BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

TRADE ROUTES

Old Trade Routes.—Practically the whole trade of the district was carried by the Nagpur branch of the former Great Indian Peninsula Railway since its opening for traffic in 1867. This line which passed through the northern parts of Balapur, Akola and Murtizapur tahsils covered a total distance of about 57 miles in the district. The main stations on this route were Akola and Murtizapur which were connected to the interior by good metalled roads. Formerly some amount of goods was transported through the stations out of the district, such as, Shegaon on the west and Badnera and Amravati on the cast but a large portion of goods was mainly transported through Akola and Murtizapur stations to the Nizam's dominions.

Present Trade Routes.—The Bombay-Nagpur-Calcutta railway line, referred to above, is the most important trade route in the district even at present, affording quick commercial transport to Bombay, Nagpur and a number of markets in Western Maharashtra as well as Eastern India. Most of the villages in the tahsil through which this line passes are within easy reach of the railway line. This has considerably helped the growth of Akola as a centre of commercial importance. It is a collecting as well as a distributing centre and is well connected by roads and railways with the adjoining districts of Buldhana, Amravati, Yeotmal, Nanded and Parbhani. It is also linked by roads with all the tahsil headquarters.

The second important railway route is Khandwa-Hingoli-Purna metre gauge railway line passing through the district with a total length of 62.42 miles. This route joins the Manmad-Kacheguda railway route at Purna with the result that the entire forest produce of Akot tahsil and the cotton from Washim and Akot tahsils is transported to distant places through Akola. The narrow gauge railway lines viz.. the Murtizapur-Achalpur route connecting Murtizapur with Achalpur (in Amravati district) and the Murtizapur-Yeotmal route connecting Yeotmal with Murtizapur help the quick transport of the agricultural produce to distant places.

Besides railways, road transport is also of significance in the district. The Bombay-Nagpur national highway traverses from west to east in the district and facilitates transport to Bombay, Nasik, Dhulia, Jalgaon, and to Amravati and Nagpur. The railways have, however almost a monopoly in the transport of heavy and mineral goods. The other road of significance is the Akola-Hyderabad road which passes through Parbhani and Nanded districts connecting the important commercial centres viz. Washim, Hingoli (Parbhani), Nanded and Degloor (Nanded) The road thus connects the district with Hyderabad and other places in Andhra Pradesh. The Akola-Aurangabad road, another road of commercial significance, connects the district with important commercial centres in the Marathwada region. Of the other roads which connect the wholesale trade centres in the district as also help goods transport from villages to the main centres of trade, the more important are the Akola-Achalpur road and the Murtizapur-Yeotmal road.

Changes in Pattern and Organization of Trade: In the past the pattern of trade was mainly based on the partly self-sufficient economy existing then. The wants of the people were in consonance with the availability of various goods produced locally With the changing times and changes in the concept of standard of living came the diversification of consumers goods. This diversification coupled with improvement in transport facilities led to diversification of demand for varied articles which in turn led to increase in their trade. In the past cloth, salt, spices, cutlery, building materials and a few food articles were imported, while cotton, oilseeds, pulses, some foodgrains, betel-leaves were ex-ported. The volume and value of import and export trade was much smaller than at present.

The volume of trade in respect of all commodities has increased considerably at present. This is more true in the case of wholesale transactions and exports. The most important landmark in the history of trade is the regulation of wholesale transactions and exports under the Central Provinces and Berar Agricultural Produce Markets Act of 1935. This Act regulated the methods of sale and purchase, and market charges, and vested the market committees with supervisory and regulatory functions consistent with the proper implementation of the Act. This resulted in fair market practices and created an organisational set-up to ensure compliance with a proper code of marketing. This act has been replaced by the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1963 which now regulates primary trade transactions at all the principal markets in the district viz., Akola, Washim, Risod, Mangrulpir, Karanja, Malegaon, Akot and Murtizapur. Co-operative societies have also emerged as an effective force in the marketing of agricultural produce. They compete with other commission agents and help the agriculturists in getting better prices for their produce.

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