Assistance to Traditional Pottery Makers

What is the Assistance to Traditional Pottery Makers scheme?

Assistance to Traditional Pottery Makers is a welfare scheme of the Backward Communities Development Department (BCDD), Government of Kerala, that pays a one-time grant of Rs 25,000 to a traditional potter for buying modern machinery. The scheme is often searched locally as the kumbharan or kalamezhuthu potters' assistance, but the department's own English title is "Assistance to Traditional Pottery Makers".

According to the scheme description published by the Backward Communities Development Department, several communities on Kerala's list of Other Backward Classes still depend on hereditary occupations such as pottery. Traditional pottery workers use conventional hand methods and face hard competition from factory-made plastic, steel and machine-moulded ceramic goods. BCDD's stated answer is two-fold: train potters in modern production techniques, and put money in their hands to mechanise the workshop.

What the grant is meant to buy

• Pottery wheels, including electric and motorised wheels that replace the hand-turned wheel.
• Pug mills, clay mixers and other clay-preparation equipment.
• Kilns and firing equipment that cut fuel use and breakage.
• Other machinery listed in the applicant's project note for modernising the unit.

The grant is a subsidy, not a loan. Nothing is repaid, and no interest is charged. It is paid once per beneficiary, so a potter who has already drawn the Rs 25,000 cannot draw it again in a later year.

Who is eligible for the Kerala pottery makers grant?

You can apply if all of these are true:

• You are a permanent resident of Kerala.
• You belong to a community on the State list of Other Backward Classes of Kerala.
• You are currently engaged in traditional pottery making as your occupation, not as a past or occasional activity.
• Your annual family income from all sources does not exceed Rs 1,00,000.

You cannot apply if:

• You live outside Kerala or cannot produce a permanent residence certificate for a Kerala local body.
• Your community is not on Kerala's State OBC list, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe potters are not eligible here and must use the SC Development Department or ST Development Department schemes instead.
• Your annual family income crosses Rs 1,00,000.
• You have left the pottery trade and now earn mainly from another occupation or salaried work.
• You have already received this same grant in an earlier year.

Applicants who are differently abled are treated favourably where the number of eligible applications exceeds the funds available in a year. Keep the disability certificate with the file if this applies to you.

What documents are required for the pottery makers scheme?

Carry the originals of the caste and income certificates when you submit, in case the receiving office wants to verify them against the photocopies.

How to apply for the Assistance to Traditional Pottery Makers scheme

1. Download the application form from the Backward Communities Development Department portal, bcdd.kerala.gov.in, under Schemes → Development Schemes → Assistance to Traditional Pottery Makers. Printed forms are also given at the BCDD Regional Deputy Director's office and at district BCDD offices.
2. Collect the certificates first. Apply to your Village Officer for the income certificate and, if you do not already hold one, the OBC community certificate. These take the longest and are the two documents most often missing.
3. Fill the form completely in ink, paste your photograph, and write a short note on the machinery you intend to buy with the Rs 25,000 and how it will be used in your existing pottery unit.
4. Attach self-attested copies of every document in the checklist above, keeping them in the order listed on the form.
5. Submit the file to the Regional Deputy Director, BCDD: Civil Station, Kakkanad, Ernakulam 682030 if you are from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur, or Civil Station, Kozhikode 673020 if you are from Palakkad to Kasaragod. You can hand it over in person or send it by post.
6. Keep the acknowledgement or the postal receipt. It is the only reference you have when following up.

There is no online application for this scheme. Any website that asks for a fee to "register" you for the Kerala pottery grant is not a government site.

How is the pottery makers grant paid?

The Backward Communities Development Department scrutinises the application, verifies the caste and income certificates and confirms that the applicant is actually working in pottery. On sanction, the Rs 25,000 is transferred to the applicant's own bank account. Because payment runs through the account given in the form, the account must be live, in the applicant's own name, and the name spelling should match Aadhaar. A dormant account or a joint account in someone else's name is a common cause of failed transfers.

Where the number of eligible applicants in a year is larger than the budget provision, the department selects within the available funds and the remaining applicants have to apply again when the next notification is issued.

How to check the status of your pottery scheme application

1. Note the file or acknowledgement number given when you submitted the application.
2. Contact the Regional Deputy Director's office at Kakkanad or Kozhikode where you submitted, quoting that number.
3. Ask your district BCDD office for the position of your file if the regional office directs you there.
4. Check your bank passbook or SMS alerts for the credit once you are told the sanction is issued.

Why pottery grant applications get rejected

• Income certificate above Rs 1,00,000. The ceiling is on total family income from all sources, not on the applicant's own earnings alone.
• Community not on the State OBC list, a certificate saying "OBC" for a central list is not automatically valid for a State list scheme.
• No proof of current occupation, the department looks for evidence that the workshop is running now.
• Incomplete file — a missing photograph, an unsigned form or a missing bank passbook copy is enough to hold the application.
• Bank details mismatch. A name or IFSC error stops the transfer even after sanction.
• Repeat claim, a potter who already received the Rs 25,000 grant is not sanctioned a second time.

Most rejections are curable. If a certificate was the problem, obtain the corrected one and resubmit against the next notification rather than arguing the old file.

Where do I get help with the pottery makers scheme?

• Regional Deputy Director, BCDD, Civil Station, Kakkanad, Ernakulam 682030, for districts from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur.
• Regional Deputy Director, BCDD, Civil Station, Kozhikode 673020, for districts from Palakkad to Kasaragod.
• District BCDD offices, which also stock the printed forms.
• bcdd.kerala.gov.in, the department portal, which carries the scheme page, the government order, the notification and the application form.

Applying is free. No agent, society office-bearer or middleman can charge you for submitting a BCDD application, and no official will ask for a share of the Rs 25,000 grant.