- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires.-(1)"agriculture" includes.-(i)Horticulture;(ii)raising of crops (including plantation crops) grass or garden produce;(iii)dairy farming;(iv)poultry farming;(v)breeding of livestock; and(vi)grazing;but does not include cutting of wood only(2)"annual income" means the gross annual income during the period of twelve months immediately prior to the commencement of this Act;(3)"Assistant Commissioner" includes any officer of the Revenue Department not below the rank of Tahsildar authorized by the State Government to exercise the powers of the Assistant Commissioner under this Act;(4)"creditor" includes his heirs, legal representatives and assigns;(5)"debt" means any liability in cash or in kind whether secured or unsecured and whether decreed or not and includes any interest due on such debt;(6)"debtor" means a person who is.-(i)a landless agricultural labourer;(ii)a person belonging to the weaker section of the people; or(iii)a small farmer, and from whom a debt is due;(7)"family" in relation to a person means such person, the wife or husband, as the case may be, of such person, and their minor children;(8)"landless agricultural labourer" means a person who, on the date of commencement of this Act, does not hold any land and whose principal means of livelihood is manual labour on land;(9)"small farmer" means a person who on the date of commencement of this Act, holds whether as owner, tenant, or mortgagee with possession or partly in one capacity and partly in another not more than two units of land, the annual income from which does not exceed Four thousand Eight hundred Rupees and who has no income from any source other than agriculture;Explanation. - Where a person holds more than one category of land referred in clause (10), the extent of land held by him for the purposes of this clause shall be determined according to the following formula, namely.-Two hectares of unirrigated land-one and one fourth hectares of rainfed wet land=half hectare of land having facilities for growing one irrigated crop or for growing plantation crops or grapes or coconut or arecanut or sugarcane or for growing mulberry by irrigation= quarter hectare of land having perennial irrigation facilities or facilities for growing more than one irrigated crop in a year;(10)"unit" means.-(i)Two hectares of unirrigated land; or(ii)One and one-fourth hectares of rainfed wet land; or(iii)Half hectare of land having facilities for growing one irrigated crop or for growing plantation crops or grapes or coconut or arecanut or sugarcane or used for growing mulberry by irrigation; or(iv)Quarter hectare of land having perennial irrigation facilities or facilities for growing more than one irrigated crap in a year.Explanation. - In this clause plantation crop means cardamom, cocoa, coffee, rubber and tea;(11)"weaker section of the people" means persons, whose annual income from all sources does not exceed four thousand and eight hundred rupees:Provided that a person shall not be deemed to belong to the weaker section of the people if.-(i)he or his family has in both the two years immediately preceding the first day of April, 1979, been assessed to property or house tax in respect of buildings or lands, other than agricultural lands, under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 (Karnataka Act 14 of 1977) the Karnataka Municipalities Act,1964 (Karnataka Act 22 of 1964), the Karnataka Village Panchayats and Local Boards Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 10 of 1959) or any law governing the municipal or local bodies anywhere in India, provided that the aggregate annual rateable value of such buildings or land, whether let out or in the occupation of the owner, is not less than two thousand four hundred rupees; or(ii)He and members of his family own immovable property anywhere in India the market value of which is not less than ten thousand rupees;Explanation. - "annual reteable value" of any building or land for the purposes of clause (i) shall.-(a)Where the assessment is based on the reteable value be deemed to be such value;(b)Where the assessment is based on the capital value, be deemed to be ten percent of the capital value; and(c)In any other case be deemed to be the value, ascertained in the prescribed manner.
