Chennai: Those who are looking to purchase gold ornaments need to hold on till Monday as the ongoing strike by jewellers has been extended for two more days.
Over 7,500 jewellery shops in the city that include gold and diamond ones will remain closed. “We want the Central government to withdraw the re-imposition of 1 percent excise duty and mandatory PAN cards for any transactions from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The last three days of strike has incurred a total loss of nearly Rs 110 crore for all jewellers in Chennai,” said S. Santhakumar, secretary of Madras Jewellers and Diamond Merchants Associations after a meeting with jewellers association members at T Nagar.
“After the excise duty imposed, the customer will end up paying between '250 and Rs 350 for eight grams of gold purchase,” he stated.
There has been mixed reactions over the closure of jewellery shops from the public. “It doesn't affect us anyway as we are neither interested in gold or diamond purchases,” said Mohammed Reji, a resident of Taramani and an employee at a private firm.
Response from Social media
Meanwhile, social media comments poured in from various quarters slamming the decision of jewellers associations.
“Jewellers deserve not just 1% but 5% and above duty, because jewellery is non-essential item.
Their strike is unwarranted. Government should not budge and bend to their demands. Jewellery, tobacco and all such non-essentials should be taxed heavily for enhancing government income”, said Deepak John in Facebook.
“Jewellers to go on three-day strike. May be always shutdown. They are creators and home of black money”, tweeted R. Balakrishnan
