Govt awaits EC - sop to diamond workers

In an effort to attract lakhs of diamond workers ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the Gujarat government has asked the Election Commission (EC) to clear a major sop to implement a group insurance scheme for them. It comes close on the heels of a file pending with the EC to clear a stipend of Rs 2,500 per month for four months for select 15,000 diamond workers wanting to upgrade their skills. Meant to provide a risk cover of Rs 1 lakh to each diamond worker who dies in an accident, or faces permanent or partial disability, interestingly, the state government is unable to implement the group insurance scheme despite the fact that it hurriedly issued a government resolution (GR) on February 27, just three days before the Lok Sabha elections were announced. A senior official of the state industries department said, "Unless the EC clears the file implementing the GR, we cannot deposit the premium to director, insurance. We will have to come up with a special order fixing the premium, and for this, we need EC's nod." He added, "It is a humanitarian demand. The EC should have no objection to this." Senior officials in the chief electoral officer, Gujarat State, however, said, "We cannot allow the industries department to implement the group insurance scheme, as it would amount to influencing the voting pattern. It is surprising why the government was so indifferent in implementing the scheme just before the elections were announced." The view is strong in the government that the EC should have "little objection" in clearing the two files, seeking to provide sops to the diamond workers, when it has already allowed implementation of the Centre's 6th pay commission recommendations for the state's 3.13 lakh pensioners. "Nearly half of the 10 lakh diamond workers are jobless," a senior official conceded. "Many have committed suicide. They urgently need attention." Majority of diamond workers hail from Amreli, Bhavnagar and Banaskantha districts, though they work in units in far away Surat or Ahmedabad. Due to recession, a large number of diamond polishing units have closed down and the workers have been forced to return to their home districts. The government had come under heavy criticism ahead of the polls for failing to announce a relief package for them.

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