The Assam Agricultural Produce Market (Amendment) Act, 2001

Registered No.-768/97

THE ASSAM GAZETTE
W l f f l

EXTRAORDINARY
vri

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

20 30 2001, 10 WTO, 1922 (*Rt>)
No.20 Dispur. Tuesday, 30th January, 2001, 10th Magha, 1922 (S.E.)

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM

ORDERS BY THE GOVERNOR
1

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT : LEGILATIVE BRANCH
y

NOTIFICATION

The 11 th January, 2001

No.LGL. 121/97/102:-T h e  following Act of the Assam Legislative 
Assembly which received the assent of the President/Governor is hereby 
published for general information.



146 THE ASSAMG AZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN, 30, 2001
ASSAM ACT NO. I OF 2001

(Received the Assent of the President on 29th December, 2000)

THE ASSAM AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE MARKET 
(AMENDMENT) ACT, 2000

AN
ACT

further to amend the Assam Agricultural Produce Market Act, 
1972.

Prcam bl e. Whereas it is expedient to amend the Assam Assam 
Agricultural Produce Market Act, 1972, hereinafter Act \<>. 
referred to as the principal Act, in the manner xxm  
hereinafter appearing ; <>*' | 9 7 4 -

It is hereby enacted in the Fifty-first Year of the 
Republic of India as follows :-

Short title, 1.(1) This Act may be called the Assam Agricultural 
extent and Produce Market (Amendment) Act, 2000.
c o m m c n ce­
ment.

(2) It shall have the like extent as the principal Act.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

i
$

Amendment -• I'1 the principal Act, in section 2, in sub-section 
of section 2. ( I), "

(i) in clause (iii), for the words and figures "under 
the Assam Panchayati Raj Act, 1972" 
occuring after the word" established", the 
words and figures "under the provisions of 
the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994" shall be 
substitued.

(ii) in clause (iii), for the existing side note "Assam
Act XI of 1973", the following side note shall 
be substitued namely :-

"Assam Act'No. XVIII of 1994"
(iii) clause (xiii) alongwith the side note thereof shall

be ommitted.
(iv) in clause (v.v), for the word ’Mahkuma",

appearing in the third line, the word "Zilla" 
shall be substitued.

(v) for the existing clause (xxii) and side note there­
of, the following shall be subsituted, 
namely :-
"(xxii)" Zilla Parishad" means a Zilla Assam 

Parishad established under sub-section (1) of Act x<>. 
section 64 of the Assam Panchayat Act, xvm  
1994 • " ' of 1994.



THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY. JAN. 30, 2001 147
(vi) for the existing clause (xxiv), the following shall

be substitued, namely "(xxiv) "Specified 
Agricultural Produce" means any or all the 
items included in the Schedule to this A c t;"

(vii) after clause (xxxix), the following new clause
(XL) shall be inserted, namely "(XL)"
Marketing Board Fund" means the Assam 
Stale Agricultural Marketing Board Fund 
established under section 3B of this Act.'

S u b s titu t io n  
of the words 
and figure  
the Assam 
P a n e h a y a t i 
Raj Act, 
1 9 7 2 .

3. In the principal Act, for the words and figure "the 
Assam Panchayati Raj Act, 1972" and the 
corresponding side note "Assam Act No. XI 
of 1972", wherever they occur, the words and 
figures "the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994" and 
side note "Assam Act No. XVIII of 1994" 
respectively, shall be substitued.

S u b s titu t io n  
of the word 
" M a h k u m a " .

4. In the principal Act, for the word ’Mahkuma" 
wherever it occurs in relation to a Parishad, 
the word "Zilla" shall be substituted.

S u b s titu t io n  
of the words 
" N o t if ie d  
A g ric u ltu ra l  
Produce".

5. In the principal Act, for the words "Notified 
Agricultural Produce" wherever they occur, 
the words "Specified Agricultural Produce" 
shall be substituted. ‘

A in e n d m e n t 
of
Section 3.

6. In the principal Act, in section 3,-
(1) in sub-section (1), -

(i) for the figure "12" appearing in the fourth line, the
figure "17" shall be substituted.

(ii) for clause (a), the following shall be substituted,
namely
"(a) one Chairman."

(iii) in clauses (b), after sub-clause (vi), the following
new sub-clause (vii) shall be inserted, 
namely :-

"(vii) Representative of the Marketing Adviser, 
Government of India, posted at Guwahati."

(iv) in clause c, -

(a) in sub-clause (i), (iii), (iv) and (v), for the 
punctuation mark " . " appearing at the end,

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 



148 THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 30, 2001
the punctuation mark " - " shall be substituted 
and the following lines shall be inserted 
against each, namely "To be nominated by 
the Chairman of the Board."

(b) after sub-clause (v), the following new 
sub-clauses shall be inserted, namely :-

"(vi) One trader of Agricultural Produce of a 
Market Committee to be nominated by the 
Chairman of the Board.

(vii) 3 (three) Nos. of Chairman from the 
Market Committee to be nominated by the »
Chairman of the Board."

(2) for sub-section (2), the following shall be i
substituted, namely :-

"(2) The State Government shall nominate a senior 
officer of the State Government having 
sufficient experience in the affairs of the State, 
to be the Chief Executive Officer of the Board 
who shall be selected by a Committee to be 

.  constituted by the Slate Government for this
purpose. The Chief Executive Officer shall be 
the ex-officio Member-Secretary of the Board 
who shall en joy the status of a Joint Secretary 
to the Government of Assam and shall hold 
office for such term and under such terms and 
conditions as may be fixed by the State 
Government from time to time." .

(3) in sub-section (3),
the punctuation mark " . " appearing after the 
word "sued" shall be deleted and after the 
word "sued" the following shall be inserted, 
namely :-

"and shall be competent to acquire and hold 
lease, or otherwise transfer any property and 
to enter into any contract and to do all other 
things necessary, for the purpose for which it 
is established.”

(4) After sub-section (3), the following new 
sub-section shall be inserted, namely :-



THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY. JAN. 30, 2001 149
"(3A) The Board may with the previous sanction of 

the State Government raise money required 
for carrying out the purposes for which it is 
established on the security of any properly 
vested in i t :

Provided that the conditions subject to 
which such money or loan shall be raised or 
obtained and lime within which such money 
or loan shall be repayable shall be subject to 
the previous sanction o f the State 
Government."

(5) After sub-section (7), the following new 
sub-section (7A) shall be inserted, namely 
"(7A) In the event of the removal of the 
Chairman by the State Government under 
sub-section (7) of section 3 and also in the 
event of resignation by the Chairman under 
sub-section (6) of section 3, the State 
Government shall nominate one amongst the 
members of the Board to preside over the 
meetings of the Board till a regular Chairman 
is nominated by the State Government."

(6) for sub-section (12), the following shall be 
substituted, namely :-

"(12) (a) Subject to the provisions of this Act 
and the rules and the bye-laws made 
thereunder the Board may employ such 
persons for the performance of the functions 
of the Board under this Act, and may give 
them such remuneration as it may think, fit and 
may suspend, remove, dismiss or otherwise 
punish any person so employed :

Provided that no new post in any 
category shall be created by the Board without 
obtaining prior approval of the State 
Government and the numbers of existing 
posts category-wise already created by the 
Board since its inception and before coming 
into force of the Assam Agricultural Produce 
Market ( Amendment) Act, 2000, shall be



2001

Substitution of 
the word

"Secretary"

150 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY. JAN, 30 , 
submitted by the Board for obtaining 
ex-post-facto concurrence of the State 
Government in this regard within one month 
from the date of coming into force of the 
Assam A gricultural Produce Market 
(Amendment) Act, 2000 and no person shall 
be employed by the Board in any capacity and 
in any manner whether on fixed pay or on 
adhoc basis or otherwise if the creation of 
such post has not been concurred by the State 
Government as provided under this section :

Provided further that the Board may, with 
the approval of the State Government and 
without any prejudice to the rule making 
power of the State Government under section 
49 of the Act. make bye-Laws under 
sub-section (14) of section 3 regulating the 
employment and conditions of service in 
respect of any or all categories of officers and 
employees of the Market Committees and 
such bye laws shall, as nearly as may be, 
consistent with the corresponding rules in 
respect of the Officers and employees of the 
corresponding grade of the State Government. 
Any amendment to such bye-Laws once 
framed shall require approbation of atleast 
three - fourth of the total number of members 
of the Board in the meeting before approval of 
the Government.
(b) The Board may constitute pool of Officers 
and other staff common to all market 
Committees and the Board as it may deem 
fit."

(7) in sub-section (14), the existing clause (c) 
shall be renumbered as clause (d) and after 
clause (b) the following new clause (c) shall 
be inserted, namely :-

"(c) regulating the employment and conditions 
of service in respect of any or all of the 
categories of Officers and employees of the 
Board arid the Market Committees

7. In the principal Act. for the word "Secretary" 
wherever it occurs in relation to the Board, the 
word 'Chief Executive Officer" shall be 
substituted.

 



THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY. JAN. 30, 2001 151
In se r tio n  
of new see- 
tions. 3 A. 
3B. 3C.
31). 3E.
31'. 3G.
311. 31, 3.J 
and 3K

X. In the principal Act, after section 3, the following 
new sections shall be inserted, namely

"Pow ers 3A. (1) The Board shall subject to the 
and l une- provisions of this Act and without prejudice to
t i o n s  “• the provisions of section 3 (10), perform the
the Board, following functions and do such things as 

may be necessary or expedient for carrying 
out these functions, namely

(1) Coordination of the working of the Market 
Committees and other affairs thereof including 
programmes undertaken by such Market 
Committees for the development of markets 
and market areas;

(ii) Undertake the State level planning of the 
development of Agricultural produce and 
Markets;

(iii) Administer the Marketing Board Fund ;
(iv) Giving direction to Market Committees in 

general or to any Market Committee in 
particular with a view to ensure improvement 
thereof:

(v) Any other functions specifically entrusted to 
the Board under this A ct;

(vi) Any other functions that may be entrusted to 
the Board by the State Government under this 
Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing provisions of the functions of the 
Board shall be, -

(i) to approve proposals for selection of new’ site 
by the Market Committees for establishment 
of Principal market yard or sub-market yard :

(ii) to approve proposal for constructing infras - 
structural facilities in the Market area :

(iii) to supervise and guide the Market Committees 
in the preparation of plans and estimates of 
construction programme undertaken by the 
Market Committee:

(iv) to execute all works chargeable to the Board's 
fund:

 
 

 

 



152 THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 30. 2001
(v)

(vi)

(vii)

(viii)

Assam State
A g r ic u l tu r a l  
M a r k e t in g  
Board F un d .

to maintain accounts in such forms as may be 
formulated and get the same audited.
to set up separate Marketing Extension Cell in 
the Board for transfer of m arketing 
technology and extension services and also to 
make necessary arrangement by the Board for 
propaganda and publicity on matters related to 
regulated marketing of an Agricultural 
Produce ;
to prepare and adopt annual budget for the 
ensuing year;
to do such other lawful things as may be 

considered necessary for carrying out the 
provisions of this Act.

3B. All moneys received by or on behalf of the 
Board shall be credited to a fund called "The 
Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board 
Fund". The existing Fund of the Board before 
coming into force of the Assam Agricultural 
Produce Market (Amendment) Act. 2000, 
shall be credited to the Assam State 
A gricultural M arketing Board Fund 
established under this section, within one 
month from the date of coming into force of 
the Assam Agricultural Produce Market 
(Amendment) Act, 2000.

I’ ay m e n ts  
in cu rred  by 
the B o ard .

3C. All payment incurred by the Board shall be 
defrayed out of the Marketing Board Fund. 
The Chief Executive Officer of the Board shall 
be the drawing and disbursing officer subject 
to this Act and the bye-laws framed to that 
effect.

C o n t r i b u t i o n 
to w ard s  the 
B o a rd .

3D. Every Market Committee shall pay to the 
Board 50% of its annual gross income derived 
from licence fee and cess as contribution to 
meet the expenses of establishment of the 
Board and execution of works as may be 
directed by the Government from lime to time 
for carrying out the purposes of this Act and 
for execution of other functions assigned to 
the Board under this Act including the 
maintenance of pool of officers common to 
Board and Market Committee :



THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 30. 2001 153

Provided that 50% of the amount out of 
the amount collected by way of contribution 
from the Market Committees by the Board 
every year shall be transferred from the 
Marketing Board Fund to a separate account 
to be known as Agricultural Development 
Fund. The Chief Executive Officer shall 
incure expenditure after approval from the 
Board from and out of that fund on such 
schemes or items as may be prepared for the 
development of Agricultural Produce and 
Market subject to the approval of such 
schemes or items by a Committee consisting 
of the following

(a)
(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Chairman of the Board - Chairman
Secretary to the Govt. - Member, 
of Assam, Agriculture
Department

Director of Agriculture, - Member 
Assam.
Chief Engineer, Agriculture, - Member 
Assam.

Chief Executive Officer - Member
of the Board Secretary ;

Provided further that the Board may 
appropriate any amount from and out of the 
Agricultural Development Fund for meeting 
any other expenses authorised under this 
section so as to meet any exigency without 
effecting the on going Schemes and items 
already approved by the Committee.

u t il iz a t io n  of 3E. (1) The Marketing Board Fund shall be 
M a r k e t in g  utilised by the Board for discharge of
Board Fund. functions entrusted to the Board under this

Act.
(2) Without Prejudice to the generality of this 

provision to Marketing Board Fund may be 
utilised for the following purposes, namely

(i) payment of administrative expenditure of the 
Board ;

(ii) payment of travelling and other allowance to 
the Chairman and Members of the Board ;



154 THE ASSAM GAZETTE, EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 30, 2001
(iii) payment of legal expenses incurred by the 

Board;
(iv) granting aid to financially weak Market 

Committees in the form of loan or grant for 
development purposes:

(v) training of the officers and staff of the Market 
Committees and the Board ;

(vi) for any purpose as may be deemed necessary 
by the Board for carrying out the purposes of 
this A ct;

(vii) for any purpose as may be directed by the 
State Government for carrying out the 
purposes of this Act.

Audit <>f 3F. (1) The Accounts of the Board shall be
Accounts of audited every year by the Director of Audit
the Board. (Loacal Fund), Assam or in whatever name he

may be called or any officer authorised by 
him. The Board shall be deemed to be a Local 
Authority for this purpose.

, (2)The Board shall make arrangement for
internal Audit of its Accounts every year by 
such officers or pursons as it may deem fit.

(3) The Forms of Accounts to be maintained 
by the Board for the purpose of Audit shall be 
such as may be determined by the Board in 
consultation with the Director of Audit (Local 
Fund), Assam.

)

(4) The report of Audit with comments of the 
Board thereon shall be submitted to State 
Government every year.

De le g a tio n  
of power

3G. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the 
Board may by general or special order 
delegate to the Chief Executive Officer or to 
any other officer of the Board such of the 
powers and duties under the Act as it may 
deem fit.

(2) The Chairman or the Chief Executive 
Officer of the Board may delegate any of his 
powers under this Act to any officer of the 
Board.



THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY. JAN, 30. 2001 155
Powers and 
Functions of 
the 
C h a irm a n .

F u n c tio n s  
and powers of 
the Chief 
Executive 
O ff ic e r .

3H. (1) The Chairman of the Board shall be 
responsible for the administration of the 
Assam Agricultural produce Market Act, 1972 
as amended from time to time and shall 
subject to any other provisions as may be 
prescribed and the bye-laws framed, exercise 
general control over the employees of the 
Board and market Committees.

(2) The other powers and functions of the 
Chairman shall be such as may be prescribed.

31.(1) The Chief Executive Officer of the Board 
shall exercise supervision and control over the 
officers and staff employed by the Board and 
M arket C om m ittees in m atters of 
adm inistration , execution o f works, 
maintenance of accounts and records of the 
Board and disposal of all questions relating to 
the service matters of the employees subject to 
the approval of the Chairman of the Board.

(2) The other powers and functions of the Chief 
Executive Officer shall be such as may be 
prescribed."

9. In the principal Act, in section 4, in sub-section
(1), for the word ’such' appearing in between 
the words "at" and agricultural" the word 
"specified" shall be substituted.

A m endm ent 10. 
of section 5.

In the principal Act, in section 5, -

(i) in sub-section (1), the words "or any of the 
kinds of" appearing in between the words 
"all” and "agricultural" shall be deleted.

(ii) for sub-section (4), the following shall be 
substituted, namely :-

"(4) The State Government may, at any time 
by notification in the Official Gazette exclude 
from the market area any area comprised 
therein or add a new area to it."

Amendment 11. In the principal Act, in section 6, -
of section 6.

(i) in sub-section (2), for the word "The State 
Government may, by notification in the



156 THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, JAN. 30. 2001
Official Gazette, the words "The Board with 
the approval of the State Government may" 
shall be substituted.

(ii) in sub-section (2), in clause (ii), for the 
punctuation mark appearing at the end the 
punctuation mark shall be substituted and 
after clause (ii), the following proviso shall be 
inserted, namely

"Provided that the location of the 
principal market yard, sub-market yard or 
yards or any other lands, buildings or 
structures ancilliary thereto shall be at a close 
distance from the location where the trade and 
merchandise in all or any specified agricultural 
produce normally takes place."

(iii) after sub-section (2), the following new 
sub-section shall be inserted, namely :-

"(3) The land requirement for establishing a 
structure and its specification shall be such as 
may be prescribed.

A m en d  in e n t 
o f section  
1 9 .

Explantation - For this sub-section the word 
structure shall include any office building of 
the Market Committee, staff quarter, rest 
house, godown, principal market yard, 
sub-market yard or yards, check-gate and its 
ancilliary structures."

12. In the principal Act, in section 19, in sub-section 
(1), for the punctuation mark appearing at 
the end, the punctuation mark shall be 
substituted and after sub-section (1), the 
following proviso shall be inserted, namely :- 

"Provided that no new post of any 
category shall be created by the Market 
Committees without obtaining prior approval 
of the State Government through the Board 
and no new appointment shall be made in any 
capacity in the Market Committee whetheron 
fixed pay or ad-hoc basis or otherwise unless 
the post is approved by the State Government. 
The Market Committee shall submit the 
respective lists of posts category-wise created 
since its establishment and before the date of 
coming into force of the Assam Agricultural 
Produce Market (Amendment) Act, 2000 to

 
 



THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY, JAN, 30, 2001 157 
the Board within one month from the date of 
commencement of the Assam Agricultural 
Produce Market (Amendment) Act, 2000, for 
ex-post-facto approval of the Government and 
the Board in turn submit the same before the 
State Government within two months from 
the date of such coming into force for 
ex-post-facto  approval of the State 
Government.

A m endm ent 
of section  
2 1 .

13. In the principal Act, in section 21. for the words 
"one repees", the words "two repees" shall be 
substitued and for the existing Explanation 1 
there of, the following shall be substituted, 
namely :-

Insertion of 
new section  
21 A.
" P rev en tio n  
or evation  
of cess.

"E xplanation-! - For the purpose of this 
section all Specified Agricultural Produce 
shall unless the contrary is proved be deemed 
lobe bought or sold in notified market area 
i f -

(i) Such produce is taken out or proposed to 
taken out of the said area ; or

(ii) the agreement of sale or purchase thereof in 
respect of such produce is entered into in the 
said area, or

(iii) in pursuance of sale or purchase or the 
agreement of sale or purchase such produce is 
delivered in the said area to the purchaser or to 
some other person on behalf of the 
purchaser."

14. In the principal Act, after section 21, the 
following new section shall be inserted, 
namely :-

21 A. For prevention of the evasion of cess on 
Specified Agricultural Produce the Market 
Committee shall establish checkgates at 
different points within the Market Area 
whenever felt necessary with the prior 
approval of the Board."

A men <i me nt 
of section  
2 3 .

15. In the principal Act, in section 23. for the last 
sentence, the following shall be substituted, 
namely :-

"subject to the provisions of section 3E any 
surplus remaining with the Market Committee

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 



158 THE ASSAM GAZETTE. EXTRAORDINARY. JAN, 30, 2001

Insertion of 
new section  
23 A.

"Audit of 
Accounts of 
the Market 
C o m m i 11 c e .

after such expenditure shall be invested in the 
manner as provided under section 25."

16. In the principal Act, after section 23, the 
fo llow ing  new section shall be inserted, 
namely

23A. (1) The accounts o f the Market Committee 
shall be audited by the Director o f Audit 
(Local Fund), Assam or in whatever name he 
may be called or the officer authorised by 
him. The Market Committee shall be deemed 
to be Local Authority for this purpose.

(2) The Board shall undertake the matter o f 
internal audit o f the accounts o f the Market 
Committees.

(3) The forms o f accounts to be maintained by 
the Market Committee for the purpose o f audit 
shall be such as may be determined by the 
Board in consultation with the Director o f 
Audit (Local Fund), Assam.

(4) The report o f Audit on the accounts o f the 
Market Committees shall be submitted to the 
Board with the comments o f the Committee 
thereon for its onwards submission to the 
Government.

Amendment of 17. In the principal Act.in section 24, in sub-section 
seetion 24. (1), the last sentence shall be deleted.
Amendment of ig. j n  the principal Act, in section 25, in sub-section 
seetion  25. ( | )  .

(i) clause (x) shall be ommited.
( ii)  after clause (x ii), the follow ing new clause 

shall inserted, namely
" (x iii)  Any matter which the Board may 
entrust.

Amendment of 19. In the principal Act, in section 39, in sub-section 
section 39. (7), for the word 'f ifty ' appearing in the last

line the word "two thousand" shall be 
substituted.

Amendment of 20. In the principal Act,in section 43, in between the 
section 43. words "Members" and "secretary" the words

"Chief Executive Officer" shall be inserted.
Amendment of 21. In the principal Act. in section 49. in sub-section 
section 49. (2). clause (xv). (xvi). (xx) and (xx iii)  shall

be ommitted.

M. K. DEKA.
Secretary to the Govt, o f Assam, 

Legislative Department.

GUWAHATI—Printed & Published by the Dy. Director (P), Directorate of Pig. & Sty., 
Assam, Guwahati (Ex-Gazette) No. 39-500-600-30-1-2001.