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MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS
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SWEET-MEAT MAKING
Sweet-meat making is one of the important occupations in the
district. It is a flourishing business at Dhulia, Shahada, Shirpur and
Nandurbar. The sweet-meat shops are generally situated on the main road of a town or near the market place.
It is the hereditary occupation of the Halwais who run the shop with the assistance of family members. In a very few cases, hired labour is found to be employed. At the time of survey, there were 1,057 persons reported to be engaged in this occupation.
To set up a sweet-meat shop a small initial capital is required. The tools and equipment consist of utensils either of brass or of aluminium necessary to prepare various kinds of sweets. They include pots, pans and saucer-pans and tools like tongs and spoons. Generally, they last for a period of well over 20 years or so with a few requiring replacements. The outlay on tools and equipment, on an average, comes to about Rs. 2,000.
Cost of materials required, rent etc., are the major items of expenditure. They account for almost 95 per cent of the total expenditure and vary between Rs. 250 and Rs. 600 per month. The net income of a sweet-meat shop ranges from Rs. 150 to Rs. 350 per month.
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