DISCRETION AL RΕΙEF FUND.]
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CIRCULAR.
"Small advances will be placed by the Deputy Commission, Plague Operations. Bombay.
Collector
at the disposal of certain officers for discretional relief in cases of distress, etc., connected
with plague. This money must be regarded as quite distinct from advances or grants made
on account of ordinary plague charges, and no funds held on the one account should under
any circumstances be used for expenditure on the other. There must be no outlay whatever
without a prior grant having been sanctioned by the Plague Commissioner.
Officers will themselves learn by experience in what direction this relief should be
afforded, and they should Freely report for orders or for information any instances requiring
relief not enumerated below, but as a general guide the following are indicated, provided
always that the relief is intended for the poor and the poor only :—·
(a) Hospital Relief.
(1) The provision of extra rations before discharge.
NOTE.—This would ordinarily be arranged under the special direction of the
Deputy Commissioner for Plague Operations, Bombay.
Collector
(2) The gift of clothing or small sums oí inouey on discharge.
(3) The payment of funeral expenses.
(4) The support of a family, where necessary, during illness or interruption of
ordinary avocations, while in hospital or the hospital camp.
(5) Assistance to survivors or convalescents to return to their own homes.
(b) Campensation.
(1) Payment of prompt compensation for destruction of, or damage to, cloth-
ing, etc.
(2) The grant of a trifling sum to cover, in the case of the poorer classes, the
petty expenses incidental to the vacation of a house.
NOTE.— Compensation fur articles destroyed or damaged must be paid on the spot,
and may be calculated not only with regard to the value of the article but also with
regard to the cost of replacing it.
(c) Camps.
(1) Compensation for interruption of work or loss of wages.
(2) Expenses of transit.
(3) Provision of warm clothing or a blanket as a protection against the in-
creased cold of camp-life.
(4) Provision of cots as a protection against dampness.
Expen-
diture 'under this head (4) must, however, be previously sanctioned by the
Deputy Commissioner for Plague Operations as " Discretional Relief " is intended, as far
Collector
as possible, actually to reach the pockets of the poor.
For each advance received the officer will furnish a receipt. No vouchers will be requir-
ed from the officers to whom advances from this Discretional Relief Fund are made, except in
case of purchase of supplies, blankets, etc., from tradesmen, when the receipts must be
attached to the weekly return. They will, however, be personally responsible that the money
is properly expended and that the accounts are correctly and punctually submitted.
It may be impossible for the officer entrusted with an advance to be promptly on
the spot in every case where relief is desirable, and these officers are therefore authorized
to entrust small sums to those of their volunteers and those of their assistants in whose in-
tegrity and discretion they feei that they are able to repose complete confidence. But such
advances must not appear in the accounts, and the officer making the advance must exact
from such persons a careful record of the information necessary to complete the accounts in
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