The Diamond Worker Union Gujarat (DWUG) has demanded that diamond workers be exempted from professional tax ahead of the Surat Municipal Corporation elections. The union launched a campaign against the levy and sought support from political parties, urging them to include this demand in their election manifestos.
Political Parties Respond to Union's Demand
The Surat Congress committee reportedly provided a written assurance that it would abolish professional tax and help clear approximately 26,000 pending applications for education assistance for workers' children. Similarly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a promise in its manifesto and through social media campaigns, stating it would scrap the "wrongly collected" professional tax if voted to power.
Union Highlights Growing Political Support
The union noted that its demands were gaining traction among political parties. Bhavesh Tank, vice-president of DWUG, said, "There is anger among workers after nearly 26,000 education assistance applications for their children were allegedly rejected. Now Congress and AAP have announced their support to our demand."
The union also raised concerns about voter data in Surat's Varachha Road assembly constituency, which has a large population of diamond workers. Tank added, "Another concern for diamond artisans is the removal of names from the voters' list in Varachha. Through an RTI, we found that 64,334 names have been removed from the list and most were diamond artisans."
Voter List Concerns Amid Industry Slowdown
DWUG stated that it is unclear whether the large number of deletions was due to migration caused by the prolonged slowdown in the diamond industry or other reasons. The union has filed RTIs in other areas with sizable diamond worker populations and has moved first appeals and complaints before the Gujarat Information Commission after not receiving responses.
With the continued slowdown in the diamond industry, the union said voter turnout among workers may remain low, but it is urging artisans to vote in large numbers. It added that many workers may only learn on polling day whether their names are on the updated voter list.
