AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

TRADITIONAL POTTERS OF - CHALLENGES AND SCOPE FOR DEVELOPMENT

Rinkumoni Patir

Research Scholar, Department of Economics, RGU, Rono Hills, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. [email protected]

Abstract: The age old tradition of pottery craft is one of the important crafts in and has been playing a significant role in the economy and society of Assam. It is an eco-friendly craft which provides income and employment to the poor. This old craft practice is decreasing day by day for various reasons. The low demand and low profitability are main reasons for which the new generations not attracted towards this craft. There is a vast scope for development of this sector. If the government takes necessary action and create awareness among the new generations, this sector will flourish to develop. This research paper is based on primary as well as secondary data and attempt to explore the various challenges faced by the local artisans of the rural areas of Assam with special reference to Majuli District and try to suggest some measures to alleviate the problems. Keywords: Eco-friendly, Potters, technology, productivity, challenges

1. INTRODUCTION Pottery is an age old handicraft in . It considered as the most iconic elements of Indian art and civilization. Evidence of pottery is in India dates back to Indus Valley Civilization. Pottery is an important medium through which men have expressed their emotions. The art of pottery indicated their religious and social customs of the society. It occupies an important place in auspicious occasions like celebration of marriages, religious occasions like “Puja”, performance of “Preta Karma” of deceased. Pottery industry provides employment to artisans and also gives job opportunities for non-artisans in non-agricultural seasons. Pottery is a traditional craft and it carried on household basis by using locally available resources. According to Cambridge Dictionary, “the activity or skill of making clay objects by hand” is the pottery. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is “all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products”. In Assam, the craft of making pottery can be traced back many centuries. The Kumar and Hira are two traditional potter communities in Assam. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the characteristic features of the pottery industry and its challenges faced by the potters of Majuli district of Assam. The Kumar communities of Majuli are practicing pottery and concentrated mainly in Chinatali, Salmara, Dakhinpat, Modaibil and Birinabari. Beside these only Barboka, Kamjan Elengi and Besamora village of Salmora areas Kumars are made pottery and kept their tradition. The other parts kumar community dropped their pottery making practices due to lack of raw materials and low profits. The Kumars of Majuli are not used the potter’s wheel, they still practice handmade pottery. It is seen that the potters are sited where clay and fuel are both easily available. In Majuli the potters are sited near the river bank of Brahmaputra from where they collect all their raw materials.

Volume 8, Issue 10, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1114 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

2. Objectives The main objectives of the present study are: 1. To analyze the socio-economic condition of the pottery industry in the study area. 2. To examine the problems of pottery industry related to production, technology, marketing, etc. 3. To suggest suitable policy measures for the development of the sector in the study area.

3. Study Area The Majuli district of Assam is a river island in the which is also known as the world’s largest river island. It had a total area of 1250square kilometers (483sq.m) but having lost significantly to erosion it covers 880km 2(340 sq. mi) at present. It is situated in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river in Assam within the latitude of 26 ∘45'N-27 ∘12'N and longitude of 93 ∘39'E-94 ∘35'E. The island is formed by the Brahmaputra River in the south and Kherkutia Xuti, an anabranch of the Brahmaputra joined by the Subansiri River in the north. The island is about 200 km east from the Guahati city, and is accessible by ferries from the district. As per the census of 2011, Majuli had total population of 167,304.out of which 85,566 are males while 81,738 are females. The average sex ratio of Majuli is 955.

4. Methodology The present study is based on a primary as well as secondary data. The primary data are collected directly from the pottery artisans by using a questionnaire, face to face respondents selected from the villagers of Majuli district of Assam. For the study, 100 pottery artisans’ families are chosen through simple random sampling method. The secondary data was collected from various published and unpublished sources.

5. Findings and Analysis 5.1. Characteristic Features of Pottery Industry of Majuli: • Kumar community people of Majuli are practices pottery making which is an inherited family based industry. • The artisans kept preserved the ancient handmade pottery making skill. They don’t use wheels as other parts of artisans of Assam have. The industry shows the dominance of female workers; about 71% workers are female. The male workers helped them in the marketing of the products. • Average age of the workers is 35 years. Majority of the workers belongs to the 15 years to 50 years. • About 83% artisans are solely depend on pottery for their livelihood and other 17% of artisans have some other source for livelihood as boat making art are common in Salmara area. • The per month average income of the potters are around 4000-5000 Rs. • Average distance covered for purchase of raw materials is 25 km whereas 35 km is for sale their product. • They sale their product their road ways as well as through water way which is very costly and time consuming. • It is found that about 78 % artisans are illiterate, 15% completed their primary education and 7% artisans are completed high school education.

Volume 8, Issue 10, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1115 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

5.2. Different Problems Faced by the Pottery Artisans of the Study Area The major problems faced by the pottery artisans of Majuli district are categorized into different ways which are discussed below.

5.2.1. Fundamental Problems: • Majority of the pottery artisans are found poor fall under below poverty line (BPL), illiterate and to earn only for their livelihood. • Due to low and uncertain income from their craft the younger generations are not interested in this sector and are shifting over to other profession. • The artisans are not getting any government grants for developing products and also there is no any direct link between government, artisans and NGOS. • Lack of infrastructure facility is a major problem for the pottery artisans. The Salmara area is situated near the river bank of Brahmaputra. The land erosion and flood threatening their homes as well as their art. Due to proper working place and storage capacity during the flood season they sometimes dropped their production for 4 -5 months. • Majority of potters are found untrained only 21% artisans have government training. • Due to illiteracy and poor bargaining power of artisans the middlemen take advantage on them.

5.2.2. Input Related Problems: • The majority artisans stated that they have lack of capital for sound investment and for modernization of their craft which is a major hindrance for their development. • About 65% respondents have stated that they are facing the problems of non- availability of raw materials. Due to land erosion increase day by day in 2004, the Brahmaputra Board (Government Organization) restricted the digging of pits for clay in the river. • The artisans stated that the societies are not giving them any regular manufacturing orders.

5.2.3. Marketing Problems: • Majority of the respondents have stated that lack of marketing is the basic problem of this sector. • Absence of any co-operative marketing organization, selling of the finished product through middlemen has been a dominant feature. • The demands for the various products of pottery industry are mostly seasonal in nature. • The artisan reveals that the demands of the finished handmade pottery product are very less in comparison to the low cost machine made industrial products which are utterly disadvantage for them. • Lack of marketing awareness is another hindrance for development of the pottery artisans.

5.2.4. Technological problems: • The study revealed that the pottery artisans of Majuli district are kept ancient handmade pottery making technique. They are not used any modern tools and technology. • Lacks of education among the artisans make them unaware about the modern techniques and business for modernize their product.

Volume 8, Issue 10, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1116 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

• Most of the trained artisans stated that moreover government can trained them about some modern technique and use of modern technology ,they are unable to used and get profit from it due to lack of capital. • The artisans stated that there is no way to promote their product to attract the consumer towards them.

5.3. Recommendations: • To supply standard raw materials at reliable or reasonable rates and make available at needed time is more important for the pottery artisans. So, government should take necessary actions as set up raw material depots at suitable place to encourage artisans to continue their product. • To increase productivity and efficiency the artisans should be used new modern tools and equipment. • The Government should provide subsidiary loan to the artisans. Most of the artisans depend on the private financial lenders for financial help and they exploit the artisans. • The artisans should use innovative technique for promotion of their craft to satisfy the consumer’s needs and preferences drop some product when there is no demand. • To improve skill of the artisan’s government should provide more training and education to the workers in their related field. • For creating awareness on different government schemes on handicraft through advertisement in print and electronic l media is prime importance in now days. • Government should organize regular exhibition and melas and different cultural and craft exchange programs for the artisans to creating awareness and interest among the younger generation towards the craft. • Government should maintain proper hierarchy in Handicraft Commission for effective implementation of schemes to reach into the pottery artisans.

6. Conclusions The art of pottery is an age old tradition of Assam. In Majuli, the Kumar community of Salmara area, in the upper region of the river island kept this ancient craft alive. Now a days the younger generations are found not interested in their traditional occupation and slowly drafting away from it. The artisans of Majuli district faced a lot of problems due to non-availability of raw materials, lack of capital, traditional method and old fashioned product, competition from machine made product, poor transport and communication facility, absence of training and workshop etc. There are lots of more problems exist. So, Government should implement schemes and programs for up gradation of the technology, providing funds for artisans and creating marketing facility etc. Moreover that there are occurred some more problems also. Schemes for development of handicraft sector but in true sense these schemes are far away from the artisans of potters of Majuli district because most of the programs have not reached to the artisans in time and in full form. Illiteracy, unawareness and lack of capital are also a main hindrance of implementation of these programs. If this sector can be developed properly, it will help in increasing production, income and employment generation to the poor and contribute towards economic development to the nation. There needs to implement functional literacy programs for the female and create awareness about the value of pottery industry among the younger generation to attract them towards pottery industry and encouraging entrepreneurship.

Volume 8, Issue 10, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1117 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808

REFERENCES

[1] S. V. Akilandeeswari, “Production and marketing Strategies of Pottery Artisans and Their Prospects-A Study in Madurai Region”. Phd Thesis, The Gandhigram Rural Institute, Deemed University, Gandhigram (2016). [2] S. V. Akilandeeswari & C. Pitchai, “Pottery Industry and its Development by Effective Marketing through Information and Communication Technology”. International Journal of Research, vol.4, no.4, (2016), pp.6- 13. [3] Duary Nabakumar, “Traditional Hira Potters of ”. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, vol. 7(1), (2008), pp.98-102. [4] Kasemi Nuruzzaman, “Problems of Pottery Industry and Policies for Development: Case Study of Koch Bihar District In West Bengal, India”.International Journal of Advanced Research in management and social Sciences, vol. 3,no 7, (2014), pp. 238-247. [5] Nath Manik Chandra, “Pottery and Technological Change in Assam: A Study of Jorhat and Districts”, MSSV Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, vol.2, no.1, (2018), pp 88-99. [6] Regon Bhaskar Jyoti, “Problems and Prospects of Pottery Industry in Majuli”. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, vol. 2, issue-5, (2019), pp. 952-955. [7] Shrestha Prakash, “Challenges and Scopes of pottery industry”. Pravaha Journal, A Journal of Management, (2018), pp.147-158. [8] Sarma Kabin, “ A Study on Economic Prospects and Problems of Terracotta and Pottery Crafts of Assam with Special Reference to Asharikandi Village of district”. International Journal of Management Studies.43 vol.v, issue-2(6), (2018), pp. 64-71.

Volume 8, Issue 10, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 1118