Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Village Industries Punnulal Mohle said that the State Government has been providing self-employment opportunity to the potters and crafts persons in the State by imparting 90-days technical training to them.
Mohale, while inaugurating the ‘Maati Shilp Emporium’ on the Shabri Emporium premises situated at Aamapara here on Monday, gave away free of cost electric wheel to five artists–Jeevan, Sukalu, Pardeshi, Chaitram and Govardhan. A total of 150 beneficiaries were given electric wheel at the function.
Chhattisgarh Maati Kala Board was constituted for the technical development and financial help of clay artists and for marketing arrangement of their products. During the period of training they would get Rs 1,500 per month as honorarium.
He said, under the Kumhar Terracota scheme, highly technical electric wheel, which costs Rs 11,000 in the market, is being given free of cost to the clay artists. Mohle provided emphasis on establishing more emporiums and shops, so that clay artists should get right price of their crafts items like earthenware, artistic decorative articles, images of god-goddesses, cattle, and birds. The Minister said that a showroom at Rajnandgaon and an emporium at Raipur have been established in 2013-14 and this year ‘Chiknai’ units would be started in Raipur and Kondagaon.
The Revenue Department has made arrangement to provide free land at a designated place for mining to the traditional clay artists engaged in their business in village panchayats.
He said that in 2013-14, so far, about 11,000 clay artists have been registered and a target is fixed to register 15,000 artists in this financial year. Corporator Pushpa Dharmendra Tiwari, former member of the Board Dhulichand Prajapati also expressed their views. Managing director NK Khakha informed about the activities of the Board.