Time till April 24 for Govt. to meet demands.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Jewelers across India have decided to temporarily call off their strike that lasted 42 days, on Wednesday, reported the Press Trust of India (PTI). The strike was called off following an assurance from the central government that all the demands of jewelers would be considered seriously.
“We have decided to temporarily call off the strike till April 24 after the government’s assurance,” Surinder Kumar Jain, vice-president of All India Sarafa Association, told PTI.
Jewelers across the country have been on an indefinite strike after the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed a one percent excise duty on non-silver jewelry. The jewelers have been demanding to roll back the decision.
Meanwhile, Rajesh Mehta, chairman, Rajesh Exports, told NDTV that the strike had been called off temporarily because of Akshay Tritiya.
According to the PTI report, more than three lakh jewelers belonging to 300 associations had been on a strike since March 2. The industry is said to have lost about $14.71 billion due to the strike.
“Large corporations like Titan can deal with the documentation but small corporations should be given some time, on the ground the implementation has to be done in a sensitive and a friendly manner,” Bhasker Bhat, MD at Titan told NDTV.
The jewelers have also demanded to roll back the government decision to quote the PAN number of the customer if the purchase goes beyond $2941.
The government has assured the jewelry manufacturers that no excise officers will inspect their officers.
The government has also constituted a committee headed by former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahri to study the demands of jewelers. The six-member committee has three members from the industry.