MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

INTRODUCTION

IN THIS CHAPTER AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO GIVE A BROAD PICTURE OF CERTAIN MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATION'S, such as, hotel keeping tailoring, flour-milling, hair-cutting, gold and silver smithy, etc. Though some of them are coming up in rural areas, they are typically urban in characteristics. Economic development during the last forty years has paved a way for such occupations. The changing habits and tastes of the people have encouraged the growth of such occupations. The industrial development gave impetus to some of the miscellaneous occupations and also created a change in the structure, composition and character of a few of them. An increase in their number has provided scope for more employment. Development of hotel keeping is due to migration of people from rural areas and springing up of small and big industries. The gradual urbanisation has created a change in the food habits of the people. The office goers coming from different parts have to rely more upon restaurants as well as on lodging and boarding houses. Fashions and fascinations for a well made dress have given rise to a number of shops dealing in ready-made clothes. Limitations upon the time available have cut down the self services and man has come to be more and more dependent upon the readily available services for his common necessities which is one of the reasons for the coming up of occupations like, laundries, lodging and boarding houses, hair-dressing, bicycle repairing and flour-milling.

The Census reports of 1911, 1921 and 1931 have given lists of occupations, such as, hotels and restaurants, bicycle repairing, milk and sweetmeat selling, tailoring, hair dressing, gold and silver smithy, painting, laundering, flour-milling and alike. Most of the craftsmen and traders included in these categories are engaged in production of goods of daily consumption or in rendering some useful service to the society. In the 1961 Census these occupations are enumerated under various heads, such as. industry, trade, etc.

Smaller numbers engaged in vocations like law, medicine, education, journalism or employment in Government departments, municipalities, also are important from the functional point of view. The rapid growth of such occupations is both a factor in the pace of urbanisation and an index of the degree of prosperity of the district.

A sample survey of some of these occupations was conducted in the district at Darwha, Digras, Ghatanji, Pandharkawada, Pusad, Umarkhed. Wani and Yeotmal with a view to presenting a broad picture of the economic conditions prevailing in these occupations. A questionnaire was framed on the basis of which the data was collected from each of the selected samples from different localities and places. The occupations selected included:—

(1) Hotels and restaurants, (2) Lodging and boarding, (3) Tailoring, (4) Hair-cutting, (5) Dhobis and laundry services, (6) Pan and bidi making, (7) Bakery, (8) Cycle repairing, (9) Sweetmeat making, (10) Rice pounders, huskers and Hour grinders, (11) Domestic servants. (12) Religious professions, and (13) the learned professions, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers.

Many of these occupations combined trade and industry. They are described in regard to their employment, earnings, equipment, raw materials, organisation, etc.

The following tables give the number of persons employed in different occupations in the Yeotmal district as per the 1951 and 1961 Censuses: —

TABLE No. 1

CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT, 1951.
[District Census Hand Book, Yeotmal, 1951.]

TABLE No. 2

CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT IN 1961 [District Census Hand Book, Yeotmal 1961.]

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