MAIN FINDINGS

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

SCOPE OF SURVEY

  1. The survey covered workers engaged in the 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 432.

ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE CENTRE

  1. The estimated total number of working class families as defined for the purpose of the survey was about 25.86 thousand.
  1. The estimated total number of employees in these families was about 37.30 thousand.
  1. The average monthly income per employee from paid employment worked out to Rs. 3689.82 at current prices. At constant prices of 1982 however, it was Rs. 850.19 as against Rs. 488.80 in 1981-82 survey.
  1. ‘Other land transport’ industry dominated in terms of employment.
  1. About 90 per cent of the total employees were employed on a regular basis, 9.45 per cent were on casual basis and the remaining 0.73 per cent on contractual basis.

FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS

  1. The average size of a working class family worked out to 4.35 persons of which 1.15 were earners, 0.44 earning dependants and 2.76 non-earning dependants. The average family consisted of 1.55 men, 1.65 women and 1.15 children.
  1. The modal family size was with four and five members.
  1. The estimated total number of family members was 1.12 lakh. Out of which, 48.75 per cent were males. Of the total family members, 47.89 per cent were married, 6.84 per cent were widowed, divorced or separated and the remaining 45.27 per cent were unmarried which included 26.39 per cent family members in the age group of below 15 years.
  1. The dependency ratio was 462/1000.
  1. Around 10 per cent of the family members (5 years of age and above) were illiterate and about 5 per cent were graduates and above. The survey result revealed that in comparison to previous survey there have been a distinct decline in the proportion of illiterate and semi illiterate family members.
  1. Around 35 per cent of the family members (5 years of age and above) were employees and about 59 per cent were not in labour force.
  1. Of all the families, 87.06 per cent of the families had one earner, 10.85 per cent had two earners while the remaining 2.09 per cent had three earners.

FAMILY INCOME AND RECEPITS

  1. The average monthly income per family worked out to Rs. 5804.71 and the per capita income as Rs. 1333.41 at current prices as compared to Rs. 715.88 and Rs. 142.13 respectively in 1981-82. At constant prices of 1982, however, the average monthly income per family and per capita worked out to Rs. 1337.49 and Rs. 307.24 respectively.
  1. As much as 91.76 per cent of the total average monthly income came from paid employment.
  1. Within the paid employment, basic wages and allowances contributed about 89 per cent of the total income.

FAMILY EXPENDITURE AND DISBURSEMENTS

  1. The average expenditure per family worked out to Rs. 4459.02 at current prices, of which, Rs. 3954.42 was on consumption expenditure and Rs. 504.60 was on non-consumption expenditure. At constant prices of 1960, however, the average expenditure per family worked out to Rs. 195.14, of which Rs. 173.06 was on consumption expenditure and Rs. 22.08 was on non-consumption expenditure.
  1. Within consumption expenditure, the share of food items was 49.25 per cent.
  1. Around 78 per cent of the families had spent less than 45 per cent of their total expenditure on food.
  1. There was a significant decline in the percentage of families reporting expenditure on tobaccotobacco products, recreation & amusement and debts repaid as compared to 1981-82 survey.
  1. The percentage of families reporting expenditure on pan, supari, alcoholic beverages, furniture & furnishing, medical care, educationreading, transport & communication, savings & investments and household services during 1999-2000 increased substantially as compared to 1981-82 survey with the maximum jump on furniture & furnishing.

FOOD CONSUMPTION

  1. The average monthly quantity of Cereals and Cereal Products consumed per family worked out to be 41.39 Kgs, of which major share was accounted for by rice (35.51 Kgs) and wheat (3.55 Kgs). The per capita per month consumption of Cereals and Cereal Products was 9.51 Kgs.
  1. The average monthly consumption of milk per family has increased to 18.60 litres from 10.19 litres in 1981-82 survey.

BUDGETARY POSITION

  1. About 93 per cent of families recorded surplus income. The average surplus income over per family expenditure was recorded at Rs. 1345.69.

INDEBTEDNESS

  1. The average amount of outstanding debt per indebted family worked out to be Rs. 30799.12.
  1. The incidence of indebtedness worked out to be 72.29 per cent during 1999-2000 as compared to 84.52 per cent in 1981-82 survey.
  1. Friends & relatives were the main source of loans.
  1. Due to sharp increase in the interest rates charged by moneylenders the proportion of families availing loans from them decreased to 29.05 per cent as compared to 29.48 per cent in 1981-82 survey.

HOUSING

  1. Of all the families, about 89 per cent had made their own arrangements for accommodation, 10.71 per cent were provided dwellings by the employers.
  1. About 67 per cent of the families were residing in independent houses and around 25 per cent were using flats as their residence. None of the families was residing in Chawl-bustees.
  1. The percentage of families enjoying basic amenities like kitchen, bathroom, latrine and electricity was 91.67 per cent, 89.88 per cent, 95.83 per cent and 98.21 per cent respectively.
  1. The percentage of families having access to drinking water within dwellings was about 15 per cent and the remaining about 85 per cent of the families had to depend upon the source of drinking water outside the dwellings.

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Madurai