months, but which through neglect on the part of
the headmen or the Police or any other reason, were not sent
in good time, they must be included in the December returns,
which are despatched to the Civil Surgeon not later than 20th
January.
84. On receipt of all the Township returns a complete
return for the whole district shall be prepared by the Civil
Surgeon in Forms A and B and shall be forwarded through
the Deputy Commissioner to the Director of Public Health,
Burma, together with a note on any abnormal variations
detected. In these returns the information for each rural
police circle shall be shown separately. The returns shall be
96 PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS. [CHAPS. Ill—iV.
despatched not later than one month and fifteen days after the
close of the quarter concerned. The " Rural Police Circle"
for the purpose of Forrrs A and B is the area under the
jurisdiction of a police-station excluding Municipal Towns and
Notified Areas.
85- The Subdivisional Officer and the Township Officer,
within their respective jurisdictions,, shall be responsible that
births and deaths are duly registered. On visiting any village,
tract they shall examine the headmen's registers and test the
accuracy of the record by local enquiry, if necessary. They
shall each record in the registers the date of every examination
made under this rule.
86. Medical Officers, Public Health Inspectors and
Inspectors of Vaccination, shall examine the headman's
registers in the village-tracts which they visit and shall test
the accuracy of the record by local enquiry. They shall
record in the registers the date of every examination, and
shall bring to the notice of the Township Officer any defects or
discrepancies the) may discover.
87. The foils collected from headmen and the returns
submitted by the Township Officers shall be kept in the office
of the Civil Surgeon for five years, and shall then be destroyed.
The registers of births and deaths in Forms H and 1 when
completely filled shall be kept by the headman for one year
after which they shall be sent to the Township Officer
for transmission to the District Record Room for preservation
for twenty years from the date of completion.
Note.—
Form A Public Health, Guard Book Form No, 18S
Form B Do. Do. No. TgS
Form C Do. Do. No. 20S
Form D Do. Do. No. 21S
Form H Do. Do. No. 20S (6)
Form I Do. Do. No. 2 1S (6)
Registration of Diaths of Cattle *
88. The following instructions} for the collection and
record of statistics of cattle deaths are laid down with reference
to the rules f made under section 29, sub-section (i), clause (d)
of the Act.
* Agricultural (Veterinary) Department Notification No. 8, dated the 4th
September 1925.
t The Bombay-Burma Trading Corporation, Limited, Rangoon, has been
exempted from the provisions of the said rules in respect of elephants. (Vide
Agricultural (Veterinary) Department Notification No. n, dated the 25^
November 1925).)
I See Rules published in Agricultural (Veterinary) Department Notification
No. 7, dated the 4th September 1925, page 55.
■PARAS. 61—64] DUTIES OF HEADMEN AND VILLAGERS. 97
89. For the registration of deaths of cattle in each district
the headman of each village-tract shall be supplied by the
Deputy Commissioner with counterfoil registers. Each register
will contain 100 pages and the pages will be numbered from 1
to 100 in the press.
90. The station-writer of a police-station to which the
Deputy Commissioner has directed that the foils shall be sent
shall send all foils received by the 7th of each English month
to the Township cffice.
91. In each police-station to which the Deputy Commis-
sioner has directed that the foils shall be sent there shall be
maintained a list of village-tracts from which cattle death foils
will be received monthly, quarterly or half-yearly.
92. On receipt of the foils from headmen and police-stations
in his township, the Township Officer shall forthwith prepare a
return in the form prescribed by the Veterinary Adviser for
the preceding English month, and in this return the information
for each village-tract will be shown separately. The return
should be despatched to the Deputy Commissioner not later
than the ist of the succeeding month.
Example.—On receipt of the foils sent by the headmen or
police during January the Township Officer should prepare his
return for December and should despatch it to the Deputy
Commissioner not later than the ist February.
93. In preparing his returns, the Township Officer should
not include deaths which occurred in the current month. Some
of the foils received will relate to deaths which occurred in
the current month. These should be sorted out and kept over
for inclusion in the next return. In the case of foils received
from villages which are only required to send them in quarterly
or half-yearly, the Township Officer should prepare separate
returns for the preceding quarter or half-year, as the case may
be, when sending in the monthly returns for March, June,
September and December.
94. When the returns from all Township Officers in the
District have been received, consolidated return for the month
(as also for the quarter and half-year when they are due) shall
be sent to the Veterinary Adviser to the Government of Burma,
as soon as possible.
95. The Subdivisional Officer and the Township Officer,
within their respective jurisdictions, shall be responsible that
deaths of cattle are duly registered. On visiting any village-
tract they shall examine the counterfoil registers and test the
98 PART III.—EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
[CHAPS. Ill—iV.
accuracy of the record by local enquiry, if necessary. They
shall each record on the reverse of the last used counterfoil
the date of every examination made under this paragraph.
96. All officers of the Civil Veterinary Department shall
examine the counterfoil registers in the village-tracts which
they visit and shall test the accuracy of the record especially
with regard to the cause of death, by local enquiry. They
shall record on the reverse of the last used counterfoil the date
of every examination, and shall bring to the notice of the
Township Officer any defects or discrepancies they may
discover.
97- The foils received from headmen and police-stations
shall be kept in Township Offices until the ist July of the
year following that to which they relate and shall then be
destroyed. The returns submitted by Township Officers to
the Deputy Commissioners shall be destroyed so soon as they
have been embodied in the return sent to the Veterinary
Adviser to the Government of Burma. Copies of the returns
sent to the Veterinary Adviser to the Government of Burma
shall be preserved in the district office for two years and then
destroyed.
* Duty of Headmen in the m itter of Tree-felling on
hanks of Streams.
98. The attention of District and Forest Officers is
invited to Rule a6f of the rules under the Burma Forest
Act, 1902 This rule has been made mainly with a view
to the protection of fish. Many kinds of fish will not
breed in shadeless streams and it is of much importance, in
the interests both of the people and of the Government revenue,
that streams should not be depleted of fish by the deforestation
of their banks. Deputy Commissioners should give effect to
the rule in consultation with Forest Officers. Under the ^ule
banks of streams may be protected both for the sake of the fish
and also in cases in which the preservation of timber is
important for climatic purposes. It is very important to
preserve timber about the headwaters of streams. It must be
remembered that under the definition of " tree " in the Forest
Act the term "tree" includes palms, bamboos, stumps,
brushwood and canes.
* See Forest Department Circular No 8 of 1891.
t Page 59, Burma Forest Manual, Edition 1923.
■PARAS. 61—64] DUTIES OF HEADMEN AND VILLAGERS. 99
99- Under section 34 of the Forest Act, Forest Officers in
charge of divisions have authority to permit the cutting of
timber in areas which have been notified by Deputy Commis-
sioners under Forest Rule 26. In granting permits in such
areas Forest Officers should only permit such cutting of timber
as will thin the forest without affecting the shelter.
100. Many of the areas which will be notified under Rule
26 will be in places where no officers of the forest protective
staff are stationed. It is accordingly necessary that the duty of
seeing that the rules are observed should be performed in many
parts by headmen. Deputy Commissioners are requested,
when notifying areas, to communicate their orders to the
headmen having jurisdiction M'ithin the areas notified, and
to require the headmen to see that the prohibition of felling is
not infringed and to bring any breaches of it to notice.
* Duties of the Headman and Residents of a villagi-tract in
risptct of thi Rigulation of Village Common Land.
101. The attention of Deputy Commissioners is invited
to the rules under the Lower Burma Land and Revenue Act,
1876, and the Upper Burma Land and Revenue Regulation,
1889, ^e allotment, management and regulation of village
common land. These rules have been made to prevent
the misuse of village common land It is the duty of head-
men to see that the produce is not extracted for sale, and that
trespassers from other villages are not permitted to extract
forest produce from the village common land. . Deputy
Commissioners should instruct headmen to see that the rules
are observed and to bring any breaches thereof to notice. A
legal obligation rests on the Committee and other residents of
the village-tract, to communicate to the headman any informa-
tion received respecting the commission of, or attempt or
intention to commit, within the village common land, any of
the offences above mentioned and, when so required by the
headman, to assist him in the execution of his duties
aforesaid.
102. Executive Orders 113, 114 and 115 in the old
edition of the Burma Village Manual have been omitted,
as the duties of headmen specified therein are dealt with in
, X to XIII of the Lower Burma Headman's Manual.
" IX to XLI of the Upper Burma Headman's Manual.
* Government of Burma Revenue Dep^rcment Notification No. »5, dated
the 13 th March 1*023, and Fina-icnl C ommissi"ner's Notification No. 34, dned
the 20th March 1923.
CHAPTER V.
Collective Punishment of Villagers Accessory
to Crime.
Imposition of Fines on Village-tracts.
103. As indicated in the preliminary orders on page 75,
Act IV of 1924 has largely modified the conception of the
communal responsibility of villagers in respect of criminal
offences within their tract. As the law now stands, the
residents of a village can only be communally fined in two
cases (1 ) if they or any of them have failed to resist an attack
on the village and (2) if they have failed to take all reasonable
means to prevent the escape of any criminal. That is to sa y
that they cannot now be fined for harbouring criminals or for
suppressing evidence in a criminal case. Nor can they be
fined if stolen property is traced to their village. Though the
power to fine a whole village in these matters no longer
exists under section 1 ] it is the duty of every villager to give
information to the headman regarding the commission of or
attempt or intention to commit offences specified in section 7.
If he fails to do so, he, as an individual, can be fined by the
headman or the village committee under section 12. Every
effort should be made to enlist the support of the village
committee for measures intended for the suppression of crime
and police officers, especially should make a point of consult-
ing these committees and obtaining from them any information
they may have to give about criminals in the locality
104. In the two instances included in section 13, i.e., failure
to resist attack and allowing a criminal to escape, the Deputy
Commissioner's powers remain as under the old Act. If a
village is fined and if it appears that the village committee
was implicated, the Deputy Commissioner would be well
advised to act under the proviso to section 5A, sub-section (3),
and to declare that the continuance in office of its members
was contrary to the interests of the residents and to order a
new election. In more extreme cases, when it appears that
no village committee can function owing to the preponderance
of the criminal element, the Deputy Commissioner should fall
back upon section 5A (1) and move the L ocal Government to
exclude by notification that village-tract from the operation
of section 5A. Occasional action of this kind will impress on
other village committees the importance of their responsi-
bilities.
