Jewellers facing major shortage of Karigars across India

Mumbai: Due to the COVID-19 crisis there was a mass reverse migration of karigars from Mumbai back to their respective natives and hometowns.

“According to me, to ensure that they come back to Zaveri Bazar and the market flourishes again as it did pre COVID-19 we must ensure that the following rules and regulations are followed said Kalidas Sinha Roy (General Secretary, Bengali Swarnashilpi Kalyan Sangh) For the karigars Polyclinic, Pathology testing centers must be setup, also Mediclaim for the karigars along with hospital tie-ups must be given to karigars to ensure their medical security. Pre COVID-19 the average income for a karigar was around ₹12,000-₹20,000 per month. Now post COVID-19 to incentivize a migration back to Zaveri Bazar with an increase income. Regular sanitization of small units/ workshops, common toilets, buildings and galis must be done. A fixed work timing must be ensured along with rules to stop overtime. All Karigars must acquire the Karigar Parichay Card and Mediclaim provided by GJEPC.

President of Mumbai-based Goldsmith Coordination Committee, Rajaram Mahadeo Deshmukh, a new task at hand was to organise a sort of “reverse migration”, that is, facilitating return of an estimated 5,000 karigars to Maharashtra’s Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts from West Bengal.

In Mumbai, the authorities have allowed Zaveri Bazar to remain open, but along with low footfall, there is major dearth of workers. In Deshmukh’s reckoning, Mumbai-based karigars who went back to their native places in West Bengal are unlikely to return soon.