 bill no 182 of 2015 the closed textile mills workers (welfare and rehabilitation) bill, 2015 by dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp a billto provide for welfare and rehabilitation of workers of closed textile mills and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and extent1 (1) this act may be called the closed textile mills workers (welfare and rehabilitation) act, 2015(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions52 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "authority" means the closed textile mills workers welfare and rehabilitationauthority established under section 3;(b) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and (c) "worker" means any person engaged by or working in a textile mill on the dayof its closure3 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, establish an authority to be known as the closed textile mills workers welfare and rehabilitation authority5establishment of closed textile mills workers welfare and rehabilitation authority(2) 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 sued(3) the head office of the authority shall be at ahmedabad in the state of gujarat 4 (1) the authority shall consist of the following, namely:—composition of authority(a) a chairperson, who shall be a person having knowledge of and professional experience in the textile sector, to be nominated by the central government;10(b) a deputy-chairperson, having such qualification, as may be prescribed, to be nominated by the central government;(c) three members representing workers of closed textile mills; (d) two members, other than workers representing closed textile mills;15(e) five members of parliament, of whom four shall be from lok sabha and one from rajya sabha, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses; and(f) one member each representing the union ministries of finance, planning, labour and employment and textiles20(2) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson, deputy chairperson and members of the authority shall be such as may be prescribed25(3) the authority shall have a secretariat with such officers and members of staff with such terms and conditions of service as may be prescribed from time to time by the central government5 (1) subject to such guidelines as may be issued by the central government, the authority shall work in coordination with the state governments for overall welfare of workers and their familiesauthority to work in coordination with the state governments(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the authority shall:—30(a) formulate welfare policies for the workers; (b) provide all necessary assistance to the workers and their families for their rehabilitation;(c) provide for education of the children of the workers and assist them in earning livelihood; and35(d) perform such other functions, as may be assigned to it by the central government, from time to timeclosed textile mills workers welfare fund406 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, but not later than one year of the commencement of this act, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the closed textile mills workers welfare fund with a corpus of rupees three hundred crores(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistance from individuals, organizations or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund(4) the fund shall be managed by the authority in such manner as may be prescribed45utilisation of the fund7 the expenses incurred on the welfare of the workers and their families shall be met out of the fundannual report8 (1) the authority shall prepare, in such form and manner, as may be prescribed, an annual report giving a true and full account of its activities during the previous year and submit it to the central government5(2) the central government shall cause to be laid before each house of parliament the reports submitted to it under sub-section (1)109 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in official gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as may appear to be necessary for removing the difficulty:power of the central government to remove difficultiesprovided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two years from the date of the commencement of this actsavings10 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force15power to make rules11 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act20(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 reasonsthe history of cotton textile industry in india has been a chequered one there was a time when this industry had a place of pride in the national economy in fact this industry flourished till 1980 ahmedabad in the state of gujarat was known as the manchester of india because of its rich contribution to the textile industries there were more than 125 textile mills in ahmedabad the mills in ahmedabad and in other parts of western india were catering to the cotton grown throughout the country in those days, the textile mill owners were propeople and pro-workers lakhs of workers were employed in those textile mills in various departments majority of them were poor, backward, villagers and belonged to dalit communities the textile mill industry was the main identity of ahmedabad it ensured job opportunities to all the workers and members of their families and hence enabled them to live with dignityunfortunately, in the decade of eighties, particularly after 1985, the textile mill industry faced crisis and a number of mills were closed down due to several reasons in due course, the closure also affected many reputed textile mills throughout the country hence, a large number of textile mills workers became unemployed their families faced lot of difficulties due to their joblessness their living standard also deteriorated a few half hearted attempts were made to help them but unfortunately they are still living in poverty and jobless conditionthe most shocking factor in this crisis was that the majority of mill owners sold their land where mills were situated thus earning hefty amount but they took virtually no step to ensure that at least part of the money is given to the workers, as majority of whom, were neck deep in debt and living below the poverty line in inhuman conditions in view of the miserable conditions of these workers, it is the duty of the government to take immediate remedial measures the bill, therefore, seeks to establish an authority to be known as the closed textile mills workers welfare and rehabilitation authority to provide social security and other financial assistance to such workers in this way, it is hoped, that the workers of closed textile mills of ahmedabad and other parts of the country will be saved from starvation, frustration, unemployment and misery in their lifehence this billnew delhi;kirit premjibhai solankijuly 3, 2015 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of a closed textile mills workers welfare and rehabilitation authority clause 4 provides for composition of the authority and the salary and allowances to chairperson, deputy chairperson and other members of the authority clause 6 provides for constitution of a fund to be known as the closed textile mills workers welfare fund for the welfare of workers of the closed textile mills the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve a recurring expenditure of about rupees one thousand crore per annuma non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crore 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 powers is of a normal character———— a billto provide for welfare and rehabilitation of workers of closed textile mills and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp)gmgipmrnd—1436ls(s3)—16-07-2015