The Gazetteers Department

Except in a few small villages, the tea shop or a similar establishment has made its appearance in all parts of the district. There are those establishment serving only tea, a few selling hot and cold beverages with eatables and those which also serve meals mostly on a rice-plate basis. The difference between the urban and the rural areas relates to the size and appearance of such establishments. The hotels in the urban areas are generally better equipped and serve a large variety of eatables in contrast to the establishments in the rural part of the district. The furniture of a tea-shop consists of two to three benches, a small cupboard, etc. However, the peculiarity in such types of shops is the combination of various jobs in one person—who acts as owner, cashier, cook and service boy as well. Thus there is a large variety of hotels scattered all over the district from fairly good restaurants at Gondia, Bhandara and Tumsar to small tea-shops in the rural areas of the district.

The accessories include sugar, tea, milk, groundnut oil, spices, etc. The extent of consumption solely depends upon the size and location of the establishment. Generally a small sized tea-shop consumes accessories worth Rs. 100 to Rs. 120 as against Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 per month in case of a big establishment.

As regards tools and equipment the use of benches appears to be common in the small hotels as against chairs, tables, decorative mirrors and pictures, ceiling fans and radio-sets in case of a big restaurant. The amount invested in tools and equipment runs from a few thousand rupees in case of a big unit to a few hundred rupees for a small hotel.

The big size hotels provide some scope for employment where generally six to seven persons; are employed as waiters. The scope for employment always depends upon the size of the establishment and its location. In some cases the owner manages all the business with one or two boys employed to clean tables, to serve indoor and outdoor orders. As per the 1961 Census, there were 1,441 persons engaged in this occupation as against 805 in 1951.

The persons employed in this occupation could be classified as skilled and unskilled. A cook represents the former and all others belong to the latter category. A cook is generally paid higher wages. The wages of unskilled workers varied between Rs. 15 and Rs. 100 per month. The employees are also provided with tea, snacks, meals etc., in the morning and evening in addition to their monthly or weekly wages. As the employment in this occupation does not provide the worker with any incentive, there is mobility of labour from one occupation to another or from one establishment to another. The application of the Shops and Establishments Act and the minimum wage legislation to a few of these occupations described in this chapter has considerably eased the situation.

In respect of the income and the expenditure, according to the findings of the survey, the income varied between Rs. 70 and Rs. 150 in case of a small establishment, as against Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 2,000 per month in case of a big establishment. The amount spent on accessories is one of the major items on the expenditure side. Nearly 65 per cent of the total expenditure is accounted for by the accessories which are generally purchased in the local market on wholsale basis. The other items of expenditure are rent, wages and electricity charges. The amount of rent varied between Rs. 30 and Rs. 100 per month depending mostly upon the size and the location of business.

TOP