 bill no 104 of 2011 the handloom weavers (welfare) bill, 2011 byshri pl punia, mp a billto provide for protection and welfare measures for handloom weavers and workers and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-second year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the handloom weavers (protection and welfare) act,2011short title, extent and commencement5(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force at oncedefinitions2 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;(b) "authority" means the national handloom weavers welfare authority set up under section 3;(c) "fund" means the handloom weavers welfare fund established under section 5;(d) "handloom" means any loom used for production of  cloth other than the powerloom as defined in clause (g) of section 2 of the factories act, 1948;63 of 19485(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;10(f) "weaver" means a person engaged in the production of cloth on a handloom and includes a person who owns, works or operates on a handloom for the production of cloth; and(g) "worker" means a handloom worker engaged by a weaver and who earns wages on daily or any other basis by working on handloom153 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, set up an authority to be known as the national handloom weavers welfare authority for the purposes of this act(2) the authority shall consist of the following members who shall be appointed by the central government, namely:—central government to set up national handloom weavers welfare authority(a) a chairperson  having adequate knowledge and professional experience inhandloom sector;(b) a deputy chairperson with such qualification, as may be prescribed;20(c) five members of parliament, of whom three shall be from lok sabha and two shall be from rajya sabha, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses;(d) three members to represent handloom cooperatives; (e) three members to represent the handloom weavers;25(f) four members to represent the union ministries of finance, planning, labourand employment and textiles; and(g) four members to be nominated by the government of the states to be rotated amongst them in alphabetical order30(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 sued35(4) the term of office 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 salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the service of the chairman and members of the authority shall be such as may be prescribed(6) the headquarter of the authority shall be at new delhi40(7) the authority may establish its offices at such other places, as it may deem necessary for carrying out the purposes of  this act(8) the authority shall have a secretariat with such officers and members of staff and with such terms and conditions of services as may be prescribedfunctions of the authority4 (1) the authority shall take steps in coordination with the state governments for the overall welfare of weavers 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 handloom cloth(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the authority shall,—(a) formulate and implement welfare policy for the handloom weavers and workers;5(b) maintain a district-wise register of handlooms, handloom weavers andworkers with such particulars and in such manner as may be prescribed;(c) regulate the service conditions of workers in such manner as may beprescribed;10(d) fix minimum wages for handloom workers from time to time; (e) ensure modernization of old handlooms; (f) encourage and provide all necessary assistance to handloom weaverscooperatives;15(g) organise exhibitions, melas and such other activities to promote handloomsector in different parts of the country;(h) make suitable arrangements for purchase of handloom cloth by governmentagencies on cash and carry basis;(i) encourage export of handloom cloth and handloom garments; and20(j) perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by the centralgovernment from time to time5 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, establish a fund to be called the handloom weavers welfare fundestablishment of handloom weavers welfare fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed25(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, weavers and workers or body corporate, financial institutions, firms or partnership(4) the fund shall be utilized for the following purposes:—(a) providing interest free consumption loans to handloom weavers and workers;30(b) making ex-gratia payments at  prescribed rates to each of the bereavedfamilies of handloom weavers who die in harness;(c) providing loans at nominal rate of interest for purchasing cotton yarn andother necessary raw materials to the handloom weavers;(d) providing insurance cover to all handlooms, handloom weavers and workers;35(e) providing healthcare facilities to the handloom weavers and workers andtheir dependent family members;(f) providing educational facilities and vocational training to the wards of weaversand workers; and40(g) such other welfare measures as may be prescribed by the central governmentfrom time to time6 (1) it shall be the duty of the central government to ensure regular supply of yarn to the handloom weavers at affordable and subsidized ratescentral government to ensure regular supply of yarn(2) it shall be compulsory for all ministries, departments, subordinate offices under the appropriate government and public sector enterprises to purchase their entire cloth requirements exclusively from the primary handloom weavers5(3) the appropriate government shall take steps to minimize the export of cotton and cotton yarn7 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the authority such sums as it may consider necessary for the efficient functioning of the authoritycentral government to provide funds annual report108 (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 parliament the report submitted to it under sub-section (1)15power to remove difficulties9 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent 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 years from the date of the commencement to this act20(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be, after it is made, be laid before each house of the parliament10 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force regulating any of the matters dealt with in this act25act 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 act30(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 reasonsthere are lakhs  of handloom units in which millions of weavers and workers weave cloth to earn their livelihood across the country these handlooms units are mainly located in the states of andhra pradesh, tamil nadu, uttar pradesh, bihar, madhya pradesh and maharashtra in fact, handloom units are located in every part of our country for most of the weavers, it is their family profession which passes on from one generation to the next generation for these weavers and workers, handloom is the only source of their livelihood handloom cloth is very popular not only in the country but also abroadbut unfortunately, handloom sector is not doing very well and it is on the verge of collapse and extinction the foremost reason for this is non-availability of cotton yarn at affordable prices this situation is leading to closure of the handloom units one of the primary reasons of costly cotton yarn is the export of cotton and cotton yarn which is resulting in scarcity  of yarn in the country other reasons are high cost of handloom cloth compared to synthetic and other cloth, non-purchase of handloom products by the government and its organizations, and non-availability of loans at low interest rate from banks and other financial institutions to handloom weavers for purchasing of raw material and other necessary items handloom sector has been consistently ignored by the successive governments at the centre as well as in the states as a result, the powerloom sector and cloth mills have overpowered and eclipsed the interests of handloom sector in a way, it is likely that the handloom sector may vanish in near future, if no concrete or remedial measures is taken to save this sectorthe most disturbing and sad part is that most of the handloom weavers are in debtthey are committing suicides because of their indebtedness and poverty thousands of debt trapped and helpless weavers have already committed suicide in different parts of the country reports of starvation deaths of handloom weavers have also come to light, which is a blot on our society as such remedial measures have to be taken urgently so that handloom weavers and handloom sector could be saved from extinction it has, therefore, been proposed to set up of a national handloom weavers authority to take steps for welfare and overall development of weavers and workers engaged in handloom sector and for promotion of handloom sector in the countryhence this billnew delhi;pl punianovember 9, 2011 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill seeks to constitute the national handloom weavers welfare authority clause 4 provides for certain steps to be taken by the authority for welfare of handloom weavers and workers clause 5 provides for the establishment of handloom weavers welfare fund clause 6 provides that the central government shall ensure supply of yarn to handloom weavers at subsidized rates clause 7 provides that the central government shall provide funds to the authoritythe bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidate fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees six thousand crore may involve as recurring expenditure per annuma non-recurring expenditure of rupees four hundred crore is also likely to be incurred 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 and welfare measures for handloom weavers and workers and for matters connected therewith————(shri pl punia, mp)gmgipmrnd—2653ls—(s3)—29112011