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Innovation, down to earth

Rajinder Bandhu

Despite all the scientific and technological advancements, artisans living in rural areas continue to use age-old traditional equipment. Millions of craftspersons living in villages and towns still rely on slow, hand-driven tools as they cannot afford an y of the modern tools. This led 30-year-old Wahid Khan Pathan, a semi-literate artisan belonging to Khategaon in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh, to invent an electricity-driven potters' wheel.

Wahid was able to achieve this engineering feat thanks to his keen observation and scientific aptitude. His invention is capable of producing more earthenware in lesser time and with minimum physical labour.

Says Ramlal Kharadia, a manufacturer and dealer in earthenware, ``When I first heard about the electricity-driven potters' wheel made by Wahid, I laughed in disbelief. Even I remarked as to how a semi-literate, rural artisan ignorant of science and techn ology could make such a machine. I thought it was simply an exercise in futility! But all my assumptions proved to be wrong. Now my business is entirely dependent on the machine made by Wahid. I think that rural people are not far behind our scientists a nd technocrats. They also have an innovative approach.''

Earlier, Ramlal and his family could produce very less earthenware despite working round-the-clock. Wahid's invention has boosted their earthenware business and the family now sells both within the village and in the surrounding areas.

The centuries-old art of pottery-making has largely remained labour-intensive in our country. Rotating the wheels continuously tires the artisans. The electricity-driven wheel reduces the labour of the artisans and this has raised new hopes for increased profitability.

The electric potters'-wheel weighs 40 kg and has a height of 13 inches, while the inner and outer plates have a diameter of 15 and 20 inches respectively. The device uses a 0.5-horsepower motor, driven by a single-phase power unit of 230 volts. There are automatic gears to control the rotational pace. The wheel can be rotated at different speeds depending on the specifications of the earthenware required. To guard against electric shocks, the device is covered with non-conductors such as wood, plastic, etc.

It cost Wahid Rs 7,000 to develop the wheel over a period of two years. Initially, 12 wheels were produced for testing. Says Hemraj, who has been using the device for about eight months now, ``By using a hand-driven wheel I could hardly make six pitchers a day. But now I produce 30-35 pitchers a day. It is obvious, the efficiency has increased five-fold.''

Laxminarayan of Behari village, who also bought an electric wheel from Wahid, says, ``A poor potter cannot shell out such an amount in a single go. He needs loan from the bank for purchasing it.'' But the branch manager of the local Grameen Bank says, `` The bank sanctions loans only for the machines approved by the Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) and recommended by the Government under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP).''

Wahid has repeatedly written to KVIC but there has been no response. ``Most of the potters would buy the electricity-driven potter wheel if the bank extends loans to them. But even this dream is stuck in the labyrinthine policies of the Government,'' say s Wahid dejectedly.

At a time when scientific inventions have become the monopoly of those who have acquired the so-called expertise in technical institutions, Wahid's successful experiment proves that scientific innovations can also happen among rural artisans.

Charkha Features

Pic.: A village artisan works on the electric potters' wheel developed by Wahid Khan Pathan.