India plans to train young men from Mizoram State to authenticate gems in an attempt to curb the smuggling of precious stones from Burma, according to the Indian Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

Ruban Hobday, the regional director of GJEPC in Chennai, told Mizzima the decision to launch the training was made after repeated calls from the group to stop smugglers.

Hobday said India’s ministry of commerce had finally agreed to fund the training in Mizoram in partnership with GJEPC.

“Under this program training would be given to the boys to judge the quality and the purity of the gems so that they are able to distinguish the real from the fake gems,” Hobday said.

Rubies, yellow diamonds and jade are often smuggled from Burma into India’s northeastern states. Many Indian dealers who are unable to distinguish real gems from fakes are duped by smugglers.

“Such a program would help a great deal to tackle the smugglers who are pushing in fake gems from Burma into India…and would also benefit the [Indian] gem industry in a big way, as it would be able to get the right kind of precious stones that it requires from Burma,” Hobday said.