Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, June 4: Though lock down has affected every sphere of life including trade, the village potters doing the business of manufacturing earthen pots have also been worst hit due to it.
In Samba district where a section of potters in the village are dependent on making earthen pots to eke out their living, have lost their livelihood due to the lockdown as they could not go outside to bring a particular kind of clay for making the earthen pots.
The potters, who are doing this business from times immemorial and which gets transferred from one generation to another generation had no other source of livelihood but were dependent in making their both ends meet by manufacturing earthen pots and selling them to their customers in the villages, towns and cities.
However, with the scientific revolution across the globe the use of traditional clay pots has been discarded by the people and the same were replaced by the pots of bronze, aluminum, copper, brass, etc. With the purchasing capacity of people increasing more and more people moved to utilization of the pots made of bronze, copper, brass etc discarding the earthen pots.
However, still some people were using the earthen pots for keeping water in Summer or during the religious ceremonies etc. But the advent of the scientific age gave a setback to the village potters business over the years. The another setback received by them was due to squeezing of land where from the clay for manufacturing of earthen pots was brought due to rapid urbanization in the UT of J&K.
Though the village potters were grappling hard for their survival, the recent lockdown gave a severe jolt to them as they became totally idle after they could not move outside to bring the clay for manufacturing of earthen pots.
The potters in Samba who were dependent on this kind of trade from generations together are now most worried people. They said as the village pottery business has lost its sheen and the younger generation is not totally interested in this trade as it has become totally out of date now.
They want that the trade be modernized and made innovative. In this regard the potters are demanding that the trade be included in the ITIs of the UT so that the younger generation is imparted a technical training in this trade by adopting some innovative methods so that they will also be interested in carrying out this business and it will continue to thrive in future also.
The potters said that every trade has been included in ITI courses except pottery and the need of hour is to include the same to motivate the younger generation to keep the age old tradition of making earthen pots intact.
Dharampaul a potter from Samba said that due to lockdown the potters could not get clay to make pottery. During the Summer season people used to buy earthen pots for keeping water which remains cool. Some people still don’t like to drink water of refrigerators as it is said to be harmful for health and they like to drink the water kept in earthen pots, he added.
He said but this time potters could not manufacture the earthen pots especially pitchers for water as they could not go outside to get clay.
Dharampaul whose family is doing this business for over last five decades said that he has not faced such a problem in his life during over last 50 years as he faced this Summer.
In view of the problems faced by the potters they have made an appeal to District Development Commissioner Samba urging him to make a strong recommendation with the Government to include the trade in ITIs of the UT so that the younger generation are imparted training in the same.
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