 bill no  179 of  2017 the  cashew development board bill,  2017 byshri sunil kumar singh, mp a billto provide for the setting up of a board for the development and promotion of cashew cultivation, cashew nut processing, marketing and research to improve its production and productivity and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it enacted by the parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the cashew development board act, 2017(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "board" means the cashew development board constituted under section 3;5(c) "cashew" means both raw and processed cashew; and (d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this actcashew development board103 (1) the central government shall not later than three months from the commencement of this act, establish a board to be known as the cashew development board(2) the board shall consist of:—(a) a chairperson to be nominated by the central government having outstanding calibre and eminence in the field of cashew cultivation, research or marketing;15(b) two members of parliament of whom one shall be from the house of the people and one from the council of states, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses;(c) two members to be appointed by the central government one each to represent the legislative assemblies of kerala and tamil nadu;20(d) two members to be appointed by the central government by rotation in the alphabetical order to represent the state legislatures of karnataka, goa, andhra pradesh, orissa and jharkhand:provided that every appointment under sub-clauses (c) and (d) shall be made on the recommendation of the presiding officers of the respective state legislative assemblies25(e) three representatives, representing the union ministries of commerce and industry, agriculture, and finance, respectively, who shall be nominated by the central government;30(f) two members to be appointed by the central government one each to represent the governments of the states of kerala and tamil nadu;(g) one member to be appointed by the central government by rotation in the alphabetical order to represent the states of karnataka, andhra pradesh, goa, jharkhand and orissa:35provided that every appointment under sub-clauses (f) and (g) shall be made on the recommendation of the state government concerned(h) two members representing the cashew farmers;(i) two members representing the workers of cashew processing industry; (j) two memebrs representing the cashew processing industry; (k) one member representing the food processing industry;40(l) one memebr representing the indian made foreign liquor industry; and(m) the secretary to the union ministries of commerce and industry, who shall be the member-secretary to the board, ex-officio(3) the board shall have a term of office of three years(4) the board shall have its office at ranchi in the state of jharkhand(5) the central government shall provide such number of officers and staff to the board as is required for its efficient functioning(6) the salaries and allowances payable to and other conditions of service of the officers and staff of the board shall be such as may be prescribed54 the board shall —functions of the board(i) make recommendations to the central government regarding formulation ofa comprehensive policy regarding cashew cultivation, processing, marketing, value addition of cashew products, research and development aimed, inter alia, at discovering new uses of cashew products;10(ii) formulate welfare measures for cashew cultivators and workers in cashewindustry and advise the appropriate government accordingly;(iii) study the problems in cashew cultivation, processing, marketing includingissues in product diversification, value addition, research and development of cashew;15(iv) identify new cashew markets overseas and send business delegations tostudy those markets;(v) set up training and research institutes for imparting expertise in cashewcultivation, value addition and product diversification; and(vi) recommend measures to expand cashew cultivation in new areas in order toattain self-sufficiency in cashew nuts205 the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitutea fund to be called the cashew development fund and there shall be credited thereto —constitution of cashew development fund(a) any grant by the central government for the purposes of this act; (b) any grant or donation from state governments, voluntary organizations orother institutions:25provided that no such grant, loan or donation shall be credited to the fundexcept with the prior approval of the central governmentgrants by the central government6 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by lawin this behalf, pay to the board by way of grants such sums of money as the centralgovernment may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this act;30accounts and audit7 (1) the board shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records andprepare an annual statement of accounts, in such form as may be prescribed by the central government in consultation with the comptroller and auditor-general of india35(2) the accounts of the board shall be audited by the comptroller and auditorgeneral of india at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the board to the comptroller and auditor- general40(3) the comptroller and auditor-general of india or any person appointed by him inconnection with the audit of the accounts of the board shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the comptroller and auditor general generally has in connection with the audit of the government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the board45(4) the accounts of the board as certified by the comptroller and auditor-general ofindia or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the central government and that government shall cause the same to be laid before each house of parliament8 (1) the board shall submit an annual report on its functioning to the presidentboard to submit an annual report(2) on receipt of annual report under sub-section (1), the president shall cause thesame to be laid before each house of parliament within a period of thirty days from the date of its receiptpower to make rules59 (1) the central government   may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act1015(2) every rule made under this act by the central government 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  reasonsindia is the largest producer of cashew nuts, biggest consumer and also the largest exporter of processed cashew nuts it provides livelihood to lakhs of farmers, provides employment to lakhs of workers in the cashew based industries and it is one of the most important export earners for the countryhowever, cashew cultivators are mainly the small farmers and the cultivation is done in a very unorganised and unscientific manner the farming practices and post harvest technology are all very traditional and backward there is hardly any research done in any aspect of cultivation, processing, marketing and product diversification or the value addition all these factors lead to the fact that productivity of cashew in the country is very lowbut the possibilities in this field are unlimited there is a huge possibility of expanding the cultivation of cashew nuts and increasing the production and productivity of cashew nuts as well as in the field of value addition and also new uses of cashew products there is also a big possibility of manufacturing high quality liquor from cashew kernels, which at present goes as waste though there is scope for quality improvement, the "fenni", being made in the state of goa from cashew kernels, is an example cashew nuts can also be used for making drugs cashew trees may prove very useful for the timber industry, the pulp industry, etcthe constitution of the cashew development board is primarily meant for improving the techniques of cashew farming and giving boost to cashew processing industry, manufacturing industry based on cashew, product diversification, promotion of research and value addition along with market promotion and research and developmentif all these are done with a measure of success, it would bring prosperity to this sector in agriculture and a new industry will be developed with tremendous potential and possibilitythe bill seeks to achieve these objectivesnew delhi;sunil kumar singhjuly 7, 2017 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of a cashew development board, clause 4 provides that the board shall perform certain functions for the welfare of cashew farmers and workers of cashew based industries clause 6 provides that the central government shall provide money, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, to the board by way of grants clause 7 provides that  the board shall maintain proper accounts and relevant records and bear the expenditure for auditing of the accounts the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees ten crore will be involved from the consolidated fund of indiano non-recurring expenditure is likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill since the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for the setting up of a board for the development and promotion of cashewcultivation, cashew nut processing, marketing and research to improve its productionand productivity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri sunil kumar singh, mp)gmgipmrnd—2113ls(s3)—23-10-2017