 bill no 58 of  2016 the sex workers (welfare and rehabilitation) bill, 2016 by dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp a billto provide for welfare and rehabilitation of sex workers and their families and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretowhereas promoting among the citizens fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual is enshrined as one of the goals in the preamble to the constitution;and whereas the right to live with dignity is also implicit in the fundamental rights guaranteed in part ill of the constitution;and whereas article 46 of the constitution provides , inter alia that the state shall protect the weaker sections of the society;be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the sex workers (welfare and rehabilitation) act,2016short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force on such date as central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—5(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "board" means national sex workers welfare board constituted under section 3;(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by the rules made under this act; and10(d) "sex worker" means a female, male or a transgender over the age of eighteen years who receives money or goods in exchange for sexual services, either regularly or occasionally153 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a board to be known as the national sex workers welfare board to exercise the powers conferred upon it by or under this actconstitution of a national sex workers welfare board(2) the board shall consist of—| (                         | i           | )   | union minister for women and child            | - chairperson   ||---------------------------|-------------|-----|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------|| development               | ex-officio; |     |                                               |                 || 20                        |             |     |                                               |                 || (                         | ii          | )   | joint secretary, department of social justice | - member        || and empowerment           | ex-officio; |     |                                               |                 || (                         | iii         | )   | joint secretary, ministry of housing and      | - member        || urban poverty alleviation | ex-officio; | and |                                               |                 |(iv) five social workers belonging to organisation working for the welfare and rehabilitation of sex workers, or representing the sex workers to be nominated by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed25(3) the members, other than the ex-officio members, of the board shall hold office for a period of three years(4) the central government shall provide such number  of officers and staff to the board as may be required for its  efficient functioning30(5) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of the service of members, other than the ex-officio members, and the officers and staff of the board shall be such as may be prescribed(6) the board shall meet at least once in every three months 4 (1) the board shall—powers of the board35(a) monitor the implementation of this act;(b) enquire into complaints regarding contravention of the provisions of this act, and to convey its findings to the concerned authorities with recommendations requiring further action;(c) advise the central and the state governments for effective implementation of the provisions of this act; and40(d) take suo motu notice of matter relating to non-implementation of this act(2) in the discharge of its powers under sub-section (1), the board shall have the power to call for information with respect to any matter specified in that sub-section from any government or local or other authorityfunctions of the board5 (1) the board shall undertake or cause to be undertaken, necessary measures, programmes and policies for the rehabilitation of the sex workers(2) in particular and without prejudice to the generality of foregoing provision, the rehabilitation measures shall include—5(a) provision of a photo identity card to sex workers containing, inter alia,details of all dependent members;(b) free monthly health checkup and free medical aid and medication for humanimmunodeficiency virus infection (hiv), sexually transmitted infections (stis) andother life-threatening diseases caused due to their profession;10(c) establishment of integrated counseling and testing centres for hiv andanti-retroviral treatment;(d) scholarship to the children of sex workers as per the relevant scheme of thecentral government or the state government or the local authorities, as the case may be;15(e) allotment of a residential plot and financial assistance for construction of ahouse thereon or a ready-built house, subject to eligibility and willingness of the sex worker and the provisions of the relevant scheme of the central government or the state government or the concerned local authority, as the case may be;20(f) training in a livelihood skill to sex-workers or at least one adult member oftheir family with payment of monthly stipend of not less than three thousand rupees during the period of such training;(g) admission, without discrimination, into educational institutions recognizedby the central or a state government;25(h) subsidy and concessional loans to sex-workers, or at least one adult memberof their family, subject to eligibility and willingness, for taking up an alternative occupation on a sustainable basis, in such manner as may be stipulated in the relevant scheme of the central government or the state government or the concerned local authority, as the case may be; and30(i) such legal and other assistance to the sex workers as the central governmentor a state government may notify in this behalfpenalty6 whoever violates the provisions of this act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend upto twelve months and with fine which may extend upto fifty thousand rupees35power to remove difficulties7 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the central government may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two years from the date of commencement of this act408 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistenttherewith contained in any other law for the time being in force9 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law, for the time being in forceact to have overriding effect act not in derogation of other laws power to make rules4510 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act(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 reasonssex workers face acute discrimination and abuse in india it is not understood why sex workers are not recognised as right holders like all other persons in most of the cases, working as a sex worker is not always a choice but it is often bound up with poverty, vulnerability and discrimination which may lead to violence against sex workers therefore, need is to address the structural and root causes including poverty and discrimination for persons engaged in sex workwe should recognize the right of all sex workers to choose their work and to have them access to other employment opportunitiesthe bill, therefore, seeks to provide for counseling and financial support to sex workers along with other rehabilitative measureshence this billnew delhi;kirit  premjibhai  solankifebruary 8, 2016 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of a national sex workers welfare board it also provides for appointment of members, officers and staff to the board clause 5 provides for issuance of photo identity cards to the sex workers; free monthly health checkups; scholarships to the children of sex workers and other rehabilitative measures the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crore is likely to be incurreda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 10 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purpose 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 welfare and rehabilitation of sex workers and their families and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp)gmgipmrnd—4227ls(s3)—03032016