GENERAL ECONOMIC SURVEY

TRADE

According to the census of 1951, the various trades in the district provided the principal means of livelihood to 61,204 persons, out of a total population of 17,11,964. The self-supporting persons engaged in these trades numbered 13,711 of whom as many as 8,932 came from the rural areas and tire rest from the urban areas. In spite of its long coastal line, the district does not possess a suitable port which would facilitate an import-export trade on a much wider scale than one carried on at present. However, traders take advantage wherever possible, of the innumerable creeks that penetrate fairly deep in the region for importing and exporting commodities through the agency of sailing vessels. The trade is patterned to the needs of the population and is generally confined to goods locally produced or imported for consumption in the district. Among the important trade centres could be mentioned Ratnagiri, Malvan, Chiplun and Vengurla, though none of these could be regarded as bustling with commercial activity throughout the year.

The district is primarily dependent on Bombay, both for the sale of its products and for the supply of its day to day needs. During the busy season, the main function of the trade centres consists in importing and distributing the imported articles all over the district. Food-grains and other necessaries of life constitute the chief articles of import. Besides food-grains, all other articles like cloth, sweet oil, medicines, hardware, sugar, gur and chillies are imported. The chief articles of export are mangoes, cocoanuts, betelnuts etc. The volume of import-export trade indicates a very unfavourable position from the economic point of view because imports considerably exceed exports.

In the absence of any big centres of commercial activity, religious fairs play an important part in co-ordinating and harmonising the trade activities of the interior areas of the district. The fairs provide not only an interesting distraction to the general populace but also prove to be a decent financial proposition to the petty traders and merchants. In spite of the fact that the fairs have lost today their original glamour, as many as 118 fairs, the largest number in the whole of the district, were held in Sawantwadi taluka in one year.

Retail shops are located in almost all the wards of the principal towns and they cater to the needs of the localities. The Bombay Shops and Establishment Acts (LXXIX) of 1948 has been applied to all the municipal towns except Rajapur. In 1957, Chiplun had the highest number of retail shops, namely 891 giving employment to nearly 1,291 men and 35 women. The 'Grocery' groups of shops form the largest number; then come cloth and hosiery shops. There are also dealers in foodstuffs, textiles, leather and fuel and other articles of daily consumption.

The most heavy season for commercial activity are the months of April and May, which can be accounted for by the fact that there is naturally an effort to stock all provisions before the advent of monsoon which is quite heavy in all parts of the district.

There are 490 registered dealers in the rural areas, registered under the Bombay Sales Tax Act. The corresponding figure for the urban areas is 254 (1958). These dealers are well distributed over the district. Almost every village has a retail shop. Besides the retail dealers, periodical markets, held at different places satisfy the needs of the people. Pedlars too form a connecting link between rural consumers and traders in towns. The growth of large establishments in towns and increase in the number of shops in rural areas have tended to diminish the number of pedlars and their importance.

The Sales Tax returns for the year 1958 show that there were 744 dealers and their gross turnover came to Rs. 7,59,15,933. This turnover does not represent the turnover of all traders in the district because dealers under the Sales Tax Act are fairly big traders having a turnover of more than Rs. 30,000 a year and therefore a large number of petty traders are excluded from the returns.

The traders and merchants in the district have a few organisations of their own to secure co-operation amongst their members for facing common problems and formulating common policies to safeguard their interest.

TOP