Realising the role that the apparel industry could play in providing jobs, some of the leading apparel exporters are scheduled to make a presentation to leading Left leaders.
Apparel exporters in key garmenting centres like Bangalore for instance employ around three lakh persons.
“Yes we are slated to meet them shortly. We would highlight the immense job creation potential of the country's textile industry,” according to one source.
The team is expected to comprise senior officials from some of the major apparel exporting firms like Gokaldas Exports and Orient Craft, besides officials of the textiles ministry.
As has been reported earlier, the textile industry, notably the apparel exporters, has been demanding more flexible labour laws.
Sources said that apparel exporters could provide temporary jobs for as many as 200 days in a year against the 100 days being contemplated under the government's employment guarantee scheme. The Centre has planned to cover rural households spread across 200 districts of the country.
“There are over 40 crore people below the poverty line and providing employment is a major issue being faced by both state and central governments. Apparel exporters could even pay a daily wage of Rs 90 for the period of employment,” sources added
“In the interim, the Andhra Pradesh government is also reportedly readying the contours of a new contract labour programme. The new programme would see a retrenched employee getting a salary equivalent to four weeks in addition to gratuity and the retrenchment allowance payable by the employer.
Incidentally the Andhra Pradesh government's four week salary pales against the six week which the Gujarat government has suggested.
It is also believed that the Tamilnadu government is working on a similar plan to attract more investments into the apparel industry.
Apparel exports constitute a key element of the country's export basket and brought in about $13bn in '04-05. The prospects for apparel exporters are looking bright in the post-quota era.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
