Jewellers call off strike,Mayor earns flak for meeting protesters

He also assured them that there will be no injustice done to jewellers. “The octroi rates on jewellery are high and we would discuss the issue with all political parties to bring them down to reasonable level,” said Fatechand Ranka,president of the association,in a press statement announcing the withdrawal of the strike. He said the strike has been called off till June 30 and if the PMC fails to fulfill the assurances by July 1,the agitation would be intensified. Mayor Rajpal said it was his duty to urge protesters to call off the strike but claimed he did not give any assurance on reducing octroi charges. “The saraf association’s contention is that low octroi would encourage jewellers from other cities to purchase gold from Pune instead of Mumbai,” said Bidkar.

Leaders from all the political parties condemned the Mayor’s decision to meet the protesters at their rally. “The jewellers are on the wrong side as they are not paying octroi to the PMC. The administration is charging octroi as approved by the general body. There was no need for the Mayor to approach the agitators,” said Congress leader Arvind Shinde.

Shiv Sena leader Shyam Deshpande said the ruling alliance had sought the administration’s opinion on the proposal to reduce octroi on fuel,but it went ahead and gave direct assurance to jewellers on reconsidering the octroi on jewellery.

“The octroi rates are approved by the general body after clearance from the standing committee. The decision of octroi on jewellery was unanimously taken by the elected representatives and the Mayor cannot give any assurance without consulting the political parties in the civic body,” said Mukta Tilak of BJP.

NCP leader Nilesh Nikam said the saraf association had been maligning the image of the corporators over the issue. “The saraf association should first appologise for the criticism of elected representatives,” he said.

The PMC had increased the octroi from 0.35 per cent to three per cent on gold and one per cent on silver jewellery from April 1,2011. The jewellers have refused to pay the octroi since then.