The Gazetteers Department

The tailor has been since long an indispensable unit of the society as he is concerned with a primary need of mankind. He is found everywhere, in villages as well as in towns. In some rural parts of the district a group of two or three villages has one tailor alone. He is also available at places where weekly bazars are held. Till recently, tailor's was a hereditary occupation followed mostly by the people of the Shimpi community. Some or them have agricultural lands, but most of them depend for their livelihood exclusively on earnings derived from the tailoring occupation. In 1921 there were in all 1,803 persons including men, women and dependents engaged in this occupation. In 1961, the number went up to 2,534 including 832 persons in towns.

An ordinary tailor in the village is not much skilled and knows no stitching beyond a waist-coat and a bodice. However, a skilled tailor who is found in towns, undertakes stitching of all sorts of garments. In a very big shop, the tailor only does the cutting work and leaves stitching to his employees.

In a village a tailor generally establishes his shop in a small tenement or verandah of a house, with a sewing machine, a pair of scissors, a measuring tape and a chair, which together cost about Rs. 550. In a town he usually hires a shop and makes it attractive with show-cases, furniture, etc. In Bhir district there are very few tailoring shops of a fairly big size. Most of them work on one or two sewing machines. The small shops, which cannot afford to spend much, purchase second-hand machines or hire them on rental basis. The furniture of a shop usually consists of cup-boards, almirah, show-cases, chairs, tables, etc.

The accessories required for the tailoring business are generally available in local markets. They are composed of a few articles such as thread, needles, buttons, canvas-cloth, etc. The amount spent on them is usually small, depending very much upon the total turnover of the shop which varies between Rs. 15 and Rs. 50 per month.

In a village the tailor collects cloth and takes measures. The cutting and stitching are also done by him. In towns the customers visit tailoring shops. The owner himself or a specially employed tailor cuts the cloth and stitching operation is given to other employees. Some of these employees are paid on a piecemeal basis while others are paid on a salary basis. Monthly wages per labourer average to about Rs. 80. Shirts, pants, trousers, coats, waist-coats and bodices, blouses and frocks are the usual items of stitching. The stitching charges vary from place to place and also from one tailor to another according to the skill and popularity acquired by him. A tailor in a big town usually charges more than his counterpart in a small town or village.

The daily output of work of a tailor depends, besides his individual skill and efficiency, upon a number of factors, such as demand for his services, the locality in which his shop is established, and his capacity to stitch garments to the satisfaction of his clientele. During festivals, fairs and ceremonies the business is brisk and the tailor has to work day in and day out to maintain his schedule. But in rainy season he cannot do much business as the demand for his services falls. Sometimes he also earns his income by attending the weekly bazars.

It is true that the income of a tailor depends largely upon the demand for his services. But the latter depends mostly upon his skill and the locality in which his shop is established. Ordinarily a tailor in the town gets from Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 per month, while his counterpart in the village can earn only up to Rs. 50 per month. The main difficulties encountered by the tailor in enlarging his establishment is lack of finance needed for investment in fixed capital, viz., in the purchase of sewing machines, higher rent required to pay for better and bigger accommodation and the in-creasing costs of the raw materials utilised.