When elephants fight the grass gets trampled, an old proverb best describes the state of 1,000-odd permanent and contract employees of Gitanjali Gems after its promoter Mehul Choksi went absconding. He was found hand-in-glove with Nirav Modi in unleashing ₹11,300 crore fraud on Punjab National Bank.

Interestingly, the first to jump out of the sinking ship was the top-level employees. Pankhuri Warange, Vice-President and Company Secretary of Gitanjali in her resignation said the recent event unfolded in the organisation requires the company to make certain disclosures under the Companies Act 2013 and SEBI norms.

“The absence of disclosure will have ramification not just on the company but also on key managerial personnel. With no consensus on my opinion on disclosure, I have taken conscious decision to relinquish my position with immediate effect,” she said.

Similarly, Chandrakant Karkare also resigned citing his wife’s ill health. This was followed by resignation of Krishnan Sangameswaran, an independent director. Vikas Shinde (employees name changed), a mid-level employee of Gitanjali in Mumbai is not that fortunate to throw his job with immediate effect as he has no clue on how to pay the next month housing loan EMI.

“Though I can meet household expenses for a month with my savings, I cannot shell out ₹36,000 for the housing loan without receiving salary. Given the current situation in the job market, it will take at least three months for me to get a job,” he said.

Never in his wild dream Sanjay Kulkarni, a senior Sales Executive with Gili, a jewellery brand of Gitanjali, would have thought that he will be forced to put in his paper just after getting a promotion and increment of ₹4,500 in January.

“Till January, I was getting ₹13,000 a month on paper and from February it was increased to ₹17,500 on promotion as team leader. But as fate could be, I have to quit and even worse, I am yet to receive January salary,” he said.

Kulkarni has been told by his immediate boss to fill up provident fund papers but he is not sure whether the monthly deduction of ₹1,200 towards PF was remitted to the government as he has not received salary slip for the last 18 months.

Being a pan-India brand, the plight of most employees is similar across the country.

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