Protesting against the Central government’s rule of mandatory ruling of logging the PAN card on purchase of goods above Rs. 2 lakh, the jewellers across the State downed their shutters on Wednesday.
Busy jewellery shopping destinations in the city, including Rajagopalachari street near Jaihind Complex, Sivalayam Street at One-Town in the city wore a deserted look with jewellery shop owners and shop hands sitting and exchanging small talk.
The protesting jewellers said that they were protesting against this rule since only 18 per cent of the population have PAN cards and majority of farmers don’t possess them. They said that their demand is either there should not be any limit or Rs. 10 lakh limit for the submission of a PAN card. Most people in rural areas don’t have the card. It had already affected our business and will further hurt us. This silent protest is to draw the attention of the government to this anomaly, they said.
The Bezawada Jeweller’s and Diamond Merchants Association secretary Tmairi Annapoornaiah said that the restriction on jewellery buyers already dented business volumes and the slowdown affected jobs for millions of workers, artisans and small traders in the jewellery sector.
In Nellore, Members of the Nellore District Bullion and Jewellery Merchants Association took part in the bandh in response to the country-wide agitation.
Merchants Association president D. Suresh Babu appealed to the government to provide big relief from this guideline as the trade is suffering on account of the stipulation over PAN. He wanted a substantial increase in the purchase limit without the need for PAN.
Jewellery shops across Prakasam district remained closed. The busy Gandhi Road where a majority of the gold shops were located, wore a deserted look following the bandh which affected the livelihood of thousands of goldsmiths, who made new ornaments and polish old ones by sitting outside the gold shops.
Leading the protest, Gold and Silver Merchants Association State convenor Tata Prasad suggested that PAN cards could be made mandatory for transactions above Rs. 10 lakh taking into account price rise.
It had been estimated that more than 70 per cent of the trade in yellow metal went unbilled and the problem would get aggravated further, according to sources.
