Kerala Coir Workers' Welfare Fund Act, 1987
No: 34 Dated: Dec, 31 1987
Kerala Coir Workers' Welfare Fund Act, 1987
(Act 34 of 1987)
An Act to provide for the constitution of a fund to grant relief to, to promote the welfare of, and to pay pension to coir workers and self employed persons in coir industry in the State of Kerala.
Preamble. - Whereas it is expedient to provide for the constitution of a fund to grant relief to, promote the welfare of, and to pay pension to coir workers and self employed persons in coir industry in the State of Kerala and for certain other matters incidental thereto ;
BE it enacted in the Thirty-eight Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Kerala Coir Workers' Welfare Fund Act, 1987.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala.
(3) This section shall come into force at once, and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act:
Provided that the provisions relating to payment of pension shall be deemed to have come into force on the last day of April, 1987
2. Definitions. - In this act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Board" means the Kerala Coir Workers' Welfare fund Board constituted under section 6;
(b) "Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive officer appointed under sub-sector (1) of section 9 ;
(c) "coir products" means mats and mattings, rugs and carpets, fibre, yarn, rubberised coir products and other articles manufactured wholly or partly from fibre, yarn or pith and includes such products of coir backed with PVC, rubber or any similar backing materials;
(d) "coir worker" means any person who is employed for wages to do any work in connection with the various processes in coir industry, and who gets his wage directly or indirectly from the employer, dealer or producer of coir products and includes any person employed by or through a contractor or through an agent and depends mainly on coir industry for his livelihood, and includes a floating worker or any person] employed in coir industry, whom the Government may by notification in the Gazette from time to time declare to be a coir worker for the purposes of this Act;
Explanation. - If any question arises as to whether a person is or is not a coir worker for the purpose of this Act, the matter shall be referred to the concerned Project Level Advisory Committee of trade unions in coir industry constituted for such Coir Project area for the purpose for decision and an appeal shall lie to the Board against the decision of the Project Level Advisory Committee;
(e) "contribution" means the sum of money payable to the fund under section 4 ;
(f) "dealer" means any person who is engaged in the business of purchase, sale, or storage for sale, of husks or fibre or pith or coir yarn any coir products or a person who rets husks and includes an agent of a dealer but does not include a cultivator who sells, or stores for sale raw husks owned by him and the Kerala State Co-operative Coir Marketing Federation and the Kerala State Coir Corporation Ltd;
(g) "Director of coir Development" means the Director of Coir Development for the State of Kerala ;
(h) "Employer" means any person who directly employs whether on behalf of himself or for any other persons one or more coir workers to do any work in connection with the processes in coir industry;
(i) "family" means the husband, wife and their children;
(j) "fibre" means coir fibre extracted from coconut husk with or without use of machinery.
(k) "fund" means the Coir Workers' Welfare Fund established under section 3 and the scheme;
(l) "husk" means coconut husk, green, dry or retted;
(m) "member" means a member of the fund;
(n) "person" includes a Company, a firm, an association of individuals or a Co-operative Society registered or deemed to be registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (21 of 1969);
(o) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(p) "process in coir industry" means retting raw husks, taking out and counting retted husk, peeling the outer layer of retted husks, extracting fibre from husk, cleaning fibre, spinning yarn, drying and bundling fibre and yarn, rehanking yarn, making coir products, dyeing shearing and allied process in finishing coir products with or without the use of machinery and includes packing and such other activities which the Government may, by notification in the Gazette, from time to time declare to be a process in coir industry;
(q) "producer of coir products" means a person who manufacture coir products or carries on the business of processing coir products for export or for internal marketing;
(r) "Schedule" means the schedule to this Act;
(s) "Scheme" means a scheme framed under this Act:
(t) "self-employed person" means a person other than a coir worker, who is engaged in the extraction of coir fibre, spinning yarn and manufacture of coir products for other person and depends mainly on coir industry for his livelihood;
(u) "yarn" means the coir yarn obtained by the spinning of fibre ;
(v) "year" means the financial year.