Malkangiri: Around 20 potter families residing in the district headquarters town of Malkangiri are not getting any government assistance.
For these potters, the schemes and programmes of the government are just a daydream. They neither have a place to work nor adequate marketing facilities for selling their products.
With very low incomes, they are unable to provide two square meals a day to their families. Providing education to children is also a big problem, said Ashok Kumbhar and Moina Kumbhar of the community.
Potters use soil for creating articles like kitchen utensils, decorative vases, earthen potteries and other household articles.
Earlier, potters used to move from village to village for selling their handmade articles, and people used to buy them for domestic use.
However, the picture has changed now, and pottery has become an outdated art. Plastic goods have replaced goods made by potters. Earlier, earthen pottery used to meet needs right from birth to funeral rituals.
It seems that plastic is now all set to issue a death warrant to this environment-friendly and bio-degradable product. In such a situation many potters have given up their traditional occupation.
The potters who continue in the profession are facing problems due to the absence of government patronage and lack of finance.
Needless to mention, the potters are facing lots of problems. Starting from getting good quality soil to the creation of utensils they are facing difficulties at every stage.