Lucknow, Dec 10 (IANS): In a bid to provide quality training for production and marketing of finished goods to potters, artisans and craftsmen under one roof, the Yogi Adityanath government is setting up 'Mati Kala Common Facility' centres across the state.

The land for setting up Mati Kala centres has been identified in Pilibhit, Rampur, Firozabad, Muzaffarnagar, Kannauj and Barabanki.

A centre is also being set up in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

The centres would impart training to potters and artisans through the Mati Kala Skill Training Programmes (MKSTP) and financial assistance is being made available to make them self-reliant under the 'Mati Kala' scheme.

As many as 39,505 craftsmen families have been identified by the U.P government, of which 24,000 families were allocated a revenue lease for making arrangements for raw materials.

Along with it modern tool kits were made available to artisans to help them create designer clay products.

The state government has helped the potters, craftsmen and artisans in getting financial assistance under the 'Mati Kala' scheme and 1,415 potters had applied for loans under it.

The banks gave loans of Rs 265.93 lakh to 142 beneficiaries and besides it, loans of Rs 98.03 lakh have been disbursed to 71 units.

As many as 1,402 potters have been provided training under the MKSTP and till date more than 2,000 beneficiaries have also been given modern machines and tools operating training and entrepreneurship development training.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been making efforts to retain the lost identity of the potters, artisans and craftsmen in the state through the 'One District, One Product' (ODOP) scheme which promotes local talent.