Land Revenue Assessment: A Case Study

This study has two objects: the primary object is to analyse the traditional procedure of land revenue assessment, and to examine its relevance under present conditions. An ancillary object is to calculate the existing burden of land revenue and to explore the scope for additional taxation. Land revenue settlement work is undertaken on a district basis but assessments are made tehsil-wise. Each tehsil is divided into a number of assessment circles which comprise groups of villages with similar fiscal and agricultural features. Thus the unit of land revenue assessment is the assessment circle and not the village. Nili Bar circle in Tehsil Lodhran of Multan District has been selected for study for two reasons. Firstly, its fertile land, perennial irrigation and fairly intensive cultivation make it representative of the irrigated areas in the province. Secondly, its revenue settlement was done recently (1966), nearly half a century after the last settlement in 1921. This provides a unique opportunity to study changes in economic conditions, the relevance of old methods of assessment and the incidence of land revenue before and after assessment.