[Maharashtra Act 18 of 1968 as
amended up to Maharashtra Act 27 of 2005][1] [11th June, 1968] An Act to extend the activities of the Museum
at Poona under the name of the Mahatma Phule Vastu Sangrahalaya, Poona, and to
make better provision for the management and maintenance thereof. Whereas, it is expedient to extend the activities of
the Museum now known as the Lord Reay Maharashtra Industrial Museum at Poona,
and to rename it as the Mahatma Phule Vastu Sangrahalaya, Poona, and to
make better provision for the management and maintenance thereof and to provide
for matters connected with the purposes aforesaid; It is hereby enacted in the
Nineteenth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— PRELIMINARY (1)
This Act may
be called the Mahatma Phule Vastu Sangrahalaya, Poona, Act, 1968. (2)
It shall
come into force on such date[2] as
the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
appoint. In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires,— (a)
“Board”
means the Board of Trustees constituted or deemed to be constituted under this
Act; (b)
“prescribed”
means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (c)
“Museum”
means the Mahatma Phule Vastu Sagnrahalaya, Poona. OBJECTS AND MEMBERSHIP (1)
The aims and
objects of the Museum shall be— (a)
to serve as
an educative institution for the genera public, with a view to illustrating— (i)
the various
branches of science, and in particular their application to industry,
agriculture and commerce; (ii)
the history,
the arts, the culture, and the social and economic development of Maharashtra,
and the relation thereof to the rest of India and to other countries? (b)
to show, by
means of exhibits, machines, models, pictures and charts, the origin,
development and modern practice of each branch of science and its application
to industry, agriculture and commerce; (c)
to show, by
means of exhibits, ancient monuments and relics, figures of deities, coins,
instruments of war, instruments of music, vessels and utensils used in
religious or social ceremonies, implements of local art and manufacture and
such other related exhibits, the history, the arts, the culture, the standards
and modes of living, the natural resources, industries, agriculture and social,
economic and cultural developments of Maharashtra, supplemented with such other
collections as are conducive to the understanding and interpretation of the
material in the collections and, wherever necessary, by exhibits showing their
relations to similar objects and articles from other parts of India; (d)
to maintain
a library including cinematographic films, lantern slides and photographs; (e)
to arrange,
hold and undertake lectures, demonstrations and tours, with a view to promoting
interest in industrial development and in history, arts, culture and social and
economic development of Maharashtra; (f)
to organise
and help in organising industrial and other exhibitions in respect of the
matters enumerated in Clauses (a) to (c) above; (g)
to organise
and help in organising a commercial emporium; (h)
to
popularise the products of industries and handicrafts of Maharashtra in
particular and of India in general; (i)
to undertake
and do all such works and to do all such things as may be necessary for, or
conducive to, the attainment of any of the aforesaid aims and objects. (2)
The Museum
shall have a separate Industrial Section, which shall be called “the Lord Reay
Industrial Section”. (1)
The members
of the Museum shall consist of the following classes:— (i)
Benefactors,
that is to say, those who pay or have already paid to the Board Rs. 1,00,000 or
moire, in cash or otherwise; (ii)
Associate
Members, that is to say, those who pay or have already paid Rs. 25,000 or more
but less than Rs. 1,00,000, in cash or otherwise; (iii) Patrons, that is to say, those who pay or
have already paid Rs. 5,000 or more but less than Rs. 25,000, in cash or
otherswise; (iv)
Life
Members, that is to say, those who pay or have already paid Rs. 500 or more but
less than Rs. 5,000, in a lump sum. (v)
Donors, that
is to say, those who pay or have already paid Rs. 100 or more but less than Rs.
500, in a lump sum; (vi)
Ordinary
members, that is to say, those who pay Rs. 10, annually; Provided that in the case of a person
desiring to become a Benefactor. Associate Member or Patron, it the required
amount is proposed to be paid in cash, it shall be payable to the Board in a
lump sum or in not more than five instalment spread over a period not exceeding
two years from the date of payment of the first instalment and if the donation
is proposed to be made otherwise than in cash, the Board shall have a right to
accept or reject the exhibits or materials proposed to be donated, without
assigning any reason, and to determine the value thereof and to allot a
suitable class of membership to the donor, provided all exhibits and materials
are handed over to the Board within a period of two years from the date on
which the offer is accepted by the Board. (2)
No person shall
be debarred from becoming a member of the Museum by reason of his religion,
race, caste, sex or place of birth. A meeting of the genera body of the members
of the Museum shall be called by the Board every year, at such time and place
as may be prescribed. BOARD OF TRUSTEES (1)
There shall
be constituted for the maintenance and management of the Museum, and for
carrying into effect the other purposes of this Act, a Board of Trustees. The
Board shall be a body corporate by the name of “The Trustees of
the Mahatma Phule Vastu Sangrahalaya, Poona” and shall have perpetual
succession and a common seal, and shall have power to acquire, hold and dispose
of property, and to enter into contracts; and may by the said name sue and be
sued. (2)
The Board
shall consist of— A.
The
following members, ex-officio,— (i)
the Revenue
Commissioner, Pune Division, who shall re the President of the Board; (ii)
the Director
of Art; [3][(iii) the Director of Archaeology and
Museum;] (iv) the
Director of Education, and if he is unable to attend his nominee not below the
rank of Deputy Director of Education; (v) the
Director of Agriculture, and if he is unable to attend his nominee not below
the rank of Deputy Director of Agriculture; (vi) the
Chief Conservator of Forests, and if he is unable to attend his nominee not
below the rank of Conservator of Forests; (vii) the
Industries Commissioner, and if he is unable to attend his nominee not below
the rank of Deputy Director of Industries; (viii) the
Superintendent of Archaeological Survey of the South-Western Circle. B.
[4][(i) one member of the Maharashtra
Legislative Council, residing in the Pune District, nominated by the Chairman
of the Maharashtra Legislative Council; (ii) one member of the Maharashtra
Legislative Assembly, residing in the Pune District, nominated by the Speaker
of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.] C.
The
following four representatives of the Municipal Corporation of the City of Poona—ex-officio:— (i)
the Mayor,
who shall be the Chairman of the Board; (ii)
the
Municipal Commissioner; (iii) the Chairman, Standing Committee; (iv)
the
Chairman, Municipal School Board. D.
Such number,
as may be prescribed, of representatives of local bodies (other than the
Municipal Corporation of the City of Poona) nominated by the local bodies,
provided such local bodies agree to make a contribution of such amount, each,
as may be prescribed, to the funds of the Museum. E.
The
representatives of the members of the Museum as follows;— (i)
all persons
who belong to the class of Benefactors; (ii)
one
representative of the Associate Members elected in the prescribed manner; (iii) four representatives from the remaining
classes of members elected in the prescribed manner: Provided that, no ordinary member of the
Museum shall be eligible to be elected a representative, unless he has been
such a member for not less than 3 years. F.
Two
representatives of local commercial and industrial interests, one to be
nominated by the Deccan Agricultural Association, Poona, and the other by the
Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Poona: Provided that, no representative under this
clause shall be nominated until the institute concerned has paid to the funds
of the Museum an affiliation fee of Rs. 300, nor shall continue to be a member
of the Board unless the institute pays to the said funds within the prescribed
period an annual subscription of Rs. 100. G.
(i) The
Director, Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay; (ii) The Professor-in-charge of the
Department of Ancient Indian Culture of the University of Poona. H.
One
non-official representative nominated by the State Government, being in the
opinion of the Government an expert or having special knowledge in history,
art, archaeology, anthropology or other subjects relating to the collections in
the Museum. (3)
The Board
may co-opt not more than three members, each, for such period not exceeding
three years, as it may determine. (1)
The members
of the Board representing the Maharashtra Legislative Council and Assembly
shall hold office, so long as they are members of the said Council or Assembly,
as the case may be. The benefactors shall hold office for life. Save as
otherwise provided, the other members (excluding
the ex-officio members) shall hold office for a period of three
years. (2)
If an
elected or nominated member— (a)
dies or
becomes insolvent, or (b)
is absent
from more than six consecutive meetings of the Board, or (c)
leaves the
State of Maharashtra with the intention of being absent therefrom for more than
six consecutive months, or (d)
desires to
be discharged, or (d)
refuses to
not or becomes incapable of acting, a new member shall be elected or nominated,
as the case may be, in the same manner as was the member in whose place he is
to be elected or nominated, and he shall hold office for so long only as such
member would have held it if the vacancy had not occurred. (1)
When any
meeting of the Board is held, the Commissioner, Poona Division, and in his
absence, the Chairman of the Board, and in the absence of both, a member who is
a Government officer and is elected by the members present at the meeting,
shall preside. (2)
The Quorum
necessary for the transaction of business at a meeting of the Board shall be
seven. No act of the Board shall be deemed to be
invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in, or defect in the constitution of
the Board. Subject to the provisions of any rules made
in this behalf, the Board may from time to time, by resolution passed at a
meeting— (a)
appoint
committees of its members for the performance of such functions as may be
specified in the resolution; (b)
appoint
advisory committees consisting partly of its members and partly of other
persons, on such terms and for the purpose of advising it on such matters as
may be specified in the resolution. All the property, whether movable or immovable,
which at the commencement of this Act is held by the Board constituted under
the Lord Reay Maharashtra Industrial Museum Act, 1947 (Bom. XXXII of 1947), on
trust for the purposes of that Museum shall, together with any such property
which may hereafter be given, bequeathed, transferred or acquired for the said
purposes, including contributions, fees and subscriptions, and property
accruing as a result of the exercise of any of the Board's powers, shall, by
virtue of this section and without further assurance, vest in the Board on
trust for the purposes of the Museum. Subject to the provisions of any rules or
by-laws made in this behalf, the Board may, from time to time,— (a)
deliver by
way of loan to any person the whole or any portion of, or any article contained
in, any collection vested in it under this Act; (b)
exchange or
sell articles contained in any such collection and take or purchase, in the
place of such articles; such other articles as may in its opinion be worthy of
preservation in the Museum; (c)
present
articles contained in any such collection to other museums in India or
elsewhere; (d)
remove and
destroy any article contained in any such collection: Provided that, nothing herein contained shall
authorise the Board to lend, exchange, sell, present, remove or destroy any
article when such lending, exchange, sale, presentation, removal or
destruction, as the case may be, is precluded by the terms on which the Board
may have received any such article. The Board may, if it thinks fit tot the
purposes of its trust under this Act,— (a)
assume the
custody and administration of collections which are not the property of the
Board and keep and preserve such collections either in the Museum or elsewhere; (b)
subject to
any rules made in this behalf, organise courses of instruction in all or any of
the subjects relating to the collections in the Museum, and afford facilities
for the sale or exhibition of products of Indian industries and handicrafts. The Board may, from time to time, borrow or
reborrow and take up at interest from the Central Government or the State
Government or, with the previous sanction of the State Government, from any
person, any sum necessary for the purpose of defraying any coats, charges or
expenses incurred or to be incurred by it to carry out the purposes of this
Act, or for the purposes of repaying either in whole or in part any sums
hereafter borrowed or owing by the Board. (1)
The Board
may, from time to time, with the previous sanction of the State Government,
make by-laws, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder,
for any purpose necessary for the execution of its trust. (2)
In
particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power,
such by-laws may provide for— (a)
the
summoning, holding and adjournment of meetings of the Board and procedure at
such meetings; (b)
the securing
of attendance of trustees at such meetings; (c)
the keeping
of minutes book and accounts books; (d)
the limits
up to which the Chairman and the Secretary may sanction expenditure under
Section 19; (e)
the
compiling of catalogues and guide books and other publications; (f)
the lending
of articles contained in the collections vested in the Board; (g)
the
exchange, sale or presentation to other museums of duplicates of articles
contained in such collections; (h)
the removal
and destruction of articles contained in such collections; (i)
the fees to
be levied for purposes other than admission to the Museum; (j)
the general
management of the Museum. (3)
All by-laws,
when sanctioned, shall be published in the Official Gazette by the
State Government. SECRETARY AND STAFF There shall be a Director of the Museum, who
shall also be the Secretary to the Board. The Board may employ such other
officers and servants as it shall deem necessary for the efficient execution of
its duties under this Act. Subject to any rules made in this behalf, the Board
shall determine the terms and conditions of service of the Director and other
staff as it may employ. All officers and servants employed by the
Board shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of Section 21 of
the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860). MISCELLANEOUS Notwithstanding anything contained in the
Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 (Bom. LIX of 1949), the
Municipal Corporation of the City of Poona shall make an annual grant of not
less than Rs. 7,500 to the funds of the Museum. (1)
All expenditure
shall be sanctioned by the Board. The Board may, from time to time, authorise
the Chairman and the Secretary to sanction expenditure every month up to such
limits as may be determined in its by-laws. All cases of sanction by the
Chairman or the Secretary shall be duly placed before the subsequent meeting of
the Board for ratification. (2)
Every order
for the payment of money shall be authenticated by the signature of the
Secretary and counter-signature of the Chairman. (1)
There shall
be an annual audit of the accounts of the Museum carried out by an auditor
appointed in this behalf by [5][the
Chief Auditor, Local Fund Accounts]. (2)
The
Secretary shall furnish to the auditor an annual statement of accounts
supported by the necessary vouchers and generally assist the auditor in his
work. (3)
The
auditor's report shall be placed before the Board. The State Government shall have the right to
cause inspection to be made by such person or persons as it may appoint of the
Museum and its buildings, library books, furniture and other equipment and,
upon any recommendation made by such person or persons, to direct the Board to
take such action as it may think fit. The Board shall comply with such
directions. (1)
The State
Government may, after consultation with, the Board, by notification in
the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act. (2)
In
particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power,
such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters:— (a)
the time of
the year and place at which a meeting of the general body of the members of the
Museum shall be called under Section 5; (b)
the number
of representatives of local bodies other than the Municipal Corporation of the
City of Poona, the amount of contribution to be made by them under clause D,
the manner of election of representatives of members under clause E and the
period within which the annual subscription shall be paid under the proviso to
clause F of sub-section (2) of Section 6; (c)
the
appointment of committees of the Board under Section 10 and the functions which
may be entrusted or the matters which may be referred to such committees; (d)
the erection
of Museum buildings, the transfer of the Museum to any new site, the
maintenance and management of the Museum, the exercise of the Board's powers
under Section 12 and Clause (b) of Section 13, the care and custody of the
objects deposited in the Museum and the conditions under which the public shall
have access to the Museum; (e)
the
maintenance, management and disposal of any property vested in the Board and
the investment and reinvestment in public securities or otherwise and the safe
custody of the funds of the Museum; (f)
the form of
accounts to be kept by the Board and the publication of such accounts; (g)
the
application to the officers and servants employed by the Board of the rules
which apply to the civil servants of the State Government or to any class of
such civil servants; (h)
the payment
of contributions at such rates and subject to such conditions as may from time
to time be determined by the Board to any provident fund which may be
established by the Board for the benefit of the officers and servants employed
by it; (i)
the
management of the library and reading room; (j)
the fees to
be levied for admission to the Museum; (k)
any other
matter which is to be or may be prescribed. (3)
Every rule
made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it is made,
before each House of the State Legislature while it is in session for a total
period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two
successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so
laid or the session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any
modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made,
the rule shall from the date of publication of a notification in
the Official Gazette, of such decision, have effect only in such modified
form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however that any such
modification of annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of
anything previously done or emitted to be done under that rule. REPEAL AND TRANSITIONAL
PROVISIONS (1)
On the date
of commencement of this Act, the Lord Reay Maharashtra Industrial Museum Act,
1947 (Bom. XXXII of 1947), shall stand repealed. (2)
Notwithstanding
the repeal of the Lord Reay Maharashtra Industrial Museum Act, 1947, by
sub-section (1) and notwithstanding anything contained in Section 6, the Board
constituted under the repealed Act shall be deemed to be the Board constituted
under this Act on the date of commencement of this Act, and the members thereof
in office immediately before the said date shall continue to hold office until
the successor Board is duly constituted in accordance with the provisions of
Section 6 and the first meeting of such successor Board is held. Immediately
before such first meeting is held, the existing members shall be deemed to be discharged,
but such discharge shall not absolve any of them from any liability accruing
before their discharge. (3)
The rules
and by-laws made under the repealed Act and in force immediately before the
date of commencement of this Act shall, in so far as they are not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been made under the relevant
provisions of this Act, and be in force accordingly, until superseded by rules
or bylaws made under this Act. (4)
With effect
from the date of commencement of this Act,— (a)
the Curator
and other officers and servants appointed under the repealed Act and holding
office on the day immediately preceding such date shall be deemed to be
appointed as the Director and other officers and servants under this Act, on,
the same terms and conditions as were applicable to them immediately before
that date, until the said terms and conditions are varied by a competent
authority under this Act; (b)
all persons
who were members of the Museum on the day immediately preceding such date shall
be deemed to have become members of the Museum under this Act under the
corresponding class; (c)
all rights
of the Board constituted under the repealed Act shall vest in the Board under
this Act; (d)
all debts,
liabilities and obligations incurred by or on behalf of the Board constituted
under the repealed Act and subsisting immediately before the date of
commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have been incurred by the Board in
exercise of the powers conferred on it by this Act and shall continue in operation
accordingly; (e)
any
reference in any law or in any instrument to the Board constituted under the
repealed Act shall be construed as a reference to the Board, and such law or
instrument shall apply to the Board. [1] For
Statement, of Objects and Reason, see Maharashtra Government Gazette, 1968,
Part V, Extra, page 91, Amended by Mah. 63 of 1977. [2] With
effect from 15-8-1968, Vide GN., L&S.W.D., No. MSM. 1665-Q, dated
19-7-1968. [3]
Clause (iii) was substituted for the original by Mah. 63 of 1977, S. 2. [4]
Subs. Maharashtra Act 27 of 2005, S. 5 (w.e.f. 19-5-2005). Prior to
substitution it read as: “(i) One member elected by
the Maharashtra Legislative Council, from amongst its members residing in the
Poona District; (ii) One member elected by
the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, from amongst its members residing in the
Poona District;” [5]
These words were substituted for the words “the Accountant-General,
Maharashtra” by Mah. 63 of 1977, S. 3.Maharashtra Phule Vastu
Sangrahalaya Poona Act, 1968
Section 5. Meetings of general body of members of the
Museum
Section 9. Acts of Board not invalid by reason of
vacancy, etc
Section 12. Power of Board to lend, exchange, sell,
present or destroy articles in collections
Section 17. Officers and servants of Board to be public
servants
Section 18. Contribution by Municipal Corporation of City
of Poona