CONDITION OF THE WORKERS OF THE IDOL MAKING INDUSTRY: A CASE STUDY OF KOLKATA WORD NO.9.

Kumartuli, a neighborhood in Kolkata, India holds an Kumartuli, a neighborhood in Kolkata, India holds an important place in history which has a long tradition of clay idol-making along with a strong association with the cardinal festival of Bengal ? Durga Puja. Kumartuli is in North Kolkata alongside the river of Hooghly. With the rapid expansion of the city Kolkata, this area has undergone a huge transformation ? mainly due to urbanization. The study followed both deductive and inductive methods using historical and empirical approaches. As a part of empirical approaches field survey, interview method, observation, case study also the use of secondary sources of data has been done. Idol making industry is mostly male dominated, only 16 percent of the total workers are found to be female. The businesses are running through many generations, more than 40 percent of the shops are older than 60 years and 34 percent of shops? annual turnover is in between 21 lacs to 40 lacs. During Durga puja 88 percent intra state labor migration can be seen, among them 58 percent are temporary. 40 percent of the shops export less than 5 unit and 54 percent of shop owners sell more than 110 idols during puja. 22 percent of ancillary shops of this industry make more than 60 lacs as an annual turnover. Based on the survey and analysis it can be concluded that there is a lack of supportive infrastructures, government policies and development/renewal projects. Preservation and maintenance of the heritage and cultural aesthetics of the place need to be established. It requires research towards enhancing the lifestyle of workers and creating employment opportunities.