SECTION - II - COTTAGE INDUSTRIES

Oil-seed Crushing

In the past oil crushing was one of the most important cottage industries, and its importance has not significantly diminished even with the advert of milling industry on a mechanical scale. The oil-men used to cater to the requirement of oil of the entire population. Almost every village had a few persons, who used to follow it has a hereditary occupation. With the machanisation of this industry, the oil-men found himself a weaker ingredient of the economic structure of the rural as well as urban areas of the district. Even through the ubiquitous character of the industry is intact, the economic position of the oil-men has been badly affected.

Bhandara district is an oil-seed producing area. The main oil-seed produced are linseed, groundnut, sesamum, etc. Oil crushing provides employment to many artisans in the district. Almost all the artisans, except a few are hereditary artisans. The main centres of the industry are Gondia, Amgaon, Pauni, Borgaon, Dawdipar, etc. Gondia tahsil is famous for lin-seed crushing on a very large scale in the district.

Carpentry

The carpenter was an important number of the baluta system which formed an integral part of the rural economy for centuries. These artisans known as Sutars, who were hereditary professionals, were engaged in making of agricultural implements building materials and furniture. This occupation has retained its place in the district economy in spite of the far reaching changes which have occurred in the socio-economic landscape of the district. In fact with the increased pace of building activity the services of carpenters are highly in demand. They are scattered all over the district, and every village has its own carpenter.

The forest in the district which produces quite a good quality of timber, has encouraged the development of the furniture making industry in Gondia District. 

The carpenters' tools comprise wasala, patasi, ari, girmit, Whet stone, karwat, hatoda, gunya, chhani, randha, screw driver, pakad etc. The cost of the entire set is about Rs.150.

Bamboo Working 

The artisans engaged in bamboo working are found practically at every important place in the district. They are, however, mainly concentrated at Lakhani, Sakoli, Sadak Arjuni, Mohodi, Adyal, Soundad, Karanja, Dawwa and Majitpur.Houehold requirments like mats, winnowing fans (sups), baskets, and bidi petaras (boxes) are made by them.

Baskets, mats, sups, grain containers, sifters and bidi petaras are the main articles made by the artisans. The expansion of the bidi industry and the subsequent increase in the demand for bidi petaras for packing purposes, has led to an increase in the demand for the services of these artisans and their products. The bark of bamboo from which a mat is made is also used for making baskets. The products are sold in the local markets  in the district. They, however, do not bring any handsome returns to the artisans. The earnings of and artisans mainly depend upon his skill. The average daily earnings of an artisan amount to Rs.2 per day. The occupation does not provide them with fulltime employment throughout the year. In the rainy season some of the artisans are required to take recourse to agricultural labour.

Bidi Making

Bidi making is one of the most important cottage industries in the district. It provided a subsidiary source of income to agricultural labourers who were not gainfully employed throughout the year. As it required little or no capital investment and demanded no special skill, illiterate and unskilled artisans could take to this profession. Besides, important bidi making centres, such as, Gondia, Amgaon, Tiroda and Gangazari, persons engaged in this calling were scattered in the mofussil areas throughout the district.

Generally, these workers were employed by contractors who provided them with all the necessary materials like tobacco, leaves and thread and took bidis in return. The length of the bidis varied and so did the quantity of tobacco. The wages were fixed per thousand bidis according to the artisan working in municipal and non-municipal areas. These contractors had their feeder factories where they collected bidis from workers and sent them to registered factories. They received agreed commission for their services. The owners of these registered factories usually gave a fixed quota of necessary raw materials to the middlemen and asked for a fixed number of bidis in return.

In some cases bidi making was undertaken by all the working members of a family, in their residential premises. In the rainy season, the family busied itself with agricultural operations and the tempo of bidi manufacturing slowed down. It gathered momentum after the harvest and continued to be brisk till the onset of monsoon.