Gujarat: Hands that made diamonds sparkle now toil in their fields

RAJKOT: As a diamond polisher for four years, Kamal Patel earned reasonably good monthly salary of Rs 22,000 in Surat. But two months ago, he was among thousands of artisans who lost their jobs due to severe downturn in the diamond industry. Unable to find any other suitable job for two months, Kamal has returned to his native Abhrampar village in Amreli district and taken up farming.
Hundreds of polishers like Kamal, who left their native villages for the charm of Diamond City a few years ago, are now banking on farming to make their ends meet, thanks to good monsoon.
The worst-ever recession in the famed Surat diamond industry and heavy retrenchment by the units have triggered reverse migration of jobless artisans.
It must be noted that almost 80% of skilled hands in Surat’s Rs 80,000 crore diamond industry are from Saurashtra, mostly from Amreli district.
The rain bounty in Amreli has raised farmers’ hopes of healthy groundnut and cotton yield.
‘Can’t bear cost of living in Surat’
Amreli has received 93% of average annual rainfall. “I could not bear the cost of living in Surat after losing my job,” said Patel, who got his son admitted in a village school recently. He said at least 150 diamond polishers, who were his friends and relatives, have returned to their native places in Amreli.
According to Gujarat Diamond Workers Union (GDWU), nearly 13,000 artisans have lost their jobs in Surat, Bhavnagar and Amreli over the last six or seven months.
Janak Patel, a diamond polisher from Savarkundla, recently returned to his native after remaining jobless for two months.
“I lived in Surat for six years and earned around Rs 25,000 a month. But now I have started cultivating my farmland,” said Janak, who has left his two children at a relative’s house in Surat so that their schooling is not disrupted.
Every year, large number of youngsters migrate to Surat for better wages after getting primary training in Amreli diamond units. Amreli had nearly 1,500 factories functioning before the recession started a few months ago.
Sanjay Patel, who also returned to Amreli recently, added, “We can return to Surat only after the situation improves, but I don’t think it will happen this year. Some day we will have to return as we can’t depend solely on farming, which is totally dependent on rains.”
Diamond workers who migrate to Surat earn anything between Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 a month while the artisans in Amreli get only about Rs 10,000.
Ghanshyam Dobariya, president of Amreli Diamond Units Association, said, “Due to the slowdown, the wages of diamond workers here has fallen to Rs 2,000 from Rs 10,000 a month.