Monday 11 / May / 2026
Over 10 million jobs could be impacted if Indians heed an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cut down on buying gold jewelry. That's the assessment of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council.
In an interview with news agency ANI, the national trade federation's chairman Rajesh Rokde said on Monday that gold jewelry had a deep cultural importance in India and any broad-based limiting of its purchase could affect employment and economic activity in the jewelry sector.
Rokde said that Modi asking people to cut down on purchasing gold over the next year was in the "national interest," adding that the prime minister might be referring to people who buy gold for investment.
He said that while he supports discouraging the purchases of bullion and coin for investment, the jewelry industry contributes around 7% to India's gross domestic product (GDP).
"Any restriction on jewelry would raise a big question on unemployment," he stated, saying that more than 1 crore (10 million) people who work in this industry — including artisans and showroom employees — could be "impacted directly."
Opposition slams Modi's austerity call to nation
India's opposition parties on Monday denounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request to Indians to make lifestyle changes and help cushion the country from the economic repercussions of the Iran war, deeming the leader's move a "failure" of policy.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Indian parliament's lower house, said Modi's appeal was a "proof of failure".
"Yesterday, Modi ji asked the public to make sacrifices — don't buy gold, don't go abroad, use less petrol, cut down on fertiliser and cooking oil, take the metro, work from home. These aren't sermons — these are proofs of failure," the Congress leader wrote in Hindi on X.
"In 12 years, he's (Modi) brought the country to such a pass that the public now has to be told — what to buy, what not to buy, where to go, where not to go. Every time, they shift the responsibility onto the people just so they can wriggle out of accountability themselves," Gandhi went on to say as he referred to the Modi government's tenure.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram questioned what triggered Modi's "very serious "directives".
"The Government must convene Parliament immediately & take the nation into confidence & inform us about the true state of affairs which has necessitated these 'appeals',"he said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Modi's call to the public was an "admission of failure" by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
He also questioned the timing of the prime minister's call to action, saying that the Middle East crisis suddenly "came to mind" for the government after the recently-concluded state elections.
