Carpenters.—The carpenters in the urban areas make and repair
wooden structures, doors, windows, tables, chairs, and domestic articles on
cash payment. The village carpenters used to make plough, carts and other
agricultural implements and domestic articles. Many carpenters manufacture the
items of furniture in their residential houses. They get their remuneration in
cash as well as in kind at the time of harvesting.
The number of carpenters functioning in the municipal areas of the
district was 1,125.
Cobblers.—The job of the cobblers or mochies in the past was
to mend the old or worn out shoes in the rural areas. In lieu of it, they got
payment in kind at the time of rabi and Kharif harvests. But this
practice has come to an end and some experienced shoe-makers have opened their
own shops to make new shoes. In urban areas, some of them have small
establishments for making footwears like shoes, chappals, and sandals
but their business has been adversely affected in recent times with the
availability of mechanised footwears manufactured in large factories.
The number of leather cutters, lasters and sewers, shoe-makers and shoe
repairers in the municipal areas of the district was 834.
Self-employed Persons.—The scope of
work of self-employed is very wide. This category of employment includes
weavers, potters, sweepers, hand-cart peddlers, porters, thatheras,
hawkers, shopkeepers and all other persons who produce articles of use for
their living or provide their individual services on demand. These
self-employed persons help the farmers in their agricultural activities and to
some extent perform customary professional services on the occasion of
marriages and other ceremonies. Hand-cart peddlers and hawkers generally go
about the towns and villages hawking goods. They sell articles of daily use,
vegetables, fruits, eatables, general merchandise, crokery, clothes, toys, etc.
The potters make earthen pitchers and surahis during summer season for
rural and urban people.
The self-employed persons run all kinds of shops such as halwai, pan,
bidi, grocery, vegetable and fruits, general merchandise ready-made
garments, etc. The location of these shops depends upon the population. In the
rural areas, there are only small and less shops and in urban areas, there are
big and more shops. But these shops are scattered in the whole district.
Besides the above, there are shopkeepers who deal in the sale of cycles,
mopeds, scooters and motorcars. There are some people who make cycle-rickshaws,
auto-rickshaws and also carry out their repair, etc.
Domestic Services.—These include cooks, house-keepers and other
indoor servants. They are found all over the district. Most of these servants
are illiterate. Generally, they are employed by businessmen and other
well-to-do families. A full-time domestic servant engaged in a household is
required to do all the daily chores to assist the house wife. These domestic
servants are paid Rs 200 to Rs 300 per month alongwith food, clothing and
shelter.
In urban areas, the practice of engaging part-time female domestic
servants (mais) for cleaning utensils, washing clothes, sweeping and
scrubbing of floors and helping the housewives in their daily chores, is in
vogue. The demand of domestic servants has increased due to the disintegration
of joint family system and the tendency of employment by the female spouses.
The female spouses get help in domestic work by employing mais, cooks,
washermen, etc. as domestic servants. Usually, widows and other poor women and
their children adopt this profession to supplement their income. Such part-time
servants are paid Rs 50 to Rs 100 per month in addition to sundry facilities
provided by their employees.
(1) Transport Services.—These services include persons who work on various transports like
railways, buses and motor vehicles and all those who drive bullock carts, and
ply rickshaws, tongas auto-rickshaws, tempos, etc.
Transport plays a vital role in the economic and social life of the
people. After the Independence of the country, transport services have
enormously improved. Every village of the district in one way or the other has
been linked by metalled roads. On 31 March 1989, there were 54 registered private
transport companies operating in the district, besides the Pepsu Road
TÅransport Corporation with two depots at Patiala. In addition to bus services,
the other modes of transportation like taxis, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and
tongas also render much service. Rickshaws ply in urban and semi-urban areas
and provide cheaper means of the roads of the district. Auto-rickshaws and
taxis which are much faster are also catering to the needs of transport of the
people.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. The number of
such vehicles has generally been on the increase. The number of cars (including
station wagons and jeeps) in the district, during 1988-89 was 5, 867 and 950,
respectively.A number of transport workers, such as drivers, conductors and
cleaners, are employed in the transport companies. They are provided with
various facilities, viz. Free uniforms, bonus, allowances for overtime, etc.For
the carriage of goods, hand carts and animals 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 utilised.The
total number of drivers, conductors, auto-rickshaws, tempo drivers, rickshaw
pullers, tonga drivers, etc. in the municipal areas of the district was 11,491.
Econom
Trends
|
v
Livelihood
Pattern, General Level of Prices and Wages and Standard of Living |
The economic progress of a region depends on a number of factors,
important among which are its natural resources, opportunities for their exploitation,
availability of finance, its political structure and social set-up obtaining at
a particular time. Economic trends serve as a yardstick by which the economic
progress and growth of a region can be measured. They also reflect the economic
conditions of the people inhabiting it.
(a) Livelihood Pattern, General Level of
Prices and Wages and Standard of Living
Livehood Pattern.—The livehood
pursuits of the people depend on their occupational set-up, following from the
stage of socio-economic development and resource mobilization. The economy and
life pattern of the people of the Patiala District are predominantly
agro-based. According to the 1981 Census, about 70.4 per cent of the population
of the district lived in the rural areas, which is lower than the percentage
for the State (about 72.3 per cent).
According to the 1981 Census, out of the total population of 15,68,898 of
the district, 4,69,151 persons were engaged in some kind of economic activity.
The number of non-workers and marginal workers in the district was 10,80,472
and 19,275, respectively. The ratio of workers to non-workers was 29.90 :
70.10, as against the corresponding ratio of 29.35 : 70.65 for the entire
State. More than three persons depended upon one worker for their livelihood.
Out of the total working force of the district, 35.1 per cent were engaged as
cultivators, 22.4 per cent as agricultural labourers, 1.3 per cent in household
industry (including manufacturing, processing, servicing and repairs) and 41.2
per cent as other workers. Thus the economy of the district continues to the
predominantly agricultural.
The classification of workers in the Patiala District, according to the
1981 Census is shown in the following table:-
To create better living conditions in the urban as well as in the rural
areas, various housing schemes such as construction of houses for the landless
agricultural workers in rural areas; construction of houses for Government
employees; low income group housing scheme; middle income group housing scheme;
sub-sidised industrial housing scheme; village housing project scheme, etc. are
being implemented by the Government.
In order to make further improvement in the living standard of rural
people, the Government of India launched the Integrated Rural Development
Programme during 1978-79. This programme was started in the Punjab State during
1980 to cover all blocks.
Among other things, the housing pattern also reflects the standard of
living of the people. The provision of cheap and decent housing accommodation
is the basic necessity of human life in a civilized society. The dwellings in
the urban areas are pukka and all modern facilities including sewerage,
drainage, sanitation, etc. are available. In the rural areas, majority of the
houses are pukka. However, there are still kachcha dwellings of the
economically weaker sections of the society. In certain cases, the houses are
provided with a baithak (drawing room) for guests, etc. Cattle fodder is
generally kept by the villagers in a separate portion or haveli built
for the purpose of keeping cattle. Straw fodder is usually kept in kups
(a type of silo) in the fields.
According to the 1981 Census, the total number of occupied residential
houses houses in the district was 2,46,939 (rural 1,65,267 and urban 81,672).
The average number of persons per household in the district was 6.35.
Prices and Wages.—The prices are
the most important indicators of the nation’s wealth. Price in the Patiala
District, as in the rest of the country, have shown a remarkable fluctuation
and rising trend. A steep price rise inhibits growth, distorts all economic
calculations, seriously affects the poor and transfers the income from the poor
the rich. Inequality of income and wealth and concentration of economic power
accentuate. Savings and investments get a serious set-back, and capital
formation suffers.
There are a number of factors which influence the general prices in the
State. Some of these are; money supply, production of essential commodities and
problem of warehousing, transport, etc. The changes in season, rainfall and
other physical factors are also responsible for temporary fluctuation in the
prices. Further, the consumer prices move in sympathy with the wholesale prices
and often the consumer prices are a little higher than the wholesale prices.
From the point view of common people, the general rise in the prices of
consumer goods is a matter of serious concern, as they affect the level of
their standard of living. Consumer price indices are of different kinds, such
as consumer price index for working class and middle class, etc. These indices
have shown a spectacular rise from 1980-81 to 1988-89.
The table below indicates the consumer price index number for the working
class in Patiala Centre for the period 1983-84 to 1988-89 (Base 1976=100) :
Year
1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89
Food 169 179 189 199 212 236
Index
General 162 173 184 195 207 226
Index
(Statistical Abstracts of Punjab 1986 to 1989)
The table below indicates the consumer price index number for the middle
class in Patiala Centre for the period 1983-89 (base 1966=100) :
Year
1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89
Food Index 343 366 383 417 436 ...
General Index 324 345 369 395 420 …
(Statistical Abstracts of Pujab 1986 to 1989)
*Average upto October
Wages are a major contributor to the gross national product as well as
basic support to the working sections of society mainly constituted of manual labour
classes. It is widely accepted that the workers are under-paid in the
developing countries because it generate enough surplus for investment. With
the advent of trade unions, workers in the organised sector could form their
unions to fight out their legitimate share of wages. There are two major
factors which tend to push up the wages. There are inflationary trends and a
rise in the productivity of the workers themselves. But there is no automatic
force in the market of the agricultural labourers to bring about corresponding
variations in tune with the changes in the cost of living and productivity.
They are totally unorganised and are affected by large-scale seasonal
unemployment and under-employment. Their bargaining capacity for wages is poor.
However, the major part of the income of the agricultural labourer is derived
from wages.
The skilled labourers like carpenters, black-smiths, cobblers, etc. have
relatively higher wages. It is the children who are paid the least. There are
discriminatory wages between those paid to the men and women and the latter is
always paid less. Over the years, the wages have more than doubled. However,
this cannot be a matter of satisfaction, as the cost of living of labourer has
risen more over the period.
Under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, minimum wages have been fixed in
almost all areas of employment and these are suitably revised from time to
time. It has also been decided that for male and female workers in the
agricultural sector, the rates of wages fixed on yearly, monthly or daily basis
shall be equal for equal work. The minimum wages of different categories of
workers in the agricultural and industrial sectors have been increased and
linked with the price index. This action is in keeping with the Government’s policy
of safeguarding the interests of workers.
The rates of pay fixed for labourers/workers (in Government employment)
in the Patiala District during 1990-91, are given in Appendix I on pages
332-336.
Standard of Living.—The way to
judge the standard of living of the people is to measure the economic
prosperity in the district in monetary terms is relation to fluctuation in
price level. Besides, the other method is to survey the income and expenditure
of various people engaged in different occupations. The size and composition of
the family, its tastes and preferences also determine the standard of living.
However, these are relative terms and differ from place to place, from time to
time and from person to person.
The Economic and Statistical Organisation, Punjab, during 1987-88,
conducted a survey1 regarding family budgets of selected cultivators in the State with
bullock-operated holdings as well as tractor-operated holdings. During the
survey, family budgets of forty-five peasant proprietors having bullock-operated
holdings and forty-six tractor-operated holdings were studied. The aim of the
survey was to find out the returns accruing to the cultivators and to find out
the extent to which the goods consumed were produced in the farm or purchased
from outside. The families of five villages, (bullock-operated) viz. Chamaru
(tahsil Rajpura), Duggal Khurd (tahsil Samana), Jalalpur (tahsil Nabha),
Alampur (tahsil Fatehgrah Sahib) and Hardaspur (tahsil Patiala) in the Patiala
District were selected for the survey.
The above figures show that the families of Duggal Khurd, Jalalpur and
Hardaspur villages had a surplus
budget, while Chamaru and Alampur had a deficit budget. The survey also
revealed that on an average, a peasant proprietor’s family in the Punjab spent
50 per cent of its income on food, 8 per cent on fuel, 12 per cent on clothing,
13 per cent on houisng, 5 per cent on social, 2 per cent each on lighting,
medicine, travelling, education and amusement and luxuries, 1 per cent each on
religion and miscellanous.
During 1987-88, the families of five villages (tractor-operated), viz.
Wazirabad (tahsil Rajpura), Lutki Majra (tahsil Samana), Shahpur (tahsil
Nabha), Chanarthal Khurd (tahsil Fatehgarh Sahib) and Jalalabad (tehsil
Patiala) in the Patiala District were selected for the survey.
The above figure show that the families of Wazirabad, Lutki Majra,
Shahpur, Chanarthal, khurd and Jalalabad village had surplus budget. The survey
also revealed that on an average, a peasant proprietor’s family in the Punjab
spent 58 per cent of its income on food, 6 per cent on fuel, 9 per cent on
clothing, 13 per cent on housing, 2 per cent each on lighting, medicine,
traveling social, amusement and luxuries and miscellaneous, 1 per cent each on
education and religion. In 1987-88, the per capita income of the Patiala
District at the then current prices was Rs 5,619 for the Punjab State as a
whole.
The manpower of the State is an asset if used properly, and otherwise it
can be a liability. Though agriculture provides adequate employment
opportunities, unemployment is more in this sector than in the industrial
sector. Unemployment in this sector remains hidden in the form of
under-employment, which is further divided into visible and invisible,
indicates the low-earning less utilisation of skill or employment in the low
productive units.
The economy of the Patiala
District is predominantly agricultural, with 70.4 per cent of the population
living in rural areas. A level of full employment can be achieved only after a
total green revolution and a complete network of industrial structure, which in
turn will enable the diversion of surplus labour force from agriculture to
industry. Employment has also been a major objective of planning. Full
utilization of available manpower resources can also be achieved after
considerable period of development.
The employment situation in
the Patiala District is in accordance with the general pattern in the State.
The number of unemployed persons registered with the employment exchange in the
district has been on the increase.
The number of persons
waiting for employment in the district as on 31 March 1988 was 61,144, which
remained 56,894 on 31 March 1989 (excluding University Employment Information
and Guidance Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala). 17,347 persons got
themselves registered with the employment exchanges at Patiala. Rajpura and
Sirhind during the year 1988-89. Generally, there is non-availability of
experienced skilled working force in adequate number to meet the demand. On the
other hand, there is a glut of new applicants having no working experience.
Employment
Exchanges.—For the utilisation of
man-power and to avoid frictional unemployment, employment exchanges have been
started at various places in the district. The main function of the employment
exchange is to find jobs for job seekers and suitable workers for employers.
There are three employment exchanges in the district, one each at Patiala,
Rajpura and Sirhind. Besides, there is a University Employment information and
Guidance Bureau at Punjabi University, Patiala. The Sub-Regional Employment
Exchange, Patiala was established in 1951. The Town Employment was established
in 1951. The Town Employment Exchange at Rajpura and Sirhind were opened on 25
December 1959 and 2 November 1979, respectively.
The main function of an
employment exchange are: to register
applicants and to provide assistance; to impart vocational guidance to the
youth and adults to choose a better career ; to elicit employment market
information to assess the employment trends; impact of Government Plans on the
employment situation ; and to collect employment statistics for the Planning
Commission of India.
The work done by the
Sub-Regional Employment Exchange, Patiala, Town Employment Exchanges, Rajpura
and Sirhind and University Employment Information & Guidance Bureaue,
Patiala, has been shown in Appendices II to V at the end of the chapter.
Employment
Market Information Scheme.—The aim of
this Scheme is to watch the trends of employment in the State so as to make
available to the Government and to the Planning Commission information about the
periodical situation of employment in various industries and occupations in
each district and in the State as a whole. The information thus collected is
also used for determining the location of industrial training institutes and
the trades to be taught therein.
The Scheme was introduced in
the State in 1957-58, and is operated by the Director of Employment, Punjab,
Chandigarh. Initially, it covered only the public sector, but since 1960-61, it
has been extended to the private sector as well.
Under the Scheme, the
employment exchange is responsible for collecting regular information about the
employment situation in private as well as in public sector. This is done by
what is known as “Establishment Reporting System.” Under this scheme, all
establishments in the public sector and selected establishments in the private
sector engaged in non-agricultural activities are asked to give details
regularly about the number of persons they are employing, the vacancies that
have occurred and the type of persons they find to be in short supply. The
information is collected from all establishments in the public sector and those
employing 25 or more persons in the private sector under the provisions of the
Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959, which
makes it obligatory on them to submit is to the local employment exchange.
Information from smaller establishments in the private sector is, however,
collected on voluntary basis.
The information which is
processed at the district level is finally tabulated at the State and National
level to know precisely the employment potential at these levels. An Employment
Market Unit in the Employment Exchange, Patiala has been functioning since
1961.
The number of employees
working in private and public sectors, as on 31 December 1988 was 71,047,
whereas on 31 December 1989, their number rose to 74,913. The number of
establishments in private and public sectors, as on 31 December 1988 was 874,
whereas on 31 December 1989, their number rose 853. The table showing the
changes in the volume of employment both in private and public sectors in the
district, as on 31 December 1983 to 31 December 1989 has been given in Appendix
VI at the end of the chapter.
Vocational
Guidance Scheme.—The Vocational Guidance
and Employment Counselling programmes are designed to give intensive vocational
guidance to those who seek such assistance. The term ‘vocational guidance’ more
appropriately connotes assistance to the youth, whereas ‘employment
counselling’ refers to the assistance given to adults.
The programme is jointly
operated by the Directorate General of Employment and Training, Union Ministry
of Labour and Employment, and Directorate of Employment in the State. The
Ministry of Labour and Employment, through the Director of Employmnet Exchange,
is responsible for the general policies and procedure which are devised in
collaboration with the State Government through the National Working Group of
the Employment Service. The State Directorate of Employment administers the service
through the employment exchanges and co-ordinates with the guidance service of
the Education Department of the State Government.
The Sub-Regional Employment
Officer, Patiala, is responsible for the efficient working and general
supervision of the scheme in the district. The functions of a Vocational
Guidance Unit are : to provide vocational guidance and employment counselling
to youth (boys and girls) and adults (men and women) in groups as well as
individually; to assist in the placement of youth in institutions or training
centres or in entry jobs; follow up and review the progress of guided youth and
adults; to review the records of applicants on the live register and to give
them such guidance as would lead to their early and suitable placement; to
assist other sections of the exchanges in improving the quality of
registrations and submissions, and also to assist the exchanges in the
collection and compilation of uptodate information occupations, training
facilities, educational courses, employment trends and employment outlook for
youth and adults, available scholarships and sources of financial assistance.
Its other functions include maintenance of regular information for the use of
applicants and visitors seeking information; maintenance of uptodate library on
occupation literature; and educate the public by undertaking publicity measures
in vocational guidance principles with a view to encouraging community
consciousness. The guidance procedure at an employment exchange, with a
vocational guidance unit, consists of group guidance comprising invitational
talks, group discussions and invitational talk-cum-group discussions according
to the needs of the groups; individual and giving information individually.
There are two vocational
guidance units in the district, one each at Patiala and Rajpura. The work done by these units is given in Appendix VII
and VIII at the end of the chapter.
(c) Planning and
Rural Development
Planning—The First Five-Year Plan was launched
in 1951, aiming at strengthening the economy at the base, stressing on
agricultural development and multipurpose river valley project. The Community
Development Programme and the National Extension Service Schemes were also
introduced.
The Second Five-Year Plan
laid more emphasis on industrial progress. During the period of the two plans
(1951-1961), the national income is estimated to have increased by 42 per cent.
The per capita income increased by only 16 per cent, because the population
growth was 21 per cent. Agriculture production increased by 41 per cent and
industrial production by 94 per cent. The aim of the Third Plan was to raise
national income by 6 per cent annually, to increase self-sufficiency in
foodgrains, to expand basic industries of steel, fuel and power; to utilise
man-power resource to bring about a reduction in the inequalities of income
having more even, distribution of economic power. The objectives of Fourth
Five-Year Plan were to have increased agricultural production; to provide more
employment opportunities, higher production of consumer goods and control of
the population problem. In the later plans, stress was laid on the development
of industries. The Patiala District has also benefited by the Fifth, Sixth and
Seventh Plans in respect of agricultural and industrial development.
Rural
Development.—The object of the Rural
Development is to improve the whole texture of the rural life by organising a
self generating process of change and growth. The rural development programme
has on the whole met with popular support and is slowly changing the face of
the countryside.
The cultivators are supplied
with improved seeds, improved implements and fruit plants. New strains of crops
with better yields and resistance are being distributed through the agency of
co-operatives. Seeds and fertilizers are supplied to the cultivators on subsidy
basis. The farmers are encouraged to make compost pits, reclaim land and lay
out model farms. Financial assistance is being given for constructing and
repairing percolation wells, and installing pumping sets and tube-wells.
Bulls of improved breeds are
supplied to the villages. Artificial insemination centres have been set up.
Each centre has some key villages attached to it and has pedigree bulls to
propagate pure strains. Improved varieties of fowls are also supplied to
encourage poultry-farming.
Health and sanitation
activities cover opening of new hospitals, primary health centres, rural
dispensaries, child welfare and maternity centres, construction of drains, dry
latrines smokeless chulhas, pavement
of streets, installation of hand-pumps and construction of wells for drinking
water.
Educational activities cover
starting of new schools, upgrading of old schools, conversion of schools into
basic ones, and construction and repairing of school buildings. In adult
literacy centres, men and women are encouraged to learn the three Rs. Libraries
and reading rooms are started and the young villagers are encouraged to
organise themselves into youth clubs. Mahila
Samitis are organised for women-folk. Children parks and balwadis
(nurseries) are started for children. Panchayat ghars and community centres and radio-sets are provided for the
benefit of the community at large.
People are encouraged to
construct roads, to repair old ones and also to construct cultverts on these
roads. The villages are encouraged to organise themselves into co-operative
credit societies, industrial societies, farming societies, and service
societies of various kinds. Village and small-scale industries are encouraged
by setting up demonstration-cum-training centres.
Integrated
Rural Development Programme (IRDP).—This programme was launched in the State as per guidelines of the
Government of India on 2 October 1980 to cover all the blocks in the Punjab.
The objective of the programme is to supplement income of identified rural poor
families consisting of small and marginal farmers, share cropers, agricultural
and non-agricultural labourers, rural artisans and craftsmen and Scheduled
Castes/Tribes by providing them supplementary employment through productive
programmes and thus enable these families to rise above the poverty line. The
programme is implemented by twelve Rural Development Agencies, one in each
district, who coordinate their functions with various financial institutions,
departments and agencies in their respective areas.
Assistance to identified poor rural families is made available under the programme by way of loans and subsidy varying from 25 per cent to 33½ per cent of the capital cost of the project, depending upon the status of the beneficiaries, subject to a ceiling of Rs 3,000 for establishment of a single unit. This assistance is available for supplementary occupations like dairy, poultry, piggery, pisci-culture, seri-culture, bee-keeping, fruit and vegetable cultivation, etc. Assistance is also provided to petty artisans for rural crafts, cottage and village industries and for setting up repair and service shops particularly for agricultural machinery, and for small business units under various self-employment schemes.