 bill no 161 of 2016 the handloom weavers (welfare) bill, 2016 by dr boora narsaiah goud, mp a billto provide for protection of and welfare measures for handloom weavers and workers and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—definitions2 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;5(b) "authority" means the national handloom weavers welfare authority constituted under section 3;(c) "fund" means the handloom weavers welfare fund constituted under section 5;63 of 1948(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;10(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; (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; and15(g) "worker" means a handloom worker engaged by a weaver and who earns wages on daily or any other basis by working on handloom 3 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in official gazette, constitute an authority to be known as the national handloom weavers welfare authority for carrying out the purposes of this act(2) the authority shall consist of—constitution of the national handloom weavers welfare authority20(a) a chairperson having adequate knowledge and professional experience in handloom sector;(b) a deputy chairperson with such qualification, as may be prescribed; (c) three members to represent handloom cooperatives; (d) three members to represent the handloom weavers;25 (e) four members to represent the union ministries of finance, planning, labour and employment and textiles, to be appointed by the central government in such manner, as may be prescribed;30 (f) 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; and(g) four members to be nominated by the government of the states on rotation basis in alphabetical order (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 prescribed40 (5) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the service of the chairperson and members of the authority shall be such as may be prescribed(6) the headquarter of the authority shall be at new delhi(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 authority54 (1) the authority shall, in coordination with the state governments take, steps 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 provisions, the authority shall,—(a) formulate and implement welfare policy for the handloom weavers and workers;10(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 be prescribed;(d) fix minimum wages for handloom workers from time to time; (e) ensure modernization of old handlooms;15(f) encourage and provide all necessary assistance to handloom weaverscooperatives;(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;20(i) encourage export of handloom cloth and handloom garments; and (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, constitute a fund to be known as the handloom weavers welfare fund25 constitution of the handloom weavers welfare fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed(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 and organisations(4) the fund shall be utilized for the following purposes:—30 (a)  providing interest free consumption loans to handloom weavers and workers; (b) making ex-gratia payments at prescribed rates to each of the bereaved familiesof 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;35 (d) providing insurance cover to handlooms, handloom weavers and workers; (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 prescribed6  (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 yarn5(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 weavers(3) the appropriate government shall take steps to minimize the export of cotton and cotton yarn107 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide to the authority such sums as may consider necessary for the efficient functioning of the authoritycentral government to provide funds annual report8 (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 the report submitted to it under sub-section (1) to be laid before each house of parliament15power to remove difficulties9 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment 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:20provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two years from the date of the commencement of this act(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be, after it is made, be laid before each house of 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 act25 act not in derogation of any other law for time being in forcepower to make rules11  (1) the central government may,  by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act30 35 (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  reasonshandloom industry, the largest segment in the unorganized sector, has a unique place in our economy this sector has sustained by transferring skills from one generation to another the strength of the sector lies in its uniqueness, flexibility of production, openness to innovations, adaptability to the supplier's requirement and the wealth of its tradition adoption of modern techniques and economic laberalization, however, has had a serious impact on the handloom sector competition from powerlooms and mill sector, availability of cheaper imported fabrics, changing consumer preferences and alternative employment opportunities have threatened the vibrancy of the handloom sector the sector provides employment to 4331 lakh persons engaged in about 2377 lakh handloomsthere are multiple problems that dog handlooms the 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 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 the most disturbing and sad part is that most of the handloom weavers are in debt and committing suicides because of their indebtedness and poverty the problem is further compounded by powerful lobbying from the powerloom barons handloom weavers have been at the negative end of the changes wrought in by globalization, consequent government policies and transient socio-economic conditions for decades, most handloom weavers never had any access to various policies and schemes meant for their growth and benefit on the other hand, government departments and implementing agencies do not have adequate information and data that would have helped in increasing the reach of such programmes and policies there is widening gap between policy formulation and implementationit has, therefore, been proposed to constitute a national handloom weavers authority to take steps for welfare and overall development of weavers and workers engaged in handloom sector and for promotion and effective implementation of policies of handloom sector in the countryhence this billnew delhi;boora narsaiah goud april 25, 2016 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 constitution of the 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, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees five hundred crore may involve as recurring expenditure per annuma non-recurring expenditure of rupees one 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 of and welfare measures for handloom weavers and workers and for matters connected therewith————(dr boora narsaiah goud, mp)gmgipmrnd—1046ls(s3)—11-07-2016