Jewellers from across the Tricity held a candle march at Sector 17 today,demonstrating against the central governments excise policy. Citing lack of clarity on the Central governments policy on imposition of excise duty on jewellery sale and inadequate response from the officials,jewellers all across the country went on a strike last week. On account of the nation-wide call given by the All India Gems ahd Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF),the jewellers decided to observe strike till March 25 (Sunday). All the gold,diamond and silver jewellery houses across the Tricity will remain closed on Sunday as well. The Federation is demanding a roll-back in some new provisions in the budget,which according to the jewellers,will have a negative impact on the sector. The industry is objecting on four points. The first is the increase in the import duty of gold. The duty has been increased from Rs 200 to approximately Rs 1,200 per 10 grams in the last five months. The Ministry of Finance has announced service tax on the labour charges which the jewellers we pay to the craftsmen. This will further increase the cost,said one of GJFs representatives from the city.
