TIRUCHY: Despite the Tamil Nadu Pottery Workers Welfare Board providing a series of benefits on par with the other welfare boards, the idol makers who were traditionally pottery workers urged the state government to give training for an alternate job to be engaged during the lean period to ensure their livelihood.
Since there is no proper profit in idol making, the younger generation has switched over to other work like carpentry, construction and textile firms.
The idol-making season commences during the Tamil month of ‘Thai’ (between January 15 and February 15), and the work will be completed by August.
“Our next generation is not interested in taking this profession as a full-time job as there is no adequate profit in it, and so it is time the state government should come forward to provide alternate job training to our youngsters and provide employment, as for more than six months we sit idle without any work,” said S Sakthivel, a sixth-generation potter.
Despite these artisans making other pottery works including Akal Vilakku, Thee Chatti and utensils, their employment is not stable, they said.
“Our people are particular in minute carving works even in clay, and the government should initiate steps to establish a government undertaking pottery-making units and initiate business promotion which would ensure livelihood of the people belonging to the community," Sakthivel stressed.
They also appealed to the government to control the migrant workers who are in the practice of making Plaster of Paris without proper finishing and sell at a lower price, which is preferred by the people for its lower cost.
“The government should conduct periodic inspections in the units where the migrant workers are involved and ensure strict following norms. The government should issue an order to use the idols made only by the registered manufacturers, and this would ensure quality and strict adherence to the norms,” he said.