Apparel Online India Magazine May 1-15, 2019 | Page 37

INDUSTRY LIVE
PROCESS STARTED..., SERIOUSLY?
HKL Magu, Chairman, AEPC
“Recognising the fact that more active participation of women in
the governing body of AEPC would help in better understanding
of women’s issues and motivate the women entrepreneurship in
of the industry, AEPC is planning to form a women’s forum for
exchange of ideas and discussion on the subject.”
Prabhu Dhamodharan, Convenor,
Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF)
We are in the process of creating ITF Leadership Academy and
we formed women entrepreneurs’ team to manage the academy.
The idea is to bring women entrepreneurs slowly into the
system and we will induct a few of them into ITF board also in
the current year. ITF Leadership Academy is going to focus on
women entrepreneurs as a team will drive the task.”
Raja M Shanmugham, President,
Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA)
“We have started a women exporter wing having 11 women and
who are doing good job with regard to knowledge dissemination,
zero waste etc. We are encouraging women to come forward
and play a more significant role. We do have women forum and
women are special invitees in our EC meeting.”
several times in the past. The earlier
Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta;
Sarada Muraleedharan, DG, NIFT and
Aditi Das Rout, Trade Advisor, MoT
etc., are some of the recent examples
of invitee EC representatives.”
India’s biggest and most
respected body especially for the
manufacturers of the domestic
market, CMAI, Mumbai (Clothing
Manufacturers Association of India)
shared…
“Apart from elected members, we
also have co-opted and invitee
members. Seema Mehta and Vidhi
Dalal are special invitees to our
managing committee, and in fact
joint chairperson in one of our
subcommittees. In the past too, we
have had the tradition of having a
couple of female members in our
managing committee. Also, another
woman, Minal Joshi, has been one
of the senior-most members of the
EC of our Western India Regional
Committee and is likely to be the next
Chairperson of the region. Of course,
the final decision would be taken by
way of an election at the end of the
current committee’s term.”
CITI (Confederation of Indian
Textile Industry), Delhi, that
completed its 60 years recently
and claims to represents the major
leading regional and industry
associations, informed…
“There is as such no reason, it’s
just that our member associations
and corporate members have not
nominated anyone to our EC Body –
we would more than welcome them.”
Buying Agents Association is an
exception. Why?
“Apart from Christine E. Rai,
Chairperson and Anchal Kansal,
General Secretary, BAA has two
more women leaders. So out of 14
members in its Governing Body, there
are a total of four women. One of the
key reasons for this is that buying
agents industry has a lot of women
entrepreneurs. We have always
heard that a ‘man’ is the person with
the big vision, and a ‘woman’ is the
one who focuses on the ‘little details’.
In case, of buying agencies, these
‘little details’ are the key factors to
success; and coupled with a visionary
role that women are increasingly
venturing into, the outcome is more
leadership roles for women in this
industry. And we do think this trend
is not only going to continue but
exponentially grow in the future.”
Rahul Mehta, President, CMAI
If women take an active part in trade bodies like yours, will
there be any difference in the working as well as in the results of
your efforts?
I never look at a person’s performance from a gender perspective.
I welcome any industry member, male or female, who is interested
in contributing to the industry welfare, to join the association and
help it to serve the industry better.
Do you feel that having a woman at the helm of a trade body
will in some way improve the condition of women workers in the
industry or are men equally sensitive to the issue?
I believe that most men are equally sensitive to issues relating to
working conditions for women, special facilities, pay parity, etc.
Our industry is one of the few industries which is largely staffed
by women and hence the managerial staff has to be conscious of
their sensitivities in any case.
Sanjay Jain, Chairman, CITI
Lack of women in the governing body is not the case with any
particular trade body, but rather the same for all. What could be
the reason for the same?
I guess the reason is very few ladies are at the helm of textile
businesses – the younger generation is coming, however to reach
the EC level, they will take some time. Normally one starts taking
interest in associations after the age of 40. My wife Jyoti is the
JMD of our company and is in-charge for the branded garment
sales. She has been active from the age of 22 years.
Anchal Kansal, General Secretary, BAA
Overall, lack of women in the governing body is not the case
with any particular trade body, but rather the same for all. What
could be the reason for the same?
In general, there is a lack of gender parity and gender-
balanced appointments in numerous trade bodies. Even larger
international organisations such as WTO and UN suffer from poor
representation of women. In fact, globally there is just one female
parliamentarian against four male counterparts. I believe across
the globe, women have rich, yet under-appreciated representation
in trade bodies and other governing bodies. There is absolutely no
policy framework to tackle this gap and facilitate more women to
take up leadership roles.
If women take an active part in trade bodies like yours, will
there be any difference in the working as well as in the results of
your efforts? I assume it is not about being a man or a woman.
The bottom line is that there should be minimal politics and
biasness involved so that people with the right experience and
competence can come forward. If these attributes take precedence
over gender, age or other such biases, it is natural that bodies will
work more efficiently and can contribute significantly towards the
welfare of their members.
What efforts can be made to increase the women’ role in trade
bodies and the industry at large?
The companies should adopt a policy of unbiased hiring. I am
never in favour of any quotas but an honest effort to bring in a
new perspective will automatically lead to women being involved.
There should be policies in place to tackle systematic barriers that
stop women from going forward. Talent, experience and expertise
should always take precedence over petty politics and nepotism.
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