14. Amendment to Act 9 of 1957.—

In the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board Act, 1957 (9 of 1957),— (1) after clause (ii-a) in section 2, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:— (ii-b) "local authority" means a panchayat at any level constituted under section 4 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (13 of 1994) or a municipality constituted under section 4 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 (20 of 1994)."; (2) in clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 4, after the words "village industries" the words "of whom one shall be from among the District Panchayat Presidents and one shall be from among the Mayors of a municipal corporation or a Chairperson of a municipality" shall be inserted; (3) after sub-section (5) of section 10, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:— "(6) The local authorities shall have power to supervise the schemes of the Board formulated and funded by them."; (4) in section 15,—

(a) in sub-section (1), after the words "village industries and before the words "and perform" the following words shall be inserted, namely:— "and to assist the local authorities in implementation of the Schemes for the development of Khadi and Village Industries;"

(b) in sub-section (2),— (i) item (6) shall be omitted; (ii) for item (6a) the following shall be substituted, namely:— "(6a) to carry on trading activities by way of running emporia, neera bhavans, depots, manufacturing centres and the like on request from a Panchayat or Municipality or Institution aided by the Board or individuals. "; (iii) for item (10), the following item shall be substituted, namely:— "(10) to arrange for publicity and popularising of goods manufactured in Khadi and Village Industries by opening stores, shops, exhibitions and the like and to carry on such activities incidental and conducive to the objects of this Act and to perform such other functions as the Government may direct for the purpose of carrying out the objects of this Act;"; (5) in section 16,— (a) in the first proviso to item (i) for the words "aforesaid-powers" the words "aforesaid powers except the power to acquire" shall be substituted;

(b) in item (ii), after the word "Government" the words "or local authorities" shall be inserted; (6) for section 16A, the following section shall be substituted, namely : "16A. Delegation of functions of the Board to local authorities.—The Government may by order delegate the functions of the Board under this Act to the local authorities, subject to such conditions as may be specified in that order."; (7) in section 17,— (a) in sub-section (1), for the words "forward to the Government a programme of work "the words, figures and brackets "forward to the Government and the District Planning Committee constituted under section 53 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 (20 of 1994) a programme of work" shall be substituted; (b) after sub-section(2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:— "(3) The District Planning Committee shall within one month from the date of receipt of the programme of work from the Board forward the same to the Government with its recommendations."; (8) in section 18, the words ''after due consideration of the recommendations of the District Planning Committees" shall be added at the end; (9) in section 19, before the word and figure 'section 18' the word and figure 'section 17' shall be inserted; (10) in section 19A, for the word 'Government' the words "Government and the District Planning Committee concerned" shall be substituted.