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| MEDICAL WANTS |
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AN ORDINANCE TO CONSOLIDATE AND AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO THE MEDICAL WANTS OF LABOURERS IN PLANTING DISTRICTS.
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| Ordinance Nos, |
| 9 of 1912 |
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| 16 of 1915 |
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| 25 of 1916 |
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| 29 of 1916 |
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| 36 of 1946 |
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[17th July
, 1912 ]
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Short title.
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1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Medical Wants Ordinance.
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Interpretation.
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2. In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
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” dispensary” means any Government dispensary;
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” district medical officer ” includes district medical assistant, visiting medical officer, and visiting apothecary ;
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” estate” means any estate in which labourers are employed having ten acres of land actually cultivated in tea, rubber, coffee, cacao, cardamoms, coca, camphor, pepper, or cinchona;
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” Government Agent ” includes Assistant Government Agent;
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” hospital” means any Government hospital;
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” immigrant labourer” means any labourer as defined by the Estate Labour (Indian) Ordinance;
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” labourer ” means a labourer employed upon an estate, and includes kangany and female labourer, and any child or other relative of a labourer resident upon the same estate;
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” medical officer” includes any district medical officer and any officer of the Department of Health charged with duties of supervision or inspection in connexion with estates;
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” prescribed ” means prescribed by rules made under this Ordinance or, in the absence of such rules, by departmental rules or orders;
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” superintendent” means any person in the immediate charge of an estate.
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ORGANIZATION OF ESTATES MEDICAL DISTRICTS |
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Minister may declare estates medical districts.
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3. It shall be lawful for the Minister to declare any district of Ceylon an estates medical district for the purposes of this Ordinance, and to define the limits of the district by reference to the estates comprised therein.
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District hospitals and dispensaries.
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4. There shall be established for every medical district such hospitals and dispensaries as may be necessary for the medical wants of the estates of the district.
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District medical officers.
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5. There may be appointed district medical officers and apothecaries for any estates medical district at such salaries as may, from time to time, be provided by Parliament, and with such duties as may, from time to time, be determined,
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DUTIES OF MEDICAL OFFICERS |
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Duties of district medical officer.
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6. It shall be the duty of a district medical officer for the purposes of this Ordinance-
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(a) upon the written request of a superintendent, to visit any sick labourer upon his estate;
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(b) to direct the removal to hospital of any such sick labourer whose removal he may consider necessary ;
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(c) to attend upon all such labourers who at the direction of a district medical officer or otherwise may be admitted to hospital.
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Duties of medical officer as to inspection of estates.
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7. It shall be the duty of every medical officer (being a duly qualified medical practitioner registered under the Medical Ordinance) for the purposes of this Ordinance, from time to time –
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(a) to visit the estates within his district, or any other estate which he may be specially directed to visit, and to inspect the sanitary condition thereof;
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(b) to examine the labourers on such estates for the purpose of ascertaining their condition of health and whether they have been duly vaccinated ;
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(c) to inspect all children under the age of one year resident upon such estates, and to give directions to the superintendent for their proper care and nourishment;
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(d) to direct the removal to hospital of any sick labourer whose removal he may consider necessary;
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(e) to draw the attention of the superintendent to any defect in the sanitary condition of his estate, and in the condition of health of the labourers;
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(f) if any estate has an estate hospital or dispensary, to inspect such hospital or dispensary;
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(g) to report to the Director of Health Services on all or any of the above matters.
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Obstruction of medical officer an offence.
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8. Any person who shall wilfully obstruct any medical officer acting in the discharge of his duties under this Chapter shall be guilty of an offence against this Ordinance.
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RIGHTS, DUTIES, AND OBLIGATIONS OF SUPERINTENDENTS. & c. |
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Rights of superintendents.
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9. Any superintendent shall be entitled-
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(a) to medical attendance by a district medical officer upon any sick labourer upon his estate ;
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(b) to the reception at a hospital (subject to the accommodation of the hospital) of any labourer who in the opinion of a district medical officer ought to be admitted to the hospital;
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(c) to the free supply from the Department of Health for the purpose of any estate hospital or dispensary of all such prescribed drugs as he may require for the medical wants of his labourers to a value not exceeding fifty cents per labourer per annum;
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(d) to the supply at cost price from the Department of Health or from a Government dispensary of all such prescribed drugs as he may reasonably require for the medical wants of his labourers other than those authorized by the last preceding paragraph.
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Charges payable by superintendent.
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10. The following sums shall be payable by every superintendents in respect of medical services rendered under this Ordinance : –
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(a) in respect of every visit to an estate for the purpose of attendance on any sick labourer or labourers, two rupees and fifty cents ;
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(b) in respect of the maintenance of a sick immigrant labourer in a hospital for each day’s maintenance , thirty cents, or such other sum as may from time to time be prescribed
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Provided that the liability in respect of such last mentioned charge shall not extend beyond a period of sixty days.
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Liability for charges.
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11.All amounts due under section 10 shall be a debt to the State recoverable from the proprietor of the estate, and shall constitute a charge upon the estate.
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Duties of superintendents.
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12.
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(1) It shall be the duty of every superintendent –
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(a) to maintain the lines of his estate and their vicinity in a fair sanitary condition;
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(b) to inform himself of all cases of sickness on his estate, and to take such steps as he may deem best for the immediate relief of the sick ;
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(c) to send any labourer to hospital when so required by a medical officer;
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(d) to send for the district medical officer in any case of serious illness or accident;
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(e) to inform the district medical officer within forty-eight hours of every birth and death upon the estate;
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(f) to supply at the cost of the estate every female labourer resident upon the estate, and giving birth thereon to a child, with such food and lodging as may be prescribed by rules made under section 32 of this Ordinance, for one month after the birth of such child, and to take care that the female labourer be not required to work on the estate for one month, unless the district medical officer shall report sooner that she is fit to work;
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(g) to see that all children under the age of one year resident upon the estate receive proper care and nourishment, and to comply with all directions given by a medical officer under section 7 (c);
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Provided that such superintendent shall be exempt from the obligation, imposed on him by paragraph (f), of supplying the food to such female labourer for one month, if such labourer is granted under the Maternity Benefits Ordinance, the maternity benefit referred to in subsection (1) of section 5 of that Ordinance, or the alternative maternity benefits referred to in subsection (3) of that section, in respect of that confinement.
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(2) Any superintendent who shall wilfully make default in the performance of any of his duties under this section shall be guilty of an offence against this Ordinance.
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Duties of kanganies.
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13.
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(1) It shall be the duty of every kangany employed upon an estate to give information to the superintendent of every birth, death, and case of sickness or accident in his gang.
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(2) Any kangany who shall fail so to do shall be guilty of an offence against this Ordinance.
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Government Agent to give notice of sums due.
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14. When any sum of money shall be payable-
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(a) in respect of drugs supplied under section 9 (d);
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(b) in respect of medical services under section 10,
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it shall be the duty of the Government Agent to give notice in writing to the superintendent of the estate in respect of which the same is payable, requiring the payment thereof within one month after such notice.
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Power to seize properly in default of payment.
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15. In default of such payment it shall be lawful for the Government Agent or any person authorized by him in writing in that behalf to seize, from time to time, all the crops, livestock, and implements, or any part thereof, found on the estate liable in respect of such sum, or any other article or thing whatsoever belonging to the proprietor or any of the proprietors of such estate, until the full amount due by such estate shall be recovered.
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Power to seize timber and materials of buildings.
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16. If there be no sufficient crop livestock, or implements on such estate to realize the amount due, it shall be lawful for the Government Agent or other person authorized as aforesaid to cause the timber on the said estate to be cut, or the materials of the buildings erected thereon to be removed, and to seize the same.
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Power to sell property seized.
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17. At any time after thirty days from the date of seizure, unless the sum due shall be sooner paid, with the costs and charges incurred in respect of such seizure, it shall be lawful for such Government Agent or any person as aforesaid to sell the property so seized by public auction :
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Provided that perishable property may be sold at any time after the date of such seizure.
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No seizure for arrears.
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18. No seizure shall take place under this Chapter for any sum of money which shall have been in arrear for a period of one year.
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Removal of , property seized.
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19. Any property seized under this Chapter may be removed for safe custody pending the sale thereof, to such place as the person directing the seizure may think fit.
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Possession of property not removable pending sale.
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20. In the case of the seizure of any property which cannot conveniently be removed, it shall be lawful for the person making the seizure to place and keep a person in possession thereof pending such sale.
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Costs of seizure and sale.
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21.The costs and charges of seizure and sale shall also be payable from the proceeds and of the property seized, and they shall be as follows:-
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(a) for cost of proceeding to the house or land of the party in default in order to seize property, a charge not exceeding eight per centum on the amount due;
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(b) for removal of the goods seized, in case such removal takes place, a charge not exceeding eight per centum on the amount due ;
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(c) for keeping the same in safe custody in case of such removal, a charge not exceeding one rupee per day;
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(d) for keeping a person in possession, if the goods seized are not removed, a charge not exceeding one rupee per day;
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(e) for the expenses of sale, where any takes place, a charge not exceeding two and a half per centum on the net proceeds of the sale.
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Buildings may be broken open.
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22. It shall be lawful for the Government Agent or person authorized as aforesaid to break open or cause to be broken open in the day-time any house or building for the purpose of seizing property in pursuance of this Chapter, if he shall have affixed to a conspicuous part of such house or building three clear days previously a notice of his intention so to do.
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Return of over plus.
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23. In the event of a sale of property seized, the Government Agent at whose instance such seizure was made shall, after deducting the amount due by the defaulter, and also the costs and charges payable under section 21, restore the overplus arising from such sale, if any there be, to the owner of the property sold.
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Obstruction of persons acting under this Chapter.
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24. Whoever shall wilfully obstruct any person in the performance of any duty imposed upon him, or in the exercise of any authority vested in or conferred upon him under or by virtue of this Chapter, shall be guilty of an offence against this Ordinance.
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Establishment of medical wants committee.
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25. There shall be established a committee, to be called the medical wants committee, consisting of such members, official and unofficial, as the Minister [1] may, from time to time, appoint;
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Provided that three of such members shall be persons whose names are submitted to the Minister by the Planters’ Association of Ceylon.
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Duties of medical wants committee.
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26. The medical wants committee shall advise the Minister [1] –
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(a) on the requirements of labourers as regards the construction of hospitals and dispensaries;
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(b) on the annual statement prepared under section 30, and the estimate to be framed thereon ;
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(c) on the rebates to proprietors authorized by section 27 ;
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(d) on all rules made under this Ordinance;
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(e) generally on all such matters relating to the administration of this Ordinance as the committee may desire to bring to the notice of the Minister, or as the Minister may refer to it for advice.
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Power to grant rebate to certain proprietors.
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27.
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(1) When the proprietor of an estate or group of estates has at his own cost made provision to the satisfaction of the Director of Health Services for the medical treatment of the labourers employed on such estate or group of estates, the medical wants committee may at its discretion, and subject to rules made under section 32, allow to such proprietor a rebate of the whole or part of the duties paid under section 28 on the exportation of the produce of such estate or group of estates.
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(2) In the case of any produce not directly exported by the proprietor of the estate, such rules may provide for the calculation as nearly as may be upon such evidence as the committee may determine of the amount of export duty paid upon such produce, and any amount so calculated shall for the purpose of the allowance of rebate be deemed to have been paid upon exportation.
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(3) Such rules shall be deemed to have effect as from the 1st day of January, 1914.
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Expenses of Ordinance to be met by export duty on certain products.
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28. Parliament may, from time to time, by resolution impose duties on the exportation of tea, rubber, coffee, cacao, cardamoms, coca, camphor, pepper, and cinchona, at such rates as Parliament may deem sufficient for the purpose of meeting the expenses of the administration of this Ordinance, in so far as the same are not herein otherwise provided for.
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Annual financial statement.
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29. For the purpose of estimating the amount for which it may be necessary to make provision under section 28, it shall be the duty of the Director of Health Services to prepare annually for submission to Parliament a financial statement of the expenses of the administration of this Ordinance.
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Debit side of statement.
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30. The statement shall contain on the debit side of the account the following expenses:-
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(a) any deficiency brought forward on the working of the account for the period of twelve months anterior to that covered by the statement;
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(b) a pro rata share of the actual expenditure (including salaries of staff) during the twelve months immediately preceding the date up to which the statement is made up of all hospitals in which immigrant labourers have been treated, based upon the proportion which the number of days passed by the said immigrant labourers in the said hospitals bears to the number of days passed by other patients in the same hospitals;
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(c) a pro rata share of the actual expenditure (including salaries of staff) during the same period of twelve months of all dispensaries at which immigrant labourers have been treated, based upon the proportion which the number of visits paid by the said immigrant labourers to the said dispensaries bears to the number of visits paid by other patients to the same dispensaries;
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(d) in the case of all expenditure properly chargeable to a capital account in respect of all hospital or dispensary buildings declared by the Minister, with the advice of the medical wants committee, to have been primarily constructed or to be primarily maintained for the accommodation of immigrant labourers (including, in the case of buildings completed after the commencement of this Ordinance, the cost of construction), such an annual amount as would be sufficient to liquidate such expenditure, together with interest at four per centum per annum on any unliquidated part thereof, in such equal annual instalments as the Minister [1] , with the like advice, may, from time to time, determine, until such expenditure is so liquidated, or alternatively, if the Minister with the like advice, shall, with reference to any period of twelve months in question, so determine, the amount of any such expenditure, or of any part thereof outstanding, in a lump sum ;
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(e) in the case of any special hospital or dispensary building completed after the commencement of this Ordinance, such contribution to the cost of construction, whether by way of annual instalments on the terms aforesaid or otherwise, as the Minister, with the advice of the medical wants committee, may determine;
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(f) the cost price of all drugs supplied to superintendents under section 9 (d) during the aforesaid period of twelve months;
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(g) all miscellaneous expenses incidental to the administration of this Ordinance during the same period;
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(h) any expenditure incurred under any general scheme undertaken by the authority of Government for combating any disease prevalent among estate labourers which the Minister, on the recommendation of the medical wants committee, may direct to be so debited.
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Credit side of statement.
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31. The said statement shall contain on the credit side of the account-
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(a) any surplus brought forward on the working of the account for the period of twelve months anterior to that covered by the statement;
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(b) the amount of all sums recovered as visiting or maintenance fees under section 10 during the twelve months preceding the date up to which the statement is made up ;
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(c) the amount of all fines recovered in respect of all offences against the Ordinance during the same period;
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(d) the amount of all sums received as the cost price of drugs supplied to superintendents under section 9 (d) during the same period ;
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(e) the amount of the export duty collected under section 28 during the same period;
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(f) an annual contribution out of moneys provided by Parliament of an amount equal to fifteen per centum of the total expenses of the administration of this Ordinance during the same period, as shown by the debit side of the account.
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Minister may make rules.
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32.
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(1) The Minister may make rules regulating-
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(a) the fees payable to district medical officers by superintendents and persons other than labourers engaged upon estates for medical attendance and for medicines dispensed at dispensaries;
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(b) the management of estate hospitals and dispensaries;
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(c) the supply of drugs to superintendents from dispensaries and from the Department of Health;
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(d) the powers and duties of hospital Visitors;
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(e) the conditions subject to which rebates will be allowed under section 27, and the evidence which will be required in support of applications for rebate;
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(f) the form in which, and the time within which, applications for rebate should be made ;
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(g) the manner in which such rebates shall be made, and generally on all matters connected with the allowance thereof;
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(h) any other matters necessary for the administration of this Ordinance that cannot be provided for by departmental rules and orders:
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Provided that no rule regulating fees shall be made without the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance.
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(2) All such rules shall be laid as soon as conveniently may be before Parliament, and if a resolution is passed by Parliament within forty days of their being so laid praying that any rule shall be annulled, such rule shall thenceforth be void, but without prejudice to anything done thereunder.
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Power to amend definition of estate and list of agricultural products
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33. Parliament may, from time to time, by resolution amend the definition of estate in section 2 by the addition of any agricultural product to the list of agricultural products therein enumerated, or by the elimination of any agricultural product from the said list, and any such agricultural product shall thereupon become subject to or exempt from the imposition of duty on exportation, as the case may be, under section 28.
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Penalty for offences.
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34.
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(1) Any person convicted of any offence under this Ordinance shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees.
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(2) Every such offence shall be trial by a Magistrate.
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| Chapter 226, Volume No. 8 Page No.183. |
