First dialogue fora in Tamil Nadu (India)

The Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Tamil Nadu (MSI-TN) has a clear goal: To improve the conditions of workers in the textile industry in South India. In order to find corporate solutions, dialogue fora were established. The annual conference, which took place in Coimbatore in March 2019, gave the go-ahead for the new fora. Until February 2020, 36 district-level meetings and six meetings on state-level will take place.

The coordinator of the dialogue process, Rohini Chandrasekaran, is hopeful: “A happier and healthier workforce, working for the textile industry in Tamil Nadu – that’s what I hope for the next ten years.”

Since the project started in summer of 2018, the Partnership Initiative Tamil Nadu has been supporting the India-based MSI-TN to establish dialogue platforms on state-level and in the four districts Tirupur, Coimbatore, Erode and Dindigul. Regularly, numerous relevant stakeholders in the textile industry come together. Jointly, they discuss how to improve the working conditions in the textile industry systemically. At previous meetings the participants worked profoundly on topics such as “women’s rights at the workplace” or “social benefits”.

At the beginning of March a delegation from the Textiles Partnership made its way to Tamil Nadu. On the ground, the stakeholders of the Partnership Initiative got to know their implementation partners in person. Representatives of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Brands Fashion, FEMNET and HUGO BOSS took part in the delegation trip, accompanied by the Partnership Secretariat.

The main reason for the trip was the first annual conference of the MSI-TN in Coimbatore. Representatives from government, businesses and civil society convened to improve the conditions in the textile supply chain in Tamil Nadu and to cooperate in the dialogue in future.

During conversations with the local partners, interviews were recorded. While the long version video is still being finalized, you can already get an impression of the work of the Partnership Initiative and its implementation partners