Mumbai: After nationwide lockdown restrictions relaxed to some extent allowing to carry out some amount of business, Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar, known as Asia's biggest jewellery market which carries out transactions worth millions of rupees on a daily basis, opened their shutters on Friday.
Kumarpal Jain, who owns a showroom at Zaveeri Bazaar, told the Free Press Journal, "We did a ten per cent business on the first day post lockdown. We adopt all precautionary measures and will continue to do so. Customers are given sanitizers and face mask whoever needs it. We are assuring our customers that they can come and do the shopping here as utmost care is being taken."
Jain, who is also the governing board of director, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, informed as several goldsmiths left the city amid lockdown, now there will be a shortage of artisans, further affecting the gold making charges. The current charge is Rs 300 to 400 per 10gms, which is expected to increase in coming days to Rs 700. Besides, the gold rate is also anticipated to touch Rs 80,000 by next year. On June 5, the gold price was nearly Rs 46,000 in Mumbai.
Kalidas Sinha Roy, general secretary of Bengali Swarn Shilpi Kalyan Sangh, said that they have put a few vital demands before the gems and jewellery associations that artisans should be assured that they will have health security at the working place. Moreover, their income should also be protected.
"Pre-lockdown, one artisan used to earn Rs 8,000 to 10,000 a month but once they come back to work their payments should be increased. Moreover, currently, karigars get one gm of gold against 10 gms of gold making. Those who are working for a few decades must have collected a few grams. Therefore, now this reserved gold of artisans should be released by jewellers on priority. And henceforth, artisans investment should only be his art and labour and not gold, only then their confidence will be attained. Grassroot level labours should be taken care of once the sector is revived, " Roy explained.
Furthermore, he stated that in Zaveri Bazaar there were about 1.70 lakh karigars who have already left for their state and only 10,000 to 12,000 artisans are available, who are also planning to go back to their hometown.
