The All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) has announced the election of Anantha Padmanaban as Chairman and Shaankar Sen as Vice Chairman for a period of two years. The organisation conducted the elections through an e-Voting process held in December 2018 which also elected new directors to the Committee of Administration, comprising one-third of its total strength.

New chairman Anantha Padmanaban, NAC Jewellers Ltd has been closely associated with GJC since its inception. Over the years, he has successfully conceptualized and executed innovative programmes for the benefit of the Industry. He was instrumental in addressing many burning issues like excise, GST, custom duty, PMLA etc, GJC said in the announcement.

The new Chairman GJC stated, “I am grateful to the Board and it is an honour to accept the responsibility of steering the national domestic council. We shall work closely with the Government and take up various issues facing the industry. In sync with Government’s policies, my first effort will be to transform and energize jewellers across India to bring more synergies within the indigenous industry. We shall strive to unite the entire industry and work towards achieving GJC's set goal of One Industry One Voice. GJC will strive to inspire many more jewellers and their association to get more organized so as to project a unified approach to policy changes. We also want to tackle contentious issues such as the banking sector's hesitancy to provide loans to the G&J sector.”

The new vice chairman Shaankar Sen, Senco Group is known for his vision to create benchmarks in gold, silver and fashion jewellery that reflect excellence in design and artistry. On his election, the board complimented his commitment towards innovation and visualizing future trends all these years and expressed confidence that he will continue to work for the benefit of the industry.

Vice Chairman Sen said, “It is my proud privilege to work for the growth of this pivotal trade organization and contribute my vision for the development of its member jewellers across region.  There is a need for the industry to become more organized and compliant. GJC will continue to create better and newer platforms for the industry”.

Immediate Past Chairman, GJC, Nitin Khandelwal, said, “I want to thank the Board for bestowing the trust in me for the last two years in most of the crucial decision that I have taken for GJC. Our priority is to be a friend, philosopher and guide to the jewellers of India, who are grappling with diverse issues. In the past couple of years, GJC has worked as custodian of the gems and jewellery by taking up the issues with government like GST, PMLA, Hallmarking, etc. GJC has initiated state-of-the-art programme such as Manthan for churning the intelligence within industry. Besides, we have organized Labham seminars to elucidate and enlighten on various subject matters related to the day to day business practices of trade in more than 45 locations and many more.”

Through the e-Voting, members also elected Mohanlal Jain and S Abdul Nazar to the COA from South, Nilesh Shobhawat from West and Kamal Singhania from East. Shaankar Sen – Zonal Chairman East, Ashish Pethe – Zonal Chairman West, Anantha Padmanaban – Zonal Chairman South, Avinash Gupta – COA, Madan Kothari – COA got elected unopposed.

The entire e-Voting election process was conducted by an authorized independent person (Chief Election Authority), and the voting platform was created by a digital agency, both appointed by GJC. The electronic voting facility conducted hassle-free election of various panel & zones. Voting was held from 19th to 24th December, 2018 and the results were declared on December 26th, 2018.

Pic caption: The new Chairman and Vice Chairman are felicitated by the Immediate Part Chairman and other CoA officials