Babu Patel, member of the association, alleged that the state government is turning a blind eye to the fate of 20 lakh workers, who are sitting jobless from days together. He added that while the state government was wooing foreign investors and industrialists, it was not doing anything concrete for the jobless diamond workers who have taken to suicides and are desperate for survival.

Narsinh Patel, president of the association, said that the diamond industry in Gujarat has received a major blow. About 80 per cent of the factories have been shutdown, leaving lakhs of workers jobless. The workers have been struggling to get meals, pay tuition fees of their kids and pay rent of their houses.