Driving Industry Towards Sustainable Human Capital Advancement (DISHA), which was launched
with much fanfare last year has hit a roadblock with the industry asking some tough questions. The
most disturbing fact is that the industry, which was supposed to be the beneficiaries of the scheme
are not convinced that the project will give them value and that at the end of the day it is not going
to reduce the burden of audits, which is their biggest need. Apparel Online has been keeping a close
watch on the progress of the project and has attended many of the open house sessions, but even we
cannot deny the changing directions of the project from one meeting to another.
Initiated with the aim
to encourage members
to follow better social
practices, which would
give them a competitive edge in
the global market where social
compliance is increasingly
becoming an important buying
decision, AEPC launched Disha
officially in December 2011,
though preliminary meetings and informal talks with
stakeholders were already in
progress. The object as defined
in the introduction papers was
to undertake root cause analysis
and impart guidance by a team
of experts as part of the capacity
building programme.
The AEPC held that a toolkit
will be prepared based on the
‘Common Compliance Code’ by
which the enrolled units will
undergo an orientation and
training program. Following
which a remediation plan
would be introduced and after
monitoring the improvement, necessary certifications will be
given. The AEPC also indicated
that international agencies
will be empanelled to audit the
program. Very much upbeat of
the program the then Chairman
of AEPC, Premal Udani declared,
“Disha’ will not only give an
opportunity to the industry to
negate international claims
against child labour promotion in
the garment industry, but will also
help to improve the overall image
of the industry on the global front
and not the least, to win more
international businesses.
However, after six months only
155 exporters have registered
and though the focus was to be on
small and medium sized exporters
who are not in the audit net or are
finding it difficult to clear audits
due to lack of understanding
of the requirement and action
needed to be taken, many of those
registered are big exporters
who are well versed in the audit
process and are already compliant
by international standards… The
most common question being
asked is why are big exporters
enrolling when they clearly
have nothing to gain.
Many in the industry feel that
the bigger exporters are joining
only to show numbers, as smaller
exporters have not reacted as
positively as anticipated. Not
wanting to be named, an exporter
said that he received a call from
one of his influential buying offices
to enroll, living him with little
choice. The smaller exporters are
disillusioned as the whole concept is diluted if companies which are
already compliant are being graded
and evaluated with the same
yardstick as they are. The concern
is simple… has the basic
agenda changed?
Another major concern that is
surfacing is that Disha is no
longer talking about a common
compliance code though all its
promotional material claim that
the objective was to create a
common code that would form the
bases of all the activities… If the
program no longer promises a
common code for the garment
industry then what is the bases
of evaluation… is it international
norms, Indian laws or buyer
codes, the confusion still
remains. The contention
of the industry is that if the law
of the land is the base then many
of the buyer codes are not
fulfilled and then how will the
project aid business.
Further, if we follow the law of
the land then there is already
systems and agencies in place
to ensure that these laws are
properly followed… then why do
we need Disha to look into this
area. Is not the Labour Ministry
responsible for enforcement of
labour laws?
In its many open house sessions
the project leaders claimed that
the program is not ‘audit oriented’,
but is about hand holding to
uplift working environment and
infrastructural compliances of the
industry… yet how will evaluations
happen without an ‘audit’. The way
the results are projected may be different… say instead of pass/
fail, it may be coded to signify
stages of compliance, but the
bottom line is that factories need
to be audited and continually
monitored for determining
the stage of compliance, self
assessment cannot get foolproof
results, so how is it any
different than working with the
commercial audit agencies. The
industry is asking why the
need of Disha at all, if they will
work on similar lines as the
audit agencies. Despite efforts
the critical difference between
commercial audit and Disha
assessment has not been able to
be communicated with conviction.
Another worrying part is the
lack of answers regarding the
future course of action… What
will happen after a year...
Will companies again have to
register or is there a continuity
provision… is Disha only
about educating and creating
awareness or will they take
the next step and ensure that factories who have shown faith in
them are sustainably compliant.
Will the buyers accept Disha
certifications as creditable,
is another key concern. The
Disha team has not been able to
convincingly communicate that
buyers are with the project. In
fact one buyer has asked how
the project will satisfy different
brands from different countries
with one yardstick when many
international attempts to create
a common code have failed.
Though many buyers have
participated in stakeholder
meetings, the apprehensions
remains on where the focus area is… social, environment or
technical compliances. Though
the AEPC claims that the
program is not about workers,
but factory compliances; Disha
decoded clearly says ‘Driving
Industry Towards Sustainable
Human Capital Advancement’,
which implies that the focus
is on people. Where is the
discrepancy between the
intent and the obvious?
Many NGOs and labour
organizations are not sure how
the workers will be handled and
they are pushing for a clearer
understanding of the agenda. No
one is sure how the ‘right of
association’ will be interpreted
and the concerns of the NGOs
could be a major hurdle in
successful implementation.
Some have questioned: How
competent are the agencies
that have been taken on board
for implementing the project
and if they are already into the
business why not associate
with them directly?
In fact, many in the industry have
even gone ahead to question
the ‘intent’ of the project…If
the project cannot promise
us fewer audits, sustained
compliance and long term
credibility why should we
enroll. The project may have
the backing of the Ministry of
Textiles, but the module is aimed
to be a profit centre for the AEPC
as the nominal fees of Rs. 25,000
being charged today is already
admitted to be a subsidized
rate, which will be reviewed in
time. Exporters are increasingly
saying that if I have to pay then
I should align with a global audit
agency, the certificate of which
will certainly ensure compliance
clearance. Currently the Ministry
of Textiles is funding 75 per cent
of the project cost.
Today the Disha project seems
to be directionless with more
questions than answers… in
retrospect it looks as if the
project which is being claimed
as a national program lacks
the conviction that can satisfy
concerns from different
stakeholders. How can the
project move ahead on in the
midst of such uncertainties…
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Apparel Resources Pvt. Ltd.
