In the last issue of Apparel Online, some very pertinent questions being asked
by the industry was put forward with regards to the AEPC-led Disha project.
Many in the industry reacted to the story and AO invited the AEPC to clarify
their position on the many doubts that were casting a shadow on this unique
project, which the Ministry of Textiles claims is the only industry-led project
of its kind and magnitude in the world. It is of course obvious when such a
huge program is initiated many queries erupt and for healthy evolution of the
program, free interchange of ideas is very important. In a frank and open letter
AEPC Chairman Dr. A Sakthivel replies to the queries that AO had put forward.
Since the project is
the brainchild of the
Ministry of Textiles, the
Joint Secretary of the
Ministry of Textiles V Srinivas
has been closely involved in
the conceptualization of the
project and no shortcut was
taken with many man hours
spend on understanding what
the industry needed and the
direction that the program
should take before it was actually presented to the industry in
December 2011. Realizing that
various stakeholders of the
apparel industry hold different
perspectives and positions on
these challenges,
stakeholder consultation was adopted as the best mechanisms to build consensus on these challenges, for which the AEPC formulated an AEPC stakeholders forum inviting NGOs, trade unions, third party accreditation agencies, multi-stakeholder
institutions, brands, retailers,
buying houses and relevant
government departments to give
their inputs.
The interactions and feedbacks
from the AEPC Stakeholder
Forum have been deeply looked
into and the team behind Disha is
very positive, and certain course
corrections have been made to
make it more effective.
Has the basic agenda of Disha
changed?
No, the basic agenda is to
improve the social compliance
benchmark across the industry,
which DISHA is confident to
achieve. Criticism only makes
our resolve stronger to show
results and demonstrate that
enrolling with Disha can and
does make a difference.
Also, one must appreciate that
a programme like this, with
no precedence, is always an
evolutionary process. We have
done some course corrections and
improvements in our journey so
far, which should be viewed as our
commitment to create the best
social compliance programme.
Why are big exporters
enrolling when they clearly
have nothing to gain?
As per the present enrolment
statistics 19% are units with over
1000 workers, 10% with 500 to
less than1000 workers, 25% with
500 to less than 200 workers,
and 46% with less than 200
workers. Many of the bigger
exporters also have expressed
interest in better management
systems based approach,
and effective documentation management to be more
efficient. There are obvious
long-term gains from this
programme, once it gets the due
global endorsements – gains
which will be equally relevant to
big players.
In the short-term, we
encourage their participation
as demonstration of their
confidence in this programme
and as much needed flag
bearers of this programme.
Some of them are the Executive
Committee members of AEPC,
and are keen to demonstrate that
it is a truly “industry owned -
industry driven” programme.
If the program no longer
promises a common code
for the garment industry
then what is the basis of
evaluation…?
DISHA goes into the details
of “what’s” and “how’s” of
complying ‘with the Indian laws’
– which, from our assessment
of the buyers and suppliers
requirements, is very relevant
and critical. Even today,
many SMEs are unable to
export, mainly because of
the absence of understanding
of the compliance requirements,
and ‘demonstratable’ ways
of complying with the law of
the land.
Compliance requirements give
instructions that are vague…
factory should have appropriate
lighting, proper ventilation,
proper space for storage of
chemicals, etc… but what is
appropriate and proper… Disha
aims to fill this understanding
gap so that exporters can go in for audits in a more
informed manner.
There are already systems and
agencies in place to ensure
that the laws of the land are
properly followed…, then why
do we need Disha?
We are not auditing or
monitoring as to whether
factories are
following laws,
that is not our
role; Disha trains
factories on how
to comply through
detailed manuals
and toolkits. Such
standardized
toolkit and
training
programme for
a sustainable
compliance at
factory units is
not available
at the moment.
There is no
conflict of role or
interest on this
issue.
Why the need of
Disha at all, if
they will work
on similar lines
as the audit
agencies?
At this
foundational phase, DISHA is
not about auditing as much as
‘capacity building’. The objective
and methodologies are very
different. The major objectives
are three – first analyzing
through self-assessment the
problem areas; second, providing
a customized toolkit to minimize/ eradicate the problems; and
third, build strong management
systems to ensure that the
problems do not crop up again.
Will the buyers accept Disha
certifications as creditable is
another key concern.
The DISHA programme was
evaluated by International Trade
Centre, Geneva
during May 2012
and a comparative
analysis done of
the DISHA codes,
against 8 major
codes of ethics
presently existing
in this sector. The
DISHA codes were
found to be very
strong in social
issues and aligned
to international
systems. ISEAL
Alliance has
also appreciated
the programme
after a similar
analysis. They
have appreciated
the strong
stakeholder
consultation
mechanism in
place, in this
programme, which
in their opinion
is an important part of the Code
formation. Taking DISHA as a
comparable model is a matter of
pride for AEPC.
We are in constant touch with
the buyers and are proactively
listening to their concerns.
In the meanwhile, the due
processes to be followed to ensure greatest acceptability and
credibility of this programme
are being followed, which gives
us confidence that buyers will
accept this programme. Further,
more and more buyers want to
reduce the cost of compliances,
so if a single project has
the credibility to ensure
compliances, buyers would love
to associate; this is also the
feedback we are getting.
How can the project move
ahead on in the midst of such
uncertainties…?
AEPC is confident that the
programme will be a national
pride in years to come. We
request that the required time
be given to it to mature and
demonstrate tangible results. For
a programme with such scope
and intent, it is too premature to
make such judgmental decisions.
After all, our proposal has the
confidence of Ministry of Textiles.
Our confidence is not based on
just ‘expectations’ but what we
are experiencing at the grass
root when the Disha team meets
the smaller exporters. There is
no doubt that the expectation
levels are high and everyone is
critically evaluating our role and
intention, but the core Disha
team, the expert institutions
and individuals supporting the
project are well equipped to
respond to industry needs on
compliance and all of them have
a long history of working with the
industry. Each partner has been
chosen with care and together
we all are committed to see the
project achieve its goal.
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