 bill no 45 of  2007 the  rural  labour  welfare  fund bill, 2007 byshri mohan singh, mp a billto provide for the establishment of a rural labour welfare fund for the welfare of the rural labour employed in the agriculture and other rural occupations and for matters connected therewithbe  it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the rural labour welfare fund 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, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "employer" means the cultivator, orchard owner, poultry farm owner, agency, society including co-operative society or any establishment in a rural area which employs rural labour;(b) "fund" means the rural labour  welfare fund established under section 3;5(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and(d) "rural labour" means any person engaged in agriculture, sericulture, poultry, horticulture, handicrafts or any related occuption in rural areas as a wage earner, whether in cash or kind, for his livelihood and includes a person enaged through a contractor or engaged as a self employed person10establishment of fund3 (1) with effect from such date, as the central government may, by notification inthe official gazette, specify in this behalf, there shall be constituted for the purposes of this act, a fund to be called the rural labour welfare fund which shall be operated by an authority with its headquarters at shimla in the state of himachal pradesh15(2) the central government shall after due appropriation made byparliament in this behalf, credit to the fund in each financial year such sums of money as it considers necessary for carrying out the purposes of this actutilisation of fund204 the fund shall be utilized by the central government to meet the expenditure inconnection with measures which in the opinion of the central government, after consulting the governments of the states and union territories, are necessary or expedient to promote the welfare of the rural labour and in particular:—(a) to defray the cost of measures to be carried out for the benefit of rural labourtowards—(i) providing water supply for drinking and other purposes; (ii) providing educational facilities; (iii) the improvement of standard of living and nutrition;25(iv) amelioration of the social conditions; (v) providing housing and recreational facilities; (vi) rendering financial assistance in case of infirmity or disability due toaccident, old age, or any other reason; and30(vii) providing such other welfare measures as may be prescribed(b) to grant loan, assistance or subsidy to government of any state, unionterritory administration, local authority or any organisation for any scheme approved by the central government for the purposes connected with the welfare of rural labour;35(c) to pay annually grant-in-aid to government of any state or union territoryadministration, local authority or an employer or any other organisation which provides to the satisfaction of the central government such welfare measures and facilities of the prescribed standard for the benefit of rural labour;(d) to meet the cost of administering the fund; and40(e) any other expenditure which the central government may direct to bedefrayed from the fundstate advisory committees5 (1) the central government may constitute as many advisory committees as itdeems fit to advise the central government on such matters arising out of the implementation of the provisions of this act or administration of the fund:45provided that at least one advisory committee for each state and unionterritory shall be constituted by the central government in consultation with the respective state government and union territory administration(2) the chairman and such number of other members, as may be prescribed, of each advisory committee shall be appointed by the central government(3) the term of office and other conditions of service of the chairman and other members shall be such as may be prescribed5central advisory committee6 (1) the central government shall constitute a central advisory committee to coordinate the work of the advisory committees constituted under section 5 and to advise the central government on any matter arising out of the implementation of provisions of this act10(2) the chairman and such number of other members as may be prescribed of the central advisory committee shall be appointed by the central government(3) the term of office and other conditions of service of the chairman and other members shall be such as may be prescribed157 (1) the central government may appoint as many as rural labour welfare fund commissioners, inspectors and such other officers and staff as it deems necessary for carrying out the purposes of this actappointment of commissioners, inspectors and other officers45 of 1860(2) every person appointed under this section shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code, 1860(3) any officer or inspector appointed under this act, may,—20(a) with such assistance, if any, as he may deem fit, inspect at any reasonable time in any place which he considers necessary for carrying out the purposes of this act;(b) do within such place anything necessary for the proper discharge of his duties; and(c) exercise such other powers as may be prescribed258 the central government may require a state government or a union territoryadministration or a local authority or an employer to furnish for the purposes of this act, such statistical and other information in such form and within such period as may be prescribedstate government, etc to furnish requisite information power to make rules9 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act30(2) in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for,—(a) the manner in which the fund may be applied; (b) the conditions governing the grant of loans or subsidy; (c) the conditions governing grant-in-aid;35(d) the standard of welfare measures and facilities to be provided out of thefund;(e) the composition of the advisory committees and central advisory committee constituted under sections 5 and 6 respectively and the manner in which the members thereof shall be appointed;40(f) the term of office of such members, the allowances, if any, payable to them andthe manner in which the advisory committee and the central advisory committee shall conduct their business;(g) the recruitment, conditions of service and duties of all persons appointedunder section 7; and45(h) the powers that may be exercised by an officer or inspector appointed undersection 7 statement  of  objects  and  reasonsindia resides in villages and 85 percent of its population earns its livelihood from agriculture there are cultivators, orchard owners, poultry owners, agricultural workers and home based workers in the rural areas however, their wages and income are meagre and many of them do not get employment throughout the year these rural labourers also become an easy prey to the debt trap of the landlords and money-lenders who force them to become bonded labourers most of them are very poor and are living in distress for generations in a welfare state like ours there are no welfare schemes or funds for these hapless rural labourers whereas in the industrial sector there are labour welfare boards and cess is levied and collected through legislative measures in order to provide them with various amenities including housing, education and medical care but the rural labourers are unorganized and thus are neglected even by the stateit is, therefore, necessary that in order to ameliorate the plight of rural workers the central government should establish a rural labour welfare fund for financing adequately and systematically the welfare measures to be carried out for the rural and agricultural labour throughout the country so as to achieve the goals of welfare state in its true sensehence this bill financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of the rural labour welfare fundclause 5 provides for the constitution of advisory committees clause 6 provides for constitution of a central advisory committee clause 7 provides for appointment of rural labour welfare commissioners, inspectors and such other officers and staff for carrying out the purposes of this bill the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india but it is not possible at this stage to give the precise details of the expenditure that would be involved it is, however, estimated that it will involve a recurring expenditure of about rupees two hundred twenty five crore per annumit will also involve a non-recurring expenditure of about rupees fifty five lakh memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 9 of the bill provides that the central government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill the delegation of legislative  power will relate to matters of details only and is of a normal character————— a billto provide for the establishment of a rural labour welfare fund for the welfare of the rural labour employed in the agriculture and other rural occupations and for matters connected therewith—————(shri mohan singh, mp)mgipmrnd—1445ls(s-3)—10042007