Small and medium jewellery shops across the State downed shutters for a day on Friday in protest against what the jewellers called unjust raids by Income Tax Department officials.
About 4,500 outlets joined the hartal, while a few opened their shops after 2 p.m. The call for the agitation was given by the All Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants’ Association. Its representative, P.C. Natesan, a jeweller based at Kayamkulam, said that many of the small-scale merchants were finding the going tough. Competition was high and small outlets were unable to fight the major gold marts, he said.
Over 60 outlets have been closed in Thrissur and about 100 shops have been closed in Kozhikode and Malappuram, according to him. The association said that while adopting the compounding system, the jewellers had an agreement with the government that tax sleuths would not raid their premises. It was in violation of the understanding that the raids were conducted two days ago in all districts.
The association claimed that the annual amount of tax received by the Kerala government from gold merchants was about Rs.500 crore, while it was Rs.120 crore in Tamil Nadu.
The agitation brought the division among the group of jewellers to the fore. The association is facing dissent within its ranks. A prominent jeweller, supported by a section of jewellers, joined the hartal but opened shops after 2 p.m.
The big players kept off the day’s stir. They had formed another organisation called Kerala Jewellers Federation, which had announced its decision to keep the shops open. About 10 major jewellers are affiliated to the federation.
