Just two years ago, nobody had even thought that the marginalised potters’ community in Bihar would have their day. But life is changing for hundreds of them now thanks to the “Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana” launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to empower the Kumhar community in Bihar.
“It was the dream of none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi to empower the Kumhar community through modern technology and revive the dying art of pottery making in the country,” says KVI chairman VK Saxena.
Saxena points out that one such beneficiary of the program is Jai Shankar Pandit, a potter in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar who along with his father used to work earlier on stone chaak. His life has changed after he received an electric potter wheel from KVIC. High productivity and higher income are all that he can boast of now. And the family has a unique way to express their gratitude to the Prime Minister.
Jai Shankar is now making the idols of the Prime Minister and also earning a respectable livelihood by selling them in Bihar and West Bengal. Pandit could now also earn a sustainable livelihood. “The idols of the PM are selling in good numbers and fetching me good price. So far he has sold 75-80 such idols at a rate of Rs 800 per piece,” Saxena points out.
Keeping in view the festive season and the ban on Chinese clay items by Modi, he is also making idols of deities - Durga, Laxmi and Ganesh - and a variety of diya (earthen lamp) and decorative items to reap maximum advantage.
“Empowerment of the marginalised potters’ community is the dream of the Prime Minister and it is heartening to see potters like Jai Shankar expressing their gratitude to the Prime Minister in such a noble way,” Saxena maintains.
Connecting the potters’ community with the mainstream of society by increasing their production and income is the sole objective of Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana. The program has been currently suspended in Bihar due to the Model Code of Conduct but soon after the elections, the Mission will be restarted and spread to the remotest parts of Bihar empowering every potter family.
In just two years KVIC has distributed 500 electric potter wheels to an identical number of potter families and empowered nearly 20,000 people in Bihar with an estimated 10 lakh potters population. KVIC has distributed electric chaak to potters in districts like Rohtas, Bhojpur, Nawada, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur, Patna, East & west Champaran, Khagaria and Sitamarhi.
Earlier, a potter could hardly make 100 to 150 diya or Kulhar a day, but on the electric chaak, he is able to make 500 to 600 of them daily.