Dr Satyavan Saurabh
The new Potter Empowerment Scheme aims to bring the Potter community back to the mainstream. Through this scheme, equipment such as mixer machines and pug mills are provided for mixing clay to produce pottery products. These machines have eliminated the hard work involved in the pottery manufacturing process and have also increased the potters’ income by 7 to 8 times. With the advent of schemes, direct employment is now being created in the villages. Such efforts of the Khadi Commission aim to empower potters, create self-employment, and revive the dying art of pottery.
In the changing times, the traditional businesses running in the villages of India also need to be given a new look. It is completely wrong to talk about the end of the traditional business of villages. We can still keep the rural business alive by making a little change. Rural India is now being equipped with new technology and new facilities. The villages of India are changing, so they need to make some changes in their business. By keeping the rural business alive through new thinking and new experiments, special achievements can be made and it can be made a means of livelihood.
In this direction, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission has started efforts to revive the once-famous pottery art of Pokhran and to connect the potters with the mainstream of society again. Modern equipment has also shattered the dreams of the artisans who make earthen pots. They made earthen pots but due to lack of sales, they are struggling to even eat. Now neither the wheel is working nor the shops are opening. They have to guard the earthen pots lying for sale at home and on the wheel. People of the Prajapati community work in making earthen pots all over the country. At such a time, bringing such schemes by the central and state Governments will be called extremely welcome.
Some time back, a similar scheme was implemented in Uttar Pradesh. The initiative of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for skilled workers earning their livelihood through pottery has brought a ray of hope for the people of Prajapati Samaj across the country, according to which the matter of setting up a Micro Mati Kala Common Facility Center (CFC) in each division of the state moved forward. The cost of CFC is 12.5 lakhs, of which the Government’s contribution is Rs 10 lakh. The remaining amount is being borne by the society or the concerned institution. Land, if not available with the institution or society, is being provided by the Gram Sabha. Gas-powered furnaces, pugmills, electric pottery wheels, and other equipment for processing clay in the earth are being provided in each center. Workers are getting all the facilities to develop their products under one roof. The effort to employ more and more people through these centers is bearing fruit.
Electric potter wheels have been distributed to the families of potters in Pokhran, Rajasthan. Apart from electric wheels, 8 mixer machines have also been distributed to groups of 10 potters. Mixers are used to mix clay and this machine can turn 800 kg of clay into mud in just 8 hours whereas it takes a long time of about 5 days to prepare 800 kg of clay for making pottery individually. With the advent of such schemes, direct employment is now being created in the village. Such efforts of the Khadi Commission are aimed at empowering potters, creating self-employment, and reviving the dying art of pottery.
It is a great pleasure for the potters to be linked with the Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana and a source of employment at home. More than a dozen districts of Rajasthan including Jaipur, Kota, Jhalawar, and Sri Ganganagar have received the benefit. Not only this, instructions have also been issued to facilitate marketing and sale of pottery products at Barmer and Jaisalmer railway stations, so that potters can be helped in marketing. Food items are sold only in clay/terracotta pots at 400 railway stations across the country, out of which two of Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and Barmer are included and both these major rail routes are closest to Pokhran. From now on, the state unit will try its best to facilitate the sale of its pottery at these railway stations given the high level of tourists in these cities.
Potter families across India who were involved in pottery making for decades were looking for a new path due to the hard work and lack of market support. But now the launch of the Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana is gaining momentum in many remote areas of states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana and Bihar. The new Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana aims to bring the potter community back to the mainstream. Through this scheme, equipment like mixers and pug mills are provided for mixing clay to manufacture pottery products. These machines have eliminated the drudgery involved in the pottery-making process and have also increased the income of potters by 7 to 8 times.
Pokhran (where India conducted its first nuclear test) will soon be known as the place of excellent pottery making. Now instead of nuclear bombs, the sound of potters’ wheels will reverberate here. This is a unique and praiseworthy effort to connect potters with society and revive their art by providing them with modern equipment and training. When we start such businesses in the village with new and supported schemes, it not only benefits us but also fulfills our social responsibility. Through these works, we become self-reliant and also provide employment opportunities to many unemployed people. Today, in the changing times, it is the responsibility of every person to encourage others along with himself. Make them aware of doing their work. Only through this, we will be able to fulfill the dream of empowerment of rural India in the coming times.
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