Pongal Gift Plea: Pottery Workers Urge TN Govt To Add Earthen Pots To Festive Kit

Every year during the Pongal festival, the Tamil Nadu government distributes free rice, sugarcane, veshtis, and sarees to ration card holders. In line with this, pottery workers have appealed to the government to include earthen pots and stoves in the list of festival provisions to support their traditional livelihood.

In a petition submitted to Chennai District Collector Rashmi Siddharth Jagade, Sema Narayanan, President of the Tamil Nadu Pottery Workers’ Clan Association and Unorganised Workers’ Association, urged the government to issue an order for this inclusion.

The petition stated, “Just as the government provides free rice, lentils, sugarcane, sugar, veshtis, and sarees during Pongal, we have been requesting for the past five years that new earthen pots and stoves also be distributed, allowing families to cook the first harvest of new rice in a new pot.”

The appeal also called for land ownership rights to be granted to pottery workers for both their homes and workplaces. Additionally, it suggested that school textbooks include lessons on the health and cultural benefits of cooking and eating food prepared in clay pots, to preserve and promote traditional practices.

Earlier, members of the association, led by Sema Narayanan, staged a unique protest near the Chennai District Collector’s Office by placing earthen pots and stoves on the road.

They demanded that the government purchase these items from local artisans and distribute them free of cost to the public.

The protestors also requested that the relief amount given to pottery workers during the rainy season be raised from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000, citing the severe impact of weather conditions on their livelihood.