Payment of school fees, waiving off electricity duty: What is in Gujarat government’s relief package for diamond sector

The diamond workers’ union said though some of the provisions were welcome, none of their earlier demands, such as compensation to families of workers who died by suicide in the period, were addressed. The announcement of the relief package was made by State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi who was accompanied by the State Minister for Agriculture, Petrochemical and Energy, Mukesh Patel, and State education minister Praful Pansheriya.

Sanghavi said, “The diamond industry is passing through a bad phase of recession for the last few years. Keeping in mind the condition of small and medium-level diamond factory owners and polishers, the state government has come up with special assistance package under the direction of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.”

As per the relief package, the state government will pay school fees of children of diamond polishers, an annual sum of not more than Rs 13,500, for a period of one year. For this, the diamond polisher concerned should have been out of work for the last one year and should have worked for three years at a diamond factory. The fees will be directly paid to the school by the government.

Besides, bank interest at 9% of the term loan up to Rs 5 lakh taken by a diamond factory owner will be paid by the government for three years. For this, the beneficiary factory owner should have been running the operations since 2022 to 2025, and such units should have been registered with the District Industries Department before March 31, 2025. Besides, the factory concerned should have investment of around Rs 2.5 crore. “Apart from this, the power bills of the diamond factory will be waived off for one year. This will help the industry gain momentum,” said Sanghavi.

“To implement this package, a district-level committee will be formed under the leadership of the District Collector, and will comprise the District Labour Officer, District Education Officer, District Employment Officer, leading bank officials, Surat Diamond Association representative, and the District Industries Commissioner. This package will be implemented in Surat and other parts of Gujarat where diamond industries have been established. This is an important decision taken by the state government for the benefit of thousands of diamond factory owners and lakhs of diamond polishers,” he added.

Sanghavi said, “This package is an important step taken by the state government to maintain the momentum of the industry. The action has been taken following representation made by the elected representatives from Surat, Ahmedabad, Botad, Mehsana, Bhavnagar, etc.”

To implement the plan, a committee was formed comprising Sanghavi, Praful Pansheriya, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Home, and Principal Secretary to the CM. “The committee held discussions and meetings with different stakeholders of the diamond industry and its association, which resulted in the relief package,” Sanghavi added.

Bhavesh Tank, the vice-president of Diamond Workers’ Union, Gujarat (DWUG), said, “Due to the recession in the industry for the last three years, a number of diamond polishers have become jobless. Those who still have their jobs are getting only 50% salary. The diamond polishers have to pay back bank installments for loans; those staying in rented houses have to regularly pay the rent. The government should carry out a survey of diamond polishers to know their actual financial status and the problems they face.”

The DWUG has requested the state government to form a committee to extend financial help to workers in terms of implementing labour laws in the factories, removing professional tax on diamond polishers, and increasing the salaries of the workers.

“We welcome the decision of education fees to be paid by the state government. But, this package is not sufficient for the families of diamond polishers. If our earlier demands are not met by the government, people will stop working for the diamond industry and a time will come when the sector would have to face shortage of manpower.”

He further said the government should also pay school fees of children of those diamond polishers who get paid a lower sum than others or who have found their salaries slashed due to the ongoing slowdown in the sector.