2Interpretation

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,--

(a) "bonus" means any sum of money payable to an ¹[employee] under the Coal Mines Bonus Scheme framed under this Act;

²[(aa) "coal" includes lignite;]

³[(b) "coal mine" means any excavation where any operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining coal has been or is being carried on, and includes--

(i) all borings and bore holes;

(ii) all shafts, in or adjacent to and belonging to a coal mine, whether in the course of being sunk or not;

(iii) all levels and inclined planes in the course of being driven;

(iv) any open cast working or quarry, that is to say, an excavation where any operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining coal has been or is being carried on, not being a shaft or an excavation which extends below superjacent ground;

(v) all conveyors or aerial rope-ways provided for the bringing into or removal from a coal mine of coal or other articles or for the removal of refuse therefrom;

(vi) all adits, levels, planes, machinery, works, railways, tramways and sidings, in or adjacent to and belonging to a coal mine;

(vii) all workshops situated within the precincts of a coal mine and under the same management and used for purposes connected with that coal mine or a number of coal mines under the same management;

(viii) any office of a coal mine;

(ix) all power stations for supplying electricity for the purpose of working the coal mine or a number of coal mines under the same management;

(x) any premises for the time being used for depositing refuse from a coal mine, or in which any operation in connection with such refuse is being carried on, being premises exclusively occupied by the employer of the coal mine;

(xi) all hospitals and canteens maintained for the benefit of the employees of a coal mine or a number of coal mines under the same management;

(xii) any coke oven or plant;

(xiii) any premises in or adjacent to and belonging to a coal mine, on which any plant or other machinery connected with a coal mine is situated or on which any process ancillary to the work of a coal mine is being carried on;]

(c) "contribution" means the contribution payable in respect of a member under the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme framed under this Act of ⁴[or the contribution payable in respect of an employee to whom the Insurance Scheme applies];

⁵[(d) "employee" means any person who is employed for wages in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or in connection with a coal mine, and who gets his wages directly or indirectly from the employer, and includes--

(1) any person employed by or through a contractor in or in connection with a coal mine, and

(2) for the purposes of the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme, also

(i) any other person who is employed as a sanitary worker, mali, teacher or domestic servant in or in connection with a coal mine and who receives wages directly from the employer, and

(ii) any apprentice or trainee who receives stipend or other remuneration from the employer.]

⁶[(e) "employer", when used in relation to a coal mine, means any person who is the immediate proprietor or lessee or occupier of the coal mine or of any part thereof and in the case of a coal mine the business whereof is being carried on by a liquidator or receiver, such liquidator or receiver and in the case of a coal mine owned by a company the business whereof is being carried on by a managing agent, such managing agent; but does not include a person who merely receives a royalty, rent or fine from the coal mine, or is merely the proprietor of the coal mine, subject to any lease, grant or licence for the working thereof, or is merely the owner of the soil and not interested in the coal of the coal mine; but any contractor for the working of a coal mine or any part thereof shall be subject to this Act in like manner as if he were an employer, but not so as to exempt the employer from any liability;]

⁷* * * * *

(f) "Fund" means the provident fund established under the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme; ⁸* * *

⁴[(fa) "Insurance Fund" means the Deposit-linked Insurance Fund established under subsection (2) of section 3G;

(fb) "Insurance Scheme" means the Coal Mines Deposit-linked Insurance Scheme framed under sub-section (1) of section G;]

⁹[ ¹⁰[(fc)] ["managing agent" has the meaning assigned to it in the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956); and;]

(g) "member" means a member of the Fund.

¹¹[(h) "Pension Fund" means the Pension Fund established under sub-section (2) of section 3E;

(i) "Pension Scheme" means the Coal Mines Pension Scheme framed under sub-section (1) of section 3E;

(j) "superannuation", ,,in relation to an employee who is a member of the Pension Scheme, means the attainment, by the said employee, of such age as is fixed in the contract or conditions of service as the age on the attainment of which such employee shall vacate the employment.]