MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

INTRODUCTION

MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS ARE THOSE OCCUPATIONS WHICH are not under the purview of the Factories Act but are covered under the jurisdiction of the Shops and Establishments Act. These occupations have occupied a prominent position in the present economic system and provide a means of livelihood for a large number of persons.

The growth of population, changes in the pattern of living of the people, ever-increasing needs of the people, changes in fashions, rising income, etc., are some of the factors which are responsible for the growth of these occupations. For example, changes in fashions in wearing apparel gave rise to the establishment of the tailoring shops and of ready-made clothes shops and changes in food-habits have been responsible for the establishment of hotels and restaurants.

There is an appreciable percentage of the population which earns its livelihood from occupations like tailoring, hotels, restaurants and tea-shops, laundries, hair-cutting saloons, bakeries, cycle-repairing, lodging and boarding, pan-bidi shops, flour mills, etc. According to the Census of 1961 as many as 54,358 persons were engaged in the miscellaneous occupations and services, of whom 42,573 persons were males and the rest were females. Most of the occupationers are engaged n production of goods of daily consumption or in rendering some useful service to the community.

In services such as medical practice, education, journalism, law and public services, the number of persons engaged is less as compared to the number of persons engaged in the occupations mentioned in the above paragraph. Rapid growth of such occupations is both a factor in the pace of urbanisation and an index of the degree of prosperity. A sample survey of the selected occupations was conducted in 1970 at the following places:-Sholapur, Pandharpur, Barshi, Sangola, Karmala, Mangalwedha, Malshiras, Kurduwadi and Akluj. The occupations were surveyed with a view to representing a broad picture of the economic conditions prevailing in these pursuits. The survey was confined to certain aspects of the occupations such as number of units existing, nature of tools and appliances used, their cost, average monthly expenses incurred, nature of the market for the products, nature of labour, power used, capital requirements and income gained. The occupations covered by the survey were (1) tailoring shops, (2) hotels and restaurants, (3) hair-cutting saloons, (4) lodging and boarding houses, (5) cold drink houses, (6) pan-bidi shops, (7) flour mills, (8) laundries, (9) bicycle marts and repairing shops, (10) frame-makers, (11) sweetmeat marts and (12) general stores.

TOP