Social Deprivation among Muslims in Lock Industry Aligarh:A Study

This paper is preliminary based on both primary and secondary sources. The objective of the present paper is what is the socio-economic status of the Muslim lock workers in Aligarh? And to know the impact of globalization among the Muslim locks workers in Aligarh. I have chosen Aligarh as the area of my research. This is a district of western Uttar Pradesh. Where eighty per cent of Muslims are engaged in the lock industry, majority of them are ajlaf. They are incredibly expert in making a variety of locks. These locks are sent in other states of India and abroad. Most of them live below the poverty line, are victims of pervasive discrimination. Here social deprivation may defined as the process and situation in which Muslim lock workers is excluded from its general stream with regard to the requirements and necessities of normal life. There could be numerous determinants for this state of affair, the major one being nothing other than poverty. The vicious circle of poverty, social exclusion and social backwardness is multi-causal i.e. they affect each other. Social exclusion creates its own culture in turn, sustains and perpetuates exclusion. Globalization is damaging economic base of Muslim lock workers. The globalization has added new dimensions to the vulnerability of India's downtrodden by exacerbating their social exclusion, and making large segments of other social groups also vulnerable and excluded. The famous lock industry of Aligarh, encompassing nearly one and half century of long history, is struggling hard to compete with international players in the era of today's globalization. As a result, its exports are almost nil. Large number of Muslim lock workers has lost jobs in the past few years in face of cheaper Chinese locks. Finally, this paper also attempts to explore the possible measures to rejuvenate this industry. If this industry has to survive in the present era of Globalization, the upliftment and modernization of this industry is a must.