 bill no 106 of  2017 the bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers (welfare) bill, 2017 by dr a sampath, mp a billto provide for protection to and welfare measures for the bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers and their family members and for matters connected therewithbe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencementworkers (welfare) act, 2017definitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;5(b) "authority" means the national bamboo, cane, screw pine, mat weavers and workers welfare authority established under section 3;(c) "fund" means the national bamboo, cane, screw pine, mat weavers and workers welfare fund constituted under section 5;10(d) "bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weaver" means a person engaged in the planting, nursing, cutting, transporting, storing, processing, weaving, value adding, distributing, exhibiting or selling bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat;(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and (f) "worker" means a bamboo, cane, screw pine or mat weaver engaged in the production of bamboo, cane, screw pine or mat and who earns wages on daily, weekly, monthly or any other basis153 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, establish an authority to be known as the national bamboo, cane, screw pine, mat weavers and workers welfare authority for carrying out the purposes of this act(2) the authority shall consist of—20(a) a chairperson having adequate knowledge and professional experience in bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weaving sector;establishment of national bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers welfare authority(b) a deputy chairperson with such qualification, as may be prescribed;25(c) three members to represent bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weaving sector cooperatives and state government undertakings;(d) three members to represent bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weaving sector and worker of the registered trade unions;(e) four members to represent the union ministries of finance, planning, labour and employment and textiles, to be appointed by the central government in such manner, as may be prescribed;30(f) four members to be nominated by the state governments on rotation basis in alphabetical order; and(g) five members of parliament, of whom three shall be from the house of the people and two shall be from council of states, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses35(3) the authority shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and common seal, with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract and shall, by the said name, sue or be sued40(4) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson, deputy chairperson and members of the authority and the procedure to be followed in the discharge of the functions of the authority shall be such as may be prescribed(5) the headquarter of the authority shall be at new delhi(6) the authority shall establish its zonal offices in the states of kerala, assam, jammu and kashmir, madhya pradesh and maharashtra(7) the authority may establish its offices at such other places, as it may deem necessary, for carrying out the purposes of this act45(8) the authority shall have a secretariat with such officers and staff having such terms and conditions of services as may be prescribedfunctions of the authority54 (1) the authority shall, in coordination with the state governments, take steps for the overall welfare of workers including, removal of poverty and indebtedness, raising the standard of living, modernizing the looms and making easy availability of raw materials at affordable prices and marketing of products of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the authority shall,—(a) formulate and implement welfare policy for the bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers;10(b) maintain a district-wise register of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers with such particulars and in such manner as may be prescribed;(c) regulate the service conditions of workers in such manner as may beprescribed;15(d) fix minimum wages for bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers andworkers from time to time;(e) ensure modernization of techniques of plants, producing and value addingof bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weaver products;20(f) encourage and provide all necessary assistance to bamboo, cane, screw pineand mat weavers cooperatives;(g) organize exhibitions, melas and such other activities to promote products of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat in different parts of the country;25(h) make suitable arrangements for purchase of products of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers by government department undertakings and agencies on cash and carry basis;(i) encourage export of bamboo, cane, screw pine and weavers products; and(j) perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by the central government from time to time305 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be called the bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers welfare fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribedconstitution of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers welfare fund35(3) there shall also be credited to the fund such other sums as may be received by way of donations, contributions, assistance or otherwise from individuals and ogranisations(4) the fund shall be utilized for—(a) providing interest free consumption loans to bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers;40(b) making ex-gratia payments at prescribed rates to each of the bereaved families of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers who die in harness;(c) providing loans at nominal rate of interest for purchasing necessary raw materials to the bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers;(d) providing insurance cover to all bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers;(e) providing healthcare facilities to the bamboo, cane, screw pine and matweavers and workers and their dependent family members;(f) providing educational facilities and vocational training to the wards of bamboo,cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers; and5(g) such other welfare measures as may be prescribed6 (1) it shall be the duty of the central government to ensure regular supply of rawmaterials to the bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers at affordable and subsidized ratescentral government to ensure regular supply of raw materials10(2) it shall be compulsory for all ministries,  departments and subordinate officesunder the appropriate government and public sector enterprises to purchase their entire finished goods requirements exclusively from the primary bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers(3) the appropriate government shall take steps to minimize the export of raw material used for products of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers157 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by lawin this behalf, provide to the authority such sums as it may consider necessary for the efficient functioning of the authoritycentral government to provide funds annual report208 (1) the authority shall prepare, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed, anannual report giving a true and full account of its activities during the previous year and submit it to the central government(2) the central government shall cause to be laid before each house of the parliamentthe report submitted to it under sub-section (1)power to remove difficulties259 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not in consistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two yearsfrom the date of the commencement of this act30(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laidbefore each house of the parliament10 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw for the time being in force regulating any of the matters dealt with in this actact not in derogation of any other law for time being in force power to make rules11 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act3540(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  reasonsbamboo, cane, screw pine and mat industry is one of the largest segments in the unorganized sector it is a traditional industry and hence has a unique place in our economy this sector has sustained itself by transferring skills from one generation to another adoption of modern techniques has become an urgent necessity because the sector faces challenges of extinction due to the ill effects of economic liberalization the scarcity of raw materials, absence of human resource with modern skills, lack of research and development and innovation are the threats for this traditioinal industry more than one million families depend on the sector directly and hence this bill is of an urgent naturethe workers in this sector mostly belong to the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes, other backward classes and minority categories the majority of them are women workers the sector is not doing very well and is on the verge of collapse and extinction the foremost reason for this is non-availability of raw materials at affordable prices and nonavailability of loans at low interest rate from banks and other financial institutions to this sector for purchasing raw material and other necessary items the facility of marketing for bamboo products is also a handicap for these poor people the most disturbing and sad part is that most of the workers engaged in bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat industry are alarmingly poor the problem is further compounded by powerful lobbying from the exporters of raw materials bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers have been at the receiving end due to changes shaped by globalization and transient socio-economic conditions for decades, most bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers never had any access to various policies and schemes meant for their growth and benefit on the other hand, government departments and implementing agencies do not have adequate information and data that would have helped in increasing the reach of such programmes and policies there has been, thus, a widening gap between policy formulation and implementationit is, therefore, proposed to constitute a national bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers authority to take steps for welfare and overall development of weavers and workers engaged in the sector and for promotion and effective implementation of policies of this sector in the countryhence this billfebruary 13, 2017 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill seeks to establish the national bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers welfare authority clause 4 provides for certain steps to be taken by the authority for welfare of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers clause 5 provides for the constitution of bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers clause  6 provides that the central government shall ensure supply of raw materials to bamboo, cane, screw pine and mat weavers and workers clause 7 provides that the central government shall provide funds to the authority the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of about rupees two hundred crores per annum would be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure of rupees fifty crores is also likely to be involved———— memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 11 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 a normal character———— a billto provide for protection to and welfare measures for the bamboo, cane, screw pine and matweavers and workers and their family members and for matters connected therewith————(dr a sampath, mp)gmgipmrnd—474ls(s3)—10-07-2017