 bill no xlv of 2008 the  chilli growers  (welfare)  bill,  2008 a billto provide for the remunerative prices for the produce of the chilli growers fixed on thebasis of cost of production of chillies under the minimum support price scheme of the government, compulsory purchase of the produce by government agencies, compulsory market intervention by such government agencies in case of bumper crop of chillies, compulsory insurance of chilli crop free of cost and other welfare measures to be undertaken by the state and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called  the chilli growers (welfare) act, 2008(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement(3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2 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 the other cases, the central government;(b) "chilli grower" means any person who cultivates chillies;(c) "fund" means the chilli growers welfare fund established under section 4;(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3  (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force the central government shall in consultation with concerned governments of the states fix and declare remunerative prices of chillies under the minimum support price regime on the basis of cost of production of chillies before every sowing season:fixation of remunerative price of chilli and its procurementprovided that different prices may be fixed for different zones of the country (2) while fixing the remunerative prices of chillies under sub-section (1) the central government shall take into account the following factors namely:—(a) cost incurred by the chilli grower in sowing, growing and harvesting of chillies;(b) cost incurred on seeds, fertilizers or manure, insecticides and pesticides;(c) cost incurred on labour; (d) maintenance cost of the fields;(e) cost incurred on transportation of chillies to the market or yard or mandi as the case may be;(f) climatic conditions and occurrence of natural calamity; and (g) any other contingency expenditure incurred by the chilli growers(3) the appropriate government shall give wide publicity to the remunerative prices fixed for chillies under this act through electronic and print media(4) the central and state government agencies shall purchase the chillies from the chilli growers at the prices fixed by the central government in case the chilli growers fail to sell their produce in the open market;(5) the appropriate government shall invoke market intervention compulsorily whenever there is bumper crop of chillies and purchase the entire quantities of chillies offered for sale through the government agencies in such manner as may be prescribed;(6) the appropriate government shall keep a watch on the dubious activities of chilli traders and middlemen during the immediate post harvest period to ensure that prices of chillies do not fall as a result of speculation and take such measures, as it may deem necessary to protect the interests of chilli growers(7) the central government shall take all necessary and appropriate steps to export the surplus chillies produced during a year in the country(8) the entire chilli crop and the yield thereof shall be compulsorily insured free of cost by the central government against natural calamities, fall in the yield of chillies, fall in the prices of chillies and such other eventualities as may be prescribedestablishment of the chilli growers welfare fund4 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, establish the chilli growers' welfare fund for the purposes of this act with initial corpus of rupees one thousand crore to be provided by the central government by due appropriation made by law by parliament in this behalf and thereafter the central and concerned state governments shall contribute to the fund to such extent and in such manner as may be prescribed(2) the fund may also receive moneys from corporate houses, financial institutions both domestic and international ones, individuals and   bodies in the form of conributions or donations5 (1) the fund shall be utilized for the following purposes, namely:—utilization of the fund(a) to provide financial assistance to chilli growers for purchasing seeds, manure, pesticides, fertilizers,  insecticides etc, for low yield of chillies or loss of crop due to natural calamities such as heavy or consistent rains, untimely rains, storms, floods, drought, hailstorm, fire etc;(b) to pay compensation to the next of kin of chilli growers in the event of their death;(c) to pay  insurance premium on behalf of the chilli growers;(d) to provide free health care facilities for the chilli growers and their families; (e) to provide education including technical, medical, higher education and vocation training to the children of chilli growers free of cost;(f) to provide financial assistance to the chilli growers in the event of their disability; and(g) for such other purposes as the appropriate government may deem fit and necessary for the purposes of this act (2) for the purposes of this act, the appropriate government shall,—(i) maintain district-wise register of all the chilli growers with such particulars and in such manner as may be  prescribed;(ii) provide maternity facilities free of cost to the female members of the families of chilli growers;(iii) make provisions for payment of old age pension to the chilli growerscentral govt to provide funds6 the central  government shall provide, from time to time, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, requisite funds for carrying  out the purposes of this actact to have overriding effect7 the provisions of this act and the rules made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in forcesavings8 the provisions of this act shall be in addition and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force dealing with the subject matter of this actpower to make rules9 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonschilli is a part and parcel of food habit of almost every household and every eatery be it hotel, restaurant, dhaba, chatwala or any small or big eating place particularly in our country chilli is used for making food tasty and spicy chillies are grown and cultivated throughout the country, but andhra pradesh is the biggest producer of chillies in the country and guntur is the largest chilly market of not only our country but of asia lakhs of chilli producers are there in andhra pradesh alone this year the unseasonal rains damaged the chilli crops in the state in a big way followed by big fire in the yards and godowns which destroyed chillies worth many crores giving a big blow to the debt ridden chilli growers apart from this, it has been observed that when there is bumper crop of chillies the prices nosedive and unscrupulous traders exploit the growers in a big way the state government makes a request to the centre for market intervention and this being a time consuming exercise takes the toll resulting in heavy losses to the growers by the time the market intervention is implemented this year alone dozens of chilli growers have taken the extreme step of committing suicide hence, it has become necessary to protect them by giving them remunerative prices, compulsory insurance of their crops and welfare measures to be introduced for the chilli growers the chilli also needs to be brought under the minimum support price regime a welfare fund also needs to be established for their welfarehence, this billv hanumantha rao financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for the establishment of the chilli growers welfare fund with the initial corpus of rupees one thousand crore to be provided by the central government clause 6 makes it obligatory for the central government to provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this bill the bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is expected that it may involve rupees five hundred crore as recurring expenditure per annuma sum of rupees one hundred crore may also involve as non-recurring expenditure memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for the remunerative prices for the produce of the chilli growers fixed on thebasis of cost of production of chillies under the minimum support price scheme of the government, compulsory purchase of the produce by government agencies, compulsory market intervention by such government agencies in case of bumper crop of chillies, compulsory insurance of chilli crop free of cost and other welfare measures to be undertaken by the state and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri v hanumantha rao, mp)gmgipmrnd—4764rs—29122008