Savjhibhai Dholakia’s extraordinary gesture of generosity is making other bosses look very bad.
The diamond merchant from Surat in Gujarat has given 1,200 of his workers new cars, two-bedroom flats and jewelry as a Diwali bonus.
“We gave apartments to 207 employees, cars to 491 and jewellery to 500 employees. This is not a big reward…what I have given is very modest,” he said. “Our workers are being rewarded for their loyalty, their hard work. Sharing never decreases your wealth. I have learnt that. Every time I have given something away, I have got back much more.”
Mr Dholakia said he began his company in 1991 with his three brothers; none of them completed high school, he said. “I was not very educated…so to compensate, I read a lot. I am a self-made man,” he said. His company’s turnover has climbed from 100 crores when it started to nearly 6,000 crores this year, he revealed.
Mr Dholakia’s firm, Hari Krishna Exports, sends polished diamonds to 75 countries.
To select which workers make the shortlist for what he calls “a loyalty program”, Mr Dhoalka said 25 criteria are used to determine which of his 6,000 employees have added the most value to his firm in the last year. “They polish diamonds…but these are our diamonds,” he told a News Channel