 bill  no 284 of  2016 the jute growers and workers (welfare) bill, 2016 by shri rajesh ranjan, mp a billto provide for payment of the remunerative prices for the raw jute to the jute growers,      compulsory purchase of raw jute by government agencies, compulsory           insurance of jute crops free of cost by the central government               and certain welfare measures to be undertaken by the                     central and the state governments for the                         jute growers and jute workers and                               for  matters  connected                               therewith or incidental                                        theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the jute growers and workers (welfare) act, 2016short titleand extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—5(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "fund" means the jute growers and workers welfare fund constitutedunder section 4;(c) "jute grower" means any person who cultivates jute and obtains fibretherefrom;(d) "jute worker" means any person engaged in jute related works as a wage earner, whether in cash or kind, for his livelihood and includes a person engaged through a contractor or middleman; and(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act5fixation of remunerative price of raw jute3 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,the central government shall in consultation with the concerned state governments fix and declare remunerative prices of raw jute under the minimum support price regime on the basis of cost of production of jute before every sowing season(2) while fixing the remunerative prices of jute under sub-section (1), the central government shall take into account the following factors, namely:—10(a) cost incurred by jute growers in sowing, growing and harvesting of jute andobtaining its fibre;(b) cost incurred on seeds, fertilizers or manure, insecticides and pesticides; (c) cost incurred on labour; (d) maintenance cost of the field;15(e) cost incurred on transportation of raw jute to the market or yard or mandi orfactory, as the case may be;(f) climatic conditions and occurrence of natural calamity; and (g) any other contingency expenditure incurred by jute growers20 (3) the appropriate government shall give wide publicity to the remunerative prices fixed for raw jute under this act through print and electronic media and the village panchayats(4) the agencies of appropriate government shall purchase the raw jute from the jute growers at the prices fixed by the central government in case the jute growers fail to sell their raw jute in the open market25(5) it shall be the duty of the appropriate government to keep a watch on the dubious activities of jute traders and middlemen during the immediate post harvest period to ensure that prices of raw jute do not fall as a result of speculation and take such measures, as it may deem necessary to protect the interests of jute growers30(6) the entire jute crop and the yield thereof shall be compulsorily insured free of cost by the central government against natural calamities, fall in the yield of jute, fall in the prices of raw jute and such other eventualities as may be prescribed354 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the jute growers and workers welfare fund with an initial corpus of rupees thirty thousand crore to be provided by the central government by due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalfconstitution of jute growers and workers welfare fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund insuch ratio as may be prescribed40(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistancefrom corporate houses, financial institutions, individuals, organisations or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund5 the fund shall be utilized for the following purposes, namely:—utilization of fund(a) to provide financial assistance to jute growers for purchasing seeds, manure,fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and any other material necessary for cultivation of jute or prevent loss of crop due to natural calamities, fire or wild life;45(b) to pay compensation to the next of kin of jute grower or jute worker, as thecase may be in the event of his death;(c) to pay insurance premium on behalf of the jute growers; (d) to provide free healthcare facilities for the jute growers and jute workers andtheir families including maternity facilities to the female members of the families;5(e) to provide education including technical, medical, higher education, andvocational training to the children of jute growers and jute workers free of cost;(f) to provide financial assistance to the jute growers and jute workers in theevent of their disability; and(g) for such other purposes as the appropriate government may deem fit andnecessary for the purposes of this act106 the appropriate government shall,—(i) maintain district-wise register of all the jute growers and jute workers withsuch particulars and in such manner as may be prescribed; andappropriate governmentto maintainregister of jute growers and jute workers(ii) make provisions for payment of old age pension to the jute growers and juteworkers157 the central government shall from time to time, after due appropriation made byparliament by law in this behalf, provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide funds act to have overriding effect8 the provisions of this act and the rules made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force209 the provision of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other laws for the time being in force dealing with the subject matter of this actact to supplement other laws power to make rules10 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act2530(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 beof 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 states of west bengal and bihar are the major jute producing states of the nationthough it is grown in some other states also but in small quantities mainly for local consumption jute fibre which is also known as golden fibre, used to hold a glorious position in our country even today jute is one of the main commercial crops of the country jute fibre is used to make bio-degradable, eco-friendly and cheap bags known as gunny bags used to keep wheat and other agricultural produce including sugar earlier almost every product used to be filled in jute bags but with coming of polymer synthetic bags in the market now jute bags are used only for foodgrainsof late, jute growers in west bengal, bihar and other parts of the country are facing various problems and they are not getting remunerative prices for their produce jute cultivation is becoming non-profitable for the growers due to various factors such as increase in the prices of jute seeds, fertilizers, manure, insecticides and pesticides and other inputs due to high investment involved in cultivation of jute, jute growers take loans on very high interest rates and unable to repay the loan becoming debt ridden and distressed since jute is a commercial crop, insurance facility is not available to the jute growers and the growing use of synthetic fibre bags is adding to the miseries of jute growers in some cases their financial condition or getting into debt trap is compelling many of them to take extreme step of committing suicideours is a welfare state and therefore it is the responsibility of the central government to ensure the welfare of the jute growers and their families the central government should fix remunerative prices of jute and implement various welfare measures for them and for the jute workers who are dependent on the jute crops for their employment and livelihood their condition is also pitiable because of the plight of jute growers the central government has to establish a welfare fund for the jute growers and jute workers to meet their various need which will make them feel that our welfare state will take care of themhence this billnew delhi;rajesh  ranjanoctober 28, 2016 financial  memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for constitution of the jute growers and workers welfare fund with the initial corpus of rupee thirty thousand crore to be provided by the central government clause 6 provides for maintaining register and payment of old age pension to jute workers and jute growers clause 7 makes it mandatory for the central government to provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of the bill the expenditure relating to states shall be borne out of the consolidated funds of the state governments concerned however, the expenditure relating to union territories shall be borne out of the consolidated fund of india the bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated rupee five thousand crore may be involved as recurring expenditure per annum from the consolidated fund of indiaa sum of rupee one thousand crore may also be involved as non-recurring expenditure memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 10 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for payment of the remunerative prices for the raw jute to the jute growers, compulsory purchase of raw jute by government agencies, compulsory insurance of jute crops free of cost by the central government and certain welfare measures to be undertaken by the central and the state governments for the jute growers and jute workers and for  matters  connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri rajesh ranjan, mp)gmgipmrnd—3139ls(s3)—21-11-2016