According to indianexpress.com, Chennai-based jeweller, Jayanti Lal Chellani of Chellani Jewellery Mart gifted cars and bikes to employees as a gesture to acknowledge their unbridled support during tough times. S. Balaji, Assistant General Manager of Publicity And Marketing For Challani Jewellery said that this was the first time in the country that a jeweller had gifted cars to 8 employees and bikes to 18 staff members.

Express reported that the jeweller had decided to laud deserving staff. S. Balaji informed the newspaper that the eight people who were gifted cars have been with the organisation right from its inception. He told Express, “We were absolutely new to this retail industry. For the initial four to five months, we had little walk-ins but these people believed us. Only after six months, the company began to grow. Even during the pandemic, where it is common in this industry for people to jump from one company to another for a better salary, these people stayed with us. So, the company decided to reward the staff who were supportive during turbulent times,” he said. Balaji further added that the company decided against giving the employees a cash bonus for Diwali and chose vehicles as they would spend the cash in a couple of months and the gesture would be forgotten soon. “The staff members were not informed about it. I hold a senior position in the company but even I was kept in the dark. The cars and bikes were covered with a huge screen. It was all our owner Jayanthi Lal Challani’s idea to surprise everyone. The staff members and their families were so moved by the gesture of the company that they were all in tears. Also, these are not some ordinary cars which we are giving our employees. These are automatic (transmission) cars with five years of guarantee, insurance coverage and fully loaded petrol,” he added.