No finale to jewellers' "act" as strike nears one month

New Delhi: A large number of jewellers and bullion traders in the country continued their strike Monday to protest the proposed 1 percent excise duty on non-silver jewellery.

Most jewellery shops in the country, including in Delhi Kolkata and Mumbai wore a deserted look for the 27th day.

Jewellers, bullion traders and artisans have been on strike since March 2 to protest against the proposal.

Strike also continued in Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur in Rajasthan, and Ratlam, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. However, most of the jewellery showrooms in Tamil Nadu were open for regular trading.

Representatives of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and IBJSF have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to intervene in the matter to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, Jaitley has offered to walk the extra mile to ensure that small traders are not harassed but made it clear that luxury items cannot go untaxed.