Barring the big and medium diamond units, majority of the small diamond units with less than 50 emery wheels are yet to restart operations, despite the Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC) giving the nod a week ago, says a report in TOI dated 9 Aug.
The reasons cited by the unit owners is that they cannot afford the cost of the rapid antigen test of all workers which has been made mandatory by the civic body; and secondly due to shortage of workers.
According to the small unit owners, the electricity cost for running emery wheels with two workers or four workers is the same. As running the unit with 2 workers at a wheel would mean huge losses, unit owners see more business sense to keep the unit shut and wait for the normalcy to return.
According to the regional chairman of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), Dinesh Navadiya: “Less than 30% diamond units have restarted operations post-lockdown and that too with less than 50% of workers. Due to just 30% diamond units operating now with 50% workers, the fall in output is less than 25%.”
Babu Kathiriya, president of Surat Diamond Association (SDA) said, “Over 2,000 diamond workers have been infected with Covid-19 in the last two months. This has spread fear among other workers who left Surat to return.”
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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