 bill no 179  of  2016 the farmers welfare fund bill, 2016 by shri sukhbir singh jaunapuria, mp a billto provide for the constitution of farmers welfare fund 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 farmers welfare fund act, 2016short title and extent(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "farmer" means any person engaged in agriculture and whose landholding does not exceed five acres of land;(ii) "fund" means farmers welfare fund constituted under section 3; and (iii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act53 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the farmers welfare fund for carrying out the purposes of this actconstitution of farmers welfare fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such proportion as may be prescribed10(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistance or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund4 (1) the central government shall set up a farmers welfare board for the purpose of administering the fund(2) the board shall consist of—constitution of farmers welfare board for administering the fund15(i) a chairperson, to be appointed by the central government;(ii) one representative each of the union ministries of power, water resources,river and ganga rejuvenation, new and renewable energy, rural development and finance;(iii) one representative of the niti aayog;20(iv) one representative of every state government;(v) three members representing the agro-based commerce and industry sector,to be appointed by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed;(vi) one representative of the farmers, to be appointed by the central governmentin such manner as may be prescribed; and25(vii) the secretary of the union ministry of agriculture and farmers welfarewho shall be ex-officio secretary to the board(3) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of chairperson and other members of the board shall be such as may be prescribed30(4) the central government shall provide to the board such number of officers and staff as may be required for its efficient functioning5 (1) the board shall formulate policies and guidelines regarding welfare of the farmersduties of the board(2) the board shall utilize the fund for the following purposes:—| (                                                     | i   | ) free education to the children of farmers;                                    ||-------------------------------------------------------|-----|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| (                                                     | ii  | ) free medical facilities for farmers and their families;                       || 35                                                    |     |                                                                                 || (                                                     | iii | ) payment of disability allowance to farmers for injuries leading to disability || sustained at work;                                    |     |                                                                                 || (                                                     | iv  | ) life insurance cover to the farmers;                                          || (                                                     | v   | ) compensation to the farmers or their families, as the case may be, in case of || accidents resulting in permanent disability or death; |     |                                                                                 || 40                                                    |     |                                                                                 || (                                                     | vi  | ) payment of old age pension to the farmers;                                    || (                                                     | vii | ) payment of subsistence allowance to the farmers during off-season; and        | (viii) financial assistance to the farmers at the time of marriage of their children, particularly daughterssurvey of farmers56 (1) every state government and the union territory administration, shall conducta district-wise survey, in such manner and with such details, as may be prescribed, of all farmers within their respective jurisdictions and cause the same to be published in such manner and form, as may be prescribed(2) any complaint or objection relating to inclusion or omission of name of any farmer shall be addressed to the district magistrate concerned who shall,  after due inquiry, decide upon the rectification of the records10| 7                                                                                          ||---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| whether for farming or personal needs, without seeking any mortgage or guarantee or putting || any other condition                                                                        || banks to give                                                                               || loans to                                                                                    || farmers                                                                                     || without any                                                                                 || guarantee                                                                                  |(2) the rate of interest charged on loans provided under sub-section (1) shall not exceed four per cent simple interest per annum:15provided that the rate of interest shall not be increased before five years from thecommencement of this act and any subsequent increase in the rate of interest shall also not be made before a lapse of five yearspower to make rules8 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of the act20 25(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 reasonseven though farmers and agriculture form the backbone of our economy, it is surprising that government does not have any proper policy for the welfare of farmers as well as their family members the condition of farmers who own small holding of land is even worse there are a few welfare schemes in existence but these have not resulted in any noticeable improvement in their living conditions there is no institutional arrangement to meet their credit needs for that, they have to depend upon the local bankers and mahajans who charge exorbitant rates of interest once in debt, it becomes very difficulty for them to come out of this debt trap in some parts of the country, farmers are committing suicide as they are neck deep in debt if this trend is not reversed soon, it can be easily imagined that what is going to happen it may also threaten the food security which we have attained after a lot of strugglethere is need for providing a net of social security for them banks and financial institutions should also provide loans to the farmers at low rates and without stringent conditions with regard to guarantee and mortgagethe bill seeks to achieve the above objectivesnew delhi;sukhbir singh jaunapuriajuly 4, 2016 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of a farmers welfare fund to which the central and state governments shall contribute in such proportion as may be prescribed clause 4 provides for the constitution of a board to manage the fund clause 5 provides for the utilisation of fund for welfare measures of the farmers clause 6 provides for conducting of district-wise survey of all the farmers covered by the provisions of the bill the expenditure relating to state shall be borne out of the consolidated funds of the respective states however, the expenditure in respect of union territories shall be brone out of the consolidated fund of india the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees twenty thousand crore will be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees twenty-five thousand crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok sabha———— a billto provide for the constitution of farmers welfare fund and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri sukhbir singh jaunapuria, mp)gmgipmrnd—1429ls(s3)—22-07-2016