AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 TRADITIONAL POTTERS OF MAJULI- 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 Assam 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 India. 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 Brahmaputra River 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 Jorhat 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.