Latest news with #SourabhPardhi
Indian Express
29-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Govt officials meet to discuss package for diamond industry, DWUG members not invited
Surat District collector Dr Sourabh Pardhi Wednesday evening held a meeting with different stakeholders of the diamond industry to discuss implementation of the state government's financial assistance package for the industry. Members of the Diamond Workers Union Gujarat (DWUG), who have been raising the issue of unemployment faced by diamond polishers, were not invited to the meeting. Minister of State for Industries, Harsh Sanghavi, in a media briefing on May 24 in Surat, had announced the special assistance package. Those present at Wednesday's meeting were representatives of Surat Diamond Association, District Employment Office, District industry officers, Labour department officials, and officials of leading banks. A decision regarding the formation of a 'scrutiny committee', which will accept applications from the diamond polishers and diamond unit owners and verify them, was taken to help people avail the benefit of the government scheme. As per the package, the state government will bear the school fees of up to Rs 13,500 for a year of children of diamond polishers, aged 21 and above, who have been jobless for the last one year but have worked for at least three years before that. Apart from this, the 9 per cent interest rate on term loan of maximum up to Rs 5 lakh availed by diamond unit owners will be waived for three years starting July. Diamond units with machinery investments worth Rs 2.5 crore that has witnessed power consumption going down in the last one year will get subsidy on electricity duty on power bills. Talking to The Indian Express, Surat Diamond Association President Jagdish Khunt said: 'The diamond industry is widely established in Surat. There are around 3,500 diamond factories here and around 7 lakh artisans work in these factories. The figures are not accurate though, as no survey has been conducted till date. It would be difficult to identify polishers who have been unemployed since last year. The implementation of the state government's scheme in the diamond industry is quite difficult,' he said. He further said, 'Of 3,500 diamond factories, over 80 per cent run with staff strength of 10 to 40 (2 emery wheels-10 emery wheels). These factories do not have any official company name and are not registered. Similarly, there are diamond polishers who switch jobs and move to different factories every quarter or so , keeping in mind higher wages. The firm owners also do not have details of polishers.' 'At the meeting, it was decided that application forms will contain all necessary details of diamond polishers and diamond unit owners. The work on preparing these forms has been started. Another meeting will be held next week to discuss further actions,' he said. The Indian Express also spoke to DWUG Vice-President Bhavesh Tank. 'We have been protesting over the issue of joblessness since the last three years. We have submitted memorandums multiple times to the Surat District Collector and written to the Chief Minister. The state government has now come up with a financial package for the diamond industry. We were not invited to the meeting,' he said . He also said: 'A couple of days ago, we wrote to the Chief Minister, requesting him to waive off school fees of children of diamond polishers who are unemployed or semi-unemployed (whose salary has gone down by 50 per cent). We have been fighting for the rights of diamond polishers since long. We have all the details of polishers. If we are invited to such meetings, we can provide these details to the committee.' District Collector Pardhi did not respond to calls till press time.
Indian Express
29-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Surat district collector holds meet to discuss implementation of govt package for diamond industry
Surat District collector Dr Sourabh Pardhi Wednesday evening held a meeting with different stakeholders of the diamond industry to discuss implementation of the state government's financial assistance package for the industry. Members of the Diamond Workers Union of Gujarat, who have been raising the issue of unemployment faced by diamond polishers, were not invited to the meeting. Minister of State for Industries, Harsh Sanghavi, in a media briefing on May 24 in Surat, had announced the special assistance package. Those present at Wednesday's meeting were representatives of Surat Diamond Association, District Employment Office, District industry officers, Labour department officials, and officials of leading banks. A decision regarding the formation of a 'scrutiny committee', which will accept applications from the diamond polishers and diamond unit owners and verify them, was taken to help people avail the benefit of the government scheme. As per the package, the state government will bear the school fees of up to Rs 13,500 for a year of children of diamond polishers, aged 21 and above, who have been jobless for the last one year but have worked for at least three years before that. Apart from this, the 9 per cent interest rate on term loan of maximum up to Rs 5 lakh availed by diamond unit owners will be waived for three years starting July. Diamond units with machinery investments worth Rs 2.5 crore that has witnessed power consumption going down in the last one year will get subsidy on electricity duty on power bills. The Indian Express talked to Surat Diamond Association President Jagdish Khunt, who seemed upset about not being invited to the meeting. 'The diamond industry is widely established in Surat. There are around 3,500 diamond factories here and around 7 lakh artisans work in these factories. The figures are not accurate though, as no survey has been conducted till date. It would be difficult to identify polishers who have been unemployed since last year. The implementation of the state government's scheme in the diamond industry is quite difficult,' he said. He further said, 'Of 3,500 diamond factories, over 80 per cent run with staff strength of 10 to 40 (2 emery wheels-10 emery wheels). These factories do not have any official company name and are not registered. Similarly, there are diamond polishers who switch jobs and move to different factories every quarter or so , keeping in mind higher wages. The firm owners also do not have details of polishers.' 'At the meeting, it was decided that application forms will contain all necessary details of diamond polishers and diamond unit owners. The work on preparing these forms has been started. Another meeting will be held next week to discuss further actions,' he said. 'We have been protesting over the issue of joblessness since the last three years. We have submitted memorandums multiple times to the Surat District Collector and written to the Chief Minister. The state government has now come up with a financial package for the diamond industry. We were not invited to the meeting,' Diamond Workers Union Vice-President Bhavesh Tank told The Indian Express. He also said: 'A couple of days ago, we wrote to the Chief Minister, requesting him to waive off school fees of children of diamond polishers who are unemployed or semi-unemployed (whose salary has gone down by 50 per cent). We have been fighting for the rights of diamond polishers since long. We have all the details of polishers. If we are invited to such meetings, we can provide these details to the committee.'
Indian Express
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Gujarat Confidential: For the Armed Forces
Around 46 owners of shops in Ramnagar and Adajan areas of Surat contributed a total of Rs 21.09 lakh to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF), and the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (AFBCWF). The cheque was handed over to Surat District Collector Dr Sourabh Pardhi on Tuesday evening by a delegation, led by Surat city West BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. MLA Modi said, 'On Saturday, people from the Sindhi community in Ramnagar had taken out a rally in support of Operation Sindoor and the Indian Army. I participated in the rally and made an appeal for collection of donations for the PMNRF and AFBCWF. People have voluntarily contributed and we have handed the amount to the disctrict collector so that it can be sent to Delhi.'
Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Surat authorities raze ‘encroachment'; mosque trust claims ownership of land, alleges proper measurement not carried out
Claiming that the local Jumma Masjid trust had encroached on a piece of government land near a graveyard, the Surat district administration removed a barbed-wire fencing along with a chicken shop inside it in Sayan village on Monday. The Jumma Masjid trust, though, claimed the land parcel was owned by it and the officials had not measured it properly before carrying out the demolition. Sources said that acting on District Collector Dr Sourabh Pardhi's order, DLR (district land record) officials checked the records and found the parcel to be a piece of government land. Sources said that on Sunday, Sayan village sarpanch Shailesh Patel, Talati Bharat Chaudhary and Olpad taluka panchayat's elected member from Sayan seat, Dipesh Patel, held a meeting with Jumma Masjid trust members and asked them to remove the encroachment. Claiming that they owned the land, the Masjid trust members refused to vacate it, the sources added. On Monday, officials from Olpad Taluka Mamlatdar office and his team with police department staffers, incharge sarpanch and others reached the spot with a bulldozer and carried out the demolition of the compound wall as well as the chicken shop. To be sure, the trust does not own the chicken shop. Following the demolition, Jumma Masjid trust members submitted an application against the exercise with the district collector's office. The trust members also went to the Sayan Gram panchayat office and claimed ownership of the land. The trust members alleged that measurement of the land was not done properly by DLR officials. Talking to The Indian Express, Olpad taluka Mamlatdar H D Chopda said, 'The Masjid trust members had made an encroachment on the government land and after getting it measured by the DLR officials, we have removed the encroachment of a shop and barbed-wired compound. The land area from where encroachment has been removed is around 500 meters.' Sayan Jumma Trust Masjid member Ebuh Manakh said, 'The land has been with the trust for long and we have been paying taxes to the Gram Panchayat every year. When DLR officials turned up at the spot, the authorities should have informed us so that we could also be present there. We are not satisfied with the land measurement done by the DLR and have raised objection to it through an application made to the district collector of Surat.' Collector Pardhi could not be contacted for comment. Sources said the government land, bearing block no. 606, near the Muslim graveyard in the village was earlier used to store agricultural produce. After the farmers stopped using it decades ago, the Jumma Masjid trust of the village made a barbed-wired compound on it. The chicken shop had been running out of the premises for several years, they added.
