The Social Importance Of Occupation In Society

Introduction:

Occupation of an individual holds the key to one’s happiness and fulfilment towards life. Occupation plays an essential role as a social activity which can either act as a mean to fulfil man’s potential or to distort and pervert his nature and his relationship with others.

The importance of occupation in one’s life can be actually highlighted by quoting Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs where the safety needs which comprises of safety, security and employment takes its vital place next to the base of physiological needs. This hierarchy explains the importance of occupation or employment which falls plays a vital role in an individual life for the survival

In western societies the social stratification is based on class structure of

Occupational theory explains about the nature and quality of work performed by various group of people. Occupation in general which is regarded as better and respectable in the society made the people who are engaged in it as superior to those who are engaged in profession based on caste.

Out of some of the social determinants like income, occupation, education, status, gender, race, environment and culture which helps to understand the social mobility occupation act as a major component in determining the mobility of an individual or group of individuals

Funeral rites workers whose occupation is also mostly associated with their caste identity faces a lot of discrimination and denial of better opportunities due to the stigma associated with their occupation. This result in low standard of living and lack of occupation mobility among this particular group of

Handling of leather or a dead cow

2. The removal of Human Waste

3. Work on the cremation Ground

As the handling of leather of dead cow is considered to be polluting it has extended towards the playing of cow hid drum from where the pariah caste belong too. In north they are called as Chamars which is now named as Ravidasis. The Traditional scavenging caste in north India is called as Bhangi who now prefer to be called as Valmikis and in South India they are called Arundhathiyars and the traditional cremation work is done by Vettiayans in south India and in North India they are called by the caste Chandalas.

Funeral Rites Workers (Vettiayans):

Vettiayans are the people are group of people who are engaged in professional undertaking occupation. A community or caste notified as schedule caste gravediggers by their tradition the term vettiayans is derived from Tamil word “Vetti” meaning to dig Vettuvair Vettuvir, Ettoul, Ettuvandhu Vettuvan are other names of vettiayans.

It is belief that vettiayans are direct descendants of royal class of “Raja Harichandra” who himself served as vettiayans in the history and that’s one of the reason the presence of Raja Harichandra Idol in the entrance of the every Hindu Burial