'Kulhar express' hits roadblock in Vadodara

VADODARA: Union railways minister LaluPrasad''s ''kulhar express'' seems to have hit a roadblock in Vadodara. Potters inthe city say that the railway canteen contractors have not placed fresh ordersfor two months for their kulhars. So, while piping hot tea is served in plasticcups at the Vadodara railway station, the kulhars are piling up at the kiln ofthe potters with nowhere to go."I have piled up a stock of around60,000 kulhars and the contractors have not placed fresh orders since June,"says Kanu Prajapati, a potter from Kumbharvada area. "Our business had seen anupswing after some initial orders but the contractors have stopped serving teain kulhars and have started using paper and plastic cups instead. After theinitial orders, I had employed 12 workers at my unit but I can''t pay themnow." Fifty-year-old Kanti Prajapati, who is visually impaired, toohas a similar complaint. "I started making kulhars instead of earthenpiggy-banks and flower pots as their demand was more. I could even pay up mydebt of Rs 12,000 but now the contractors have not placed orders and I amrunning into losses. I am in debt and in dire need of more money for theforthcoming festival season," he says.The contractors on the otherhand say they had stopped giving orders only temporarily. "The kulhars preparedin this period were not baked well due to heavy rains in the region. We couldn''tserve tea in the soft kulhars and therefore had stopped placing fresh orders,"says Babasheikh Ahluvalia, a canteen contractor."New orders will beplaced and tea will be served in kulhars from October 1," headds.However, sources say the contractors find kulhars expensive andare looking for ways to cut the cost. "A kulhar costs around 60 to 70 paise ascompared to a paper-cup''s cost of 35 to 40 paisa. Also, we end up paying more ondelivery. We cannot charge more from our customers as the rail board fixesrates. So, we have stopped using the kulhars," says another contractor.