The Confederation of Indian Industry’s code of conduct for affirmative action may have been signed by 690 companies, but the case of Bannari Amman Apparel (BAA) stands out for translating positive discrimination into concrete figures.
The 30-acre BAA plant ? a 50:50 joint venture between Bannari Amman Group and US-based Brandot International ? near Chennai employs 80% of its total workforce from the OBC and SC/ST communities, which translates to around 1,300 out of a total of 1,600 employees. The company even received attention from national corporate honchos at a recent CII meet on affirmative action for its record employment from socially disadvantaged groups.
B Jeevanandam, vice-president, human resources, BAA, tells FE that extending jobs to dalit and backward class women was carried out with the joint involvement of the Vanzthukottovam (to eke out a decent livelihood) project of the Kanchipuram district collectorate, Brandot and the rural development ministry.
He shares how the company conducted a caste census to gauge employability: ?We did a micro-level survey of the taluk, spanning 250 villages, and found that among the suitable, there were 63% in scheduled castes, 29% in backward classes and 1% in the scheduled tribes category, who could be trained and hired for our industry. We imparted training to 1,300-odd women, who are now part of Bannari Apparel and take home a gross pay between Rs 2,900 and Rs 4,000.?
The sum may not be very big, but women prefer it over farm jobs or daily labour. Jeevanandam says the dignity of labour and pride in working at a factory win over better-paying casual jobs.
This reflects in what an employee, Poongodi (25), has to say. Coming from a poor family, Poongodi is happy to work at the factory. ?I thank Bannari Apparel for providing me a sustainable livelihood. What I earn is enough for my family,? she says. Another employee S Kalpana (24) has studied up to Class VIII. ?My parents could not afford to educate me further. I was married off at a young age and now have two daughters. Work at the factory helps me to save for my daughters,? says Kalpana.
Savings from her salary helped R Saranya (21) to arrange for her dowry. ?I belong to the Naidu community(OBC) and dowry is an indispensable part of a wedding. The gold jewellery for my wedding was bought with my savings from the factory,? she says.
Jeevanandam adds: ?Currently, we have an annual turnover of Rs 70 crore, with production lines in vests, briefs and brassieres for export to the US. Labour welfare and management is an open mode system where clients make their own assessment of prevailing labour welfare standards and working conditions before awarding business contracts.
The attrition rate is 6-7% and with 7.5 hours of daily work and two shifts a day, the women employees have no reason to complain.? However, the company is not smug with its social inclusion initiatives and plans to go further. ?Our target is to hire 100 workers every month to reach a workforce strength of 4,000 employees by 2012,? says Jeevanandam.
Bannari Apparel?s immediate competition is from the Nokia factory located at Sriperumbudur, which is also hiring locals. On a wider scale, there are more such companies. At least 150 companies, including some from the Tata Group, have started collecting data about their SC/ST employees, as India Inc is no more ?caste-blind,? says a CII paper on affirmative action.
?CII?s sponsored code of conduct for affirmative action has been signed by 690 companies, of which 150 have started collecting data on SC/ST employees,? the paper says. Companies involved in vocational training programmes for the underprivileged include Infosys, Thermax, HSBC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Crompton Greaves, Cummins India, Godrej and Boyce, Forbes Marshall and the Hero Group. Very affirmative, one would say.