 bill no 44 of 2007 the cashew development board bill, 2007 by shri ck chandrappan, mp abillto provide for the setting up of a board for the development and promotion of cashew cultivation, cashew nut processing, marketing and research to improve  its production and productivity and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the cashew development board act, 2007(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, bynotification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions 2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "board" means the cashew development board constituted under section 3;(c) "cashew" means and includes both raw and processed cashew; and (d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3 (1) not later than three months from the commencement of this act, the central government shall establish a board to be known as the cashew development boardcashew development board5(2) the board shall consist of:—(a) a chairman to be nominated by the central government having outstanding calibre and eminence in the field of cashew cultivation, research or marketing;10(b) two members of parliament of whom one shall be from lok sabha and one from rajya sabha, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses;(c) two members to be appointed by the central government one each to represent the legislative assemblies of kerala and tamil nadu;15(d) two members to be appointed by the central government by rotation in the alphabetical order to represent the state legislatures of karnataka, goa, andhra pradesh, orissa and maharashtra:20provided that every appointment under sub-clauses (c) and (d) shall be made on the recommendation of the presiding officers of the respective state legislative assemblies(e) three representatives, representing the union ministries of commerce and industry, agriculture, and finance, respectively, who shall be nominated by the central government;25(f) two members to be appointed by the central government one each to represent the governments of the states of kerala and tamil nadu;(g) one member to be appointed by the central government by rotation in the alphabetical order to represent the states of karnataka, andhra pradesh, goa, maharashtra and orissa:30provided that every appointment under sub-clauses (f) and (g) shall be made on the recommendation of the state governments(h) two members representing the cashew farmers;(i) two members representing the workers of cashew processing industry;(j) two members representing the cashew processing industry;35(k) one member representing the food processing industry; (l) one member representing the indian made foreign liquor industry; and(m) the secretary to the union ministry of commerce and industy, who shall be the member-secretary to the board, ex-officio(3) the board shall have a term of office of three years40(4) the salaries and allowances payable to and other conditions of service of the chairman and other members of the board shall be such as may be prescribed(5) the board shall have its office at kollam in the state of kerala (6) the central government shall provide such number of officers and staff to the board as is required for its efficient functioning(7) the salaries and allowances payable to and other conditions of service of the officers and staff of the board shall be such as may be prescribed4  the board shall perform the following functions:—functions of the board5(i) make recommendations to the central government regarding formulationof a comprehensive policy regarding cashew cultivation, processing, marketing, value addition of cashew products, research and development aimed, inter alia, at discovering new uses of cashew products;(ii)  formulate welfare measures for cashew cultivators and workers incashew industry and advise the appropriate government accordingly;10(iii) study the problems in cashew cultivation, processing, marketingincluding issues in product diversification, value addition, research and development of cashew;(iv) identify new cashew markets overseas and send business delegationsto study those markets;15(v) set up training and research institutes for imparting expertise in cashewcultivation, value addition and product diversification; and(vi) recommend measures to expand cashew cultivation in new areas in order to attain self-sufficiency in cashew nuts20grants by the central government5 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the board by way of grants such sums of money as the central government may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this act;6 there shall be formed a fund to be called the cashew development fund and there shall be credited thereto—cashew development fund(a) any grant  by the central government for the purposes of this act;25(b) any grant or donation from state governments, voluntary organisationsor other institutions:provided that no such grant, loan or donation shall be credited to the fund except with the prior approval of the central governmentaccounts and audit307 (1) the board shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts, in such form as may be prescribed by the central government in consultation with the comptroller and auditor-general of india(2) the accounts of the board shall be audited by the comptroller and auditor-general of india at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the board to the comptroller and auditor-general35 40(3) the comptroller and auditor-general of india or any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the board shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the comptroller and auditor- general generally has in connection with the audit of the government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the board45(4) the accounts of the board as certified by the comptroller and auditor-generalof india or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the central government and that government shall cause the same to be laid before each house of parliamentboard to submit an annual report8 the board shall submit an annual report on its functioning to the president of india who shall cause it to be laid in each house of parliament not later than a period of thirty days from the date of its submission to the president9 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the actpower to make rules5 statement of objects and reasonsindia is the largest producer of cashew nuts, biggest consumer and also the largest exporter of processed cashew nuts it provides livelihood to lakhs of farmers, provides employment to lakhs of workers in the cashew based industries and it is one of the most important export earners for the countryhowever, cashew cultivators are mainly the small farmers and the cultivation is done in a very unorganised and unscientific manner the farming practices and post harvest technology are all very traditional and backward there is hardly any research done in any aspect of cultivation, processing, marketing and product diversification or the value addition all these factors lead to the fact that productivity of cashew in the country is very lowbut the possibilities in this field are unlimited there is a huge possibility of expanding the cultivation of cashew nut and increasing the production and productivity of cashew nuts as well as in the field of value addition and also new uses of cashew products there is also a big possibility of manufacturing high quality liquor from cashew kernels, which at present goes as waste though there is scope for quality improvement,  the ''fenni'', being made in goa from cashew kernels, is an example cashew nuts can also be used for making drugs cashew trees may prove very useful for the timber industry, the pulp industry, etcthe formation of the cashew development board is primarily meant for improving the techniques of cashew farming and giving boost to cashew processing industry, manufacturing industry based on cashew, product diversification, promotion of research and value addition along with market promotion and research and developmentif all these are done with a measure of success, it would bring prosperity to this sector in agriculture and a new industry will be developed with tremendous potential and possibilitythe bill seeks to achieve these objectivesnew delhi;ck chandrappanmarch 13, 2007 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of a cashew development boardclause 4 provides that the board shall perform certain functions for the welfare of cashew farmers and workers of cashew based industries clause 5 provides that the central government shall provide money, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, to the board by way of grants clause 6 provides for the setting up of cashew development fund clause 7 provides that the board shall maintain proper accounts and relevant records and bear the expenditure for auditing of the accounts clause 8 provides that the board shall submit an annual report to the president the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees ten crore will be involvedno non-recurring expenditure is likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 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 the setting up of a board for the development and promotion ofcashew cultivation, cashew nut processing, marketing and research toimprove  its production and productivity and for matters connectedtherewith or incidental thereto————(shri ck chandrappan, mp)mgipmrnd—1259ls(s5)—23-03-2007