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BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE
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PEDLARS
Pedlars go from village to village carrying their merchandise with them. A number of factors have affected their trade adversely during the last half a century or so. They are: (i) growing importance of weekly bazars, (ii) the opening up of retail shops in the distant villages, and (iii) improved transport facilities providing villages an easy access to the nearby urban areas and market places. The villagers who formerly used to patronize the pedlars, now with the passage of time show a marked preference for weekly markets and retail shops wherein they get a wider choise for selection. However, the remote areas are inadequately served by retail shops and weekly markets, and in such places, pedlars play a prominent part.
Pedlars, in the remote villages of the district, still carry on their business in the same old fashion. Some of them use horses and bullock-carts to carry their goods. However, many of them carry their loads on their persons. Almost all transactions are on cash basis. But in exceptional cases the transaction is on credit basis. Barter takes place only when agricultural produce is exchanged for other useful articles.
The pedlars belong to professional classes, viz., oil-men, weavers and gardeners. Others buy goods at urban places and sell them by peddling in villages. The pedlars still carry on their business in remote villages which are far off from the developed localities and where there are no retail shops. Different types of pedlars deal in different types of goods, e.g., gardeners in fruits and vegetables, farmers in foodgrains, grocers in groceries, oilmen in oil, potters in earthenware and tailors in readymade clothes.
The local pedlars usually carry on their business in fair weather. From October to June and especially during the festivals, local fairs and marriage season, their trade is brisk. Generally the pedlars belong to the local areas of the district, but sometimes pedlars from adjoining area and occasionally from distant towns trade in the district. In Gondia and Bhandara the pedlars do brisk business.
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