 bill no 185 of 2018 the merchant shipping (amendment) bill, 2018 bydr a sampath, mp a billfurther to amend the merchant shipping act, 1958be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called as the merchant shipping  (amendment) act, 2018short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint88a(a) the existing clause (a), shall be renumbered as clause (aa), and before the clause (aa) so as renumbered, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—"(a) 'board' means the national welfare board for seafarers constituted under section 218;"; (b) after clause (aa) so as renumbered, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—''(ab) "fund" means the seafarers welfare fund constituted under section218b;"; and (c) for clause (d), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—5 10"(d) "seafarer" means any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a sea going ship and includes cadets, trainees, serang (bosun), machinist, fitter, able body seamen (helm's man, sukhani, quarter master) ordinary seamen (seamen 1, seamen 2), oilers (motor man, donkey greaser, err1, err 2) catering saloon staff (ch/cook, 2nd cook, crew cook) employed or engaged in any shipping companies for hire or reward to do any work relating to transporting goods and passengers or both, but does not include—(i) any person in officer rank; (ii) the employment or engagement on work on board in any capacity of any person in a ship of war; or15(iii) any government ship used for military or non-commercial purposes"3 in section 218 of the principal act—amendment of section 21820(a) in sub-section (1), after clause (d), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—"(e) the administering of the fund constituted under section 218b";(b) after sub-section (1), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:—"(1a) the board shall consist of—(a) the union minister of shipping, ex-officio chairperson;(b) ten members representing seafarers;25(c) one member each from shipping corporation of india and ship owners association (insa); and(d) two members from ship managers association (maasa)30(1b) the central government shall appoint the members referred to in clauses (b), (c) and (d) of sub-section (1a) in such manner as may be prescribed(1c) the central government shall provide to the board such number of officers and staff as may be required for its efficient functioning35(1d) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of chairperson, members, officers and staff of the board shall be such as may be prescribed"4 after section 218a of the principal act, the following sections shall be inserted—"218b (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the seafarers welfare fund for carrying out the purposes of this act40(2) the fund shall consist of contributions from central government, shipping corporation of india and any other private shipping companies who hire and engage indian seafarers on vessels transporting goods and passengers in indian and foreign waters(3) the fund shall be utilized for—(a) payment of pension of the seafarers;(b) compensation to the seafarers or his dependant family member on hisdeath or physical infirmity;5(c) such other purposes as may be determined by the board for welfare ofseafarers, from time to time application of certain acts to seafarers10218c the provisions of the minimum wages act, 1948,  payment of wages act, 1936, payment of bonus act, 1965, payment of gratuity act, 1972, equal remuneration act, 1976, workmen compensation act, 1923, the industrial disputes act, 1947 with the employees provident fund act, 1952, and the payment of bonus act, 1965 as in force for the time being, shall apply to, or in relation to, seafarers as they apply to, or in relation to, workmen, within the meaning of those acts and for the purpose of any proceeding under those acts15218d the provisions of the seamen provident fund act, 1966 shall not be applicable to the seafarers"provision of act no 4 of 1966 not to apply to seafarers5 after section 460a of the principal act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new section460aa20"460aa  (1) the provisions of this act or of any rule made thereunder shall have effect, notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law or in the terms of any award, agreement, settlement or contract of service, whether made before or after the coming into force of this act:25provided that where under any such law, award, agreement, settlement, or contract or service, a seafarer is entitled to benefits in respect of any matter which are more favourable to him than those to which he would be entitled under this act, seafarer shall continue to be entitled to the more favourable benefits in respect of that matter, notwithstanding that he is entitled to receive benefits in respect of other matters under this act30(2) nothing contained in this act shall be construed to preclude a seafarer from entering into an agreement with his employer for granting him rights or privileges in respect to any matter which are more favourable to him than those to which he would be entitled under this act" statement of objects and reasonsthe seafarers are the back bone of indian economy and the service of a seafarer to the nation not only brings goods and services from across the globe but also contribute a huge sum to the foreign exchange reserve workers hired by the international ship owners are not provided proper living standards and wages, as the monopoly union called national maritime board has no any authenticity or approval from government of indiaalso, the wage structure and living conditions of seafarers in india is being manipulated by the national union of seafarers of india the contribution put forward to the pension or annuity fund to seamen provident fund organisation is also not implemented effectively the wages of a seafarer is merely rupees six thousand nine hundred and fifty on an indian registered flag vessel with a 5 per cent to 75 per cent increment each yearany foreign vessel wage agreement signed for the indian seafarers with the employers are bipartite in nature and many clauses included in this valuable document is favourable to a single union and compelling the membership and violate provident fund and gratuity law of the land it stipulates compulsory contribution to union run private trust while looking in to such violations and save the seafarers from the unscrupulous employers control it is high time to protect the legislative rights of workers who spend most of time of their life at seaa seafarer has to work onboard a vessel for a nine to ten months period at a stretchthere is no act in place to regulate their employment conditions and wage fixation the merchant shipping act does not emphasis on wage agreement or cba approval by government body or any involvement of labour commissioner, welfare contribution, wage recovery, etc it provides for fines and punishment for violation of any law but not more than rupees one hundred regulations are to be framed at the earliest to safe guarding the interests of seafarersthe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the merchant shipping act, 1958 with a view to constitute a seafarer welfare fund for the welfare of seafarers in the countryhence this billnew delhi;a sampathjuly 17, 2018 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for officers and staff for helping the functioning of the board clause 4 provides for the constitution of seafarers welfare fund for the welfare of seamen the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve recurring annual expenditure of rupees one hundred crore from the consolidated fund of india  a non-recurring expenditure of about rupees two hundred crore is also likely to be involved annexure extract from the merchant shipping act, 1958 [act no 44 of 1958]    88a in this part, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions(a) "declaration of maritime labour compliance" means a declaration issued by the director-general of shipping or by any officer, authority or organization authorized by him in this behalf, in respect of a ship that it meets with the requirements and standards set out in the provisions of the maritime labour convention;(b) "maritime labour certificate" means the certificate issued by the director-general of shipping or by any officer, authority or organisation authorised by him in this behalf, in accordance with the provisions of the maritime labour convention;(c) "maritime labour convention" means the international convention of maritime labour organisation on maritime labour standards signed in geneva on the 23rd february, 2006;(d) "seafarer" means any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a sea going ship, but does not include—(i) the employment or engagement or work on board in any capacity of any person in a ship of war; or(ii) any government ship used for military or non-commercial purposes    functions of national welfare board for seafarers218 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, constitute an advisory board to be called the national welfare board for seafarers (hereinafter referred to as the board) for the purpose of advising the central government on the measures to be taken for promoting the welfare of seamen (whether ashore or on boardship) generally and in particular the following:—(a) the establishment of hostels or boarding and lodging houses for seamen; (b) the establishment of clubs, canteens, libraries and other like amenities for the benefit of seamen;(c) the establishment of hospitals for seamen or the provision of medical treatment, for seamen;(d) the provision of educational and other facilities for seamen(2)      [10] m c gonzalez-garcia, m c gonzalez-garcia, m———— a billfurther to amend the  merchant shipping act, 1958————(dr a sampath, mp)mgipmrnd—1861ls(s3)—12-12-2018