IIT-M helps empower potters in Tamil Nadu to meet modern demands

As many as 82 persons have been trained in Common Facility Centre centre so far

A Microwaveable Clay Product made by artisans at Perumudivakkam village. Credit: Special Arrangement

A Microwaveable Clay Product made by artisans at Perumudivakkam village. Credit: Special Arrangement

A Microwaveable Clay Product made by artisans at Perumudivakkam village. Credit: Special Arrangement

The Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG) of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M) has helped establish a Common Facility Centre to help potters in a village near Chennai to meet consumer demands like microwaveable cooking utensils.

Since these products have higher market value, selling them would help potters help sustain their profession. The RuTAG introduced modern machinery alongside additional skill and product training to improve the productivity as well as wages of the artisans.

The Common Facility Centre at Perumudivakkam in Tiruvallur District was established with CSR funding from Southern Region Pipelines Division of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL-SRPL), and Centre for Social Development (CSD), a Nagercoil-based NGO as the implementation partner.

IIT-M collaborated with Central Glass and Ceramic Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata, to leverage technology to aid the potters.

“RuTAG has coordinated with CGCRI, CSD, IOCL, government agencies and local artisans to bring forth the benefits in a shared setup. For follow-up technology activity, we always strive to identify needs of artisans in terms of technological solutions. Once identified, these needs can be conveyed to faculty/students to carry out further technology development,” Prof. Abhijit P. Deshpande, Professor-in-Charge, RuTAG-IIT Madras, said.

The Common Facility Centre envisages a three to four-fold increase in income for potters, market opportunity and export quality for these products, and adoption and scaling up such initiatives in other pottery clusters across the state.

As many as 82 persons have been trained in this centre so far, the IIT-M said. The trained potters are exhibiting diversified clay products which included household appliances, microwaveable clay products with higher market values, artistic products, cooking utensils and storage containers.

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