To counter competition from the international market to the country’s traditional art and craft, a fair trade organisation here has come forward to help the poor artisans associated with the art of ceramic pottery in the city.
The organisation is providing training to people, later engaging them at its ceramic factory here.
In association with the rural development department of the state government, the organisation is imparting a one-month training on ceramic products to two groups, comprising 12 people each.
“Cluster development has to be taken up for the revival of this sector. About 3,000 families are still associated with this art, which used to be much higher earlier. Our focus is on BPL (below poverty line) families, which lack funds to start their own businesses,” Bibekanand Ray, executive director, Grameen Crafts, told Business Standard.
Grameen Craft, a fair trade oraganisation in Lucknow, undertakes projects at different districts of the state, in an attempt to provide employment to the artisans and support their welfare activities.
Once the training is completed, these artisans will join the skilled artisans who are working at the ceramic factory that is spread across 21, 000 square feet in the city’s Dewa Road locality.
“Presently about 40 artisan families are directly involved at the factory, and their income has grown by 80 per cent after the training they received,” he said.
There has been both a qualitative and quantitative expansion in the Indian domestic and export market for goods and services during the last decade.
These expanding markets represent a great opportunity to generate new livelihoods through value addition to rural handicrafts, using simple labour intensive technologies.
“However this opportunity is lost these days due to the marketing hazards, which prevent our products to be showcased in foreign countries. Easy infiltration of imported products at cheaper rates is also harming the industry,” Ray said.
“Our future strategy is to diversify our product portfolio in order to reach out to maximum entrepreneurs. Using the same infrastructure and resources, we want to produce ceramic insulators which will be in great demand considering the fact that rural electrification is the need of the hour,” he said.
These insulators can be used in power projects (thermal and electrical) and generators.
“We are also in advance stage of discussion with prominent retail chains present in the city, to keep our products at their outlets. These will give the Chinhat pottery a national acknowledgement,” Ray said.
