The textile trading shops in Surat city were closed on April 28 and will reopen on May 5.
With the rapid rise in Covid-19 cases, textile trading shops will remain shut for eight days and powerloom factories will be closed for 15 days in Surat. The diamond industries in the city will continue to operate with 50 per cent of the staff.
The textile trading shops in Surat city were closed on April 28 and will reopen on May 5.
“The shops will remain closed to prevent further spread of infection. For that we are ready to sacrifice our business for a few days,” said Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association secretary Champalal Bothra, adding that there are over 4 lakh people working in the 65,000 shops in 175 textile trading markets in Surat.
Federation of Powerloom Weavers’ Welfare Association (FOGWA) has decided to keep factories shut from May 1 to May 15 after a meeting on April 30.
FOGWA president Ashok Jirawala said, “The cases are rising day by day, and all other textile-related bodies have decided to shut down the shops. We can only run factories if trading activities are done by the textile traders.”
However, the diamond industries will continue to operate as there is a rise in demand of polished diamond in the international market, Surat Diamond Association president Nanubhai Vekariya said.
“We have appealed to the factory owners to run factories with 50 per cent staff by following the Covid-19 guidelines,” he said.
However, Surat diamond workers’ union vice-president Bhavesh Taank, has on Saturday submitted a memorandum to the district collector requesting that all the diamond factories should be closed for 15 days to prevent further spread of Covid-19 and the salaries of the diamond polishers should be paid by the factory owners during this period.
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