The Gazetteers Department

The establishment of lodging and boarding houses in the district is the result of the increasingly mobile nature of the working population. Many people have to remain away from their families for one or the other reason viz., transfers in services, business transactions, etc. Such persons reside in the lodging and boarding houses.

Boarding houses, where provision for lodging is also made, are few in the district. Combined lodging and boarding houses are still fewer. A large influx of people in the towns consisting of agriculturists, sales representatives, and businessmen has not led to any improvement in the state of maintenance of lodging and boarding houses.

The 1961 District Census in its enumeration of the lodging and boarding houses, combined them with hotels and restaurants and treated the whole as 'the services rendered by hotels, boarding houses, eating houses, cafes, restaurants, and similar other organisations to provide lodging and boarding facilities.'

The boarding houses are either vegetarian or non vegetarian. The common accessories used by both are foodgrains, wheat and grain Hour, condiments and spices, vegetables, edible oil, ghee, etc. A non-vegetarian boarding prepares in addition fish, mutton, etc. The extent of expenditure on the consumption of these items depends upon the turnover of the establishment. Generally a medium sized lodging and boarding spent about Rs. 600 per month on these items.

A proprietor of the boarding house has to invest a larger amount in equipment than what a proprietor of an eating house has to. The sample survey of a few units disclosed that a boarding unit was equipped with tables, chairs, or pats (low stools for dining), various types of small and big utensils for cooking, serving and storing the cooked food. A lodging and boarding unit was equipped, on the other hand, with a few cots, mattresses, pillows, bed sheets together with the aforementioned items of equipment of a boarding house. A big lodging and boarding house was found to have 20 beds, 16 tables, 25 chairs, etc., the whole lot costing about Rs. 2,000.

The capital invested in a lodging and boarding unit comprised fixed and working capital. The fixed capital was required for the purchase of furniture, utensils, crockery, etc., while the working capital was required for the replacement of broken crockery and furniture, bed-sheets, pillows, mirrors, etc., and for the purchase of raw-materials. A big unit was found to have fixed capital of the value of Rs. 5,000. The amount of investment varied with the financial contribution of the proprietor as also with the size of the business.

The number of persons employed in the units varied according to their working needs. A big unit employed seven workers and paid them on an average Rs. 40 per month. Generally, every employee is entrusted with a specific job. A small unit surveyed was found to employ three to four workers.

The rates charged by the units on lodging and on boarding differed with the location, the purse of the clientele, and the amenities made available. The meals were served either on a rice-plate system or on a full-meal basis, twice-a-day. The gross earnings of a lodging and boarding unit were found to be Rs 70 per day

The items of expenditure of the unit consisted of purchase of raw material, wages paid to the workers and the rent of the premises. Almost all lodging and boarding units were located in rented premises, the amount of rent varying from Rs. 30 to Rs. 200 per month.

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