News Varanasi

Khadi India comes to the rescue of potters of Varanasi

June 28, 2020
The Commune

As part of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan,’ the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has undertaken to train potters in Varanasi to aid them in gaining skills to make earthen lamps, sculptures, and other pottery related items. “The idea is also to dissuade people from buying Chinese lights and other articles during the festive season,” the press release from PIB said.

The villages of Varanasi such as Itahradih, Ahrauradih, Arjunpur, and Chak Sahjangiganj house a significant number of potters. Nearly, 150 to 200 families have engaged in pottery. However, these families find it difficult to sustain in this field due to old techniques, drudgery involved in manual clay making, and lack of marketing support.

Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena, chairman of KVIC distributed electric potter wheels to 80 potters’ families. They have set a target to distribute 1500 potter wheels in Varanasi in the next 3 months.

Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, many non-resident workers from different states have returned to their native states as a result of economic distress. The KVIC is also planning to distribute 300 electric potter wheels and other equipment to 300 non-resident workers families in Sewapuri in Varanasi.

60 non-resident workers have already been trained by KVIC. In addition to that, 300 families are expected to receive pottery relevant tool kits next month. The mission is to create nearly 1200 jobs for the migrant laborers in Varanasi to avoid migrating to other cities for a livelihood.

Keeping in mind, the upcoming festive season, potters in villages of Varanasi have been making earthen lamps, traditional lamps, and sculptures of Laxmi and Ganesh.“Several villages in Varanasi have already been benefitted under the Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana,” Saxena said.