The Gazetteers Department

In recent times, the business of lodging and boarding houses has considerably expanded. It is the result of many factors, such as migration of people on account of transfers in services, business and office transactions, increase in the study tours undertaken by various educational institutions due to which people have to move from place to place. All these make it compulsory for the per-sons involved to take advantage of boarding and lodging facilities which are available, at these places.

There are boarding houses, without any lodging facilities in the district. However, at a very few places in the district, both boarding and lodging facilities are available. Also wherever lodging facilities exist, the state of maintenance in those lodgings is not very satisfactory.

The accessories used by a boarding house depend upon whether it is a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian one. They usually consist of food-grains, condiments and spices, edible oil, ghee, vegetables, etc. In a vegetarian house the accessories of a non-vegetarian establishment in addition to above, include fish, mutton, etc. The quantity of the consumption of these accessories depends upon the turnover of the establishment. The sample survey revealed that in case of a big establishment the value of these commodities consumed was Rs. 1,000 per month, while in the case of medium establishments, it varied between Rs. 700 and Rs. 250 per month.

Chairs, small low stools or pats, dishes, bowls were used for dining purpose whereas various types of small and big utensils were used for cooking. The stock of tools and equipment depended upon the size of the business. If an establishment had lodging facilities, the equipment, in addition to above consisted of few cots, few mattresses, pillows and bed-sheets. A big lodging and boarding in Buldhana district had tools and equipment of the value of Rs. 2,500 and it accommodated 14 beds. The value ranged from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,500 in the case of medium sized lodging and boarding houses.

The capital invested in the business of lodging and boarding establishment is of two types viz., fixed and working. The fixed capital of an establishment was determined by the nature of furniture and utensils used in the course of business. The working capital represented purchases of raw materials and periodical re-placement of utensils, dishes, etc. The capital was often secured by advances from customers on coupon or membership system. A big lodging and boarding house in Buldhana district was found to have fixed capital of Rs. 5,000 and a working capital of Rs. 1,500. The amount of fixed capital invested in a medium sized lodging and boarding varied from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 4,000.

The survey of four big establishments in the district revealed that a big sized unit employed about seven servants and a medium sized unit employed 3 or 4 servants. The amount spent on their wages varied according to their services. A cook was paid higher than an employee only serving food. Meals were prepared and served twice a day. The customers were charged either on rice-plate system or on full-meal system. The rice-plate charges varied from Re. 0.80 to Re. 1 and that of a full-meal varied from 1 Re. 30 paise to 1 Re. 50 paise on the basis of the size of business, and the quality of the meal. In a lodging house a lodger was provided with a cot, mattress, a pillow and a bed-sheet. The lodging charges varied from Re. 1 to Rs. 2 per day.

The expenditure was incurred on items like raw materials wages paid to labourers, rent, etc. The net earnings of a big sized lodg-ing and boarding unit varied from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 per month while that of a medium-sized unit varied from Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 per month.

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