MAIN FINDINGS

The important findings of the survey conducted at Ajmer centre are given below:

SCOPE OF THE SURVEY

  1. The survey covered workers engaged in four organised sectors of employment, viz., Registered Factories, Electricity Generating and Distributing Establishments, Public Motor Transport Undertakings and Railways.
  1. The total number of working class families covered during the survey was 216.

ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE CENTRE

  1. The estimated total number of working class families as defined for the purpose of the survey was about 11.36 thousand.
  1. The estimated total number of employees in these families was about 13.98 thousand.
  1. The average monthly income per employee from paid employment worked out to Rs. 5572.91 at current prices and
    Rs. 260.78 at constant prices of 1960.
  1. ‘Manufacture of Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock’ industry dominated in terms of employment.
  1. More than 97 per cent of the total employees were employed on a regular basis, 1.48 per cent were on casual basis and the remaining 1.18 per cent on contractual basis.

FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS

  1. The average size of a working class family worked out to be 5.15 persons, of which, 1.17 were earners, 0.25 earning dependants and 3.73 non-earning dependants; consisting of 1.93 men, 1.67 women and 1.55 children.
  1. The modal family size was with four and five members.
  1. The estimated total number of family members was 58.49 thousand, out of which, 54.15 per cent were males and 45.85 per cent were females. Of the total family members, 44.59 per cent were married, 4.50 per cent were widowed, divorced or separated and the remaining 50.91 per cent were un-married which included 29.95 per cent family members in the age group of below 15 years.
  1. The dependency ratio was 519/1000.
  1. Around 18 percent of the family members (5 years of age and above) were illiterate and only about 3 per cent were graduate and above.
  1. Around 26 per cent of the family members (5 years of age and above) were employees and about 70 per cent were not in labour force.
  1. Of all the families, 87.43 per cent of the families had one earner, 8.57 per cent had two earners while the remaining 4.00 per cent had three or more earners.

FAMILY INCOME AND RECEIPTS

  1. The average monthly income per family worked out to Rs. 8079.40 and the per capita income as Rs. 1569.15 at current prices. At constant prices of 1982, however, the average monthly income per family and per capita worked out to Rs. 1896.57 and Rs. 368.34 respectively.
  1. As much as 84.89 per cent of the total average monthly income came from paid employment.
  1. Within the paid employment, basic wages and allowances contributed about 93 per cent of the total income.

FAMILY EXPENDITURE AND DISBURSEMENTS

  1. The average expenditure per family worked out to Rs. 6657.79 at current prices, of which, Rs. 6189.67 was on consumption expenditure and Rs. 468.12 was on non-consumption expenditure. At constant prices of 1960, however, the average expenditure per family worked out to be Rs. 311.55 of which Rs. 289.64 was on consumption expenditure and Rs. 21.91 was on non-consumption expenditure.
  1. Within consumption expenditure, the share of food items was 40.44 per cent.
  1. Around 87 per cent of the families had spent less than 45 percent of their total expenditure on food.
  1. There was significant decline in the percentage of families reporting expenditure on prepared meals, pan, supari, tobacco & tobacco products and debts repaid as compared to 1981-82 survey.
  1. The percentage of families reporting expenditure on furniture & furnishing, medical care, education & reading, recreation and amusement and transport & communication during 1999-2000 increased as compared to 1981-82 survey with the maximum jump for education & reading.

FOOD CONSUMPTION

  1. The average monthly quantity of Cereals and Cereal Products consumed per family worked out to be 53.51 Kgs; of which major share was accounted for by wheat (43.74 Kgs) and wheat atta (4.33 kgs). The per capita per month consumption of Cereals and Cereal Products was 10.39 Kgs.
  1. The average monthly consumption of milk per family has doubled to 44.95 litres from 22.66 litres in 1981-82 survey.

BUDGETERY POSITION

  1. About 84 per cent of families recorded an average surplus income of Rs. 1421.61 over per family expenditure.

INDEBTEDNESS

  1. The average amount of outstanding debt per indebted family worked out to be Rs. 18899.97.
  1. The incidence of indebtedness worked out to be 49.73 per cent during 1999-2000 as compared to 85.19 per cent in 1981-82 survey.
  1. The Co-operative Credit Society was the most preferred source of loans.
  1. The proportion of families availing loans from money lenders has declined to 5.87 per cent from 9.61 per cent in 1981-82 due to high rate of interest.

HOUSING

  1. About 89 per cent of the families were residing in independent houses and around 6 per cent were using flats as their residence.
  1. Of all the families, 89.29 per cent had made their own arrangements for accommodation, 9.52 per cent were provided dwellings by the employers and the remaining 1.19 per cent were residing in the dwellings provided by friends and relatives etc.
  1. The percentage of families having access to drinking water within dwellings was 52 per cent and remaining 48 per cent of the families had to depend upon the source of drinking water outside the dwellings.
  1. The percentage of families enjoying basic amenities like kitchen, bathroom, latrine and electricity was 71.43 per cent, 64.29 per cent, 77.38 per cent and 91.67 per cent respectively.

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Ajmer