 |
ECONOMIC TRENDS
|
 |
GROUP I.
This income group consists of well-to-do or big landlords, businessmen and industrialists as well as prominent contractors from the rural and urban areas. A glance at their, residence with specious drawing rooms well furnished with sofa sets,
decorative flower-pots and mirrors, window curtains, variety of
frames, ceiling; fans, exhibits their richness and a high level of
living to the visitor. The annual income of each family in this
group amounted to Rs. 4,200 or above. Eighteen families from this group were surveyed. The details of their family budgets are enumerated below.
The survey revealed that there were 40 earning members in the 18 families. The
number of families with more than one earning member stood at 9. An average family was composed of 6 adults and 4 minors making eight units on the whole. Exceptions to this are not hard to find. For example, one family at Nagbhir was found to have 49 members consisting of 27 adults and 22 children.
Out of 18 families from this group about 14 i.e. 77 per cent owned houses valued
at about Rs. 29,407 on the average. Besides this, 7 families i.e. about 38 per
cent had landed property valued at Rs. 45,785 on an average and 5 i.e. 27 per cent had it in some other form. Eight families derived income from owned houses to the tune of Rs. 59,400 in the aggregate, giving an average of Rs. 7,425 per family. The average occupational income of all the families thus amounted to Rs. 11,225.
The average total monthly expenditure of a family in this group was Rs. 344 of
which an amount of Rs. 79 was spent on cereals and pulses. The people in the
urban areas spent more on education and entertainment as compared to their rural
counter-parts. The average monthly expenditure on oils, ghee etc. was Rs. 25 and
that on vegetables, mutton, eggs etc., Rs. 23. They spent about Rs. 14 for
lighting, Rs. 65 for domestic services, Rs. 30 on milk and Rs. 40 on rent and
municipal taxes. In the case of entertainment, people in urban areas had more
preference for film shows and dramas unlike the people in rural areas who preferred circus shows and lokanatya and village fairs. In regard to rent, the families in the rural areas paid less by way of rent as most of the families were having their own houses. Only 3 families in the urban sector paid rent of Rs. 40 per month.
Classified by "owned" and "rented" categories, 90 per cent of the dwellings in the district are owned and 10 per cent are rented. The proportion of owned is higher (92 per cent) in the rural areas but lower (60 per cent) in the urban areas. Even this low proportion of 60 per cent for the urban areas in the district is much higher than the average of 30 per cent for urban areas of Maharashtra.
Out of the various materials used for walls, mud appears to be predominant in the district with a proportion of about 52 per cent of dwellings. Grass, leaves, reeds or bamboos are used next to mud for walls with a proportion of 37 per cent. Mud walls are predominant in Brahmapuri, Warora and Chanda talukas while grass, leaves, reeds, etc.. are commonly used in Gadhchi-roli, Rajura and Sironcha talukas.
Burnt bricks arc also used in the urban areas of Chanda,
Warora and Rajura talukas, though the majority of houses in
these talukas have walls either of mud or grass, leaves, etc. Mud
walls are more in rural than in urban areas. Their proportion
in rural areas is 52.9 per cent against 43.4 per cent in urban areas.
Walls of burnt bricks are more in urban areas with a proportion
of 37.6 per cent against only 4.8 per cent in rural areas.
Out of the materials of roof, tiles and grass, leaves, reeds, thatch, etc., are predominant in the district with proportions of 50.0 per cent and 45.7 per cent of the total number of dwellings. Tiles arc used more (80.2 per cent) in urban than In rural (47.5 per cent) areas. Grass, leaves, reeds, thatch, etc. are used more in rural (48.8 per cent) than in urban areas (8.6 per cent). Tiles arc more common in Warora and Chanda talukas. Roofs of grass, leaves, reeds, thatch, etc. are more common in Brahmapuri, Gadhchiroli. Rajura and Sironcha talukas. Gadhchiroli and Sironcha talukas have large population of Scheduled Tribes. For that reason and also perhaps because of the nearness and abundance of forests, the houses in those talukas have mostly walls and roof made of grass, leaves, thatch, etc.
Classified by the number of rooms occupied, 48.8 per cent of households are occupying one-room dwellings and 33.7 per cent are occupying two-room dwellings. The households occupying more rooms arc more in the urban than in rural areas. Average number of persons per room is 2.76 for total, 2.80 for rural and 2.32 for urban areas.
All the families belonging to this group were found to be well dressed. The
people living in urban area spent more on this item than the rural people.
Almost all families disclosed possession of costly garments like paithani, shalu and
jari turban. Their average annual expenditure on this item was Rs. 627.
The families in this group appeared to be generous in their expenditure on religious and charitable functions and ceremonies. Generally a family spent Rs. 190 per annum on this item. It was also observed that a family in rural areas spent more for this purpose as it celebrated many religious and charitable functions. The medical expenses in case of a family in urban areas amounted to Rs. 279 annually as against ruralites whose expenditure on this item was meagre.
The families in this group spent about Rs. 250 per year upon travelling and miscellaneous items. Almost all families possess-ed gold ornaments. Ornaments of common use such as rings, necklaces, bangles and nose-rings, both of gold and silver were found in all the rural as well as urban families. Besides they possessed luxury articles like radio sets, fans, etc. Four families out of the 18 surveyed were found to have motorcycles and one
owned a motor-car. Almost all the families had a bicycle. All
the families possessed furniture which usually consisted of a couple
of chairs, a table, a cot, cupboards, shelves etc. Their bedding
of consisted of chaddars, carpets, mattresses, bed-sheets and pillows. The families in rural areas were found in possession of necessary agricultural tools and implements. Many of them owned bullock-carts for the purpose of transportation of goods from field to house and from house to some nearby markets. As said above, literacy percentage was highest in this group. Almost all the people in this group were found literate. The young generation of this group was availing itself of the modern educational facilities which had been introduced in the district. The importance of the technical as well as other types of education was well appreciated by this class.
Families in this group were left with surplus of earnings after meeting their total expenses. In a few cases it was invested in life insurance policies and National Savings Certificates. Though this group was made up of well-to-do families, only 5 families disclosed their savings which amounted to Rs. 3,540 per annum on an average. Eight families were found to channelise their savings to the tune of Rs. 15,175 in shares and paper money. Only 2 families out of 18 surveyed were found indebted to the extent of Rs. 27,000 paying interest at the rate 7.50 per cent per annum.
|
