As gold sales decline post demonetisation, Bengal artisans face job loss

PUNE: Thirty-six-year-old Sanjoy Santra from Haripal in Hooghly, West Bengal, only knows making hand-made gold jewellery. After working for 16 years as a gold artisan in Mumbai, his employer has now asked him to leave saying he cannot feed him anymore as work has stopped post-demonetisation.
This is not a single story of Sanjoy. There are about 10 to 15 lakh artisans like Sanjoy from West Bengal spread across the country who are affected by the loss of business and are now facing job loss due to demonetisation. The artisans from West Bengal comprise about 70% of all the artisans involved in the business of hand-made jewellery manufacturing in India.

According to the All India Gems and Jewelry Trade Federation, demand for jewellery has fallen by 80% after demonetisation.

Each artisan sends about Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month back home. Thus the state also face the challenge of loosing on remittances of about few hundred crore a month.

Trains to Kolkata are overflowing with the gold artisans coming back to the home state, which they had left years ago. The reverse migration is likely to put pressure on the employment opportunities in the state.

"I went to our small farm land yesterday. But I don't know any farm work. I don't know what to do now," said Sanjoy, who has ageing parents, two daughters and a wife to take care.

SS Aalam, a jewellery manufacturer from Chennai, who also heads the Bengali Goldsmith Association in the city, had 500 artisans working for him in different parts of the country. "So far, I have sent back 350 karigars (artisans). About 80% Bengali artisans from Chennai have left the city," he said.

Kalidas Sinharoy, general secretary, Bengali Swarnasilpi Kalyan Sangh said, "There was a slowdown in the trade since the strike on excise issue. Things had just started improving but the note ban put a break on it."

According to Sinharoy, about 10,000 Bengali artisans are estimated to have left Mumbai after the note ban as the cost of living in the cities is too high. But he fears that about 50 per cent of these artisans, who have migrated back, may not return to the trade, if and when things improve. "There could be a shortage, though temporary, of artisans, if things improve suddenly," he said.