MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

DOMESTIC SERVANTS

The families who have economic stability and a sufficient agricultural bias employ domestic servants. It is necessary to distinguish between rural domestic servants and their urban counterparts. In rural areas, the domestic servants are employed only at the time of agricultural operations such as harvesting, sowing etc., and they are paid in cash as also in kind according to the work performed. Servants who are employed for a year or more than a year are technically known as attached labour. They are also paid in cash and kind. They are generally employed to look after the cattle, to protect crops and also for fencing, weeding, watering the crop and other minor domestic work. The other category of rural servants now speedily disappearing is the one where a worker is employed in the family of a Jagirdar, lnamdar, or a landlord in return for the monetary help received by him from the household, the period of service being uncertain.

The other category of domestic servants is one where a worker is employed in an urban area only where there are two distinct classes. The one employed as a full-time servant to do every possible kind of family service and the other employed partly for certain specific jobs such as washing of clothes and utensils and other domestic work.

During the last few years the earnings of domestic servants as a class have increased. The majority of them especially in urban areas are employed on part-time basis. Their monthly earnings vary between Rs. 25 and Rs. 45 depending upon the number of families they serve. The earnings of full-time servants vary between Rs. 30 and Rs. 50 per month. In addition to this they are also provided meals, clothes etc. The servants of the second category are mostly women.

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