In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--
         (a) "adult" means a person who has completed eighteen years of age;
         (b) "child" means a person who has not completed fourteen years of age;
         (c) "competent authority" means any authority authorised by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette to perform all or any of the functions of the competent authority under this Act and for such areas as may be specified therein;
         (d) "contractor" means a person who, in relation to a manufacturing process, undertakes to produce a given result by executing the work through contract labour or who engages labour for any manufacturing process in a private dwelling house and includes a sub-contractor, agent, munshi, thekedar;
         (e) "contract labour" means any person engaged or employed in any premises by or through contractor, with or without the knowledge of the employer, in any manufacturing process;
         (f) "employee" means a person employed directly or through any agency, whether for wages or not, in any establishments ¹ [or godown] to do any works skilled, unskilled, manual or clerical, and includes--
             (i) any labour who is given raw materials by an employer or a contractor for being made into beedi or cigar or both at home (hereinafter referred to in this Act as "home worker"), and
             (ii) any person not employed by an employer or a contractor but working with the permission of, or under agreement with, the employer or contractor ¹ [or both];
         (g) "employer" means,--
             (a) in relation to contract labour, the principal employer; and
             (b) in relation to other labour, the person who has the ultimate control over the affairs of any establishment or who has, by reason of his advancing money, supplying goods or otherwise, a substantial interest in the control of the affairs of any establishment, and includes any other person to whom the affairs of the establishment are entrusted, whether such other person is called the managing agent, manager, superintendent or by any other name;
         (h) "establishment" means any place or premises including the precincts thereof in which or in any part of which any manufacturing process connected with the making of beedi or cigar or both is being, or is ordinarily, carried on and includes an industrial premises;
         ² [(hh) "godown" means any warehouse or other place, by whatever name called, used for the storage of--
             (i) any article or substance required for any manufacturing process; or
             (ii) beedi or cigar or both;]
         (i) "industrial premises" means any place or premises (not being a private dwelling house), including the precincts thereof, in which or in any part of which any industry or manufacturing process connected with the making of beedi or cigar or both is being, or is ordinarily, carried on with or without the aid of power, ³ [and includes a godown attached thereto;]
         (j) "Inspector" means an Inspector appointed under sub-section (1) of section 6;
         (k) "manufacturing process" means any process for, or incidental to, making, finishing or packing or otherwise treating any article or substance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal as beedi or cigar or both;
         (l) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the State Government under this Act;
         (m) "principal employer" means a person for whom or on whose behalf any contract labour is engaged or employed in an establishment;
         (n) "private dwelling house" means a house in which persons engaged in the manufacture of beedi or cigar or both reside;
         (o) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the Administrator thereof;
         (p) "week" means a period of seven days, beginning at midnight on Saturday;
         (q) "young person" means a person who has completed fourteen years of age but has not completed eighteen years of age.