Gems and jewellery workers protest against excise duty

Calcutta Gems and Jewellery Welfare Association today organised a procession protesting against the imposition of excise duty by the Centre.
The procession, which began at Girish Park and ended at Wellington Square, was attended among others by a large number of jewellers, representatives and owners from West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Jharkhand.
The Association leaders said that the jewellery industry has suffered a huge loss because of the Centre's decision, affecting two crore people across the country.
"The imposition of excise duty is not only putting the jewellery shop owners at the backfoot but also giving a blow to the poor and hard-working workers of the states who are under huge financial crisis," they said.

The jewellers have kept their shops closed for the last 10 days to hold the protest rally along with different associations of eastern India protesting against the imposition of excise duty on jewellery.