NEW DELHI, – In a significant move to cut down on toxic waste and boost income of village potters, India has decided to serve tea in eco-friendly “Kulhad” instead of plastic tea cup at all 7,000 railway stations across the country.
The decision of introducing “Kulhad”, an unpainted and unglazed biodegradable and environment-friendly earthen cup having no handle, at all railway stations will help implement India’s effort to make a plastic free-country and to generate job opportunities for poor, experts said.
“Kulhads will not only help reduce the use of toxic plastic and save the environment, they will even give employment and income to hundreds of thousands of potters,” said Indian Railway Minister Piyush Goyal while making the announcement recently.
The minister, while addressing a function at the Digawara railway station in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, said, “Tea is given in ‘Kulhads’ at nearly 400 railway stations in the country today, and in future, it is our planning that tea will be sold only in ‘Kulhads’ at all the railway stations in the country”.
According to statistics, more than 23 million people travel by train in India everyday during the pre-pandemic period, so a significant number of “Kulhad” are required to entertain the commuters with hot tea.
As a result, it could generate income for 2 million people, who are directly involved in India’s pottery industry, politician and handicrafts expert Jaya Jaitly told media recently.
About 16 years back, the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav made an attempt to reintroduce “Kulhad” in the all railway platforms and on trains to serve tea in the earthen cup instead of single-use plastic cup. But, his policy was not fully implemented and plastic cups continued to reign supreme.
Since India has a rich tradition of pottery, this decision of use of “Kulhad” on trains and railway platforms across the country, will give the potters extra advantages to raise their income especially in the Covid time.
But, now-a-days, demand of potteries has been declining in the villages across India since steel, melamine and plastic products have replaced earthen products. Despite this, potters used to see a good sell in India during the Hindu festival like “Diwali” and Puja as many traditional small pottery products are required during the season for “diyas”.
