Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com MAHARASHTRA RAW COTTON (GRADING AND MARKING) RULES, 1972 CONTENTS 1. Short title 2. Definitions 3. Token to be given to every Tenderer 4. Inspection of Kapas to be made in the order of priority. 5. Grading to be completed on the day on which kapas is tendered, etc. 6. Grading by whom to be made. 7. Market Committee to supervise Grading Operations 8. Each variety of kapas to be tendered separately 9. Procedure of Grading 10. Pedigree 11. Grading of Foundation Seed Kapas 12. Result of Grading to be recorded, etc.. 13. Instructions to ensure against admixture with graded kapas 14. Marking on Bales. 15. Application of Rules to cotton tendered under section 47. SCHEDULE 1 :- Varieties of kapas grown in Maharashtra and their Characteristics etc. SCHEDULE 2 :- Code Numbers allotted to different varieties of kapas grown in the State MAHARASHTRA RAW COTTON (GRADING AND MARKING) RULES, 1972 In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 46 read with section 22 of the Maharashtra Raw Cotton (Procurement, Processing and Marketing) Act, 1971 (Mah.XLVII of 1971), and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Government of Maharashtra hereby makes the following rules, the same having been previously published as required by sub-section (3) of the said section 46, namely :- 1. Short title :- These rules may be called the MAHARASHTRA RAW COTTON (GRADING AND MARKING) RULES, 1972 . 2. Definitions :- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires - (a) "Act" means the Maharashtra Raw Cotton (Procurement, Processing and Marketing) Act, 1971; (b) "agent" means a person appointed by the State Government under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of Section 42 of the Maharashtra Raw Cotton (Procurement, Processing and Marketing) Act, 1971 for the purpose of purchase or sale or distribution of, and trade in, cotton at the collection centre; (c) "form" means form appended to these rules: (d) "schedule" means a Schedule appended to these rules; (e) "tenderer" means a person who is the actual grower of kapas a holder of stocks thereof and who tenders the same for sale at a collection centre,; and includes an agent. (2) Words and expressions used in these rules but not defined, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act. 3. Token to be given to every Tenderer :- Every tenderer bringing kapas at the collection centre on any working day shall on arrival thereat be required to form a queue and given a token by the grader indicating his serial number in the queue on the basis of the time of his arrival at the collection centre. 4. Inspection of Kapas to be made in the order of priority. :- The inspection of kapas, brought by a tenderer at the collection centre for the purpose of its grading, shall be taken up in the order of the number allotted to the tenderer under Rule 3 and indicated on the token given to him. 5. Grading to be completed on the day on which kapas is tendered, etc. :- (1) The grading of kapas tendered at the collection centre on any working day, shall be completed on the same day. If, however, for any unforeseen and unavoidable reason, the inspection and grading is not wholly completed and has to be postponed to another day, then such inspection and grading of the remaining kapas shall be taken up on the next working day in the same order of priority as indicated by the token given to the tenderer. (2) The token issued to any tenderer shall be collected from him by the grader when he takes up his kapas for inspection and grading. 6. Grading by whom to be made. :- All kapas tendered at any collection centre by any tenderer shall be graded by a grader and such other officers as may be appointed by the State Government for that purpose; Provided that, where the State Government has appointed an agent for the whole State or any specified area thereof then, such grading may be made by any grader appointed by such agent. 7. Market Committee to supervise Grading Operations :- The market Committee concerned shall supervise the grading operation under these rules in the same manner as it supervises the grading of agricultural produce under any rules made by the State Government under the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1963, or any by-laws made by it, under the Act. 8. Each variety of kapas to be tendered separately :- (1) Where any tenderer brings different varieties of kapas at any one time, he shall be required to tender each variety of kapas, separately. If kapas of one variety is mixed up with that of any other variety, the grader shall classify the same as of the x grade in accordance with provisions of Rule 9. 9. Procedure of Grading :- (1) The grader shall require the tenderer to open the container in which kapas has been brought and to spread the kapas on the ground. The grader shall ensure, that before the tenderer so spreads the kapas, the ground is covered by cloth, tarpaulin or such other material as may be provided by the agent or any person authorised by him, so as to prevent mixing of dust, sand or any other foreign material with the kapas. The grader shall then examine by visual inspection and fell that the kapas is uniform in moisture content, colour and trash. (2) The grader shall then proceed to determine the variety of the kapas tendered with reference to the characteristics of different varieties of kapas mentioned in Schedule I. (3) After having determined the variety of the kapas under sub- rule (2) the grader shall proceed to determine the grade of the variety, in accordance with such specifications as may be laid down by the Director of Marketing in consultation with the Director of Agriculture, and until it is so laid down, regard being had to the grade of general characteristics of the kapas, by visual assessment, as follows :- 10. Pedigree :- Nucleus Seed and Foundatio Seed Coilon to be graded, etc. separately. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules pedigree cotton and nucleus seed cotton grown on any Government Agricultural Research Farm or any seed Farm approved by the Director of Agricultural in this behalf or the nucleus seed cotton produced by the Department of Agriculture on any Seed Multiplication Farm and the foundation seed cotton produced by cultivator under the supervision of the officers of the Department of Agriculture, shall be graded, ginned and pressed separately, with distinct grade designation marks. (2) The different varieties of cotton referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be graded and pooled together separately under the supervision of the officers of the Department of Agriculture . 11. Grading of Foundation Seed Kapas :- A n y tenderer tendering kapas produced from out of foundation seed shall do so separately at the collection centre and the quality shall be trated as 'A' stage cotton. If any such kapas is produced from out of 'A' stage cotton seed, it shall be treated and 'B' stage cotton seed shall be treated as 'C' stage cotton. The different varieties of cotton under the aforesaid categories shades separately added in accordance with the specifications mentioned in Rule 9 and also separately pooled. 12. Result of Grading to be recorded, etc.. :- (1) After any variety of kapas tendered at a collection centre has been graded in the manner provided in the foregoing rules, the grader, shall record the result of the grading in Part II of the Weighment-cum- Grading Slip, in Form I, and shall sign such slip in token of having graded the kapas. The grader shall then record such result in the Grading Register in Form II. (2) After the Weighment-cum-Grading Slip is duly filled in, it shall be handed over to the tenderer who shall be required to take the same to the weighman licensed by the market committee for the purpose of weighment of the kapas. (3) The Weighment-cum-Grading Slip is duly filled in, quadruplicate and one copy thereof shall be supplied to the tenderer, another to the Market Committee concerned, the third copy shall be given to the agent or any person authorised by him and the last copy shall be retained by the grader. 13. Instructions to ensure against admixture with graded kapas :- The State Government or the agent may issue suitable directions with a view to ensure that kapas of any one variety after it is graded under these rules does not get mixed up with kapas of any other variety until such time, as such graded kapas is pressed into bales. 14. Marking on Bales. :- (1) Every full-pressed bale shall bear markings to denote the variety and the grade of the lint contained in the bale, the description of the place at which the cotton has been procured and such other particulars as are required to be given under the Cotton Ginning and Pressing Act, 1925, and the rules made thereunder. (2) The variety of kapas shall be indicated on the bales by the appropriate code sign mentioned in Schedule II: Provided that, where the kapas packed in any bale is one referred to in Rule 10 or Rule 11, additional markings indicating the stage of cotton shall also be indicated on the bale, as illustrated below : (i) In the case of cotton of the variety known as I lybrid-4 if it is of the I- Grade variety produced out of foundation seed, the bale shall be marked as follows :- "H-4 I-GDE A-Stage" (ii) If the cotton referred to in illustration (1) was produced from out of seed procured from A-Stage cotton, the bale shall be marked as follows "H-4 I-GDE B-Stage" 15. Application of Rules to cotton tendered under section 47. :- The provisions of the foregoing rules shall mutatis-mutandis apply to the inspection and grading of cotton tendered under Section 47 of the Maharashtra Raw Cotton (Procurement, Processing and Marketing) Act, 1971 . SCHEDULE 1 Varieties of kapas grown in Maharashtra and their Characteristics etc. SCHEDULE 2 Code Numbers allotted to different varieties of kapas grown in the State