From being the richest to the most vulnerable - case of Surat diamond workers
Global economic slow-down has reached home. Gujarat ’s diamond cutting and polishing industry is the latest one to get affected by it. An industry which employs nearly one million –largely contractual wage based – workers is witnessing the worst recession ever. Many diamond polishing and cutting units are closed for more than two months; the ones that are open are operating for fewer hours with far fewer workers on board and that too with lower wages. While recession has been hitting many sectors, the case of diamond polishing industry poses some serious repercussions because of its human-intensive nature and rural-urban linkages. According to various estimates nearly 1 to 1.5 million workers and their families are dependent on diamond industry in the city of Surat . As is evident from the census statistics that indicates decadal growth of 93 per cent from 1981-91 and 60 per cent from 1991-2001, these workers are mostly migrants with their roots in agriculture mainly from the dra...