 bill  no 242 of  2018 the women (development and welfare) authority bill, 2018 by shri rajeev satav, mp a billto provide for constitution of the women development and welfare authority to formulate schemes and recommend to the appropriate government about measures for women empowerment and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows :—act, 2018short title, extent and commencementdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "annual report" means a report giving the details of developmental activities taken up over the year by the authority and detailing about targets set and achieved;(b) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;5(c) "authority" means the women (development and welfare) authority constituted under section 3;(d) "domestic worker" means a woman employed to do work in or for a private household(s) including cooking, cleaning, gardening, childcare, and old-age care;10(e) "health certificate" means a document signed by a competent health authority providing proof that a person is non-alcoholic;(f) "placement agency" means any agency or contractor, whether registered or otherwise, engaged in the placement of domestic workers with prospective employers; and(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act153 (1) with effect from such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette specify, there shall be constituted an authority, to be known as the women (development and welfare) authority for carrying out the purposes of this actconstitution of women (development and welfare) authority(2) the authority shall consist of:—20(a) union minister, ministry of women and child development—chairperson, ex-officio;(b) a deputy chairperson, preferably a woman with such qualifications and experience, as may be prescribed, to be appointed by the central government;(c) chairperson, national commission for women—member, ex-officio;25(d) director general of health services, ministry of health and family welfare—member, ex-officio;(e) one member representing single women with such qualification, as may be prescribed, to be appointed by the central government;30(f) seven women members of parliament of whom four shall be from the house of the people and three from the council of states, to be nominated by the respective presiding officers of each house;(g) five members representing union ministries of home affairs, human resource development, health and family welfare, finance and social justice and empowerment;35(h) not more than four members to be appointed by the central government in consultation with the government of the states, by rotation in alphabetical order, to represent the government of the states;40(i) three members to be appointed by the central government from amongst the registered non-governmental organisations (ngos) working in the field of women empowerment and welfare and having an experience of at least ten years in the field of protection of women rights (3) the central government shall appoint such number of officers and staff as it considers necessary for the efficient functioning of the authority under this act(4) the qualifications and experience, salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of services of officers and staff of the authority shall be such, as may be prescribed(5) the authority shall follow such procedure for holding its meetings and the quorum for such meetings shall be such, as may be prescribed 5 (6) the authority shall have a secretariat consisting of a member secretary and such number of officers, employees and establishments with such conditions of service, emoluments and perks, as may be prescribed or determined, from time to time, for the efficient functioning of the authorityfunctions of the authority104 (1) subject to the guidelines issued by the central government under the provisions of this act, the authority shall formulate a comprehensive policy within one year of its constitution to achieve the objectives of this act and perform such functions as may be necessary to ensure empowerment of women(2) without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), the functions of the authority shall include but not limited to:—(a) work out plans and formulate schemes for the overall welfare and rehabilitation of abandoned, disowned or distressed widows and single women covered under this act and implement such measures in right earnest;15(b) provide funds to encourage micro credit for young women entrepreneurs; (c) frame guidelines regarding mobile health care facilities and social securitycover to the women agricultural labour to be followed by agricultural land owners;(d) recommend to the appropriate government on free legal aid to women;20(e) recommend to the appropriate government the penalties to be imposed forharassment of domestic women workers;(f) establish a separate widow welfare board to collect data of widows andformulating rehabilitation schemes for them;25(g) provide guidelines to the appropriate government for establishing all womanpolice stations, banks and courts at district levels within specific timelines;(h) undertake, promote and publish studies relating to the importance of women empowerment;(i) including in school curriculum the subject of creating awareness about women empowerment among general public; and30(j) recommend for setting up of such number of women employment centres inevery district as may be prescribed to provide assistance to women for employment or self-employment;(k) frame guidelines to provide scholarships to girl students;35(l) recommend to the central government to prepare a special savings schemes for woman with higher rates of interest;(m) recommend to the appropriate government for formulating stringent regulations for private placement agencies and regulations for domestic workers; and(n) undertake such other activities as may be prescribed by the central government40(3) the authority shall disseminate necessary knowledge and information collected, to the respective departments of the central and the state governmentsannual report5 the authority shall prepare once in every year, in such form and at such time as may be prescribed, an annual report giving the summary of its activities including schemes it has undertaken and recommended to the central government during the year and it shall contain statements of annual accounts of the authority456 the central government shall cause the annual report and the audit report, together with a memorandum of action taken thereon of the authority to be laid before each house of parliamentannual report and audit report to be laid before parliament57 the central government, shall from time to time provide, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide requisite fundspower to remove difficulty108 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment in consultation with the state governments may make such order or give such direction not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of any difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two yearsfrom the date of commencement of this actpower to make rules9 (1) the central government, in consultation with the state governments, made bynotification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this  act15 20(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before    the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonswe are a nation of one hundred and thiry-two crores people out of which 643 crores are women to emphasise the urgency and importance of women empowerment, the revered swami vivekananda said—'there is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved it is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing ' it is true that we have come a far way in these seven decades as a nation, in realising this dream where men and women are on equal footing given any social, economic or cultural indicator but at the same time, it is an undeniable truth that it is a dream that is yet  to be fully realised while decades of policies, laws and welfare schemes have aimed at bridging this gap, we can still do a lot better as a society and a young country an aim of constant improvement in the sphere of women empowerment should be at every citizen's heart only then will be in the right direction of realising our fullest potential as a country and an evolved societypurely economic indicator, which the government very proudly cites to assert success, present a very fallacious picture they often mask low gender inclusivity and pitiable state of social indicators for women that india suffers from an encompassing policy which secures fundamentals like equitable proportion of women in the workforce as entrepreneurs, scientists, policy experts, healthcare workers and skilled labour force in factories should be the primary step gender quality and equity in the best educational institutions and skill development centres will further accelerate the achievement of this goalthe creation of a women (development and welfare) authority to orchestrate policy changes that can pave way for empowerment in the truest sense is the need of the hour the authority shall devise special saving schemes for women in every household with higher rates of interest and annual bonuses if husband produces a non-alcoholic certificate from government hospital special fund would be created to provide for micro credit to women entrepreneurs to set up their start-ups after education mobile health care facilities and social security cover would also be provided for agricultural labourers it will regulate placements by organizing domestic workers under a newly formed body to safeguard their rights a separate widows welfare board is required to be set-up for maintaining data on widowed women in the country and to formulate subsistence schemes for the needythis need is also to create a conducive and just social and economic environment for the what of this country we should realise that women must be the sole authority to choose what the best is for them the government shall uphold and create equality, liberty and freedom in every sphere of life whenever necessary the constitution of an inclusive authority specifically dedicated for effective implementation of the policies of women empowerment is also requiredhence this billnew delhi;rajeev satavnovember 27, 2018 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of the women (development and welfare) authority it also provides for appointment of a deputy chairperson, members, officers and staffs to the authority for its effective functioning it further provides for a constitution of a secretariat to the authority clause 4 provides for the provision of funds to young entrepreneurs, and establishment of window welfare board clause 7 makes it obligatory for the central government to provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this bill the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of about three thousand crore rupees per annum would involve from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees three hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for constitution of the women development and welfare authority toformulate schemes and recommend to the appropriate government aboutmeasures for women empowerment and for matters connected therewithor incidental thereto————(shri rajeev satav, mp)mgipmrnd—2191ls(s3)—20-12-2018