BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Weights and Measures.—In the past there was a multiplicity of weights and measures. The unit value of the weights and measures differed from place to place and also from commodity to commodity at the same place. The English units were also used in certain transactions. The convertibility of the local units to the English units was a great problem. The ignorance of the peasants and workers added to the ambiguity of the conversion factors. The following quotation from the old Buldhana District Gazetteer will throw some light on the state of affairs existing then.

"The standard by which all weights and measures are regulated is the Government rupee weighing 180 grains Troy. The rupee is taken to represent generally the weight of one tola. The weight ' seer ', which is in common use all over the Dis-trict, is made up of 80 tolas. Grain is sold by measure, the stand-ard weights being a seer, a paili, a maund and khandi. The con-tents of the measure seer vary in weight in some taluks. While generally throughout the District they are equivalent to 80 tolas, in Chikhli taluk they are equal to 120 tolas and in Jalgaon taluk they may be 60, 70, 75, 80 or 100 tolas. The next higher measure paili may contain from 2 to 12 seers of grain. Its contents vary from taluk to taluk and according to the grain measured; for in-stance in Chikhli taluk 5¹/4 seers of juari or wheat make a paili, but if the grain is rice, 6 seers go to a paili. Even within the same taluk the capacity of a paili varies much. In Jalgaon it may contain 2, 3, 4¹/2 or 5 seers and in Fatehkhelda and Lonar of Mehkar taluk it may contain as much as 28 seers. The capa-city of a maund varies from 12 to 16 pailis, but the khandi is everywhere made up of 20 maunds. The divisions of the measure seer are chawatke = 5 tolas, nawatke= l0 tolas, paoser=20 tolas and achchher = 40 tolas. Half the paili is called adheli. In some villages of Malkapur a measure of 4 seers or 320 tolas is called a chautha. Four chauthas make a dola and 12 dolus a map When grain is sold by weight 3 maunds are called one palla.

Cotton Weights.—" The scale of weights employed for weighing the uncleaned cotton differs from that used in weighing the cleaned cotton. The scale for the latter is as follows:—

78 tolas = 1 seer.

14 seers = 1 maund.

10 maunds = 1 bojha.

The most common scale for weighing the uncleaned cotton is as follows: —

80 tolas = 1 seer.

14 seers = 1 maund.

20 maunds = 1 khandi.

In certain localities of the District, however, this scale is not closely followed. The seer is equal to 90 tolas in a few villages in the Chikhli taluk, and to 78 in a few isolated places in the Malkapur taluk. Similarly, the weight of a maund is liable to change. In Pimpalgaon Kale and Madkhed in the Jalgaon taluk the maund is said to consist of 18 and 22 seers, respectively. It is made up of 16, 20, 22 or 40 seers in some villages in the Chikhli and Malkapur taluks. The local weights used in the majority of villages in the Malkapur and Mehkar taluks, for weighing the uncleaned cotton are as given below:—

2 seers of 80 tolas each make one paseri.

2 paseris make one dhada.

4 dhadas make one maund.

20 maunds make one khandi.

Of these the paseri varies in about five ways, representing theweight of 1¹/2, 2, 2¹/4, 3 or 3¹/2 seers in the Mehkar taluk." [Buldhana District Gazetteer, 1910, Vol. A, pp. 254—56.]

Not much was done subsequently during the British rule to improve the matters. Some of the English units of weights and measures were enforced. However, the local transactions continued to be in terms of the old units. This state of affairs needed to be changed with statutory measures after Independence. Accordingly, the Government of India enacted the Standard of Weights and Measures Act in 1956. The State Government also passed a complementary legislation viz., the Bombay Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act of 1958 for the enforcement of the standard weights and measures based on the metric system.

In pursuance of this legislation the new units have been enforced in the district. All transactions in the organised sector of trade and most of the petty sale transactions at the peasant's house are done in terms of the metric units. The transition to the new system was slightly irksome to the villager, but the inevitable has taken place.

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