The Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985

(1) This Act may be called the Handlooms (Reservationof Articles for Production) Act, 1985. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date1as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "Advisory Committee" means the Advisory Committee constituted under section 4; (b) "handloom" means any loom, other than power loom; (c) "manufacturer" includes the producer and processor, and the expression "manufacture" shallbe construed accordingly; (d) "power loom" means a loom which is worked by power as defined in clause (g) of section 2of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948); (e) "processor" means a person engaged in any ancillary process subsequent to the production ofcloth, such as dyeing, bleaching, mercerising, calendering, embroidering, printing, raising, clothembossing or any other finishing process, but does not include a producer, and the expression"process" shall be construed accordingly; (f) "producer" means a person engaged in the production of cloth on any loom, other thanhandloom, and shall include a person who owns, works or operates on, a loom for the production ofcloth, and the expression produce shall be construed accordingly.

(1) Notwithstandinganything contained in the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 (65 of 1951), the CentralGovernment may, if it is satisfied, after considering the recommendations made to it by the AdvisoryCommittee, that it is necessary so to do for the protection and development of the handloom industry, byorder published in the Official Gazette, direct, from time to time, that any article or class of articles shall,on and from such date as may be specified in the order (hereinafter referred to as the date of reservation),be reserved for exclusive production by handlooms. (2) Every order published under sub-section (1) 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 becomprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the sessionimmediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making anymodification in the order or both Houses agree that the order should not be made, the order shallthereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, thatany such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously doneunder that order.

(1) The Central Government shall, with a view todetermining the nature of any article or class of articles that may be reserved for exclusive production byhandlooms, constitute an Advisory Committee consisting of such persons as have, in the opinion of thatGovernment, the necessary expertise to give advice on the matter. (2) The Advisory Committee shall, after considering the following matters, communicate itsrecommendations to the Central Government, namely:-- (a) the article or class of articles which is being produced by handlooms for mass consumption; (b) the article or class of articles which is being produced traditionally by handlooms; (c) the level of employment likely to be generated by the production of the article or class ofarticles referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) exclusively by handlooms; (d) the protection of interests of persons engaged in the handloom industry and the need for thecontinued maintenance of the industry; and (e) such other matters as the Advisory Committee may think fit.

Where an order hasbeen made under section 3 reserving any article or class of articles for exclusive production byhandlooms, such article or class of articles shall not, on and from the date of reservation, be produced byany loom, other than handloom: Provided that any person who, immediately before the date of reservation of any article or class ofarticles, was engaged in the production of such article or class of articles in any loom, other thanhandloom may continue to be so engaged till the expiry of three months from the date of such reservation.