History
The Provincial Council system of Sri Lanka was established by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act No. 47 of 1987. Accordingly, Sri Lanka was divided into 09 provinces and established a provincial council governing system.
Hence, Uva province has formed Badulla and Moneragala administrative districts consisting of 26 Divisional Secretariat divisions. The majority of people who live in the Uva province are engaged in an agricultural lifestyle and live in harmony with different communities and cultures. Uva province has a proud history, and it is a province rich in natural beauty. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution has given powers to the provincial councils on various subjects. Hence, the health subject has been assigned to the provincial councils as a concurrent subject from the concurrent list when the delegation of power.
Hon. Percy Samaraweera became the first Chief Minister of the Uva province in the first provincial council election held in 1988. Furthermore, his term of office was from 16-09-1988 to 16-03-1993. The subject of health care under the scope of the Hon. Chief Minister at that time. In the period of 16-09-1988 to 16-03-1998, the ministry of health had named as the Ministry of Administration, Law & Order, Planning & Plan Implementation, Finance, Education, Health, Trade & Industry, and Buddhist Affairs.
The second provincial council election was held in 1993 after the end of the term of office of the first provincial council established in 1988. Once again, Hon. Percy Samaraweera became the Chief Minister during the second term of the office of the provincial council. His term of the office in the second provincial council was from 27-05-1993 to 06-06-1998. During that period, the subjects of Law and Order, Finance, Regional Administration, Local Government, Education, Health, Roads, Planning, and Engineering Services were assigned to the Hon. Chief Minister of Uva Provincial Council.
The Third Provincial Council was established in 1999 and, its Chief Minister was Hon. Samaraweera Weerawanni. His ministry was the Ministry of Finance, Law & Order, Local Government, Roads, Health, Education, Cultural Affairs, Youth Affairs, Sports, Social Services, Cooperatives, and Planning. Hon. A.M. Buddhadasa was the Chief Minister of the Uva Province from 26-10-2001 to 25-04-2004 due to the political change that took place before the end of the term of the office of Hon. Samaraweera Weerawanni was the Chief Minister of the third provincial council. Hon. A.M. Buddhadasa was the Minister of Law & Order, Finance, Local Government, Regional Administration, Roads, Health, Education, Sports, Infrastructure, Tourism, and Planning.
When establishing the fourth provincial council, there was a significant feature in the Uva Provincial Council. That is, a doctor has been appointed as the minister of health out of all the provincial councils in Sri Lanka. The subjects of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Social Welfare, Probation, and Child Care had assigned by Hon. (Dr.) Rohana Pushpakumara in the fourth provincial council.
Hon. Shashindra Rajapaksa was the Chief Minister of the Uva province and, Hon. A.M. Buddhadasa was the Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Probation and Child Care and Women’s Affairs from 20-08-2009 to 2014 in the fifth provincial council.
When establishing the sixth provincial council in the year 2014, Hon. Shashindra Rajapaksa was appointed once again as the Chief Minister of the Uva province and the Ministry of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Probation and Child Care and Women’s Affairs was held by R.M. Kumarasiri Ratnayake.
During the term of the office of the sixth provincial council, Hon. Ananda Kumarasiri was appointed as the Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Probation and Child Care, Women’s Affairs, and Power & Energy with effect from 22-01-2015.
Hon. R.M. Kumarasiri Ratnayake was appointed once again as the Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Probation and Child Care, Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare of the Uva province with effect from 22-01-2015 and he has held the position until 09-08-2017.
Hon. Anura Ravindra Vidanagamage was taken oaths as the Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine, Probation and Child Care, Women’s Affairs and Social Welfare in the sixth provincial council on 10-08-2017 and he has held the position until 08-10-2019 when the term of office of the sixth provincial council ended.
The activities of this ministry have come under the purview of the Hon. Governor of the Uva province in terms of the provisions of the Provincial Councils Act from 09-10-2019 until a seventh provincial council is elected from a provincial council election.