Abstract
By industrialization the economy of the country grows, thestandard of living improves and the people get themselves engaged in usefulactivities. The apparel industry is one of thelargest foreign exchange earners, accounting for nearly 16% of the country'stotal exports. It has been estimated that India has approximately 30,000 readymade garment manufacturing units and around threemillion people are working in the industry. It is therefore the responsibilityof all in the industry to work for maintaining and improving this industry. Thegovernment and the community support the development of industries in theirarea with an intention of overall development. It is the responsibility of anycompany to ensure that the products, services and the operations do not haveany negative impact on the society. Companies are expected to address andincorporate suitable actions relating to the public responsibility and impactareas in their strategic planning and in process management. As a citizen ofthe land, it is the prime responsibility of any organization to respect the lawof the land, from where they are doing their business and earning.
The garment industry works in a buyers market. The industryis facing severe competition not only within the country but also from othercountries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, Srilanka, Indonesia, etc. Runningthe industry is very difficult as the margin is very low. It is very difficultto even think of other activities for a garment industry.
The garment industry need not do any extra work to upliftthe community or society, but look after their employees in such a way thatthey are developed. As our employees are also a part of our society, if theydevelop the society also develops. Good companies have systems for providingthe health care facilities to family members, education facilities to children,helping employees to develop housing colony near the factory. Some companiesadopt educational institutes and help them in setting up syllabus suitable fortheir industry, provide industrial training at their factory and also deputetheir staff for giving training. Several Non Governmental Organizations are involved activelyin educating the workers as to their labour rights and in educating the womenin particular as to their rights against sexual and verbal harassment andmaternity benefits. However, in good companies, the company management educatestheir employees on these aspects, which shall build confidence among employees.Those who areaddressing these issues and placing monitoring systems in place have acompetitive advantage in terms of customer and society goodwill and hence canprogress.
Theauthor is a learned Consultant for QMS and Textiles
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