 "A saleswoman checks the weight and quality of gold jewellery inside a showroom in Mumbai")
Over 300 associations of jewellery makers with over 100,000 shops across country will observe a day-long strike to protest Centre's mandatory PAN ruling for every purchase of Rs 2 lakh and above.
The restriction on jewellery buyers has already dented business volumes and subsequent slowdown has affected millions of jobs for artisans and small traders as business turnover has dropped over 30% since imposition of restriction about a month ago, said Anantha Padmanaban, Zonal Chairman (South), GJF.
"This is a crisis situation for the entire industry to survive because the jewellers are losing customers mainly in small towns and rural areas where a majority of population doesn't have PAN cards in their names," he said.
He claimed members and many of the jewellery associations are agitating since they suffered losses of over 30% in business transactions in last one month.
"Prolong of such situation will lead to job losses for workers, artisans and employees," he said, while adding his association is in touch with the Finance Ministry urging them to make PAN mandatory for purchase of over Rs 10 lakh instead of Rs 2 lakh.
"We strongly oppose this regularity measure which badly hit millions of jewellers and artisans employed in this industry. GJF as an apex body is under tremendous pressure from its associations across the country to address the issue and discuss with the authorities. But things are not looking up and all associations are jointly discussing on protest plan across the nation and declared 10, February as a Token Strike for a day," he said.
From January 1, 2016, PAN has been made mandatory for all transactions above Rs 2 lakhs in cash or through card in entire gems & jewellery sector. Such restriction of furnishing PAN for Rs 2 lakh and above purchase of jewellery will discriminate 70-80% of the jewellery buyers in the country.
