The Gazetteers Department

The term lodging and boarding is used here to include several categories of establishments which either provide meals to their clientele or give them shelter, or do both. As compared with hotels and restaurants the boarding and lodging houses are few and far between in the district. They are found generally at tahsil headquarters, and at busy centres in the district such as Parali and Ambejogai which are often visited by travellers, merchants, etc.

A survey carried out in Bhir, Manjlegaon, Georai, Ambejogai, Parali, etc., revealed the following results: The capital investment of the establishments varied between Rs. 300 and Rs. 2,000. The fixed capital which chiefly consisted of the cooking utensils, dishes, bowls, etc., if it was a boarding house, and beds, mattresses, bed-sheets, mirrors, etc., if it was a lodge, varied between Rs. 200 and Rs. 1,000 depending upon the size and turnover of the establishment. It was observed that more attention was given to meet minimum requirements and not comforts.

Besides the fixed capital, the boarding house requires working capital which ranges from Rs. 150 to Rs. 800 for purchasing raw Materials like grains, condiments and spices, oil, vegetables, non-vegetarian items, etc. A part of this capital is often obtained through cash advances from customers and members. While a lodge requires very little of working capital, in the establishments surveyed in the district, it was found that whatever their requirements, the proprietors had raised capital either through personal resources or through borrowing from friends and relatives and at times even from money-lenders.

The labour employed in these establishments includes skilled labourers like cooks and unskilled servants and attendants. Their number varies with the size and turnover of the unit. Thus, a fairly big unit in the district has generally in its employ about eight persons performing different kinds of jobs. The medium establishment on the other hand, employs three to four persons while a small concern generally obtains the assistance of family members.

There are usually no fixed hours of work for the servants in these establishments, for they have always to be at the beck and call of the customers. They have no guarantee of continuous employment and the remuneration they get is also very poor. The monthly wages paid to the servants varied according to their nature of work and ranged between Rs. 15 and Rs. 60 with tea and two meals a day. Some establishments have also engaged women servants for cleaning utensils or for cooking purposes. But their wages are generally lower than those of men servants.

Meals are prepared and served twice a day. A large number of establishments serve both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food either on the rice-plate system or on full-meals basis to regular members and casual visitors.

The proprietor of a lodge on the other hand provides the lodger with a cot, mattresses, pillows and bed-sheets. In some lodges the lodger is served with hot water for bath and tea with some snacks for his break-fast.

Profits which represent the net income of the boarding and lodging houses vary from place to place. They also vary with each establishment in the district. On an average the monthly expenditure of a big establishment varied from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,200 and that of a medium-sized establishment varied from about Rs. 300 to Rs. 500. As regards their monthly earnings, the large-sized unit earned about Rs. 400 to Rs. 600 and the small one earned between Rs. 250 and Rs. 400.