CHAPTER VIII
MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS
This Chapter deals with miscellaneous occupations, which do not fall in major occupational categories such as agriculture, industry, trade and commerce, transport and communications. These occupations cover a wide range of public and private services and constitute a significant part of daily life and their growth depends greatly on the economic development of a particular region. These occupations cover the members of government or semi-government services, defence services and services in private sectors and in addition, there are many people who are engaged in small crafts and other occupations such as hair cutting, tailoring, laundry work or self-employed. Self-employed persons generally work in shops or in their own houses; some go about hawking their goods and services. In addition to these, there are few people, who are engaged in domestic services and work as cooks, domestic servants, gardeners and chowkidars. Some women work as ayahs or part-time maid servants.
As per 2001 Census, the total population of the Nawashahr District was 5,86,468 persons (5,06,402 rural and 81,066 urban). The total number of workers (main and marginal) in the district was 2,63,698 persons (1,70,453 males and 93,245 females). Of these 54,651 were cultivators, 22,781 were agricultural labourers, 5,453 were engaged in household industry, 1,55,520 were other workers and 25,293 were marginal workers.
The statistics regarding these professions were collected during 1961 Census, the ensuing Census ignored these statistics, so the data regarding the personal and domestic services have been collected from municipal councils/nagar panchayats. However, wherever possible the latest data have been included.
According to the Economic Census 1998 the details of the occupational distribution of the workers in the non-agricultural operations in the Nawashahr District are as under:
|
Serial No |
Major Activity Group |
Number of Enterprises |
Number of workers engaged |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
1 |
Mining and Quarrying |
9 |
17 |
|
2 |
Manufacturing |
2,322 |
12,782 |
|
3 |
Electricity, Gas and Water |
48 |
423 |
|
4 |
Construction |
462 |
921 |
|
5 |
Whole-sale Trade |
280 |
583 |
|
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
6 |
Retail Trade |
5,544 |
8,258 |
|
7 |
Restaurants and Hotels |
105 |
441 |
|
8 |
Transport |
187 |
1,761 |
|
9 |
Storage and Warehousing |
29 |
137 |
|
10 |
Communications |
399 |
741 |
|
11 |
Financial Insurance, Real
Estate and Business Services |
439 |
2,023 |
|
12 |
Community, Social and
Personal Services |
7,285 |
18,738 |
|
13 |
Other (Unspecified
activities) |
- |
- |
|
|
Total |
17,109 |
50,524 |
(Fourth Economic Census 1998, issued by Economic Advisor to
Government of Punjab)
(a)
Public Administration
Central, State and Local Government Services.- During British Rule the development of this area was not upto the
mark. After
The total number of government employees
working in Nawashahar District as on
Public
Employee’s Organisations.- A strong feeling of
trade unionism is rapidly growing as workers consider such organizations
absolutely essential to safeguard their interests against exploitation and to
avoid competition among themselves. Employees are allowed to form associations
or unions under Trade Union Act, 1926 for the protection and promotion of their
service interests. Employees in public service has formed associations or
unions to voice their grievances and to safeguard their recognized service
interests. As on
1 Rs 120 for Class-I, Rs 60 for Class-II, Rs
30 for Class-III and Rs 15
Class- IV employees
2 Insurance
amount is Rs 1,20,000; 60,000; 30,000 and 15,000 for Class-I,
Class-II and Class IV employees respectively
|
Serial No |
Name of the |
Date of registration |
|
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
The Mahal
Gehla Cooperative Agriculture Service Society, Ltd Employee’s |
|
|
3 |
Municipal Employees’ Union Garhshankar |
|
|
4 |
Muncipal
Subordinate Services |
|
|
5 |
Municipal
Employees’ |
|
|
6 |
Banga Block
Cooperative Society Employees’ |
|
(Source:
Labour Commissioner,
(b)
Learned Professions
There are certain other professions, which play an important role in the education of or building up of the society and may be classed as learned or technical professions. These include jobs like teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists, etc. The information available on each of these professions is given below:
Educational Services.- The
importance of the teaching profession in the life of the district can hardly be exaggerated. The teachers
working in various educational institutions play a significant role in the
social economic and cultural life of the people. The number of educational
institutions has increased as per Punjab Government’s policy of
‘Universalization of Education’. The pay scales of the teachers have become
attractive. Now more and more people are opting to join this profession. This
profession includes professors, lecturers, teachers and research scholars. The
number of recognized educational institutions in the district as on
Medical and Health Services.- With the
spread of education and scientific treatment of human ills coming within the
reach of the people, the methods of faith cure and quackery are on the wane.
With the spread of literacy and the increased provision of health and other
medical facilities all over the district, the people visit hospitals and avail
themselves of the necessary medical facilities in large numbers. There are
Government and semi-Government hospitals, dispensaries, nursing homes,
maternity and child-welfare clinics, ayurvedic and unani medical institutions
and homeopathic institutions which provide medical services. The persons
engaged in these services include physicians, surgeons, nurses, midwives,
vaids, hakims, etc. The number of registered medical and para medical
personnel (doctors, midwives, nurses and dais) working in recognized medical
institutions in the district as on
Legal Services.- This profession has attracted a number of
persons because it is a paying and independent profession. It also provides
good deal of scope for participating and rising in public life. This profession
includes, barrister, advocates, lawyers, pleaders, law assistants, munshis and petition writers. These people serve the
client in securing justice in civil and criminal matters according to the
prevailing law. They live in urban areas where the courts are located. The fee
charged by each lawyer varies according to the nature of the case and the
popularity of the lawyer who handles it. But the client has to pay the fee
fixed whether the case ends in his favour or not. As on 31
March 2001 ,
there were 2 Bar Associations with 148 members functioning in the district at
Nawashahr and Balachaur.
Engineering Services.- Engineers play an important role in the development and well-being of
the people in the field of agriculture industry and transport. The industrial
development is particularly linked with road development, transmission of
electricity and other engineering activities. After Independence with the
implementation of Five-Year Plans, there has been an increasing demand for engineering personnel
as their services have been required for various development and nation
building activities including construction and repairs of dams, roads, bridges,
canals and bunds and sinking of tubewells. The details of the persons employed
in engineering service in various Government Departments are given in chapter
XIII, ‘Other Department’. Besides, there are some persons who are engaged in
allied professions such as contractors, architects or consulting engineers. The
number of oversears, architects, engineers and surveyors in municipal areas of
the Nawashahr District working as private consultants was 65 as on 31
March 2001 .
Personal and Domestic Services
Personal Services.- These services include barbers, washermen, launderers, drycleaners, tailors, carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, cobblers, water-carriers, etc. A brief description a few of these is given below:
Barbers.- They form an important occupational class. The hair dressing, hair
cutting and shaving services are rendered by barbers, Until recently the
barbers (Nai) combined the occupation of shaving and hair
cutting with messanger of news such as weddings, deaths and other auspicious
events. He took leading part in all family ceremonies of his patrons (Jajmans). The wife of the barber called
Nain does some sort of hair cleaning
and hair dressing of women in the villages and her presence on some social and
religious ceremonies is still necessary. The traditional barbers in the rural
areas used to move from door to door with his small wooden box which contains
the necessary instruments for hair cutting and shaving and receive payment in
kind. But with the opening of hair-saloons, the practice of visiting the houses
of the customers by barbers is on wane. The customers too find it more
convenient and cheap to visit the hair dressing saloons and beauty parlours for
shave or for hair cutting and hairdressing. Some of these barbers shops are
provided with modern equipment for hair cutting and hairdressing. Some barbers
sit in the open to cater to the need of the lower income group. In Rahon,
Banga, Balachaur and Nawashahr municipal areas the barbers generally charge Rs
10 to Rs 40 for hair cut and Rs 5 to Rs 20 for shave. The rates charged by the
beauticians vary between Rs 50 to 250
and in some special cases even upto Rs 1,000. The number of barbers
including hair dressers and beauticians in the district as on
Washermen.- Washermen include dhobis, launderers, and drycleaners. Washermen mostly serve in the urban areas, as in rural areas people do their washing themselves. Earlier the work of the dhobis was to collect clothes from the houses of their customers and return these after washing and pressing. Emergence of laundry shops in urban areas, on ventures of automatic washing machines and the introduction of synthetic yarn has adversely affected the work of dhobis. Now people prefer to wash their clothes at home and send to dhobis for pressing who have set up their pressing stalls at convenient places or hawking for press on moving rehries. The launderers run regular shops and do not undertake home delivery. They charge higher rate than dhobis, even then they are gaining popularity because of their quick and efficient services. Generally the laundries employ dhobis for washing and pressing clothes. Besides laundries there are a number of exclusive dry cleaning shops in all the towns and large villages of the district.
In the Municipal areas of
Nawashahr, Rahon, Banga and Balachaur dry cleaning charges vary between Rs 40
and Rs 100 and pressing charges vary
between Rs 1 to Rs 5 per piece. The
number of dhobis, launderers, drycleaners and pressers in the district was
1,224 as on
Tailors.- Like other occupations, tailoring is an age-old occupation. These
services include cutters, furrier and related workers. In the past, tailoring
was a caste profession, like the family barber, there used to be a family
tailor. He would visit his family clients and used to sit in their homes before
few days of marriage to stitch the clothes of whole family. The tailor in olden
days was the counsellor to the family for cloth purchases. But all that changes
with the times. The tradition of family tailors faded away. Tailoring that
started as a craft in the hands of a few has not only become a profession but
also an industry with the onset of ready-made garments. The people prefer to
readymade garments for their babies and school going children. Tailors who run
their own shops are usually referred to as master tailors and employ a number
of junior tailors, sewing boys and helpers. In the urban areas tailoring has
flourished to a great extent because the people of the cities are generally
affected by the new fashion. The import of latest sartorial designs and
standard of tailoring in urban areas has, therefore, undergone much change. The
tailoring charges vary from place to place and shop to shop depending upon the
stitching skill of the tailor and the standard of living of the people. The
usual charges for stitching garments in urban areas are high. The number of
tailors/cutters in the municipal areas of the district as on
Carpenters.- The carpenters or tarkhans
form an important occupational class. They made and repair wooden structures,
doors, windows, chairs and other building fixtures. The village carpenters made
and repair agricultural implements and domestic articles. The urban carpenters
manufacture the sophisticated items of furniture and established showrooms.
They get their remuneration in cash. In the municipal areas of the district the
number of carpenters/ cabinet makers, coopers and joiners in the district as on
Cobblers.- In past, mochies
(cobblers), were engaged in making desi
jutties and recondition and repair
worn out shoes in rural areas and got payment in kind for these services at the
time of harvest. In urban areas, most cobblers repair defective or worn-out
foot wears while some experienced one have small establishments and make new
shoes, chappals, sandals, etc. Some
cobblers may be seen hawking, in town streets, their services and usually
attend to the repairing, mending, polishing and reconditioning of shoes. The
total number of cobblers, joiners in the district as on
Self-employed persons.- Self-employed persons include all those who work independently or sell their individual services. In the past when the demands of the society were limited only a particular section of population of the district was engaged in self-employment. The traditional village artisans such as carpenters, blacksmiths, suniars (goldsmith) halwais, telis (oilpreners), kumhars (potters), Julahas (weavers), etc., all fall under the self employed category and serve the community. Most of them got their due share at the time of harvest for the service they render to their clients.
With the implementation of developmental schemes under Five- Year Plans, the living pattern of society has changed completely. This economic change of recent times has expanded the occupational field of self-employed persons.
The rapid change in the eating habits of people have given birth to different kinds of eating establishments, hotels, restaurants, fast food centres, tea and snack stalls, cold and hot drink stalls. Chinese and South Indian stalls have sprang up. The bakeries have gained popularity owing to the demand for their ready products such as bread, cakes, biscuits, etc.
In modern era, a large number of skilled and semi-skilled are self-employed in professions such as auto-mechanic, T.V./radio mechanic, A.C./refrigerator mechanic, cycle repair, electrician, etc. There is another category of self-employed persons who run small shops, dealing in readymade garments, general merchandise, chemist shops, consumer goods, pan bidi, grocery, vegetable/ fruit, etc. Such type of establishments has engaged many people and most of them are concentrated in towns.
Domestic Services.- The domestic servants include cooks, housekeepers, malies, maid servants and other indoor servants. Full time servants are generally employed by businessmen, high-income group and other well-to-do families. These domestic servants are paid between Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 depending upon the work and free lodging. The increase in the number of women working in offices, industrial establishments and schools has increased the demand for domestic servants. Practice of having part-time domestic servants for gardening, cleaning of utensils, washing of clothes, sweeping and scrubbing of floors and helping the housewives in their daily chores is in vogue in urban areas of district. Females from poor families adopt this profession to supplement their family income. They are paid Rs 100 to Rs 250 for each work in addition to sundry facilities provided by their employers. With the passage of time and opening of other avenues which provided increasing opportunities elsewhere, the domestic service has become costlier and is not easily available. A few domestic servants, who come from other parts of the country, have been employed by affluences.
(c) Miscellaneous services
Transport Services.- Road transport plays a vital role in moulding the social and
economic structure of a country. The development
of road transport since
Private cars and jeeps also cater to the needs of their owners in their day-to-day avocation. Some owners of these vehicles keep drivers. For the carriage of goods, hand carts and animal driven carts are used where the load is light and the destination distance is short. However, for heavy loads and longer distance, the services of goods transport companies are utilized. The number of buses, cars and station wagons, taxis, jeeps, three wheelers and two wheelers in the district as on 31 March 2001 was 21,905 whereas the number of four wheelers and above, trucks and lorries and three wheelers (including tempos) in the district was 832.
APPENDIX I (Vide page 222)
Department-wise Distribution of Government Employees
in Nawashahr District and in
|
Serial No. |
Name of the Department |
|
||||
|
|
|
Nawashahr District |
|
|||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|||
|
General Services |
||||||
|
1 |
Vidhan Sabha |
- |
311 |
|||
|
2 |
Raj Bhawan |
- |
133 |
|||
|
3 |
Legal Remembrance |
- |
76 |
|||
|
4 |
Advocate General |
- |
227 |
|||
|
5 |
Prosecution& Litigation |
9 |
470 |
|||
|
6 |
Jutice |
79 |
3,860 |
|||
|
7 |
Election |
6 |
275 |
|||
|
8 |
Languages |
- |
374 |
|||
|
9 |
Financial Commissioner’s
Secretariat |
- |
895 |
|||
|
10 |
Revenue |
275 |
9,928 |
|||
|
11 |
Excise &Taxation |
21 |
2,810 |
|||
|
12 |
|
- |
79 |
|||
|
13 |
Civil Secretariat |
- |
1,764 |
|||
|
14 |
Police |
548 |
66,188 |
|||
|
15 |
Home Guards |
- |
6,150 |
|||
|
16 |
Jails |
- |
3,159 |
|||
|
17 |
Treasury &Accounts |
7 |
1,062 |
|||
|
18 |
Local Fund Examiner |
- |
481 |
|||
|
19 |
Controller of Internal Audit
Organization |
- |
203 |
|||
|
20 |
Institute of Finance &
Banking |
- |
34 |
|||
|
21 |
Printing & Stationery |
- |
911 |
|||
|
22 |
Local Government |
|
178 |
|||
|
Social Services |
||||||
|
23 |
General Education |
3,424 |
1,26,268 |
|||
|
24 |
Technical Education &
Industrial Training |
57 |
4,451 |
|||
|
25 |
Sports |
- |
384 |
|||
|
26 |
Youth Services |
- |
107 |
|||
|
27 |
Cultural Affairs, Museum,
Archaeology & Achieves |
5 |
293 |
|||
|
28 |
Medical Health & Family
Welfare |
709 |
37,681 |
|||
|
29 |
Water Supply (Public Health) |
138 |
7,606 |
|||
|
30 |
Town & Country Planning |
- |
547 |
|||
|
31 |
Architecture |
- |
206 |
|||
|
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
|||
|
32 |
Information & Publicity |
7 |
694 |
|||
|
33 |
Social Welfare & Welfare
of Scheduled Castes & Backward Classes |
62 |
8,835 |
|||
|
34 |
Labour |
- |
543 |
|||
|
35 |
Employment |
7 |
510 |
|||
|
36 |
Subordinate Service Selection
Board |
- |
58 |
|||
|
37 |
Sainik Welfare |
- |
229 |
|||
|
38 |
Rehabilitation |
- |
3 |
|||
|
39 |
Administrator General and
Official Trustee and Treasurer Charitable Endowment |
- |
20 |
|||
|
40 |
Hospitality |
- |
402 |
|||
|
Economic Services |
||||||
|
41 |
Agriculture |
106 |
4,448 |
|||
|
42 |
Horticulture |
11 |
998 |
|||
|
43 |
Soil Conservation |
80 |
2,040 |
|||
|
44 |
Animal Husbandry |
163 |
6,578 |
|||
|
45 |
Dairy Development |
9 |
299 |
|||
|
46 |
Fisheries |
11 |
434 |
|||
|
47 |
|
43 |
1,936 |
|||
|
48 |
Cooperation |
78 |
3,175 |
|||
|
49 |
Rural Development &
Panchayats |
60 |
2,799 |
|||
|
50 |
Consolidation |
- |
146 |
|||
|
51 |
Irrigation |
95 |
33,281 |
|||
|
52 |
Colonization |
- |
73 |
|||
|
53 |
Chief Electrical Inspector |
- |
131 |
|||
|
54 |
Industries |
22 |
1,998 |
|||
|
55 |
Transport |
683 |
12,392 |
|||
|
56 |
Civil Aviation |
- |
52 |
|||
|
57 |
Public Works (B&R) |
108 |
12,243 |
|||
|
58 |
Tourism |
- |
30 |
|||
|
59 |
Economic& Statistical
Organization |
10 |
550 |
|||
|
60 |
Food& Supplies |
54 |
3,260 |
|||
|
61 |
|
- |
119 |
|||
|
62 |
Lotteries |
- |
62 |
|||
|
Total |
|
6,887 |
3,75,448 |
|||
(Source: Economic Adviser to Government
|
APPENDIX II (Vide page 222) Number of Semi-Government Employees Working in Corporations and Boards, Municipal Councils, Improvement Trusts, Zila Parishads, Market Committees and Panchayat Samitis as on 31 March 2001 in Nawashahr District and in Punjab State |
|||
|
Serial No |
Name of the Department |
Number of Employees |
|
|
|
|
Nawashahr District |
|
|
1 |
Corporations /Boards |
- |
97,256 |
|
2 |
Municipal Councils/ Corporations |
344 |
31,829 |
|
3 |
Improvement Trusts |
- |
805 |
|
4 |
Zila Parishad |
508 |
1,233 |
|
5 |
Market Committees |
82 |
4,637 |
|
6 |
Panchayat Samities |
75 |
2,866 |
|
Total |
|
1,009 |
1,38,626 |
|
(Source:
Economic Adviser to Government |
|||
