Labour dept had set a Monday deadline, threatened criminal action

After the labour commissioner threatened criminal action, over 70 per cent of diamond unit owners reopened their factories in the city, on Monday. The attendance was, however, low in many units and diamond workers were seen cleaning and doing maintenance work. The labour officials surveyed 50 units in the city and found 41 of them had resumed work.

Earlier, the State Labour department had intervened on seeing unit owners not complying with the decision of the Surat Diamond Association (SDA) and instances of suicide rising among diamond polishers. Two days ago, a meeting was organised at the Circuit House between Labour Commissioner Vatsala Vasudeva, members of the SDA and Surat Diamond Workers Association (SDWA), to resolve the issue. The Labour department had then threatened criminal action if the diamond unit owners did not reopen their factories from Monday.

The SDA conducted meetings with the diamond unit owners on Sunday and conveyed their message to start the units at the earliest. On Monday, over 70 per cent of the units in Katargam, Varachha, Kapodara and Mahidharpura areas resumed operation and diamond polishers were seen reporting to work. The SDA and the labour department had given an assurance that from January 1, all units will start production.

The newly formed monitoring committee comprising labour officials, factory inspectors, SDA and SDWA members, made two teams that surveyed the Katargam area on Monday. The teams surveyed 50 units in Katargam and found 41 units in operation. The survey will continue in different areas.

Assistant Labour Commissioner Kirit Patel said, "Nine units were found shut. We talked to the owners; four of them assured to resume operation from January 1. We will regularly monitor the shut units in different areas in the coming days."

SDA president C P Vanani said: "We found that around 70 per cent of units that were closed have reopened and cleaning work was underway. But we also found that the work strength was low. The SDWA is also carrying out meetings with diamond workers and are convincing them to resume work."

Vanani added, "We have come across complaints from factory owners that they have a shortage of raw material (rough diamonds). We have told them to call the diamond workers and pay them Rs 2,500, as they can use it for their survival. The reason behind the shortage is that the Gem and Jewellery Promotion Council had conducted a meeting in Mumbai, where it was decided that the industry will stop import of rough diamonds for a period of one month starting from November 25, as the factories are flooded with finished goods (polished diamonds) for Christmas business. The global recession has affected the diamond business badly and the foreign buyers have postponed their demands. After December 30, the inflow of rough diamonds will again happen and all units will start production.