UP jewellers protest duty hike
March 31st, 2012 - 2:43 am ICT by IANS
Lucknow, March 31 (IANS) Business across the state was crippled Friday as jewellers in Uttar Pradesh observed a shutdown in protest of the central government’s decision to hike excise, custom duty on gold jewellery and tax deduction on transaction of over Rs.2 lakhs.
In Lucknow, the jewellers showed solidarity and pulled down their shutters in busy markets like Chowk and Hazratganj and declared that they would fight to the finish and would only rest when union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rolled back the hike in taxes.
Jewellers, under the banner of the UP Sarrafa Association staged a protest in the state capital and gheraoed the Congress office at Mall avenue and submitted a memorandum to officials of the UP Congress committee.
Ravindra Nath Rastogi, president of the UP Sarafa Association vowed to continue the protest and said that the support they had got from other trader associations had boosted their morale.
In Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad and Agra too, jewellers and traders observed a total bandh and burnt effigies of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee.
President of Prayag Sarrafa Mandal in Allahabad, Kuldeep Soni said that the imposition of additional excise duty will be opposed “tooth-n-nail” and “Inspector raj” will not be brought back in the state again. In Varanasi the Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Pratinidhi Mandal held protests.
- UP traders claim bandh a success, to keep up protests (Lead) - Sep 20, 2012
- Traders down shutters to support Hazare - Aug 27, 2011
- Jewellers resume shutdown in Bengal, demand rollback of excise duty - Mar 29, 2012
- Pranab urges jewellers to call off shutdown - Mar 31, 2012
- SP workers clash with police during FDI protests - Dec 01, 2011
- Bengal minister urges Pranab to reconsider gold duty hike - Mar 24, 2012
- Lalu Prasad takes jewellers' concerns to Mukherjee - Apr 05, 2012
- Levy on unbranded jewellery to be withdrawn: Pranab (Lead) - May 07, 2012
- Government invites jewellers for talks - Apr 04, 2012
- UP politicians rally behind bullion traders - Mar 26, 2012
- Tax hikes to hit household budgets - Apr 01, 2012
- Tax on gold amounts to taxing culture: Congress MP - Apr 04, 2012
- Gold traders on Akshaya Tritiya high - Apr 23, 2012
- Garment manufacturers protest duty on branded items - Mar 15, 2011
- Kashmir Valley gold sellers on strike against excise duty - Apr 03, 2012
Tags: allahabad, bandh, chowk, congress committee, congress office, custom duty, duty hike, effigies, excise duty, gold jewellery, lakhs, mandal, pranab mukherjee, progressive alliance, ravindra, sarafa, soni, sonia gandhi, tooth n nail, union finance minister