Pottery-the age old profession of a particular community in Kashmir is dying its own death as the new generation of the people associated with trade is not ready to continue this traditional skill and switch over to other professions. The reasons for the dying of this art are many including the government not paying attention towards the development of this art. Though there is a separate department meant for uplifting such trades but it has failed to update this art with modern market needs. Recently a Junior Engineer- Saima Shafi popularly known as “Kral Koor” switched over to this business as she came up with innovative ideas keeping in view the modern market demands. This has gained the attention of the Jammu and Kashmir government and she was recently invited by the state's handicrafts department to share her experiences with the artisans of Beerwah in central Kashmir. This is a welcome step by the J&K Government. Credit goes to the girl who caught the government attention. This will obviously attract the young generation towards this trade especially the young boys and girls of the families who are traditionally attached to this trade since ages. Government needs to concentrate on those families as their new generation isn't ready to continue with this trade. They have every reason to leave this trade as the government has never paid any attention towards this nor any handholding has been done. The potters need new packaging, marketing and innovative ideas of making utensils so that they can attract the customers. They alleged that the artists are not benefited by any government scheme instead the middlemen including contractors avail the benefits of these schemes, Surprisingly the potters have not been able to avail the benefit of KCC loans instead the middlemen has availed the benefit and thus turning the skilled labor into a bonded labor making him depend on the middlemen. Same is the case with Kangri makers. Government needs to constitute a special cell for this purpose so that these trades are revived. These trades have a huge potential of generating employment.
