STANDARD OF LIFE

RURAL AREAS.

An assessment of the standard of life of the rural population presents certain difficulties. In rural areas, several barter transactions take place even now in agricultural produce and it is very difficult to bring out their full economic significance. Almost all rural classes are, in one way or other, connected with the cultivation of land. They claim share in the agricultural produce. Some cultivators' families supplement their income from the main occupation with the help of their relatives residing in urban areas. In these circumstances, absolutely clear-cut differentiation in occupations and economic classes is not possible; nor is the monetary allocation of income into different channels of expenditure altogether realistic. All the same, this account can only proceed on the basis of occupations and on calculations of money earnings and money expenditure. The following description gives a general but fairly correct outline of the economic picture of the district. The villages selected for the rural survey are shown below: -

BIG FARMERS.

What may be described as the top stratum of the village community consists of bigger cultivators who cultivate their land with their own hired labour and who possess holdings of a substantial size. The cultivation of large sized holdings necessarily implies the maintenance of more than one pair of bullocks and a larger number of implements. It is customary to express the size of farming business in terms of the number of bullocks a cultivator maintains. Those cultivators who come in this category generally possess more than one pair of bullocks. The average number of bullocks per family as revealed by the survey came to about three. In addition to bullocks, each family had on an average, four other animals including cows, buffaloes and goats.

The families of these big cultivators were conspicuous by their very size and composition. These families, in which grown-up sons and their wives, brothers and their wives, parents and other near relations lived under the same roof, furnished the pattern of the joint family system. Occasionally even a devoted servant found a well-recognised place in it. It would be quite interesting to contrast this characteristic of the family of the substantial farmer with that of his urban counterpart, who though economically on the same plane, has a much smaller family. The average size of such a family was about nine including three minors in the 15 samples selected, though it would not be surprising, if one comes across a family of 21 members in this class. [The recognition of a person of the age of 12 or above as a full adult unit for cereal consumption and a person below that age limit as half a unit has been widely accepted. In this chapter the unit of membership of a family is computed on this basis.]

Except the very old, no male members of the families in the sample were illiterate. Boys of school-going age were educated till the final primary stage and were sent to secondary schools thereafter. The percentage of literacy among males in these families was 77 and among females, 51. Of the total literate male members, 75 per cent, had received primary education, 19 per cent. secondary education and 6 per cent. college education. Among the literate females, 88 per cent. had received primary education and 12 per cent. secondary education. No women in these families had received any college education. One male full time servant was attached to each family. Generally grown-up girls and boys of this class of families received education in nearby cities and towns.

Out of the total number of members of the fifteen families, there were on an average five earners and four dependants per family. All the five earning members were employed in agricultural occupation. The economic responsibility for the maintenance of the family unit largely devolved upon the shoulders of the male members.

The main occupation of all these fifteen families was agriculture but only one followed it as a subsidiary occupation. As farming was the family occupation, every member had something to do with it. Female members did not perform agricultural operations involving heavy labour. They helped household and farm work in such ways as care of cattle, carrying of meals, hoeing of land and similar light operations. Besides attending to their studies in schools, children and grown-up boys of school-going age helped their parents in household and occasionally in farm work.

Quite a few farmers owned their houses. Each family in the sample had on an average three houses. Though the houses were not designed according to modern ideas, they were quite spacious and built to suit the variations and requirements of climate. The families also provided cattle sheds for milch and farm cattle which were their prized assets. The average annual income of a family in this group was about Rs. 7,000, which included income from main as well as from subsidiary occupations of all the members, house rent and interest. It is not possible to calculate precisely the income in monetary terms as the families grew their own food, lived in their own houses, paid in kind for services rendered by others and for the things they bought. However, an attempt has been made, wherever possible, to present calculations of money earnings and money expenditure. Each family on an average saved Rs. 1,200 per annum and had a debt of Rs. 4,000. Out of the fifteen families, four families had no debt, five had between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, four between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000 and two above Rs. 10,000.

Out of the annual income derived from all sources, round about Rs. 800 were annually spent on clothing, Rs. 150 on socio-religious customs like birth, death, marriage, etc., Rs. 100 on medicines and about Rs. 200 on repairs of houses and implements. The annual expenditure on charity and donations amounted to Rs. 50.

For food grains, dairy products, vegetables and fuel these farmers depended upon the produce of their own farms and cattle. In view of the large size of the farms and sufficient number of cattle, adequacy of these articles was easily assured. The monthly expenditure on an average worked out at Rs. 150 on items like cereals, pulses, milk, ghee, fruits, vegetable, eggs, mutton, fish, tea, oil, spices, tobacco, etc. Rs. 30 on fuel and lighting, Rs. 20 on servants, Rs. 200 on miscellaneous items like toilet, dhobi, barber, entertainment, and travelling and Rs. 10 on education.

Thus the expenditure pattern of these families indicates that their income was such that adequacy on all these items was not only easily assured, but it left some surplus, which was reflected in their savings both in kind and in cash. While these farmers were not averse to the use of earthen pots and jars, they possessed sufficient brass and copper vessels. It was among this class of the village folk that the so-called urban articles of comfort like a cupboard, a time-piece and other items of furniture, and even a motor car were found. They had also a few gold and silver ornaments.

By the recent land legislation, the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1956, a ceiling has been imposed upon individual holdings. A cultivator is not allowed to keep land in excess of 48 acres for personal cultivation. Many landlords, therefore, have divided their properties among their inheritors so as to avoid the applicability of the Act.

MEDIUM CULTIVATORS.

If the big cultivator is the aristocrat of the village, the medium cultivator is a constituent of the usual middle class or the peasantry. He stands between the aristocrat at the top and that group of villagers who are part time farmers or landless labourers at the bottom. This class consists of cultivators who not only cultivate holding of economic size owned entirely or partly by them but also possess labour power and cattle wealth of economic size. The average size of the family holdings was about 13 acres in the sample of 41 families. Each family on an average possessed one pair of bullocks and two buffaloes and a cow.

The average size of the family was neither big nor small. It had five adults and about three children. The maximum number of members one family had was 14. These families owned major portion of their land they cultivated and had on an average one house each. Grown-up boys and girls were taking education either in primary or in secondary schools. Besides education, they helped their parents in spare time in agricultural operations. The women in these families were engaged both in household activities and agricultural operations on the family land.

The main occupation of all the families in the sample was farming. Only a few earning dependants were engaged in tailoring. On an average, the family had one earning member, three earning dependants and four non-earning dependants. Though the economic responsibility for the maintenance of the family devolved upon the male members, the contribution of women and grown-up boys towards the family income was considerable, unlike in the class of big cultivators.

The average annual income of a family in this group was about Rs. 2,200. But as in the case of their more substantial compeers, the fact that they mostly rely on their own produce for food grains, vegetables, fuel and dairy products makes a precise assessment of monetary expenditure on various items rather difficult. But it can be definitely stated that, though not so well off as the big cultivators, a state of tolerable adequacy seemed to be more or less assured to this group, in so far as these items were concerned.

On an average these families spent Rs. 260 on clothes, Rs. 120 on festivals and other ceremonies, guests and charity per year. Despite the absence of a perceptible margin of surplus these families spent a significant sum on charity. They spent on an average Rs. 30 on repairing their houses. The annual expenditure on medicines per family was between Rs. 30 and Rs. 50.

The average monthly expenditure of a family was Rs. 34 on cereals and pulses, Rs. 10 on milk and milk products, Rs. 4 on edible oils, Rs. 6 on servants, Rs. 5 on washing and shaving and Rs. 2 on education. Gul and sugar claimed Rs. 5, fuel and kerosene Rs. 10 and cosmetics and dry fruits Rs. 2. They spent Rs. 4 on travel and Rs. 4 on pan-supari, bidi, etc.

The income of this class of farmers was fairly adequate to meet their minimum demands, which was indicated by the fact that out of the 41 families in the sample only 21 had debts varying from Rs. 100 to Rs. 2,000. Families having large debts borrowed mostly for productive purposes. Seventeen families in the sample saved between Rs. 100 and Rs. 1,000 per annum.

The belongings of these families were confined to articles of daily use in which brass and copper vessels were considerable in number. Pieces of furniture like tables, chairs and cots were also found with some families. They also possessed a few golden ornaments and valuable clothes.

Of the total number of males in these families 67 per cent. were literate. About 95 per cent. of the literate males took primary and 5 per cent. secondary education. Among the female members 20 per cent. were literate. Most of them took only primary education.

The prosperity or otherwise of this rural middle class, who marginally balanced their budgets depended upon the vagary of monsoons. A little rise in food prices or cash crops immediately elevated their economic position. It helped this class wipe out their marginal debts. On the other hand a little worsening of the economic situation by way of agricultural depression was enough to affect it to some extent.

TENANT CULTIVATORS.

Just above the lowest rung of the agricultural ladder stands the class of tenant cultivators whose position was certainly not enviable. It is no doubt true that the recent land legislation has conferred upon them the right of occupancy on the land they cultivate and reduced a number of difficulties. Government have taken certain positive steps to improve the economic condition of the cultivators and among them can be included long-term financing, irrigation, seed supply, co-operative development among others, but it is apprehended that the same may take a long time to accomplish the desired results.

The survey revealed that the actual number of acres cultivated by the cultivator was between 5 and 10. The average size of the family of these tenants was considerably smaller than that of either big or medium cultivators. The average size of the family, as revealed by the sample survey composed of 38 families, comprised six persons including two children. The lowest number of members in these families was three. Each family had a pair of bullocks or buffaloes and two other cattle. It was also found that tenant cultivators did not possess all the necessary agricultural implements. Almost every family in the sample had a house. But this housing accommodation depicted a picture of most unhygienic surroundings, as human beings, cattle, hay and fodder and agricultural implements were all huddled together in the same house which was mostly a kaccha construction.

A family in the sample had usually two earners and four other dependants including two minors. Almost all earners and earning dependants were engaged in agricultural operations. A few earning dependants were either engaged in tailoring or employed in service. Females in their families worked side by side with male members either on their own land or on the land of others. The independent earnings of women and grown-up boys were rarely included in the income of the family. They did not help in removing their poverty but helped to meet some of their wants. About 44 per cent. of the total number of males in these families were literate. The literacy among females was hardly 5 per cent.

The average annual income of these families was Rs. 1,100 the highest being Rs. 1,500 and the lowest Rs. 100. Thirteen families in the sample were in debt which varied from Rs. 50 to Rs. 2,000. The total amount of debt of these thirteen families was Rs. 7,100. The other families were just marginally maintaining themselves and had no saving to their credit.

Of the total annual income of a family Rs. 150 were spent annually on clothing and Rs. 300 on house repairs, purchase of fodder, implements, medical care, pilgrimage, social and religious customs, etc. Their average monthly expenditure worked out to Rs. 50 on cereals, pulses, milk, ghee, oil, spices, tea, pan and tobacco, Rs. 6 on fuel and Rs. 4 on miscellaneous items like washing, shaving, education, travelling, etc. These items do not include rent the tenant cultivator paid for the land he cultivated. Thus, almost all these families had deficit budgets. [The information in this section was collected prior to the enforcement of the amend-ment to the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1956, which conferred occupancy rights upon tenant cultivators. This has presumably led to some improvement in the general economic conditions.]

LANDLESS LABOURERS.

At the lowest rung of the agricultural ladder stands the class known as the agricultural proletariat or landless labourers. This class has no land nor does it have any milch or agricultural cattle. It earns its earning entirely by working as labourers. The wages it earns may be in kind or in cash. Some labourers may have some land; but their holdings may be so tiny in size and income derived from them so meagre that it becomes almost impossible for them to eke out a living from farm income alone. More often than not work on the land of others is the only employment easily available to them.

The family of such labourers is generally small. The average size of a family in the fifty samples consisted Of five including two minors. They maintained neither draught nor milch animals. Their small houses, which could be rightly called as huts, seemed to be all they possessed.

The majority of such labourers were illiterate, hardly 25 per cent. of the total being literate. Only 5 per cent. of the women were literate. Children of the school-going age were generally sent to school. But many of them had to give up education at the age when it became possible for them to work and earn. The womenfolk had to supplement the family means by taking up agricultural labour of a lighter type like reaping, weeding, etc.

It is difficult to speak of a regular family budget of this class of people, as the tenor of their life was fluctuating from day to day. But it can be said that they could just satisfy their primary wants during the days of employment. The agriculturally busy seasons involving, sowing, harvesting, weeding, etc. meant enough food for them as they and their women got employment during this period. They then purchased clothing and some other articles. Their daily budgets showed the absence of provision for milk, ghee and entertainment and a negligible provision for gul, oil, sugar and vegetables. They had no basic agricultural implements required for physical labour. These families did not possess any valuable ornaments.

The average income of such a family in the sample hardly exceeded Rs. 450 per annum. The average annual expenditure on clothes was Rs. 80 and that on other items like medicines, house repairs etc. only Rs. 15. Rs. 20 were spent every month on cereals and pulses, Rs. 2 on edible oil and spices and Rs. 2 on sugar, gul and tea. Cost of fuel varied from village to village as in some villages it was gathered free from the forest; while in others it was purchased. No expenditure was incurred on items such as education, entertainment and cosmetics, etc.

Notwithstanding the disparity between irrigated and dry, secure and insecure tracts, resulting in disparities in incomes and productivity of this class, it can be said that on the whole agricultural labour was hardly able to meet even its primary needs.

VILLAGE ARTISANS.

The village artisans are still to a large extent treated as servants of the village community. They are remunerated by "Aya" or baluta system. The main components of this class are sutar (carpenter), and nhavi (barber). It is interesting to note that the traditional system of offering services more or less on the basis of barter still continued to function to a great extent in the villages surveyed by us. The average size of the family as revealed in the sample containing 54 families was 6 including two minors. Of their total male population 63 per cent. and of the female population nine per cent. were literate. Women were generally engaged in household work, though some of them also helped their male members in the family occupation.

On an average each family had a house. Two families had three and four houses respectively, whereas eight families had no houses at all. Their houses were big enough to provide room for keeping the instruments required for their occupation. Twenty families had land below one acre each, five families had below two acres each, two families had above five acres each and 27 families were landless. Nearly half the number of families had both milch and draught cattle. They possessed instruments and equipment of their respective trade.

Calculated in monetary terms, the average annual income of a family was about Rs. 1,100. Grains obtained as baluta ensured a good initial stock of food stuff. But the produce so obtained did not suffice for the whole year and they had to purchase foodgrains required for the remaining part of the year.

Of the total income, a family spent annually on an average Rs. 190 on clothes, Rs. 25 on socio-religious functions, charity and help to others, Rs. 10 on travelling, Rs. 17 on medical care and Rs. 10 on house repairs. Its average total monthly expenditure on food grains, milk, edible oils, spices, vegetables, tea and coffee, fuel etc. was Rs. 58 per family, Rs. 25 were spent on food grains, Rs. 4 on milk and milk products, Rs. 6 on edible oil and spices and sugar, Rs. 2 on vegetables, Rs. 3 on tea and coffee, Rs. 10 on fuel, Re. 1 on cosmetics among other things. Twenty-eight families in the sample had a total debt of Rs. 8,000. Only ten families could save very little, as the savings of each did not exceed Rs. 20 per year. Only two families saved Rs. 50 and Rs. 65 respectively.

Thus, it can be said that most of these artisans were able to make both ends meet with great difficulty. The notable characteristic of the occupations followed by these artisans is that they were seasonal. Carpenters, blacksmiths, leather workers were employed for six or seven months in a year. During the days of their unemployment they take up agricultural labour to supplement their income.

TRADERS.

Traders form another distinct social group in the village. It should, however, be emphasised that the size of business of traders in different villages and of traders in the same village, too varies considerably. All villages having a population of not less than 1,000 have at least one village grocer. The number is larger, if the village is a big market place or a trade centre.

Though village traders deal with selling, buying and money lending, it was revealed that in the sample of about 25 families, only three families did the business of money-lending. They lent money on credit to cultivators and realised it during harvest.

Most of these traders in the villages were local people. They were not immigrants. The size of the family in this class was medium, as it consisted of four adults and two minors. Near relations lived and worked together. Some families owned milch cattle. On an average each family had two heads of cattle.

The budgets of such traders showed enough provision for all items of expenditure. The grocers' investment was between Rs. 1,000 and 2,000 and they replenished their stock either weekly or monthly, as the case may be, depending on the turnover of business. The annual average income of a trader in the sample was Rs. 2,000. The family spent on an average Rs. 170 on clothing, Rs. 100 on socio-religious observances, guests and charity, Rs. 30 on travelling, Rs. 40 on medical care and Rs. 25 on house repairing per year. The monthly expenditure on an average was Rs. 80 on all food articles, Rs. 10 on fuel, Rs. 20 on servants, entertainment, education and cosmetics and Rs. 5 on house rent. The budget figures of the families did not disclose a satisfactory economic condition. More than half the families in the sample were in debt the amount of which varied from Rs. 400 to Rs. 1,000 per family.

VAIDYAS AND MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS.

Besides traders, there are village vaidyas and medical practitioners in villages. About 160 persons were engaged in this occupation. Ten families were taken in the sample. The average size of a family consisted of six persons including two minors. Their main occupation was to serve medicines to the villages. Three families had cultivable land of about 60 acres. The average annual income of a family was round about Rs. 1,500. Of their total income, they spent on an average Rs. 140 on clothing, Rs. 40 on medical care and Rs. 120 on other items like travelling, socio-religious observances, charity and Rs. 10 per year on house repairing per annum. Their average monthly expenditure was Rs. 53 on all food articles, Rs. 7 on fuel, Rs. 3 on house rent, Rs. 12 on education, entertainment and travelling. Only one of the ten families had a debt of Rs. 400. The budgets of these families revealed that their income and expenditure more or less balanced each other.

PRIMARY TEACHERS.

Twenty-one families of primary teachers were taken in the sample which consisted on an average of six persons including two minors, had more or less the same pattern of expenditure as village physicians. The average annual income of a family was Rs. 1,400, out of which on an average Rs. 150 were spent annually on clothing, Rs. 24 on medical care, Rs. 8 On house repairing and Rs. 50 on travelling, charity, socio-religious observations etc. Monthly expenditure included items like food, fuel, education, house-rent, cosmetics, travelling etc. The average expenditure per month on all the food articles was Rs. 50, on fuel Rs. 8 and on education Rs. 11 etc. About half the families were in debt. Sixteen families had some savings, the average amount saved being about Rs. 250 per year per family.

Concluding Remarks.

This analysis of the budgets of some families representing different economic classes in the village, can be said to present, though not in strictly accurate, statistical terms, a broad picture of the rural levels of living.

It will be clear that except for the small minority of big cultivators the majority of the population live either on or below the margin of subsistence. The landless labourer and the petty landholder, who are wage-earners for most of the time, seem to be perpetually in a precarious condition. They form a substantial portion of the community and there is no doubt that with better opportunities of employment in the planned economic development of the country and with better methods of farming, there will be a perceptible improvement in their condition. The medium-size cultivator may be in a slightly better position in the sense that, in normal times, his income may just suffice to cover his expenditure. Even in his case, however, the line of demarcation between balancing the budget and falling into a deficit is quite thin and once the balance is upset and indebtedness, starts, the financial malaise goes on deepening with very disastrous results. This category, along with artisans, forms a substantial sector of the village community and even if the annual income of an individual family is found to range from Rs. 1,100 to Rs. 2,200, when distributed over its members, it will be found per head to be less than the per capita national income of Rs. 272. It will be noticed that except in the case of families of big cultivators, the proportion of non-consumption expenditure to total income, which can be considered as a barometer for studying the planes of living, is very inadequate. Food alone takes up about 50 per cent. or even more of the income. Very little margin is, therefore, left for acquiring other amenities which are essential for civilised life. However, in comparison to the western zone, the peasantry in the eastern zone enjoys a better standard of living. This is mainly due to the significant role the cash crops like sugarcane, oil seeds and tobacco play in the economy of the region.

TOP