Garment Exporters Chamber hails JAAF’s employee welfare programme

SME’s apparel sector arm has welcomed the JAAF initiative to reward and recognize all apparel sector employees, also including the non BoI factories scattered in all parts of the country as SMEs.

At a recent meeting of the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Chamber of Garment Exporters, the members hailed the project as a timely and fitting tribute to a community that has been rendering great service to the industry under trying circumstances. The SME in particular sees this a sensible way of appreciating their service to the apparel sector as our resources are limited to meet their basic needs along with their wages.

Our factories are scattered mostly in the rural areas with very limited resources unlike the big operators. This sport of programme gives us the much required encouragement and support and we accept this with our open arms, they said.

In January this year JAAF with the support of the Industry and Commerce Ministry launched a special welfare programme exclusively for apparel sector workforce, where workers could subscribe for a Privilege Discount Card called Ransalu Pranama that carries special discount offers from leading merchants of consumer goods and services.

They will be entitled for dis- count on their daily purchases of food stuff and groceries from any of the islandwide Cargills Food City outlets, electronic and electrical appliances from Abans, Singer and STC(Gen) Corporation, footwear from DSI, clothing from No Limit, Glitz, Hameedia, Thilakawardhana Textiles, CIB, Jewellery from Swarna Mahal, Unilever, ICL marketing, Delmege, Hayleys Consumer products and lightings, Rainco, Laugfs Gas and Litro Gas, Hutch, Metropolitan, ewis, 7Stories Ranjanas, Lanka Hospitals, Siddhalepa, Ceylinco Insurance, Janashakthi and AIG.

Mobitel is the official IT partner while Lake House Printers and Publishers have been selected as NFC card suppliers to the programme.

The workforce in the SME apparel sector is around 35,000 managed by about 50 owner operators who primarily export through the Ministry of Industry.

Channel17 CEO Jumar Preena made the presentation on the programme to the SLCGE Ex-CO on behalf of the JAAF and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce at their regular meeting. Several of the members placed orders for the Discount Card on behalf of their workers, which will be distributed to the employees free of charge.