Mumbai, Nov 5 (UNI) The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) condemned 'harassment of jewellers' by government officials, prior to Diwali festival, here on Monday.

'Several incidents have come to our notice in different states, where the police, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Income Tax (IT) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) officials have carried out illegal raids on jewellery shops, especially small and medium players, marking a return to 'Inspector Raj',' the Council said.

This has caused them mental harassment, as jewellers are already grappling with low sales during the festive season, it added.

The GJC claimed there have been complaints of officials indulging in nepotism and corruption.

To counter this, the organisation has launched a campaign- hashtag #GJCagainstharassment. Twitter can be used as a means to report harassment cases by government officials, said GJC Chairman Nitin Khandelwal

Mr Khandelwal further said that jewellers from Nagpur, Bhusawal, Itarsi and Khandwa region of Madhya Pradesh, who buy jewellery from the wholesale markets like Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazar have complained of

harassment in trains, en route their respective destinations.

'The jeweller alleged harassment by the RPF by confiscating their goods and not releasing it even after repeated follow ups with the GST, RPF and IT officials. In one case, a jeweller complained how the police tore up the delivery challan and bills, and then summoned the GST officials to take action against the jeweller,' Mr Khandelwal said.

The chairman strongly denounced the ‘illegal action’ by the government officials during the festive season, especially at a time when the gems and jewellery sector is grappling with lower than expected sale (by 10 per cent, compared to 2017), coupled with weak economic conditions.

In view of the recent instances of alleged harassment, the GJC took to Twitter to unite and empower all jewelers across India to lodge their individual cases to expose the corrupt officials.

The GJC is the national industry trade federation with over 400,000 members, who command a workforce of over one crore, with a turnover of Rs 2.51 lakh crore.

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