THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY November 28 , 1959

Lock Makers of Dindigul

S I T U A T E D about ha l f -way between M a d u r a i and T i r u c h i r a p a l l i i n

Madras State, D i n d i g u l is a busy centre o f smal l industries in w h i c h almost every cottage is a small work­shop, buzzing w i t h ac t iv i ty . Lock m a k i n g , manufacture of i r o n safes, leather t ann ing and leather manu­factures, and cigar and beedi m a k i n g are among the more impor tan t of the smal l industries t h r i v i n g in D i n ­d i g u l and its v i c i n i t y .

Nex t to A l i g a r h , i t i s perhaps the most impor t an t small-scale lock manufac tur ing centre i n Ind ia . The indus t ry has been in existence here f o r over a century. The lock makers o f D i n d i g u l w i l l t e l l you that San-ka ra l inga A c h a r i , who mar r i ed the daughter of a locksmith of T u t i c o r i n brought the lock indus t ry to this l i t t l e t own , and i t is indeed an i rony of fate that T u t i c o r i n w h i c h was once reputed f o r its locks has no locksmiths any more.

D u r i n g the thir t ies there were about f i f ty lock mak ing units in D i n d i g u l area. The good name en­joyed by D i n d i g u l locks, however, encouraged the establishment of many more units . Today there are 82 lock mak ing units i n D i n d i g u l and its v i c i n i t y , Nagal Nagar and N a l l a m p a t t i being the most impor t ­ant points of concentrat ion. Besides lock makers, there are smal l units w h i c h make anc i l l a ry parts of locks. N i n e uni ts are solely engaged in the manufacture of key blanks, most of them beinq located in Begumpur , a p a r t o f D i n d i g u l town. There are seven uni ts engaged in p l a t i n g of brass used f o r door and drawer locks.

U N O R G A N I S E D A N D U N R E G U L A T E D

Lock m a k i n g in D i n d i g u l i s an unorganised indus t ry , there is no m i n i m u m or o p t i m u m size of busi­ness, and some of the uni ts are ob­v ious ly feeble or too s m a l l . Being unorganised, the indus t ry is also un­regulated. I f smal l industries d o not use power, they do not come under the Fac tory Act , and as long as they do not use anv ha rmfu l or dangerous raw materials such as explosives they do not have to com­p l y even w i t h heal th regulat ions. I n the absence o f a l l regulat ions, work­

i n g condit ions and wages are pret ty a w f u l .

The units are smal l , few of them employ more than ten worke r s ; and none use power. The predominance of small units is due to the fact that most of them are r u n on p ropr i e t a ry basis and age o l d t radi t ions, wi thout adequate Financial resources f o r under tak ing expansion or improve­m e n t I t i s general ly the p ropr i e to r h imse l f and in some cases, one or two members of his f a m i l y who r u n the business. The indus t ry , how­ever, gives direct employment to an estimated 500 to 550 workers- Th is is estimated on the basis of ou tpu t ; one i r o n pad lock per worke r per day, a dozen brass door and drawer locks per worker , two workers in each key b lank m a k i n g un i t and three workers in each brass plate casting un i t .

V A R I E T Y O F P R O D U C T S

The indus t ry is essentially l abour intensive. Except f o r the p r i m i t i v e tools and ramshackle sheds, the units have no capita] w o r t h ment ion ing . The tools used usual ly by D i n d i g u l lock smiths are files, vices, hand-d r i l l i n g machine and b lower . On the basis of the value of tools used and w o r k i n g capi ta l r equ i rement the capital investment in the indus­t r y may be placed at Rs 20 per worker and at this figure, the total investment w i l l be a round Rs 10,000. D i n d i g u l makes locks of different types and in various sizes. I r o n padlocks, door and drawer locks of brass and " t r i c k " locks, both of i r o n and brass, are some of i ts w e l l known specialities. The units pro­duc ing brass door and drawer locks purchase brass plates which are made by casting units and delivered to dealers for sale. Key blanks are purchased by lock smiths in the open market, and processed by them to suit their requirements.

The total p roduc t ion of locks and padlocks in D i n d i g u l area may be estimatpd at 1.8 lakhs in a year on the basis of 960 locks Per day and w o r k i n g on an average fou r days in a week. In terms of value, the an­nua l output w o u l d amount to nearly Rs 5 lakhs, nearly h a l f of wh ich is accounted f o r by brass door and drawer locks. The seven uni ts en-gaged in brass p l a t i n g t u r n out

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about 500 plates per day. Key blanks w o r t h between Rs 40 and Rs 50 are produced da i l y by the key Wages of semi-skilled and

The raw materials requi red for lock m a k i n g are i r o n and brass sheets and scrap and charcoal. I r o n and brass sheets are purchased d a i l y by the producers in the open market . Brass scrap is purchased f r o m street vendors who go round the streets and procure o l d and broken utensils f r o m households. A b o u t 25 lbs of brass scrap are requi red to make 10 dozen locks. K e y blanks are pur­chased f r o m dealers who in tu rn obta in them f r o m key blank manu­facturers-

C O S T E S T I M A T E

The supp ly of i r o n and brass sheets and scrap in suitable qual i ty and at reasonable price is of v i t a l importance to the lock indust ry . As a raw mater ia l , these metals account

K Murti

November 28, 1959 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

fo r a considerable p r o p o r t i o n of the

total cost of p roduc t ion of a lock

smi th r ang ing f r o m nearly 30 per

cent in the case of i r o n padlocks to

between 45 and 65 per cent in the

case of brass door and drawer locks-

Given above, in the preceding co lumn,

is the cost analysis of some typ ica l

locks produced in D i n d i g u l -

S U P P L Y O F R A W M A T E R I A L

In view of the impor tance of the metals in l ockmak ing , the avai labi -l i t y of i r o n and brass of good qua l i ty and at an economic price is a p r i m a r y cond i t ion for the success of the indus t ry . There has however been a genera] compla in t that i r o n and brass sheets arc not avai lable regu­l a r l y . Further , that prices of raw

materials and tools have gone up so much that i t is not possible to manufacture locks p r o f i t a b l y . The price of brass scrap at Madras was Rs 2 5 / - per maund of 25 lbs* at the beg inn ing of 1955 and went up to Rs. 32 / - ear ly next year; w h i l e at D i n d i g u l the pr ice was Rs. 3 7 / 5 0 d u r i n g the latter period- I r o n sheets are never avai lable at the cont ro l led rates. Further , a file—the tool w h i c h

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THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY November 28, 1959

is essential—which was costing As . 15 in 1937 now costs Rs 2.50. Even a t this pr ice , i t i s on ly i n f e r io r qua­l i t y I n d i a n f i les w h i c h can be bought . An Amer ican f i l e wh ich costs about Rs 6 each can be used easily fo r the manufacture of two grosses of locks w h i l e an I n d i a n file becomes unserviceable after the manufacture of about ten dozen locks. W h i l e prices of raw mate­r ia l s and tools have risen, prices of locks have ac tual ly come d o w n ; an i r o n padlock is se l l ing now for Rs 1 8 7 as against Rs 3 in the pre-war pe r iod . I t i s therefore apparent that so long as the lock smi th has to buy raw materials in the dearest market and sell his f inished product in the cheapest market , i t is not possible f o r h i m to make a decent l i v i n g out of his avocation.

The question of raw materials is b o u n d up w i t h the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f f inance on the dhe hand and f a c i l i ­ties for marke t ing on the other. Ex­cept for a few units wh ich make locks fo r i r o n safe manufacturers in D i n d i g u l , the b u l k of the producers depend on dealers f o r the sale of their product . The dealers sell the locks most ly in Madras and Kera la States. The same dealers are also sellers of raw materials and tools-For w o r k i n g capi ta l , the locksmiths take advances f r o m the dealers, wh ich are adjusted in instalments against thei r d a i l y sale of locks. When the market is d u l l , dealers hesitate to make advance and since the lock manufacturer has no ho ld­i n g power, he undersells his p r o -ducts.

M A R K E T I N G A N D P R I C E S

It is f requently compla ined that whi le dealers main ta in a stable sell­ing price for locks, in spite of f luc­tuations in the prices of raw mate-t r ia ls , they manipula te the pr ice at which they buy." For instance, on the eve of D i v a l i fest ival , there is gene­r a l l y an over-product ion of locks because of the anxiety of locksmiths to get some money to meet thei r extra-expenditure for the occasion. Th i s results in a glut in the market b r i n g i n g down the prices pa id by dealers to locksmiths. Perhaps the lock smiths also are not completely free f r o m blame as in their anxiety to earn more by larger product ion . they b r i n g down the qua l i t y of locks.

The lock maker in D i n d i g u l be­lieves that he is being pr iced out of the market as a result of the t r ian­gular compet i t ion f r o m press locks,

A l i g a r h locks and in fe r io r locks pro­duced in D i n d i g u l . The press locks turned out by organised factories are cheaper, a l though Jess durable. Accord ing to D i n d i g u l lock smiths, the A l i g a r h locks are cheaper than D i n d i g u l locks but i n f e r i o r in qua­l i t y , despite their better finish. Dealers compla in , on the other hand, that the qua l i ty of D i n d i g u l locks, which used to be very h igh has dete-r iora ted . The deteriorat ion in qua l i ty is m a i n l y a t t r ibuted to the increase in the number of manufac tur ing uni ts manned by semi-skilled work-ers. The locks produced by sk i l l ed workers do not command a p r e m i u m over those produced by semi-skilled or unsk i l led workers because by merely look ing at them, the buyer cannot d is t inguish between superior and in fe r io r locks.

P R O D U C T I O N T E C H N I Q U E

The method o f product ion in D i n ­d i g u l is p r i m i t i v e . Some of the hand operations r e q u i r i n g much physical exer t ion can be safely dispensed w i t h wi thout affecting employment . A l t h o u g h the slogan of the electr i­c i ty department exhib i ted on the streets of D i n d i g u l is "use power and more power*', very l i t t l e has been done to make the lock smiths power-conscious. C h i l d labour is prevalent and ought to be dis­couraged. D iv i s ion of labour 's already carr ied very far, impor tan t parts mak ing up a lock or a padlock being manufactured by different agencies A l o n g w i t h d iv is ion of labour, there is considerable specia­l izat ion which is to be encouraged. W i t h some pract ical t r a in ing in those produc t ion techniques in which they are deficient, the workers can be made into sk i l l ed artisans. For instance, brass p l a t i ng is done in a crude way resul t ing in wastage of the metal and deteriorat ion of the qua l i t y of plates cast.

The idea of cooperation has caught the imagina t ion of D i n d i g u l lock smiths and needs to be pursued w i t h v igour . For the supply of raw materials, tools, finance etc., the fo rmat ion of an indust r ia l coopera­tive is an imperat ive necessity- The lock smith-members of the society-can derive benefits in regard to common fac i l i t y services. Common f a c i l i t y services are required in res­pect of finishing process (po l i sh ing) and in the use of pyrometer for mea­sur ing the temperature of brass when melted fo r casting. A l t h o u g h the dealers p l ay a commendable par t in

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the market ing of locks, they should be brought w i t h i n the cooperative f o l d in order to ensure f a i rp l ay in market ing. Standardisation, -attrac­tive f inish, trade marks etc w i l l f o l ­low once a p roper ly organised in ­dustr ia l cooperative takes up the market ing of the products.

SCRAP M E T A L S

The dealers and manufacturers are convinced that the demand for locks is on the up grade. Accord ing to a premier dealer of the place, the demand for locks has increased six­f o l d since the war D u r i n g the thirt ies, he was marke t ing fifty locks a day wh i l e his present da i ly sale is about 300 locks. The empha­sis on housing, b u i l d i n g act iv i ty etc.. under the plans w i l l undoubtedly give a fillip to the demand for locks.

Government small-scale organisa­tions are now supp ly ing to smal l industrial ists technical know-how and e x p l o r i n g the f ie ld for market ing their products. The State Bank is t r y i n g to meet the credit needs of the smal l scale units and the Reserve Bank has announced a scheme of insurance to induce the other banks to do the same. The recent decision of the Nat ional Small Industries Cor­pora t ion to supply brass scrap and ingots to bonafide smal l scale manu-facturers out of the stocks available f r o m the Ordnance factories through d i s t r ibu t ion depots is a welcome step. Let us hope that these depots w i l l not be confined to Punjab alone. There is an urgent need fo r opening such a raw mater ial depot in D i n d i ­g u l . Given adequate facil i t ies in the shape of w o r k i n g capi ta l , better tools, better premises and raw mate­rials in sufficient quant i ty and re­qui red qua l i t y at a reasonable price, the D i n d i g u l lock industry should be able to catch up w i th the prospective demand.