Editor’s Note
This article highlights the cascading economic effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, focusing on the severe unemployment crisis facing diamond polishers in Surat, India. It underscores how global disruptions can profoundly impact local livelihoods in specialized industries.
Following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, much has changed in the world. Prices of everything from crude oil to wheat have skyrocketed. During this period, India’s Gujarat state has also been affected. A crisis has emerged for the livelihoods of millions of people associated with diamond polishing work in Surat, India’s diamond city. Regarding this, the Gujarat unit of the Congress party said on Thursday that diamond workers in Surat are facing a ‘serious crisis’ of unemployment and recession due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The main opposition party urged the central government to take corrective measures in this direction.
Shaktisinh Gohil, president of the party’s state unit, said that due to the crisis in the diamond industry, many diamond workers have lost their jobs and some of them have even committed suicide. He said Surat’s diamond industry is facing a severe crisis because the G-7 group of countries has imposed sanctions on Russian diamonds. Russian diamonds are imported into India for cutting and polishing and are exported to Western markets as well as China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Hong Kong.
Gohil said most rough diamonds are mined in Russia. Many workers associated with the diamond industry have lost their jobs and some of them have committed suicide. Gohil said that despite the severity of the crisis, neither the central nor the state government has done anything to help the diamond workers. He said these workers are struggling to survive. Gohil asked why the central government has not raised this issue with the G-7 group countries, including the US, UK, and Europe, regarding the strict sanctions on rough diamonds obtained from Russian mines?
The Congress leader claimed that Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has neither held a single meeting with stakeholders nor raised the problems of the diamond sector with G-7 group countries, the US, and European countries. The diamond industry is one of the largest employment-generating industries in Gujarat, as nearly 25 lakh families are directly or indirectly dependent on this industry. Gohil informed that diamond polishing factories are located in Surat, Navsari, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Botad, Rajkot, Junagadh, and Ahmedabad.