 bill no 164  of  2016 the toddy industry workers welfare bill, 2016 by dr boora narsaiah goud, mp a billto provide for welfare of toddy industry workers and for matters connected therewithbe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the toddy industry workers welfare act, 2016short title and commencement(2)  it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires:—(a) "board" means the toddy industry workers welfare board constituted under section 4;5(b) "employer" means by person who employs, whether directly or through another person, or whether on behalf of himself or any other person, one or more employees and who has a license for the manufacture, distribution, transport, storage or sale of toddy;10(c) "excise tree" includes the trees of mohwa, coconut, palm, palmyra, date, bagani, sago, sendhi or any tree of the species of palm or palmyra, from the fermented or unfermented juice of which toddy can be prepared;(d) "fund" means the toddy workers welfare fund constituted under section 3; (e) "manufacture" means process of preparation and collection of toddy; (f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;15(g) "scheme" means the toddy industry workers welfare scheme formulated under section 6;(h) "toddy" means fermented or unfermented juice drawn from an excise tree;and20(i) "wages" means emoluments which are earned by a worker while on duty or on leave with wages in accordance with the terms of the contract of employment and which are paid or payable in cash to him, but does not include,—(i) the cash value of any food concession; and (ii) overtime allowance, bonus and commission; and25(j) "worker" means a person who is employed on wages in  connection with the manufacture, distribution, transport, storage or sale of toddy and who gets his wages, directly or indirectly, from the employer and includes any person employed by or through a contractor or through an agent in connection with the manufacture, distribution, transport, storage or sale of toddy303  (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute fund to be known as the toddy industry workers welfare fund for the welfare of toddy workers(2) the fund shall consist of—constitution of toddy industry workers welfare fund(a) contribution by the central government and every state government in such ratio as may be prescribed;(b) contribution by the employer as follows—35(i) an amount equal to ten per cent of the wages for the time being payable to each worker; and(ii) an amount equal to ten per cent of the wages for the time being payable to each worker towards gratuity; and (c) contribution from workers in such ratio as may be prescribed404 (1) the central government shall constitute a board to be known as the toddy industry workers welfare board(2) the board shall consist of—constitution of the toddy industry workers welfare board(a) a chairperson, having adequate knowledge of toddy industry; (b) three persons from amongst the states where toddy trees are grown in large scale; and(c) one person representing the toddy industry workers, to be appointed by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed5(3) the board shall be responsible for administration of the fund5 the fund shall be utilized for—utilization of fund(i) providing free educational facilities to the children of workers; (ii) payment of such amount, as may be prescribed, in case a worker decides to set up his own establishment connected with the toddy industry;10(iii) providing free healthcare facilities to workers and their families; (iv) providing concessional accommodation facilities to the workers; (v) payment of disability allowance to worker who get injured during work; (vi) payment of old age pension and gratuity at such rates, as may be prescribed,to workers who have attained the age of sixty years or abvoe;(vii) payment of life insurance premium of toddy industry workers; and15(viii) payment of family pension after  the death of a worker:6 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, formulate a scheme for the welfare of toddy workers to be known as the toddy industry workers welfare scheme20formulation of toddy industry workers welfare scheme(2) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, amend thescheme, from time to time, for carrying out the purpose of this act7 every state government and union territory administration shall conduct a survey of toddy industry workers in the state and forward the information to the central governmentstate government to conduct survey of toddy industry workers25power to make rules8 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act30(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 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of a toddy industry workers welfare fund clause 4 provides for the constitution of a toddy industry workers welfare board to administer the fund clause 5 provides utilisation of fund for the welfare of toddy workers clause 7 provides that every state government and union territory administration shall conduct a survey of toddy industry workers in the state and forward the information to the central government clause 8 provides for the formulation of a welfare scheme for toddy workers the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve a recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crore per annuma non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved statement of objects and reasonstoddy workers are among the poorest sections of society and are wholly unorganizedtapping is seasonal that keeps them engaged only for five months there are area restrictions on them as they are allowed to sell toddy within a limited radius of the extract point also mushrooming of indian made foreign liquor shops in every nook and corner including villages, is affecting their livelihoodthe free flow of illicit liquor too had its bearing on the toddy tappers communitythey are struggling even to feed their children properly and cannot ensure quality based education due to skyrocketing price rise lack of finance and inadequate facilities are the main problems faced by the toddy tapperstoddy tappers are switching over to other trades as toddy has ceased to be a part of social life of villagers the number of toddy yielding trees have come down and the drop in the number of tappers is also proportionate the problem is lack of initiative from the government and the non-existence of a proper marketing networktheir working conditions are not safe after they become unfit to work further, they suffer a lot no social security provision is available for them there is no separate provision for payment of compensation to the toddy workers for injury sustained during the course of employment or to his legal heirs in the event of his death as a result of injuries so sustainedit has, therefore, been proposed to constitute a toddy industry workers welfare fund for the welfare and overall development of toddy industry workers in the countryhence this bill 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———— a billto provide for welfare of toddy industry workers and for matters connected therewith————(dr boora narsaiah goud, mp)gmgipmrnd—1085ls(s4)—11-07-2016