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Inflation the latest brake to potters’ wheel in UP’s Nandpur
Inflation has hit the potters of Nandpur hard, especially after the recent rise of diesel and petrol prices. It has increased costs of transporting raw material and finished goods tremendously.
After the Covid-19 crisis and the government restrictions, now it’s inflation that is giving nightmares to the potters of Nandpur village. Nandpur is barely a mile away from erstwhile pottery hub of Chinhat, on the outskirts of Lucknow.
While highlighting the issues they face, the potters said that the non availability of mud and skyrocketing prices of cow dung and other fuels are adding to the cost of earthenware.
“There seems no respite for us. In the previous years, it was the Covid-19 crisis that left us hand to mouth, and this time, it’s inflation that is breaking our backs,” said Mohammed Afsar, a traditional potter from Nandpur village.
Of the other issues, the availability of mud is the biggest one in recent times, the potters of Nandpur said. “We are all traditional potters and it’s just because it is our ancestral trade, we are into it and keeping it alive. Initially, we used to depend on the mud from the Chinhat area that used to be a rich source of the ‘chikni mitti’--a special kind of mud used in pottery-making. But almost a decade back, the rising colonisation affected that resource and the shortage of mud started hitting us,” said Jafar Ali, another potter from Nandpur.
Ali said that now they have to get the ‘chikni mitti’ from Barabanki which is around 52km from their village. “Other than the cost of the mud, the transportation costs have also increased, especially after the recent rise of diesel and petrol prices,” said Ali.
He said that this was not the end of the story. Once unloaded, the raw earthenware needs proper baking and this phase again costs much money. “In order to bake the earthenware, we need to heat up the oven for which fuel like cow dung cakes or wood is required. The cost of the fuel has again gone up. Cow dung cakes that used to cost us ₹1.30 paisa each are now costing ₹3. In one shift, if we bake earthenware with a sale price of ₹6,000, the cost of fuel required is around ₹2,500, which is too high,” he added.
The potters said that owing to the peculiar nature of the business, they can’t increase the cost of the earthenware much as it would affect sales. “But there is no profit in the business left at all. It’s just because it’s our ancestral business, we are keeping tradition alive by continuing it,” he said.
Not only the potters of Nandpur, but the potters from Chinnhat too are badly affected by the issues. They demanded government intervention. “We have heard our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji emphasising on earthen lamps on Diwali. This year too, he has appealed to people to light at least two diyas at every house. In such a situation, the state government should pay a little attention to our dwindling trade.
The UP government, too, is making efforts to boost the dwindling business. Last year, the state government’s department of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) had provided space to roadside potters to showcase their talent and had organised a fair for them.
Recently, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had held a meeting with the people of the Prajapati community which largely includes potters. In the meeting, the CM recounted the measures taken by the UP government to boost their dwindling business. Besides, the CM also said that the government has made pond mud, used in pottery-making, duty free. He also assured all help to the potters and said that they would be provided with the electric wheels.
