IDSA & FICCI come together to Stimulate Policy Framework for Direct Selling Industry

17 04 2013

• MARK ‘E’ DIR : An initiative to protect and strengthen the potential of Direct Selling Industry in India

New Delhi, 17th April 2013: To stimulate the policy framework for Direct Selling Industry in India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) & World Federation of Direct Selling Association (WFDSA) organized a conference on “MARK ‘E’ DIR – “BRINGING MARKET TO CONSUMER” today at FICCI Federation House, New Delhi. The Indian direct selling industry started harnessing potential in 2009 while gathering speed in 2010 wherein it has expanded its horizons in 2011 and finally beating the economic slowdown in 2012, notching up remarkable double digit growth over the last couple of years and has reached a turnover of INR 6,385 Crore in 2011-12.
The event was inaugurated by Shri Pankaj Agrawala, Secretary, Dept. Of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and guest of honour were Shri Prem Narain, Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development, and Shri Alok Nigam, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance. Various stakeholders of the industry have agreed to participate in the event.
Shri Pankaj Agrawala, Secretary, Dept. Of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution congratulated FICCI, IDSA and WFDSA for organising this event. He said that we support the Direct Selling Industry and the ministry would emphasize on encompassing the aspects of Money Back Guarantee, Cooling off period and return policies especially in this service sector so that there will be credibility in the market. As this industry provides huge employment opportunity for women and we are looking to address the concern of the industry.”
Siddharth Birla, Senior Vice-President, FICCI said, “With economic development and growing consumerism, the retail and FMCG sector in India also underwent significant changes. Various store and non-store retail formats have evolved to cater to this growing market and direct selling is one such non-store retail format OR we can say it is an alternative channel to distribute various Fast Moving Consumer Goods and also some services to the consumer. This industry is even more important as 70% work force involved in women.”
Mr. Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI said, “In order to provide a platform to discuss the opportunities and challenges that Direct Selling sector faces, we have partnered with a World Body i.e World Federation of Direct Selling Association (WFDSA) and their Indian chapter i.e. Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) who have been working as the fore front towards legislative framework for direct selling industry. As an initiative and being a premier chambers of commerce in India, FICCI has formed a direct selling sub-committee under the aegis of FMCG Committee”
Amarnath Sengupta, Chairman IDSA said, “Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) have been continuously advocating with the Govt. of India since last many years and we as an industry body association would want to emphasize on separate regulation that should govern this industry. The pyramid schemes and the modes of operation of fraudulent players change frequently and dupes the consumers at large, it may be easier to lay down the procedures for identification of legitimate direct selling companies. Such procedures can be drawn up carefully by studying the code of conduct for direct selling companies across the world. The industry has brought various benefits to the society like employment for non-technical workforce, education, empowerment and higher contribution to exchequer by widening the tax net. This event will help in addressing these challenges and will provide a roadmap for the industry to grow and contribute top Nation & Society.”
Ms. Chavi Hemanth, Secretary General of IDSA said, “I feel proud that Direct Selling Industry has reached a turnover of INR 6,385 Crore in 2011-12. Industry is estimated to scale upto INR 10,844 Crore by 2015 and hopefully reaching to INR 34,000 Crore by 2020. In India, the direct selling is still evolving. Global best practices which have been shared today by the eminent panellists can be taken into consideration while designing a regulation for direct selling in India. The focus of regulation should be to identify which practices are fraudulent and it should lay down certain specifications, particularly for the protection of consumers purchasing products through direct selling so that the consumers are not duped.” She stressed that the need of the hour is definitional and operational clarity followed by separate law and exclusion from Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act 1978.”
Tamuna Gabilaia, Executive Director, WFDSA said, “WFDSA’s mission is to build understanding and support formation of policy framework for direct selling in all countries. We are very keen and would love to work very closely with Indian Government towards formulation for policy framework in India as well.”
She also emphasized on the adherence to the code of ethics for direct selling companies while stating that “WFDSA also advocates policies that allow governments to regulate the industry in ways that protect those individuals who invest in direct selling opportunities and consumers who purchase goods and services from direct sellers.”
Ms. Shilpa Gupta, Head-Retail, FICCI said, “India’s direct selling industry, where products are sold directly to customers rather than through retail shops, is fast emerging as a viable career option for women, empowering them to be independent. It enables them to get self-employed by using their networking techniques to sell the product. This industry enables women to be financially independent and supplement the family income.”
Dr. Bibek Debroi, Indian Economist and Chief Economc Consultant FICCI said, “Policy and legislation that do not adequately understand the nuances of any industry have the potential of not only adversely impacting that industry, but other complementary upstream and downstream industries as well. Direct sales and multi-level-marketing are all being in inadvertently bracketed with pyramid and Ponzy schemes; consequently consumer protection considerations are being imposed on perfectly legitimate and beneficial economic activities with significant positive externalities.”
This event was first of its kind involving participation from various International Organizations like World Federation of Direct Selling Association (WFDSA), DSA Malaysia and DSA Australia etc which came together to apprise all the stakeholders on the potential, legitimacy and way forward for Direct Selling Business look forward to a favorable response.
Other key speakers from the industry were Ms. Tamuna Gabilaia, Executive Director, World Federation of Direct Selling Association, Mr. Richard Holwill, Global Vice President- Public Policy, Amway, Mr. John P. Venardos, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory, Government & Industry Affairs, Herbalife, Ms.
Michaela Beltcheva, Advisor, Former VP-Government and Legal Affairs at Oriflame, Mr. John Kramer, VP International Govt. Affairs, Johnson & Johnson, Mr. P.A.Joseph, secretary, INTUC All-India committee and were also present at the event.
For any further information please contact:
Neeraj Shorya, 9310333595, neeraj@impactpr.in
Parul Kohli, parul@impactpr.in
Sujoy K Chowdhary, 9310333597, sujoy@impactpr.in

GITB ENDS WITH EUPHORIA AMONG THE TRAVEL TRADE

Jaipur, 16 March. The 6th edition of The Great Indian Travel Bazaar ended with euphoria today among the travel trade. The ᢵyers⠡nd ᳥llers⠥xpressed great satisfaction on account of more than 8200 meetings held in the course of two days.

The fair has been immensely successful in terms of pre-structured B2B meetings generated, said Principal Secretary, Tourism, Mr. Rakesh Srivastava. The response from both the ᢵyers⠡nd ᳥llers⠩s indeed gratifying. There is no denying that The Great Indian Travel Bazaar has become a force to reckon with in the travel arena, she said.

The Joint Managing Director of Creative Travel, Mr. Rohit Kohil said that the GITB has emerged a very important inbound tourism platform. Looking at the number of foreign tour operators who are coming, there needs to be a top class exhibition center in Jaipur. Even otherwise Trade Fair Tourism sector is one area which Rajasthan and other parts of the country should exploit.

One of the prime highlights of the fair was the heritage division of the Travel Bazaar, said General Secretary of the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA), Mr. Randhir Vikram Singh Mandawa. As many as 47 stalls of unique heritage hotels were under one roof. Furthermore, the quality of ᢵyers⠷as outstanding, he said. The Organizing Committee of the GITB had painstakingly selected the tour operators to be invited this year and the result has been immensely satisfying, he said.

The Director FICCI Rajasthan State Council, Mr. Gyan Prakash said that the next edition of the GITB will be held in mid April 2014 in Jaipur next year. The event has for sure carved a niche in the travel arena. Many foreign buyers have expressed their desire to come again next year and participate in this inbound tourism bonanza.

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Posted 1 minute ago by Naresh Kumar Sagar

What might Delhi be in 2050?

17 04 2013

 

As a resident of Delhi, what are the biggest problems one faces? Is it lack of safe drinking water? Inadequate affordable housing? Lack of safe and vibrant public spaces? Unsafe and unreliable  public transport? Can the city overcome these problems? We will survive; will the city be able to?

These are some of the questions that “Delhi 2050”, a brainchild of arch i, a Delhi based architecture and research platform, will explore in Phase 3 with the support of Outokumpu and Ambuja Cements Ltd. DELHi2050 is an open, public platform that will constructively put forward alternative sustainable solutions for the long term rather than complain about existing problems and myopic development plans.

The launch of DELHi 2050 website will mark the beginning of this phase. The website will be an open online platform for both the Indian and international audiences, to share information, maps, and facts and figures about the city of Delhi. Through polls, interactive maps, simple graphics and discussion forums, the website will raise pertinent questions to stimulate the thinking process as well gather data and public opinion, particularly involving the young generation.

DELHi 2050 is an open process to fundamentally rethink the long term future of Delhi by combining relevant disciplines, conducting exhaustive research and gathering public opinion. Following public consultations, international workshops and research, conceptual models and scenarios of Delhi in 2050 were developed in 2011-12.

Now the work will be carried forward on two of the models – Urban Harvest (creating sustainable communities by reusing water, urban farming and harvesting energy) and Life Street (creating accessible, safer and livelier public spaces). Two test sites have been identified to demonstrate the findings. In the forthcoming phases the proposals for the test sites and alternative scenarios for Delhi in 2050 will be developed through public debate and expert consultations.

Following the website launch a Knowledge Tour will commence in top academic institutions of Delhi to bring together multiple disciplines to brainstorm a sustainable future for Delhi through workshops and debates. The material collected from the website and knowledge tour will be consolidated and presented at a public event in June, where representatives from private companies, knowledge institutes and government bodies will be invited.

DELHi2050 was the only Indian project to be selected for the prestigious 5^th International Architecture Biennale 2012 in Rotterdam (Netherlands) that showcased interesting projects dealing with the ‘making’ of a city.

The Delhi 2050 press conference will be held on 18 April 2013, 1500 Hrs at Indian Women’s Press Corps. Eminent Architects Ashok B.Lall, principal ABL Architects,  Romi Khosla, principal Romi Khosla Studios, Yatinder Suri, Country Head, Outokumpu India Pvt. Ltd,  Rahul Mathur, Zonal Head, Ambuja Cement Ltd and Anne Feenstra, principal arch i , will be addressing the press.

For further queries please contact:

Mariyam Zakiah
arch i, 150, Second Floor, Kailash Hills
New Delhi-110065
Ph: +91-11-41060083, 9718224396

Email: arch.iplatform@gmail.com