Medical Wants Ordinance — Lineage & Amendments
Visual diagrams showing how the Medical Wants Ordinance, No. 9 of 1912 evolved through its 11 amendments over more than 80 years. This is one of Sri Lanka's oldest pieces of health legislation, originally enacted to provide medical care for estate labourers in planting districts during the British colonial period.
Amendment Flowchart
The Medical Wants Ordinance has been amended 11 times between 1915 and 1993. Four amendments have accessible scanned PDFs (1957, 1958, 1990, 1993). The 1974 amendment is listed on Parliament.lk but its PDF is unavailable. Five colonial/early-era amendments have no digital records.
Legend: Blue = base ordinance, Orange = accessible PDF available, Light yellow = listed but PDF unavailable, Gray = no accessible source
Source Documents
| Act | Year | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical Wants Ordinance, No. 9 of 1912 | 1912 | Employers Federation (PDF) | View PDF |
| Amendment No. 16 of 1915 | 1915 | Pre-digital, no PDF | — |
| Amendment No. 25 of 1916 | 1916 | Pre-digital, no PDF | — |
| Amendment No. 29 of 1916 | 1916 | Pre-digital, no PDF | — |
| Amendment No. 36 of 1946 | 1946 | Pre-digital, no PDF | — |
| Amendment No. 46 of 1957 | 1957 | Parliament.lk (scanned PDF) | View PDF |
| Amendment No. 35 of 1958 | 1958 | Parliament.lk (scanned PDF) | View PDF |
| Amendment No. 2 of 1966 | 1966 | Not in Parliament database | — |
| Law No. 28 of 1974 | 1974 | Parliament.lk (listed, PDF unavailable); CommonLII (410 Gone) | View Details |
| Amendment No. 10 of 1983 | 1983 | Confirmed by srilankalaw.lk; Parliament.lk returns different act | — |
| Amendment No. 33 of 1990 | 1990 | Gov.lk (scanned PDF) | View PDF |
| Amendment No. 53 of 1993 | 1993 | Parliament.lk (scanned PDF) | View PDF |
Governance Hierarchy (Ordinance Design)
The Medical Wants Ordinance established a four-tier governance structure for delivering medical care to estate labourers, funded through export duties on plantation produce.
Legend: Blue = Minister, Green = statutory body (legally active), Gray = operational roles
Ordinance Structure
Legend: Green = establishes statutory body, Blue = operational provisions