GST rules are taking a human toll on Surat powerloom industry; here is how

Surat's myriad powerlooms stay silent amid traders' anti-levy din

Rukesh Kumar, 22, is running out of patience and finances. He's whiling away time in his 6'x6' abode in the Shivamnagar slum here that he shares with a fellow textile worker. The Rs 5,000-odd he'd saved in June, after sending another Rs 5,000 back home in Patna, is almost over.

His employer had, as part of a general protest at the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) levy since July 1 on the sector, shut his dyeing unit. Resulting in no work for Kumar and about 400 others.

"I am yet to hear anything from our contractor on when the