MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

The changing pattern of the socio-economic life of the community has made the existence of the restaurants and hotels an absolute necessity in a village or a town. As such, a number of them could be found in every town and village. Some of them exclusively provide tea, coffee and milk. Others are engaged in serving hot as well as cold drinks, eatables and in a few cases they provide meals mostly on the rice-plate basis. Tea shops can always be found in rural areas whereas hotels and restaurants are mostly located in towns.

Most of the establishments surveyed were from Sangli, Miraj, Khanapur, Vita, Tasgaon. Islampur and Peth.

Employment.

In the erstwhile South Satara, the total number of persons engaged in this occupation was 1,435 of whom 82 were women. According to the 1961 Census, it was 1,316 of whom 102 were women.

Accessories.

Rice, wheat, gram-flour (besan), semolina (rava), ghee, Vanaspati oil, groundnut oil, condiments and spices, vegetables, onion, potato, tea powder, sugar and milk are the articles required daily. Almost all of them are available in local markets.

Equipment.

In villages, furniture consists of benches, out-dated tables and aluminium utensils, etc. In cities most of the hotels are better equipped with chairs and tables, beautifully decorated mirrors hanging on the walls, a radio set, etc. Besides, stainless steel or copper utensils for preparing articles, glasses and crockery are used by almost all establishments. The expenditure on these was Rs. 150 and Rs. 500 in case of small and medium establishments, respectively; large establishment spent about Rs. 1,000 on these items.

Employment.

The employment in such establishments consists of cooks, waiters, cleaners, etc. The work of a cook is to prepare various types of food and eatables, of a waiter to serve the orders, indoor as well as outdoor, placed by customers and of a cleaner to clean the utensils, tables and the flooring. The number in each category is determined by the size of the establishment. In a small unit one man performs all the odd jobs.

Income and Expenditure.

Employees were paid according to the work allotted to them. Cooks were usually paid higher wages, followed by waiters, suppliers and boys employed as cleaners and for other extra work. Usually cooks, waiters and cleaners were paid Rs. 80, Rs. 60 and Rs. 25, respectively, as monthly wages. Besides, they were given meals, snacks and tea twice a day.

The monthly turnover of some of the establishments surveyed is given in the following table: —

The main items of expenditure were provisions, rent and wages, the item of provision being the largest. The rate of wages paid to the different categories of employees varied according to the size of the establishment. The rent varied according to the location, size and type of accommodation and ranged from Rs.. 40 to Rs. 140.

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