Diamond firm considers relief for families facing legal actions

Surat: Diamond manufacturing firm K P Sanghvi (KPS) has completed a fresh survey of 12 families who were protesting legal action initiated against them for non-payment on rough diamond purchases. KPS officials announced that eight of these families were found to be in difficult financial situations on Friday. The company stated that further action would be taken after internal discussions.

Earlier, KPS had conducted a broader survey of 47 families who defaulted on payments following the global pandemic. Of these, 22 were identified as being in severe financial distress, and the company offered them relief measures.

Legal proceedings were initiated against the remaining defaulters. In response, some families began repaying their dues in instalments. However, 12 families staged a protest against the legal action, drawing the attention of local political leaders. BJP MLAs Kumar Kanani, Vinu Moradiya, and Pravin Ghoghari even joined the demonstrators, sitting on the footpath outside the company's premises.

Following a meeting prompted by the protest, KPS assured the stakeholders that it would consider the grievances, leading to the suspension of the protest.

"KPS has clarified that no formal agreement was signed with the families who have yet to make payments for their rough diamond purchases. As a reputed and ethically operated company, they are now evaluating the situation on humanitarian grounds and have announced possible relief for eight families," said Dinesh Navadiya, chairman of the Indian Diamond Institute (IDI).

The affected families previously operated diamond cutting and polishing units. Under a common industry practice, they purchased rough diamonds on credit from KPS, with the understanding that payments would be made after selling the finished products. However, the pandemic dealt a severe blow to their businesses, and they were unable to make timely repayments.