Say owners showed no sympathy during slump, should now pay more for joining back

Lakhs of diamond polishers were rendered jobless last year in the wake of the global slump and many had shifted to the embroidery and agriculture sectors. Now, they are demanding higher wages from the diamond factory owners for rejoining the industry.

The shortage of skilled polishers, coupled with the international and domestic demand for diamond has now put the factory owners in a fix and several factory owners have got the workers back on higher scales.

At present, around three lakh diamond polishers are working in the diamond factories in Surat and 60,000 more polishers are required.

The average wages of a diamond polisher depend on the type of work he does, like cutting and polishing of thin and short diamonds or thicker and bigger stones. On an average a diamond polisher in Surat earned anything between Rs 7,500 to Rs 12,000.

Mansukh Dobaria, a diamond polisher said: “The factory owners earned their profits because of our hardship and honesty, but when we were facing a financial crunch and our families were starving, they did not show us any sympathy. We shifted to other business and now we are demanding higher wages if they want us back.”

Surat Diamond Association president Rohit Mehta said: “We have received information that 2,500 factories are functional here and the staff strength is around 60 percent. Factory owners are facing a shortage of 40 per cent staff and this is affecting the production. Many factory owners have agreed to the demands of the diamond polishers. There are around three lakh diamond polishers working in the factories here and there is a further demand of 60,000 more.”