The Madras Compulsory Labour Act, 1858

Whenever it shall appear to the Officer in charge of any tank, riveror canal, or of any anicut or other like work, that there is imminent danger of the embankment of such tank,river or canal being breached, or of a breach being made in such anicut or other work, and of a destructiveinundation being caused thereby, which may be prevented by a large body of laborers immediately workingtogether to strengthen the embankment or other work; or when such a breach has occurred, if it shall appearto such officer that it can be repaired, and the inundation caused by it be stopped, by the immediateemployment of a large body of laborers for that purpose it shall be lawful for such Officer to require thehead or heads of the village or villages in the vicinity to call upon all able-bodied male persons of thelaboring classes in such village or villages to co-operate in the work necessary for preventing or repairingthe breach as the case may be. In the absence of the said Officer, it shall be lawful for the Tahsildar of thetalook to make such requisition in his stead. And if neither the said Officer nor the Tahsildar is on the spot,and the emergency is great and urgent, it shall be lawful for the head of the village in which the breach isexpected to occur or has occurred, of his own motion, to call upon the laborers as aforesaid of his ownvillage, and, if needful, to make a requisition to the heads of the neighboring villages to call likewise uponthe laborers of their villages, to co-operate in the work necessary for preventing or repairing the breach.

Any male person of thelaboring classes being duly called upon by the head of his village to labour as aforesaid, who shall refuseor neglect to comply with such call without any lawful excuse shall, on conviction before a Magistrate oran Officer exercising the ordinary powers of a Magistrate, be punished with a fine which may extend to onehundred Rupees, or with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month, or with both.

Every person who shall be employed on suchwork, under such requisition shall be paid for his labour by day at the highest rate paid in the neighbourhoodfor similar work and, if he is required to work at night, at double such rate.

Payment shall be made to thelaborers from the public Treasury; and, if the laborers shall have been employed upon a work belonging toa private person, the amount advanced from the Treasury shall be recoverable from such person by the samemeans which maybe lawfully used for the recovery of arrears of land-revenue.

It shall be lawful for heads of villages, on therequisition on the Officer in charge of such works as aforesaid, or in his absence on the requisition of theTehsildar, or, in case of emergency when neither such Officer nor the Tehsildar is on the spot, of their ownmotion, to make requisitions upon the inhabitants of their villages for the supply of materials, to wit treesand leaves, bamboos, straw, and the like, necessary for stopping breaches in the embankments of tanks,rivers, and canals, and to seize and if necessary to cut down such articles wherever they may be found,giving receipts for them in writing; such supplies shall be paid for from the public Treasury at the highestprices for which such articles are sold in the neighborhood; and in case damage is sustained by any personin consequence of the cutting down of any such articles, compensation shall be made for such damage, theamount of which compensation shall, in case of dispute, be determined in the same manner as amountspayable under Section VI. When the work for which such articles are used belongs to a private person, the amount advanced from the Treasury shall be recoverable from him by the same means by which arrears ofLand Revenue are recoverable.