CHAPTER VIII
MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS
Human resources namely population
and the employed man-power in a district forms the foundation for the
district’s economic reconstruction. Total population of the Fatehgarh Sahib District
as per 2001 was 5,38,041 (2,90,137 males and 2,47,904 females). The Fatehgarh
Sahib District as other districts of the
Miscellaneous occupations in rural and urban areas constitute a significant part of life of the people of the district and the pattern is the same as elsewhere in the State. Miscellaneous occupations falling under tertiary sector of the economy not finding mention in any other chapter of the volume are described here. These professions comprise public and private services, personal and domestic services or self-employment to meet the daily needs of the people. The growth of these occupations depends greatly on economic development. The statistics regarding these professions were collected only during 1961 Census, the ensuing Census ignored these statistics, so the number of persons engaged in personal and domestic services in Fatehgarh Sahib District is not available. 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 Fatehgarh Sahib district is as under:
|
|
Major Activity Group |
Number of Enterprises |
Number of workers engaged |
|
1 |
Mining and Quarrying |
- |
- |
|
2 |
Manufacturing |
2,272 |
16,625 |
|
3 |
Electricity, Gas and Water |
31 |
123 |
|
4 |
Construction |
12 |
13 |
|
5 |
Whole-sale Trade |
609 |
1,403 |
|
6 |
Retail Trade |
4,992 |
7,928 |
|
7 |
Restaurants and Hotels |
331 |
750 |
|
8 |
Transport |
171 |
616 |
|
9 |
Storage and Warehousing |
51 |
205 |
|
10 |
Communications |
241 |
641 |
|
11 |
Financial Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services |
453 |
1,522 |
|
12 |
Community. Social and Personal Services |
5,114 |
15,133 |
|
13 |
Other (Unspecified activities) |
- |
- |
|
|
Total |
14,277 |
44,959 |
|
(Fourth Economic Census 1998,issued by Economic Advisor to Government of Punjab) |
|||
(a) Public Administration
Central,
State and Local Government Services.- Before Independence
development was negligible and the growth of employment in public sector was
insignificant. After
Some categories of Government employees are eligible for rent-free accommodation. The government have also provided residential accommodation to government employees against the deduction of 5 percent of the basic pay. Since the number of government houses is limited, the allotment is made seniority wise. Other employees who have not been provided with government accommodation are being given house-rent allowance on the basis of the population of the town. Fatehgarh Sahib/Sirhind, Bassi Pathana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Khamano and Amloh are the towns in the Fatehgarh Sahib district where house-rent allowance is admissible @ of 5 per cent of the basic pay of the employee. Employees posted in villages are given rural allowance. Keeping in view the security of service and other amenities available to the employees a large number of people are entering in government services. The facilities provided to the Central, State and Local government employees include dearness and house rent allowances, provident fund benefit, medical reimbursement, loans for the purchase of vehicles, houses etc. The railway authorities provide quarters on nominal rent and issue free privilege passes for travel to its employees and their families. They are provided with uniforms and other various benefits also. Class IV employees under the State and Central Government are also given free liveries. Every Government employee is allowed to get leave (casual and earned) in times of need. The employees of the State Government are provided leave travel concession along with members of their family to visit any place in the country in a block of four years. Class III and Class IV employees are provided, home town travel concession after a period of two years. The Punjab Government introduced Group Insurance Scheme in 1982 for State
Government Employees. Under this scheme a fixed amount1 is deducted from the employees pay and provisions have been made to pay fixed insurance amount2 to the family of the employees who dies while in service.
The number of
employees in government services/public sector and local bodies increased since
the formation of Fatehgarh Sahib District on
Out of the total
employees working in the district, 3,317 employees belonged to the General
Eduction, 1,037 to Police, 649 to Medical and Family Welfare Departments, 554
to PWD B&R, 372 to Revenue Department, 251 to Home Guards and 225 to
Irrigation Department. The Strength of staff in any of the remaining
departments did not exceed to 200. The private sector absorbs a large number of
employees. However, the employees in large industries are well paid
and given other perks. Others are provided
adequate protection under various
labour laws, while trade unions have also been organised to protect the rights
of industrial workers. The employees of
the various departments of the districts
have formed some employees organisations to safeguard their interests and to
redress of their grievances.
Beside Government departments a number of Semi-Government establishments have also been providing employment to the people. The number of Semi Government employees working in the Corporations and Boards, Municipal Councils, Improvement Trusts, Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and Market Committees in the Fatehgarh Sahib District in comparison to State as on 31 March 2001 is given in Appendix II at page 227.
Development of Industry and Information and Technology
sectors have led to increase the employment opportunities in private sector.
Industrialization and urbanization have opened new jobs for thousands of people. Private sector
includes organized private industry and commercial establishments, shops and
hotels. Commercial establishments, shops, hotels and restaurant also provide
employment opportunities. As on
1 Rs 120 for Class 1; Rs 60 for Class II; Rs 30 for Class III and Rs 15 for Class IV employees.
2 Insurance amount is Rs 1,20,000; 60,000; 30,000;
and 15,000 for Class I, Class II, Class
III and Class IV employees, respectively.
Public
Employees’ Organisations.- Employees are allowed to form associations or unions under Trade Union
Act, 1926 for the protection and promotion of their service interests.
The public employees organisations which
exist in the Fatehgarh Sahib District as on
|
Serial No |
Name
of the Organization |
Date of Registration |
|
1 |
Kasturba Khadi Udyog Workers’ |
|
|
2 |
Municipal Employees’ |
|
|
3 |
The
Fatehgarh Sahib Central Cooperative
Employees’ |
|
|
4 |
Municipal Employees’ |
|
|
5 |
Municipal Employees’ Union, Sirhind |
29
July 1966 |
|
6 |
Sweeper Union, Sirhind. |
21 April 1960 |
|
7 |
Municipal Employees’ Union, Amloh |
21
November 1970 |
|
8 |
Baba
Banda Bahadur Engineering College Association, Fatehgarh Sahib |
8
August 2000 |
|
9 |
Punjab Operation Theatre Assistant
Supervisors’ Union, Bassi Pathana |
15
April 1984 |
|
(Source:
Labour Commissioner, Punjab, Chandigarh) |
||
(b) Learned Professions
This category includes teachers, doctors
including medical practitioners, advocates, engineers, architects, journalists having
specialization in their respective
fields. With the increase of literacy, an increase in their number has been
inevitable. The role played by these professionals is discussed here under:
Teaching Profession.-This profession includes professors, lecturers,
teachers and research scholars. People have become career conscious. They have
realised the importance of education. As a result the number of educational
institutions both government and private has increased tremendously. The
expansion of educational institutions has opened a new way for employment. That
is why more and more people are opting to join this profession. Moreover the
pay scales of the school/college teachers are fairly attractive. As on 30
September the number of recognised schools in the district was 549 which gave
employment to 2,842 persons (1,353 males
and 1,489 females). The persons engaged in teaching profession are much
respected by the people. They are also well paid. With the spread of education
and expansion in communication services, there has been a considerable
expansion of medical and health services.
Medical Profession.- Medical profession includes physicians,
surgeons, ayurvedic and homeopathic doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists,
nurses, vaccinators, compounders vaids, hakims, etc. People opt
for this profession as it has become more lucrative and prosperous. A number of
doctors have also opened their private clinics and nursing homes.
The number of registered medical and para
medical personnels working in recognized medical institutions in the district
during 2000 was 179.
Legal
Profession.-
Legal profession has an important role to play in the present day complex life
when countless laws govern the society. This is also a very prosperous profession.
This profession include judges, advocates, pleaders, munshis etc. This
is a paying profession and attracts good number of persons. Lawyers occupy a
good status in the society. Due to the increase in litigation and general rise
in literacy, the number of persons in this profession is increasing day by day.
The lawyers plead for the fundamental rights of the individuals and represent
the cases of litigation before the court. Besides a number of law graduates are
employed in various departments of the Government. On 31 March 2001 there were
2 bar associations functioning in the district at Fatehgarh Sahib and Amloh and
the membership was 170 and 28 respectively.
Engineering Services.- The engineers play an important role in
the social and economic development of an area. They attend to various
developmental works such as opening of new canals, construction of buildings
and roads and installation of power houses electricity distribution lines,
grids, etc. Details of the persons employed in engineering services in various
government departments have been given in Chapter-XIII ‘Other Departments’.
Besides, a good number of persons have adopted the profession of contractors
and architects or consulting engineers.
(c) Personal and Domestic
Services
Personal Services.-These included services of barbers,
washermen, launderers, tailors, weavers, cobblers, carpenters, etc. A large
number of persons are engaged in these personal services which are detailed
below:
Barbers.- The barbers (nai) form an important occupational class. The
profession of the barbers, infact is one of the those which are traditionally
perused by men only and usually by the members of one community. The
traditional barbers used to visit the homes of their customers and receive
payment in kind. In earlier times the barber also acts as a messenger on
occasions of marriages and deaths. The wife of the barber also called nain
does some sort of periodical hair clearing and hair dressing of the women folk
of the families to which the barber (nai) is attached. The old practice of family
barber is on wane. In urban areas, it is almost non-existent and the people
avail the facilities of hair-cutting saloons. In villages, however, the old
practice still persists to some extent. The presence of nain (barber’s
wife) on some social and religious ceremonies is still necessary. In urban
areas and even in large villages, hair cutting saloons are functioning. These
are equipped with modern tools and instruments for hair-dressing and
hair-cutting. Besides barbers also sit in the open to cater the needs of lower
income groups. The barber charges vary from Rs 10 to Rs 40 per hair cut and Rs
5 to Rs 15 for shaves in urban areas of the district.
Washermen.- Washermen and dhobis form an important occupational class in
the society. This service in these days includes dhobis (washermen),
launderers, dry cleaners and dyers. In rural areas people generally do their
own washing. In urban areas, dhobi used to collect clothes from their
customers but of late with introduction synthetic yarn clothes and automatic
washing machines, this practice is on the wane. The people wash their clothes
and send to dhobis for pressing who have set up their pressing stalls at
convenient points. Some of them have opened laundry shops where they do washing
and dry cleaning. Many exclusive shops for dry cleaning have also opened. The
washing and pressing charges are taken in cash on per piece basis. The
washing charges vary from Rs 5 to 10
per piece and pressing from Rs 1 to Rs 5 per piece. The charges of dry cleaning
vary from Rs 40 to Rs 100 depending on the size and quality of the clothes.
Tailors.-Tailoring is also an age old occupation in the district. In the past,
tailors made traditional local dresses and the tailoring was a caste
profession. Family tailor would visit his clients to take the family order and
he was also councillor to family on cloth purchases. A tailor used to sit in
his client’s house a few days before marriage to make the clothes for bride,
bridegroom and other members of the family. He got the remuneration in kind at
the time of harvesting. The old practice of the tailors (darzis) going
to different houses on the occasion of marriage has become outdated. Now-a-days
tailoring is a paying profession and it also has attracted more and more
educated people. The persons trained in tailoring irrespective of caste and
creed have opened shops in towns and villages for their livelihood. Tailors who
run their own shops are usually called as master tailors and employ some junior
tailors, sewing boys and helpers. This profession has flourished to a great extent in urban
areas because the people of the cities are generally affected by the new
fashion as well-do-persons, high income professionals and college students
generally prefer to wear quality clothes.
Most of the tailors have their own sewing
machines and work independently. There are also some big tailoring concerns,
which get the work done on commission basis. Boutique service is also becoming
popular now-a-days in the towns. Unemployed women are adopting this profession
as it is a paying profession and there is no social bar to adopt this
profession. Tailoring charges vary from shop to shop, place to place and depending on the skill of tailors. In the
rural areas the charges are slightly less than the urban areas.
Carpenter.- The carpenters or tarkhan
make and repair wooden structures such as agricultural and domestic articles,
doors, windows, furniture, etc. There are certain carpenters who make and
repair sophisticated furniture also. The village carpenters make ploughs and
other agricultural and domestic articles. Earlier the rural carpenters were
paid at the time of harvests. This practice has been changed and now they get
their remuneration in cash.
Cobblers.- The cobblers (mochies), who were engaged in large scale,
in making local jutties until recent past have modernized their
profession in towns. They have established their shops where, beside desi jutties,
they make shoes, chappals, sandals, etc. Some
cobblers or mochies may be seen hawking in town streets for their
services and usually attend to recondition old, worn out or defective footwear to make them serviceable. Their
business in the district has been adversely affected in recent times with the availability
of mechanised footwears manufactured in
large factories.
Self Employed Persons.- The occupational field of self
employed persons is very vast in the present day society. In the past, when the
demands of the society were limited, only a particular section of the
population of the district was engaged in self employment. It included mostly
traditional village artisans. The suniar (goldsmith) halwai, julahas (weavers) teli, (oil
pressers), kummhar (potters), etc. also fall under self employed persons.
Besides, hawkers, shopkeepers and all other persons who produce articles of
daily use for their living or provide their individual services on demand, fall
under this category. The employees in this category are spread throughout the
district and serve the rural as well as the urban community by producing
articles or rendering service. They sell articles of daily use, like
vegetables, fruits, eatables, general merchandise, crockery, clothes, toys,
etc.
Until recent past, dhabas and halwai’s
shops were the only traditional places where people used to go for food and
eatables. Rapid changes in food habits of the people have given birth to
different kinds of eating establishments. Along dhabas, hotels and
restaurants the fast food centres have sprung up. Besides halwais, tea
and snack stalls,the hot and cold drink booths, Chinese and South Indian food
stalls and identical refreshments centres have come up well. Tea stalls are a
familiar site everywhere and so are the pan bidi shops throughout the
urban areas. Vegetable and fruit sellers are equally important in this field
and some people have opened shops in towns and villages while few sell on
bicycle/rickshaw or on hand cart. The variety of food attracts many persons to
adopt different spheres of food industry. They prepare different kinds of
eatables in different seasons to earn livelihood.
Other skilled workers such as
electricians, radio/TV mechanic, automobile mechanic and cycle repairer also
form a class of self employed persons. With the availability of electricity, in
rural as well as in urban areas, the electric appliances are widely used and an
electrician finds ample job to earn his livelihood. Like wise, mass popularity
of TV, music system, stereo, two-in-one radio/ transistors, etc. among masses
has given sufficient opportunity for
many persons to turn as mechanic for their repair. The mechanization in
agriculture, rapid development of transport and recent swift increase in the
personal vehicles have made it possible to absorb many as auto-mobile mechanics
for their earnings.
There is an attractive category of
self employed persons who run small shops dealing in readymade garments, consumer goods, general
merchandise or the like. Such type of establishments have engaged many people for their livelihood
and most of them are concentrated in towns of the district.
Domestic Services.- In these days of high cost of
living, it is difficult for most middle and lower middle class people to engage whole time domestic
servants or maids or cooks. Subject to means, people of these groups usually
remain content with employing servants on a part time basis. Persons included
in this group belong to various categories. Such as malies, cooks,
housekeepers, maids and other related workers. Most of the domestic servants
are illiterate. It is the high income groups which can afford to have whole
time servants or cooks. In the rural
areas well to do families employ these servants on permanent or on part-time
basis. The full time servants reside in the house of the owners. The wages of
the domestic servants for whole time
vary from Rs 500 to Rs 1,100 in addition to free meals and clothing.
In the urban areas females from poor families adopt this profession to
supplement their family income. Part-time women domestic servants are, however,
available at cheap rates. They are employed to do specified jobs, such as
washing of clothes, sweeping of houses or cleaning of utensils, etc. These
maidservants are paid Rs 150 to Rs 300 per month depending upon the work.
(d)
Miscellaneous Services
Transport Services.- Road transport is playing an
important role in developing State’s economy and influencing cultural life. The
position of these services has improved much with the expansion of roads since
the Independence of the country in 1947. As on 31 March 2001 there were 28
registered private transport companies operating in the Fatehgarh
Sahib District. The number of registered goods transport vehicles in
Fatehgarh Sahib District as on 31 March 2001 was 1,531.
Besides motor vehicle companies
there are rickshaw pullers and auto rickshaw drivers. The rickshaw owners
invest money on the purchase of the vehicles and hire them out to rickshaw
pullers. Some rickshaw pullers have their own rickshaws also. Rickshaws ply in
urban and semi-urban areas and provide cheaper means of conveyance.
Auto-rickshaws and taxies which are faster also catering to the needs of
transport of the people. Hand driven carts and animal driven carts are also
used for carrying light load and for the carriage of heavy load services of
transport companies are utilized.
APPENDIX I
(Vide page 218)
Department-wise Distribution
of Government Employees in Fatehgarh Sahib District and in Punjab State as on
|
Serial No. |
Name of the Department |
Fatehgarh Sahib State 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 |
13 |
470 |
|
6 |
Justice |
80 |
3,860 |
|
7 |
Election |
13 |
275 |
|
8 |
Languages |
5 |
374 |
|
9 |
Financial
Commissioners’ Secretariat |
- |
895 |
|
10 |
Revenue |
372 |
9,928 |
|
11 |
Excise
& Taxation |
12 |
2,810 |
|
12 |
Punjab
Public Service Commission |
- |
79 |
|
13 |
Civil
Secretariat |
- |
1,764 |
|
14 |
Police |
1,037 |
68,188 |
|
15 |
Home
Guards |
251 |
6,150 |
|
16 |
Jails |
- |
3,159 |
|
17 |
Treasury
& Accounts |
23 |
1,062 |
|
18 |
Local
Fund Examiner |
6 |
481 |
|
19 |
Controller
of Internal Audit Organization |
- |
203 |
|
20 |
Institute
of Finance & Banking |
- |
34 |
|
21 |
Printing
& Stationery |
9 |
911 |
|
22 |
Local
Government |
- |
178 |
|
Social Services |
|||
|
23 |
General
Education |
3,317 |
1,26,268 |
|
24 |
Technical
Education & Industrial Training |
62 |
4,451 |
|
25 |
Sports |
10 |
384 |
|
26 |
Youth
Services |
- |
107 |
|
27 |
Cultural
Affairs, Museum, Archaeology & Achieves |
29 |
293 |
|
28 |
Medical
Health & Family Welfare |
699 |
37,681 |
|
29 |
Water
Supply (Public Health) |
85 |
7,605 |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
30 |
Town & Country Planning |
25 |
547 |
|
31 |
Architecture |
- |
206 |
|
32 |
Information &
Publicity |
14 |
694 |
|
33 |
Social Welfare &
Welfare of Scheduled Castes & Backward Classes |
77 |
8,835 |
|
34 |
Labour |
8 |
543 |
|
35 |
Employment |
12 |
510 |
|
36 |
Subordinate Service
Selection Board |
- |
56 |
|
37 |
Sainik Welfare |
8 |
229 |
|
38 |
Rehabilitation |
- |
3 |
|
39 |
Administrator
General and Official Trustee and Treasurer Charitable Endowment |
- |
20 |
|
40 |
Hospitality |
- |
402 |
|
Economic Services |
|||
|
41 |
Agriculture |
86 |
4,448 |
|
42 |
Horticulture |
40 |
998 |
|
43 |
Soil Conservation |
36 |
2,040 |
|
44 |
Animal Husbandry |
178 |
6,578 |
|
45 |
Dairy Development |
20 |
299 |
|
46 |
Fisheries |
27 |
434 |
|
47 |
Forest |
37 |
1,936 |
|
48 |
Co-operation |
68 |
3,175 |
|
49 |
Rural Development &
Panchayats |
97 |
2,799 |
|
50 |
Consolidation |
- |
146 |
|
51 |
Irrigation |
225 |
33,281 |
|
52 |
Colonization |
- |
73 |
|
53 |
Chief Electrical Inspector |
- |
131 |
|
54 |
Industries |
48 |
1,998 |
|
55 |
Transport |
13 |
12,392 |
|
56 |
Civil Aviation |
- |
52 |
|
57 |
Public Works ( B & R) |
554 |
12,243 |
|
58 |
Tourism |
- |
30 |
|
59 |
Economic & Statistical
Organization |
13 |
550 |
|
60 |
Food & Supplies |
89 |
3,260 |
|
61 |
Punjab State Planning Board |
- |
119 |
|
62 |
Lotteries |
- |
62 |
|
|
Total |
7,698 |
3,75,448 |
(Source: Economic Adviser to Government Punjab, Chandigarh)
APPENDIX II
(Vide page 218)
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 2000 in Fatehgarh Sahib
District and in
Serial Name of the Department Number
of Employees
No
Fatehgarh Sahib
District
1 Corporation/Boards - 97,256
2 Municipal
Councils/Corporations 777 31,829
3 Improvement
Trusts - 805
4 Zila
Parishad 17 1,233
5 Market
Committees 149 4,637
6 Panchayat
Samities 114 2,866
Total 1,057 1,38,626
(Source:
Economic Adviser to Government Punjab,
Chandigarh)