SMT.CHANDIBAI HIMATHMAL MANSUKHANI

COLLEGE

YEAR (2010-2011)

SOCIOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Third Year Bachelor of Arts

PRESENTED BY

BIBIN THOMAS

ROLL NO. 915

ELMA BANU

ROLL NO. 922

PRESENTED TO:-MISS.LAKSHMI

Acknowledgement

With a deep sense of satisfaction and gratitude to Auto-rickshaw union Mr. Kaalu Komaskar & his colleague Mr. Bua Patil & all members of the Lal

Bavta Rickshaw Union.

I wish to place on records that the survey I conducted I got all the information that has been of immense value to me and it will be my endeavor to put into

practice all that I have learnt to sharpen my skills and develop my skills & personality.

It is because of the ardent and consistent efforts I was able to imbibe so much which was not possible in such short time. The research has developed me to

inculcate the right kind of skills and knowledge. I am also thankful to my College and to Ms. Lakshmi & Mr. Vijay Umarani for giving me an opportunity to

do research on such a wonderful topic.

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

What is the profile of auto rickshaw drivers? The very first thing that pops up in our mind when we hear the name Auto-rickshaw is that a black & yellow colored

three wheeler vehicle containing a smird looking guy wearing a khaki dress, popularly called as ‘Rickshawalla’.Basically Rickshaw is nothing but a means of transport, preferably used in urban areas. In a city like dombivli

which is developing drastically, common man lives a hectic life. Majority of dombivlikars are working class people

most of them work outside dombivli, hence they use rickshaw, as it is the cheapest mean of public transport.

Rickshaw plays a vital role in social, economic and political aspects of dombivli. There are three unions which

helps and protects the rights of rickshawalas viz. BJP, Shivsena, and CPI.

Most of the rickshawalas belongs to lower class background and they are not even much qualified to seek a

job in a multinational company or to start a business. So they are left with few options of earning their livelihood. Driving rickshaw is one of them and seems to be the most

profitable. You don’t need to have any degree to be a Rickshawalla; a license to drive a rickshaw is more than

enough. Though being such a petty profession it has a vital impact

on the economic structure of the society. It generates a massive source of employment.

Why I choose this topic?

First of all I had a desire that I should choose this topic because this topic is rarely taken by anyone. Everyone is so

busy in their day to day life that they are least bothered about anything which is not profitable for them. We can

just take my topic about ‘Rickshawalas’, who is playing a very important role in each and everybody’s daily life in means of transportation. Majority of the people are using auto-rickshaw as it is the cheapest means of transport, as we get down from our house we can see auto-rickshaws going to and fro taking people from one place to another, and if we want to go anywhere, we just mention a word ‘Rickshaw’ and they stop instantly and takes us to our destination, and that’s it, but no one bothers about their

personal life or what kind of circumstances they face, their grievances, sorrows, miseries etc

So I have done some surveys regarding the socio economic status of the auto rickshaw drivers from which we can understand how do our Auto-rickshaw drivers live and through what situation they are going, why have they

chosen this occupation and what all problems they face.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1} To know the social status of auto-rickshaw drivers

2} To understand the economic status of the auto-rickshaw drivers.

3} To understand the personal life of auto-rickshaw drivers.

4} To know about the educational status of the auto-rickshaw drivers.

5} To understand why they have chosen this occupation and what they think about it.

6} To know the primary occupation auto-rickshaw drivers

7} To find their annual, per month, per day income.

8} To find the impact of the society on the auto-rickshaw drivers.

9} To understand what problems they face during duty hours.

10} To find out political impact on the work of auto-rickshaw drivers.

11} To find out the role of Rickshaw unions.

12} To understand the role of petroleum industry on auto-rickshaw drivers.

13} To understand the role of public servants on the profession of auto-rickshaw drivers.

14} To know if they are comfortable in this profession or not.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1] there are plenty of auto rickshaw drivers, so its not easy to catch everyone and ask about questions related to survey.

2] its difficult to communicate with auto rickshaw drivers as they are always in hurry and they are not much interested to talk about themselves.

3] because of recent political events they are afraid to reveal much about themselves.

4] its not necessary that they will always speak the truth about themselves and their income.

5] there are hardly information available in literatures about auto rickshaw drivers.

6] there are rarely updates about auto rickshaw on internet.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

There are ten thousand rickshaw drivers in dombivli and the population of dombivli is fifteen lakhs. So for every 150 people there is a Rickshaw.

Most of the rickshawalas are between the age of 25-45. Only 20% of the rickshawalas are HSC passed; the remaining

80% are below SSC. 40% of the rickshawalas are from UP, 15% from

Maharashtra ,5% from Mahad, Akola, Goa , 20% from MP and 10% from Agra

Almost 80 % are open and the rest 20 % are OBC, SC, ST, NT.

On an average a rickshawala earns 65100 per annum. Only 40% of the rickshawalas own their rickshaw, rest of the

60% use it on rent. Only 60% of the rickshawalas hold a permit. 80% of the rickshawalas does not belong to any political

union. The remaining 20% are the members of BJP, Shivsena, and CPI.

10% of rickshawalas does not even posses a ration card. 70% of the rickshawalas dwells in chawls and 60% of them

does not own their house. Almost 95% of rickshawalas works in a day shift. 25% of the rickshawalas work 12 hours in a day. On an average a rickshawalas earns 60 rs. per hour i.e.

between 30-80rs. A normal rickshawala earns 150 to 600rs. Per shift that

means they earns 445rs on an average. An auto rickshawala spends minimum 100rs and maximum

300rs on petrol per day. A minimum profit a rickshawala gets per shift is 100 and

maximum 500rs. The margin of the profit depends on the days they work. If a

rickshawala works for a whole month without skipping any day he earns around 5000 to 6000rs.

An auto rickshawala spends minimum 400 and maximum 1000rs on the maintenance of the rickshaw almost every month.

Rickshawala saves minimum 50rs and maximum 500 rs a day; so an average rickshawala save 160rs per day.

40% of the rickshawalas are the victims of exploitation of RTO.

Almost 75% of the auto rickshaw drivers prefer sharing basis.

Only 30% of the rickshawala at least have an insurance of their vehicles. And 50% holds a bank account.

70% of the rickshawalas are not satisfied with their earnings as they can hardly fulfill their wants.

The auto rickshaw drivers are basically victims of following points

METHODOLOGY

The method used for the project starts with the questionnaire which includes Purposive sampling method, by which I have collected the interviews of the auto rickshaw drivers in dombivli. The sample questions are attached in annexure.

SUMMARY

Dombivli has the population of 15 lakhs people,for every 150 people there is an auto-rickshaw,so there are 10,000 auto rickshaw

drivers in dombivli. The rickshaw wallas are the middle aged people from various regions including MP, UP, Maharastra,

Mahad, Agra, Goa & Akola. Though the rickshaw wallas are from open caste OBC,SC,ST & NT most of them are not that literate,

very few of them are at least 12th pass. They are even not aware of these rights & duties, many of them does not even possess a

permit, nor ration card. They even hardly