Commercial Designs

Its no coincidence that Rathi Vinay Jha, additional secretary in the ministry of commerce, is as well turned out as she is. The first female designated authority for anti-dumping is also the founder of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

This 53-year-old iron lady managed to set up Indias premier fashion institute at a time (1986-87) when union ministers were turning up their nose at what was termed as an elitist educational institution.

Elitist or not, Jha worked overtime to ensure that the organisation was set up, and also saved it from virtual closure in early 1991.

Having worked with the institute for over 5 years, Jha admits that she missed the work initially after she moved on, and that despite being a bird of passage, she had got emotionally involved with the institute.

Moving from clothes to chemicals, Jha insists that her new quasi-judicial role as the designated anti-dumping authority will be as interesting, though not as creative.

To start with, she has set herself a deadline of end-March to ensure that there are no anti-dumping cases for initiation pending with the ministry. She also plans to improve the departmental set up and improve the facilities available to the dumping cell in the ministry, an urgent need of the hour.

In the true tradition of the quick-change fashion world, Jha too likes to bring change to everything she does.

Prior to NIFT, Jha broke tradition while handling Co-optex the Tamil Nadu textile cooperative where she introduced the concept of boutiques for the first time. Shops exclusively stocking silk sarees were set up in each of the metros, and towels and lungis were thrown out.

Breaking tradition seems to come naturally to this Coorg-born, Tamil Nadu cadre bureaucrat.

In 1996, Jha shed her IAS avatar and joined the Confederation of Indian Industry for one year. Here she set up the department for social development and community affairs for the chamber, an effort aimed at sensitising Indian industry to involve itself in community good.

Do you know that IBM executives spend half-a-day in a week on social work, she asks emphatically.

It remains to be seen if her enthusiasm can actually get the Indian industry to break tradition.