A shocking situation has emerged in Gujarat’s Surat amid a slowdown in diamond trade and long holidays for big firms. The ‘suicide helpline number’ was launched by the Diamond Workers Union Gujarat (DWUG) on July 15. So far, the helpline has received over 1,600 calls. In which the artisans active in this area have described their crisis. This has been revealed in the data shared by the union. Kiran Gems, one of the leading diamond market firms in Surat, has announced a 10-day holiday in the month of Sawan. The firm says that it has to take this decision due to low demand for diamonds globally.
DWUG Vice President Bhavesh Tank said 65 diamond workers have committed suicide in Surat in the past 16 months, most of them took the extreme step due to hardships caused by pay cuts and job losses, which is a result of the slowdown in the industry. “We started this helpline number on July 15. So far, we have received over 1,600 calls, many of which said they are on the verge of taking their own lives due to financial stress. Most of the callers have become unemployed in the last few months. They are also desperate in search of employment.
Tank said that people whose salary has been cut by up to 30 percent ask for help in paying their children’s school fees, house rent, monthly installment of house and vehicle loan etc. The Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Gaza conflicts, as well as weak demand in key market China, have led to oversupply that has led to 50,000 workers losing their jobs this year. At an event on Sunday, Lalji Patel, chairperson of Dharmanandan Diamonds, a Surat-based diamond manufacturing company, announced a financial assistance of Rs 15,000 to each student and distributed cheques to needy families in the area.
Dharmanandan Diamonds said closure of small diamond units has caused some jewellers to lose their jobs and are unable to run their households or even pay their children’s school and college fees. Unable to cope with financial crunch, amid rising incidents of suicides by diamond workers, Surat Diamond Workers Union recently launched a helpline number where many of them requested for assistance in paying their children’s school and college fees. After surveying the financial status of the families who sought financial assistance, they were given cheques for school fees, the statement said. A cheque distribution programme was organised on Sunday in which 40 school and college students were given cheques of Rs 15,000 towards school fees. Patel said his firm is taking this step because there is a slowdown in the diamond industry and it wants to ensure that children’s education is not affected.
Surat is one of the major centres in the region, where nearly 90 per cent of the world’s rough diamonds are cut and polished. This work is done by about 10 lakh workers employed in more than 2,500 units. In the Rajya Sabha, Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil raised the situation in the Surat diamond market. Surat Diamond Bourse has been built to take Surat’s diamond industry to a higher level, but the decrease in demand has created new problems in front of diamond traders. Diamond Labor Associations are demanding a package from the government.
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