The National Jute Board Act, 2008

(1) This Act may be called the National Jute Board Act,2008. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "appointed day" means such date as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint for the purpose of section 3; (b) "Board" means the National Jute Board constituted under section 3; (c) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Board; (d) "Council" means the Jute Manufactures Development Council established under section 3 ofthe Jute Manufactures Development Council Act, 1983 (27 of 1983); (e) "Jute" means the plants of jute, kenaf and mesta; (f) "jute manufacture" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Jute ManufacturesCess Act, 1983(28 of 1983); (g) "member" means a member of the Board and includes the Chairperson; (h) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (i) "regulations" means regulations made by the Board under this Act; (j) "Society" means the National Centre for Jute Diversification, a society set up by the CentralGovernment in the Ministry of Textiles and registered under the Societies Registration Act,1860(21 of 1860); (k) "year" means the year commencing on the 1st day of April and ending on the 31st day ofMarch next following.

(1) With effect from the appointed day, the CentralGovernment shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute, for the purposes of this Act, a Boardto be called the National Jute Board. (2) The Board shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and acommon seal, with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and tocontract, and shall by the said name sue and be sued. (3) The head office of the Board shall be at Kolkata in the State of West Bengal or such other place asthe Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify and the Board may, with the previous approval of the Central Government, establish offices or agencies at other places in or outsideIndia. (4) The Board shall consist of the following members, namely:-- (a) the Secretary in charge of the ministry of the Central Government dealing with textiles, whoshall be the ex officio Chairperson of the Board; (b) three Members of Parliament of whom two shall be elected from among themselves by themembers of the House of the People and one from among themselves by the members of the Councilof States; (c) the Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India,ex officio; (d) the Joint Secretary (Jute) in the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, ex officio; (e) two members of the rank of Joint Secretary to be nominated by the Central Government torepresent respectively the ministries of the Central Government dealing with-- (i) agriculture, and (ii) food and public distribution; (f) three members to be nominated by the Central Government by rotation in the alphabeticalorder to represent respectively the Governments of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,Meghalaya, Orissa, Tripura and West Bengal; the nomination shall be from officials of the StateGovernment holding the rank of Secretary to the State Government and dealing with Jute or Textilematters; (g) three members of jute farmers of which one from State of West Bengal and two from otherStates on rotational basis to be nominated by the Central Government; (h) three members of jute workers of which one from State of West Bengal and two from otherStates nominated by the Central Government on rotational basis; (i) two experts from the field of jute technology and related field to be nominated by the CentralGovernment; (j) two members from the "micro enterprises", "small enterprises" and "medium enterprises"dealing in jute industry to be nominated by the Central Government. Explanation.--For the purpose of this clause, the expressions "medium enterprise", "microenterprise" and "small enterprise" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clause (g),clause (h) and clause (m) of section 2 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act,2006 (27 of 2006); (k) two members to be appointed by the Central Government to represent the jute industry in theorganised sector; (l) two members to be appointed by the Central Government to represent the jute industry in thedecentralised sector; (m) two members to be appointed by the Central Government to represent the exporters of juteproducts; (n) the Director, Indian Jute Industries Research Association, ex officio; (o) the Principal, Institute of Jute Technology, ex officio; (p) the Director, National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata,ex officio; (q) the Director, Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, ex officio; (r) the Chairman and Managing Director, Jute Corporation of India, ex officio; (s) the Jute Commissioner, ex officio; (t) the Secretary, National Jute Board, who shall be the ex officio Member-Secretary of the Board. (5) The term of office of the members, other than the ex officio members, and the manner of fillingvacancies among, and the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions by, such membersshall be as may be prescribed. (6) The office of members of the Board shall not disqualify its holder for being chosen as, or forbeing a member of either House of Parliament. (7) The Chairperson shall, in addition to presiding over the meetings of the Board, exercise anddischarge such powers and duties of the Board as may be assigned to him by the Board and such otherpowers and duties as may be prescribed. (8) The Board shall elect from among its members a Vice-Chairperson who shall exercise such of thepowers and perform such of the functions of the Chairperson as may be prescribed or as may be delegatedto him by the Chairperson. (9) The Board shall meet at such times and places and shall observe such procedure in regard to thetransaction of business at its meetings (including the quorum at meetings) as may be determined byregulations.

(1) The Central Government may appoint the Secretary and suchother officers and employees as it considers necessary, for the efficient discharge of the functions of theBoard under this Act. (2) The terms and conditions of service of the Secretary and other officers and employees of theBoard shall be such as may be determined by regulations.

(1) It shall be the duty of the Board to promote the development of jute andjute products by such measures as it thinks fit. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the Board may undertake measuresto-- (i) evolve an integrated approach to jute cultivation in the matters of formulation of schemes,extension work, implementation and evaluation of schemes aimed at increasing the yield of jute andimproving the quality thereon; (ii) promote production of better quality raw jute; (iii) enhance productivity of raw jute; (iv) promote or undertake arrangements for better marketing and stabilisation of the prices of rawjute; (v) promote standardisation of raw jute and jute products; (vi) suggest norms of efficiency for jute industry with a view to eliminating waste, obtainingoptimum production, improving quality and reducing costs; (vii) propagate information useful to the growers of raw jute and manufacturers of jute products; (viii) promote and undertake measures for quality control of raw jute and jute products; (ix) assist and encourage studies and research for improvement of processing, quality, techniquesof grading and packaging of raw jute; (x) promote or undertake surveys or studies aimed at collection and formulation of statisticsregarding raw jute and jute products; (xi) promote standardisation of jute manufactures; (xii) promote the development of production of jute manufactures by increasing the efficiencyand productivity of the jute industry; (xiii) sponsor, assist, coordinate, encourage or undertake scientific, technological, economic andmarketing research pertaining to the jute sector; (xiv) maintain and improve existing markets and to develop new markets within the country andoutside for jute manufactures and to devise marketing strategies in consonance with the demand forsuch manufactures in the domestic and international markets; (xv) sponsor, assist, coordinate or encourage scientific, technological and economic research inthe matters related to materials, equipment, methods of production, product development includingdiscovery and development of new materials, equipment and methods and improvements in thosealready in use in the jute industry; (xvi) provide and create necessary infrastructural facilities and conditions conducive to thedevelopment of diversified jute products by way of assisting the entrepreneurs, artisans, craftsman,designers, manufacturers, exporters, non-Governmental agencies in the following manner, namely:-- (a) transfer of technology from research and development institutions and otherorganisations in India and abroad; (b) providing support services to the entrepreneurs for the implementation of theirprojects including technical guidance and training; (c) organising entrepreneurial development programmes; (d) planning and executing market promotion strategies including exhibitions,demonstrations, media campaigns in India and abroad; (e) providing financial assistance by way of subsidy or seed capital; (f) providing a forum to the people engaged or interested in diversified jute products forinteracting with various national and international agencies, engaged in the jute and jutetextile sector; (xvii) organise workshops, conferences, lectures, seminars, refresher courses and set up studygroups and conduct training programmes for the purpose of promotion and development of jute andjute products; (xviii) undertake research on jute seed to improve quality and to shorten the gestation period ofjute crop; (xix) incorporate measures for sustainable Human Resource Development of the jute sector and toprovide necessary funds for the same; (xx) modernisation of jute sector and technology development; (xxi) take steps to protect the interests of jute growers and workers and to promote their welfareby improving their livelihood avenues; (xxii) secure better working conditions and provisions and improvement of amenities andincentives for workers engaged in the jute industry; (xxiii) register jute growers and manufacturers on optional basis; (xxiv) collect statistics with regard to jute and jute products for compilation and publication; (xxv) subscribe to the share capital of or enter into any arrangement (whether by way ofpartnership, joint venture or any other manner) with any other body corporate for the purpose ofpromoting the jute sector or for promotion and marketing of jute and jute products in India andabroad. (3) It shall be the duty of the Board-- (a) to advise the Central Government on all matters relating to the development of raw jute andthe jute industry, including import and export of jute and jute products; (b) to prepare and furnish reports relating to the jute sector as may be required by the CentralGovernment from time to time.