  i 8w no ii of 196'  the essential commodities (amendment) bill, 1967 billfurther to amend the e,senti4z commodities act, 1955 and to continue tot a furthe·r period the essentiaz c-mmodities (amendment) act, 1964 be it enacted by parliament in the eighteenth year of the republic of inc:ua as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the essential commodities (aroend- short title ment) act, 1967 and dura tion s (2) section 2 shall cease to have effect on the 31st day of march, 1968, save as respects things done or omitted to be done before such 10 of 1ee7 cesser and section 6 of the general clauses act, 1897, shall apply upon such cesser as if section 2 had then been repealed by a central act 2 in section 3 of the essential commodities act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act), after sub-section' (4), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:-"(4a) where, for any reason, supplies of any article or thing required for the production or manufacture of an essential 5 commodity are not adequate to meet the full requirements of all the undertakings engaged in the production or manufacture of such commodity and the central government is of opinion that with the available supplies of such article or thing all the undertakings engaged in the production or manufacture of such 10 commodity should, as far as practicable, be kept as going concerns for the production or manufacture of such commodity to the fullest extent possible and also for the prevention of unemployment, as far as practicable, amongst persons employed in such undertakings, it may, by order, direct that-is (a) no employer shall close his undertaking, whether partially or wholly, except with the previous permission in writing of such officer as may be specified in this behalf in the order; (b) no employet shall keep his undertaking working 20 for mote than such number of days in a week and such number of hours each day, as may be specified in the order ('8) 'where in pursuance of an order under clause (b) of ~qil (4a) an undef~~~ ibcl,ed, !i~~ ~y or wliblly for any day or number- 01 days in a week, the employer 25 of the undertaking shall pay for such closure to each of the persons employed in the untlertaking or any part thereof which is closed, compensation vmi~ shall be equal to fifty per cent of the total of the basic wages and dearness allowance that would ha'ye,been payable to- ,aueh pet'btm, had there beenro 'lueh 30 doute (4c) for removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that  different orders may be made undec sub-section (4a) in respect of-(i) different classes of undertakings; or 35 ~'") undertakint9 wi attfereftt ate8s", 3 notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law fm' the time bmng in fm"ce, where 8ft~mpltjyer in re8pelct of an underulkint engaged in theo ptodu~tioj'1 tjr m8ft11factu~ of ct'tton 'itextu~shm'dloih ~ urtd~rtaktng either wlwdly f>r partially on 40 '\ any day jn a week tturihr the peribc! betweib the 1i"h tbly of validation of closul'e of cotton textile mills on certain cieys 13 of 1966 december, 1966 and the 23rd day of december, 1966, being the date of commencement of the·essential commodities (second amendment) ordinance, 1966 (both days inclusive) in pursuance of the decision taken by the government of india in that behalf and s specified by the textile commissioner to the government of india t3qmbay, in his circular dated the 3rd december, 1916,- (a) 8ijch undertaking ahau be deeliled to have been clqsed ~ each iiowh day in accordance with law; and co (b) the employer shall pay compensation for such closure to the persons employed (including badli workmen) ill the un4ertaking at the rate provided for in section 25c of the industrial disputes act, 1947 14 of 1947 4 the duration of the essential commodities (amegdjjlent) act, continuo lw4, i:1 ~ed for the periw up to qild il),cluding the 31st day of ance of if necmbe;r, 1967, ~d accqn!inily, that t'\ct shall have e1!ect subject ~ci9~~, to tbe modific~40n that in sectil;)p 1 qf t~at ,act, in sub-section (3) fqr the words, figures and letters "the 31st qay of i;>ecember, 1966" the words, figures and lette"s "the 31st ~y ¢ ~ember 1967" shall be, md spall ~ deemed always to have been, sub~tituted 13 of 1966 46 of 1952 20 5 (1) the essential c~odi1lie6 (seeood amendment) repeal ordinance, 1966 is' hereby repealed and saving, (2) notwithstanding sueh repeal, anything done or any action taken under th_e said ordinance or under the principal act as amended by'the said ordinance or under section 12:a qf the prineipal 25 act or section 8a of the criminal law am8ftdment act, 1952, as cgfttinued by vittpe of se:ctiqn 5 of the s$id qj'c;1i!n~, shall be daeme4'to hfw~ ~ qon,e or t"jtep i+qtier u\!$ a~ or l!qder the pructpaiaot as alllend~ by thi, ad; 9r it1lqer the sllid ~t~ons as continuecl by ··virwe of section 4 ~ th~ ~t 1m jlf tlljb act ~cl come 30 into force f)~ the 2ard ~y qf de~ber ~  statement of objects and reasonsowing to mort supply of cotton and the consequent imbalance between the demand for and the supply of raw cotton, a crisis had developed in the cotton textile industry in the last quarter of 1968 quite a few muls in different parts of the country were consequently faced with clo6'llre with a view to conse-rving cotton and ensuring a more oo'derly and equitable distribution of the limited supplies availale and prevention of unemployment, it was essential to secure a reduction in machine activity this was sought to be achieved through a scheme of compulsory closure of textile mills for one additional day per week 2 to provide legal backing to this decision and as parliament was not in session, an ordinance, no 13 of 1966, was promulgated by the president on the 23rd of december, 1966 the ordinance by suitable amendments to section 3 of the essential commodities act, 1955 empowered the central government to regulate by order the working of undertakings the ordinance further provided that for the days of compulsory closure, all the workers should get compensation at fifty per cent of the normal wages 3 the difficult cotton supply situation still persists and is ukely to continue for some more time it is, therefore, necessary to retain the powers pnwided by the ordinance for another year, ifr, up to the 31st march, 1968 4 the essential commoditties (amendment) act, 1964 which provides for summary trial of persons contravening orden illlued under section 3 of the essential commodities act and of au public servants charged with offences of bribery, misconduct, etc, was due to expire on the 31st december, 1966 in view of the continued food shortage and possibility of exploitation of scarcity conditions by anti-social elements, it was felt necessary to extend the period up to the 31st december, 1967 'ntis extension was also covered by the ordinance 5 the present bill seeks to replace the ordinance by an act of parliament it is, however, proposed to reatrict the duration of the amendments to section 3 of the essential commodities act up to the 31st march, 1968 new delhi; the 28th march, 1967 dinesh singh new sub-sections (4a) and (4c) which clause 2 seeks to insert in section 3 of the essential commodities act, 1955, empower the central government to regulate, by order, the keeping open and closure of undertakings engaged in the production or manufacture of certain essential commodities sub-section (4a) clearly lays down the circumstances in which and the objects for which orders may ·be made thereunder the delegation of powers under those provisions is therefore of a normal character  0lil,  -   1 (1)  ,    short title, commencement and duration (3) it shall cease to have effect on tlte 31&t day of december, 1966, save as respects things done or omitted to be done before 8ueh cesser and section 6 of the general clauses act, 1897 shall apply upon such 10 of 1897 cesser as if it had then been repealed by a central act      ( a bill further to amend the essential commodities act, 1955 and to continue for a further period the essential commodities (amendment) act, 1964 (shri dinesh singh, minister of commerce) 