Dulat, J.

1. In March, 1952, Parliament enacted the Employees Provident Funds Act (19 of 1952) in order to, as the preamble says, provide for the institution of provident funds for employees in factories and other establishments. The Act was made applicable to every factory engaged in any industry specified in Schedule I in which 50 ore more persons were employed. A "factory" was defined in the Act as.

"any premises including the precincts thereof in any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on or is ordinarily so carried on, whether with the aid to power or without the aid of power".

and an "employee" was defined as

"any person who is employed for wages in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or in connection with the work of a factory".

Certain exceptions were, however, provided for in the Act, and for that the Central Government was given power to exempt certain factories in certain circumstances. At the same time, power was given to the Central Government to add to the industries mentioned in Schedule I. Section 5 of the Act empowered the Central Government to "frame a scheme for the establishment of provident funds under the Act for employees or a