(1) A member may resign his office bv giving notice thereof m writing to the State Government, an I on such resignation being accepted, J shall be deemed to have vacated his office.
(2) A casual vacancy in the office o' a member shall be filled up, as soon as conveniently may be, by nomination by the State Government and a member so nominated shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term of the office of his predecessor.
(3) No act or proceedings of the Board shall be questioned on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy in, or any delect in const!tu- j tion of the Board.
7. V esting and application o f Fund.—-(1) The Fund shall vest in and be held and applied by the Board as Trustees subject to the provision and for the purposes of this Act. The Fund shall be applied to meet expenditure in connection with measures which in the opinion of the State Government are necessary for promoting the welfare of employers employed in plantations in Assam.
(2) On such vesting of the fund in the Board as provided in sub section (1) the liabilities of the employer to the employee in respect of unpaid accumulation shall be discharged and transferred to the Board.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-section (1), the inotieys in the Fund may be utilized by the Board to defray expenditure on the following.—
(a) Adult education and literacy drive ;
(ft) community and social education centres including reading tooms and libraries ;
(c) community necessities ;
(rf) games and sports ;
(«) excursions, tours and holiday homes ;
( / ) entertainment and other forms of recreations;
(g) home industries and subsidiary occupations for women and unemployed persons; ■
(ft) corporate activities of a social nature ;
(i) cost of administering the Act including the salaries and allowan ces of the staff appointed for the purposes of the A c t; and 5
(j) such other objects as would, in the opinion of the State Govern- .
ment, improve the standard of living and ameliorate the social conditions of employees:
Provided that the Fund shall not be utilized in financing any measures which the employer is required under any law for the time being in force t o carry o u t:
Provided further that unpaid accumulations and fines shall be paid to the Board and be expended by it under this Act notwithstanding anything contained in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (Act 4 of 1936), or any other law for the time being in force.