 bill no  73 of  2011 the beedi workers welfare bill, 2011 byshri bhausaheb r wakchaure, mpa billto provide for constitution of the beedi workers' welfare fund and also a board to administer the fund for welfare of beedi workers in the country 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 beedi workers welfare act, 2011(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title,extent andcommencement(3) it shall come into force at oncedefinitions52 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(ii) "beedi worker" means any person engaged in making of beedi, tobacco,cigar or cigarette and involving any process of making of beedi, cigar or cigarette and includes a person engaged on contract or temporary basis;(iii) "fund" means beedi workers welfare fund set up under section 3; and (iv) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under the act3 (1) the central government shall set up a fund to be known as the beedi workers'welfare fundbeedi workers welfare fund(2) the fund shall consist of contributions from central government, the state governments and owners of beedi factories in such ratio as may be prescribed5(3) the fund shall be administered by a board, consisting of—(a) one chairman to be appointed by the central government; (b) one representative of each state government where beedi making is a major occupation;10(c) two representatives of beedi workers to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed; and(d) one representative of owners of beedi factories(4) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the service of chairman and other members of the board shall be such as may be prescribed4 (1) the board shall determine the purposes for which the fund shall be utilizedfunctions of the board15(2) notwithstanding anything in sub-section (1), the fund shall be utilized for the following purposes:—(i) payment of old-age pension at the rate of rupees five thousand per month after the beedi worker has attained the age of sixty years and is unable to perform his job on account of infirmity or incapacity;20(ii) free healthcare facilities for the beedi worker and dependant family members at the designated government and other hospitals;(iii) free education facilities including supply of books, uniform, writing materials, transport to and from school to residence, hostel facilities for the children of beedi workers;25(iv) free insurance cover to beedi workers; and(v) free housing facilities for beedi workers5 every beedi worker shall be entitled to such assured minimum wage as may be fixed by the appropriate government, irrespective of the number of beedis rolled by himworkers to be assured minimum wagepenalty306 if any employer does not comply with the provisions of sections 3 and 5, he shall bepunished with a fine which may extend to rupees fifty thousand 7 it shall be the duty of the central government to provide adequate fund to the board for effective implementation of the provisions of the actcentral government to provide adequate fund8 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law providing for matters dealth with in this actact to be not in derogation of other laws35power to make rules9 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act40(2) every rule made under this section 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 role 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 beedi workers in the country are facing unbearable problems several lakhs of workers including women are engaged in beedi making in different parts of the country these workers contract various types of diseases during the course of their employment but there is no proper facility for their treatment they live in poverty with no means to afford education,  the wards of workers are forced by situation to join the same profession of beedi making where their parents have already spent their lives hundreds of workers die before they attain age of sixty years because of diseases they contract during the course of their work there is no insurance cover available to themin old-age these beedi workers become feeble and left with no option either to continue in beedi making or any other avocation for their survival in view of above, it is necessary to provide social security and welfare measures to lakhs of beedi workers in the countryhence this billnew delhi;bhausaheb  r  wakchaurejuly 25,  2011 financial memorandumclause 3 provides for setting up of a beedi workers welfare fund for welfare of beedi workers it further provides for constitution of a board for administration of the beedi workers welfare fund clause 7 provides that the central government shall provide adequate fund to the board for effective implementation of the provisions of the bill the bill, if enacted,  will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of indiait is estimated that a sum of rupees two hundred crore is likely to be involved out of the consolidated fund of india per annuma non-recurring expenditure of rupees two hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 9 of the bill 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 constitution of the beedi workers' welfare fund and also a board to administer the fund for welfare of beedi workers in the country and for matters connected therewith————(shri bhausaheb r wakchaure, mp)