Kakinada: In the light of the restrictions by the Centre on the amount of gold that can be owned, pawn merchants are offering gold at the rate of Rs 2,000 per gram, which is said to be quite a low rate. Taking advantage of the restrictions, the pawn merchants are getting ready to cash the gold. The merchants usually get gold from debtors at a low cost. When the debtors pay back their debt with interest, the gold is released to them. But, in many of the cases, the buyers are unable to release their gold due to high interests or lack of ability to get it released by clearing their debt.
Some of the traders sometimes lie to their customers and sell it when gold rates are hiked. But, now the situation has totally changed. According to market expectations, the gold prices may be come down to Rs 2,000 from Rs 2,300 per gram. Meanwhile, the merchants are planning to sell their gold ornaments at Rs 2,000 per gram. According to sources, some of the traders in Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Samalkot and Narsapuram towns started clearing their gold.
It is said that if they keep the gold at their homes or their shops, they have to reveal its sources to the Income-Tax Department. It is said that some of the gold traders are selling ornament gold at Rs 25,000 per 10 grams since Sunday night. Meanwhile, the demonetisation of currency and restrictions on gold has badly hit the goldsmith. “We usually clean our equipment in morning hours and perform poojas before starting our process of making gold or silver ornaments. But, after announcement of demonetisation and restrictions on gold, we could not make even two grams of gold as the traders have not given work to them due to raids by the Income-Tax department and other problems,” said Swarnakarula Samkshema Sangham (Goldsmiths Welfare Association) AP joint secretary Chelluri Satyanarayana.
He said that as soon as Cine Producers Association requested the Central government for giving incentives to Tollywood, the Central government granted it. But, no government cares about the welfare of goldsmiths. He said that more than two and half lakh of people from this community are facing hardships as their survival is based on their daily work which has drastically fallen short now.
