KADAPA: Goldsmiths across AP observed a Statewide bandh on Tuesday, protesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reported appeal to the public not to purchase gold for a year.
Responding to a call by State Goldsmiths Association president Venumadhav, goldsmiths shut shops and staged protests across the State. In several districts, traders wore black badges and organised demonstrations highlighting hardships faced by the community.
In Proddatur, members of the Proddatur Taluk Goldsmiths Association staged a protest under the leadership of association president Uppaluru Iliyaz Basha.
Protesters closed shops and took out a rally from association office before submitting memorandum to Proddatur Tahsildar Uday Bhaskar Raju and TDP State general secretary VS Mukthiyar.
A delegation of goldsmiths attempted to meet the local MLA but returned after learning he was unavailable.
Association leaders said they would meet him on Wednesday. Leader Uppaluru Iliyaz alleged that the Prime Minister’s remarks advising people to avoid gold purchases for a year had created confusion and reduced sales. He said goldsmiths were already struggling due to rising gold prices.
Iliyaz claimed many artisans had shifted to other occupations to support their families. Association leaders demanded special financial aid and welfare funds for goldsmiths and appealed to CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu to intervene.