The Hindu Business Line : Diamond units in Thrissur losing sheen

DIAMOND workers in a few panchayats in Thrissur district are in dire straits. For want of sufficient work, they are losing out to their counterparts in Gujarat, the main centre of diamond industry in the country.

The reasons attributed to the loss of work are the higher wages here compared to that in other centres and modernisation of units with automatic machinery outside Kerala, Mr Sasidharan, President, All India Diamond Artisans Association, told Business Line on Wednesday. "We have to depend on the diamond dealers in Gujarat who send the raw stones for polishing here through their agents in Coimbatore,'' he said.

The units are located in Kapiparambu, Tholur, Adat, Choondal and Avanur panchayats in Thrissur district. The closure of units had forced the workers to take up other manual jobs.

The units, which employ 20 to 80 artisans, mainly women, are paid Rs 33 per stone by the dealers. On an average, a worker would earn Rs 2,500 a month while a highly skilled worker who could polish more stones and earn up to Rs 7,000 a month. This could even be higher if they got work for the full day. Currently, they work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as "we do not get enough raw stones," he said.

He said the epicentre of diamond industry is Surat in Gujarat where the dealers have now modern units having automatic machinery to cut and polish the stones.

The productivity there is higher while the wages are low. As against Rs 33 paid to a worker for polishing a small stone here, they would have to pay only Rs 28. Besides, the productivity here is also low.

Above all, he said, the intermittent strikes have become a major impediment to get work. "We are given this precious stones "purely on trust and belief" that we would do the good work and return the polished material in time and that trust is we are losing out now", he claimed.

He said that there was a token strike by the workers on November 16. They are also planning now to go an indefinite strike demanding higher wages. Out of the Rs 33 we get from the diamond trader, Rs 20 is paid to the worker per piece.

The industry people are not ready to enhance the wages stating that because of the stiff competition in the trade they buy the raw stones at higher prices and hence cannot afford to pay wages higher than what they pay in Gujarat and elsewhere. Given this situation "we will only lose jobs in the coming days,'' he said.

There were 310 units employing around 25,000 workers, 80 per cent of them were women, in 1991-92. The labour problems coupled with the higher wages had compelled many to close down their units. At present, there are 75 units employing around 5,000 people. The diamond polishing work was brought to Kerala by Mr P.K. Sankunni in 1964 from Mumbai where he was working with a Gujarati firm.

It flourished in these panchayats, providing employment to many in their own villages.

There is flexibility in the working hours as the workers are living near the units. "They can finish the work at their convenience,'' he said.

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