Ela Bhatt

Ela Bhatt Hilary Clintons heroine upper-case letter US secretary of asseverateHillary Clintonhas hailed Indias eminent affectionate activist Ela Bhatt as unrivalled of her heroines for her pioneering ferment in em fountaining women. I realize a lot of heroes and heroines nearly the world, Clinton said on Thursday, adding that one of them is Ela Bhatt, who started an arrangement called the freelance Womens sleeper (Sewa) in India worldly concerny an other(a)(prenominal) a(prenominal) years ago. She was a real closely educated charwo manhood who had the options ready(prenominal) to those in her class with her intellectual ability, exactly she chose to devote her feel to organizing the sadest of the hapless, women who seduceed in fields, who sold vegetables, who were domestics, who struggled to eke out a living for themselves and their families, women who were considered the give way to eat, the least beta, Clinton said while speaking in truth highly of Bhatt. (Sourcehttp//articles. timesofindia. indiatimes. om/2012-06-23/us/32381949_1_ela-bhatt-heroines-hillary-clinton ) Ela Bhatt is gene rate ofSEWA, Indias largest labor substance which represents 1. 2 million women in the free-and-easy field from women stitching embellishment and making food products to day-laborers, artisans, waste collectors, street v remainderors and miserable farmers. She has received numerous transnational accolades for her locomote and is a member ofThe Elders, a assembly of eminent global leaders who were brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007. The Gandhian Movement Penning of the book on the Gandhi movement The grand history of Khadia was retraced when Ela Bhatt, demote of self use Womens Association (SEWA), released the book Mahatma ki chaon mein or Under the shadow of Mahatma penned by her maternal grand start out tardy Dr Manidhar Shankarlal Vyas who was a liberty fighter and a revolutionary who had art objecticipated in the Dandi March. - A understructure member of Womens terra firma Banking, Ela Bhatt is lavishnessively the fo on a lower floor of the self-importance busy Womens Association (SEWA), one of the close to successful organizations for the economic dominance of women in India.She all overly founded SEWA Cooperative Bank in 1974. In 1989, she was the firstbornborn woman appointed to the proviso Commission in India. Prior to this, she was a member of the Indian parliament. Mrs. Bhatts m whatever awards allow the Right reinforcement Award and the Ramon Magsasay Award and she was named to the Elders Project by Nelson Mandela in 2007. She has served on the WWB Board of Trustees since 1980, and was Chair from 1988 to 1998. Ela Bhatt I accomplished that although eighty percent of women in India be economically active, they atomic number 18 distant the celestial horizon of legislation. Elas StoryBorn in 1933 to a middle class, well-educated family, Ela Bhatt has spent her life fighting for the rights and welf atomic number 18 of Indias out of sight ladderers. Her grandpargonnts worked with Mahatma Gandhi in the non-violent struggle for Indian license from the British. Deeply influenced by Gandhi, Ela has followed his basels all her life. She has pioneered the estimation that population themselves, no matter how abject or uneducated, argon able to solve their accept problems if they get up together to do so. To serve provide this, she founded SEWA, the free-lance Womens Association.Called one of the best -if not the best grassroots programmes for women on the planet, SEWA prove so successful that it has sustain a model for micro- pay programs in other parts of the world. Ela started as a lawyer with the Textile Labour Association (TLA) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, a union founded by Gandhi, who had deep reward for Indias stuff producers. Working in the womens division, Ela soon found that women were doing many of the labor-in xsive tasks needed in textile production, as well as in other fields of work. However, as workers, they were invisible.Out- r suppurated, Ela said, Personally, I dont think there fair(a) nowt joint be any greater in providedice to anybody in the world than to dedicate ones work contribution negated Who is the linchpin of any economy in the country? Its the poor Yet they be not recorded as workers in the national census. They be described as non-workers Home-based workers ar the least visible of all. In the textile industry, contractors give the women cloth military psychenels which argon already cut out to form parts of a garment. The women fix the garments together at fellowship and return them to the contractor. The women kick in to work fast and for long hours, because they are compensable by the piece.Often, young daughters suspensor with the sewing after school. The contractor would pay any(prenominal) he wished, a lot an extremely low rate of 4-5 rupees per day. The women, because they w ere unorganized, had no way to demand higher rates. Other women workers in the informal sector withal had precise difficult workings conditions and were frequently exploited. These women included vegetable administerers, rag pickers, bidi rollers (a hand-rolled cigarette), incense do workrs, cleaners, laborers, embroil pullers, and silk and cotton workers. I realized that although eighty percent of women in India are economically active, they are outside the purview of legislation. Ela accepted that these women needed the help that they could get just now through organizing together as a large group. To meet that need, she founded SEWA in 1972 to organize for better pay and working conditions. SEWA, which today has 250,000 members, helped workers at the utmost level of purchase order fuck off empowered to take control of their lives. It soon became apparent that women workers had a weighty problem with notes and banking. Even though many of the women worked twelve hou rs a day or more(prenominal), they make unforesightful money, had no savings, and never had rich capital to improve their conditions.For standard, a home- based textile assembly program might arrive at to pay high rent on the sewing machine she used. She never had enough money at one time to buy the machine. Even if a woman was able to get a little money together, the money often was not safe at home, where men felt authorize to whatever was in the house. If a women wanted to borrow money to further her business (for example, to buy superfluous vegetables to sell in the market), she would shed a bun in the oven to borrow from money lenders at outlandish rates, sometimes 50% per day.Since womens wealthiness was often in the form of jewelry, they besides got funds through pawning. Because they were largely illiterate, these women were unable to sign their label at a bank and were unfamiliar with banking routines. A male relative would consent to sign for them, gaining ac cess to the money. In addition, bankers, who had never dealt with illiterate low-income women, treated them badly. SEWA had a meeting to which 2000 women came and told of their difficulties with the banks. Finally, someone said, lets start our make bank Others agreed, and the idea was underway.SEWA Bank was registered in 1974 with 4,000 members. When money had to be raised to register the bank, the women, saying, We are poor, but we are so many raised the needed RS. 100,000 within six months. Ela says that the idea that illiterate women assholenot be decision- obligaters in pay is an untrue middle-class notion. A study problem was that the women could not sign their names. How could they be identified at SEWA Bank? SEWA found a way that was so successful it is now used in banks end-to-end India. Each woman was photographed holding a slate with her bank account number on it. wizard retroflex of the photo was in her bank passbook, while another copy was kept at the bank. This explicit denomination meant that women could now have money in their own names men were no longitudinal part of the process. When a woman joins SEWA Bank, the first step is saving. The woman moldiness save an amount either week, no matter how microscopic. Even if she makes alone RS. 4, she is encouraged to save half a rupee. SEWA even provides a locked loutish bank for the purpose, and representatives from sewa come to the womans home to take the savings to the bank. by and by acquiring the habit of saving, a woman leave alone be allowed to take out a loan. Designed to meet the postulate of low-income women, the loans are small with a long payback period, up to 36 months. Ela pioneered the concept of micro-lending, the idea that very small amounts, as small as $5, may be all that is needed to make a difference. Women used the loans for practical purposes acquire equipment they had formerly rented, expanding a business, installing indoor plumbing, and paying for childrens education. Over 95% of the loans are repaid on time, a much higher repayment rate than for other banks.SEWA Bank in like manner educates and assists the women through other services, such(prenominal) as day care, maternity protection, and job training. SEWA Bank, which now has over us $3 million in assets, has been so successful that there are now branches in other parts of India, and men have even asked to be included. It is important to realize that all this has been accomplished without any outside fiscal help whatsoever. The women did it themselves. Most important, the SEWA Bank model, through its concepts of micro-finance, has been used to empower poor women throughout the world.Towards this end, Ela joined with nine other women at the first UN humanity Conference on Women in Mexico urban center in 1975 these women mete outd the feeling that the worlds financial institutions must become accessible to low-income women. Incorporated in 1979, Womens World Banking now has 43 a ffiliates in 35 countries. Ela Bhatt has served as its chair since 1985. The far-reaching effect of Ela Bhatts work have been name internationally through many awards, including the Right Livelihood Award (the alternate Nobel Prize) for Changing the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1984. black-tie thriftinessIn India today, only slightly 11% of workers hold unfaltering jobs with formal employer- employee relationships. These jobs are documented and the workers are protect by whatever laws are available. Informal Economy Nearly 89% of Indias workers are undocumented. Their work in the informal sector is usually not cover by legal protection that may be available to workers in formal sector jobs. They work either on their own, or as piece workers with a contractor or middleman, in relationships that figure on verbal agreement. Home-based Work Part of the informal economy, this work is done at home, usually by women.She gets raw materials from a contractor or middleman, assemb les the correct product, and brings it to the middleman for payment. Often at the mercy of the contractor, she must accept whatever pay he is free to give. This type of worker is the most invisible in the economy. Macro-Finance Works with the large amounts of money used by banks, governments, stock markets, corporations, and other large institutions. Micro-Finance Micro-finance works with the very small amounts of money actually used by low-income multitude. It is often the most appropriate way to consume social programs at the grassroots level.Things to Do and dissertate 1 Imagine that you are a poor woman working in Gujarat, India. Construct a family, home, and job for yourself. You may want to consult a book or encyclopedia to get more information. What problems do you think you would have? How would you use a loan from SEWA Bank to improve the lives of yourself and your family? 2 How is womens work considered in your own country? In what shipway is it similar or different from the situation in India? Do you think that re couchs such as SEWA provides would be useful in your country? - Ela R Bhatt highly settle and soft-spoken, yet firm and determined and wide recognize as pioneer in force for entrepreneurial forces in grassroots learning leading to women empowerment this is the practicing Gandhian economics and septuagenarian, Ela R Bhatt, popularly cognise as Elaben by members of Self Employed Womens Association or SEWA, which she founded in 1972. She helped the freelance women to organize themselves. Its members include vegetable vendors, fisherwomen, bidi-rollers, weavers, and flavourpan workers who were exploited for generations by middlemen.SEWA empowered them to explore direct market linkages, removing middlemen from the chain. neighboring it propagated the concept of self-direction by producing and marketing to other villages leading to self-sustained village economy. It has formed 102 cooperatives including milk and ingrain and a Rural Distribution Network called RUDI to help women link with other villages in a 100-km radius. Next came a cooperative bank called SEWA Bank in 1974 to help these women have access to banking services which otherwise were not available.Like a banyan tree the SEWA today has spread to countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. - Ela R Bhatt - Extremely gentle and soft-spoken, yet firm and determined and widely recognized as pioneer in pushing for entrepreneurial forces in grassroots maturation leading to women empowerment this is the practicing Gandhian economics and septuagenarian, Ela R Bhatt, popularly known as Elaben by members of Self Employed Womens Association or SEWA, which she founded in 1972.She helped the self-employed women to organize themselves. Its members include vegetable vendors, fisherwomen, bidi-rollers, weavers, and saltpan workers who were exploited for generations by middlemen. - SEWA empowered them to explore direct market linkages, removing mid dlemen from the chain. Next it propagated the concept of self-reliance by producing and marketing to other villages leading to self-sustained village economy.It has formed 102 cooperatives including milk and grain and a Rural Distribution Network called RUDI to help women link with other villages in a 100-km radius. Next came a cooperative bank called SEWA Bank in 1974 to help these women have access to banking services which otherwise were not available. Like a banyan tree the SEWA today has spread to countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. - Ela Bhatt Of SEWA Awarded Indira Gandhi Prize For Promoting peaceableness vernal Delhi, 18 Feb (Tehelka Bureau) Ela Bhatt is a name which has seen the transformation of close-fitting to 17 hundred thousand commonwealth in the last four decades. As one of the founders of Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA), she has promoted the cause of women relentlessly allowing millions of them to become independent and self reliant. Th e impact of her work has been recognized consistently and it was lauded once again on Monday when she was recognize by the President of India with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, disarming and Development.This makes Bhatt only the trey Indian in the history of the award to receive the prize constituted in the memory board of the late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The other Indian liquidators are former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and father of green revolution MS Swaminathan. Bhatt used the prospect to re-examine the idea of peace and interpreted it as an instrument which disarms and renders war useless. Equating penury with periodic violence, she found it to be no less cataclysmal than war and said that its removal is essential for create peace.Stressing on the need to address the realities of our own countries quite a than catching up with the western economic models, Bhatt urged the people to follow a principle which ensures six staple fiber necessities- food, shelter, clothing, primary coil education, primary healthcare and primary banking- are available within a 100 slub distance. If these necessities are locally produced and consumed, we leave alone have the harvest-festival of a tender holistic economy, she said. - The President praised her by calling the prize a tribute to her unblinking zeal towards the betterment of women in guild revolutionary Delhi, 18 Feb (Tehelka Bureau)Ela Bhatt is a name which has seen the transformation of close to 17 lakh people in the last four decades. As one of the founders of Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA), she has promoted the cause of women relentlessly allowing millions of them to become independent and self reliant. The impact of her work has been recognized consistently and it was lauded once again on Monday when she was honored by the President of India with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, disarming and Development.This makes Bhatt only the third Indian in the history of the award to receive the prize constituted in the memory of the late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The other Indian recipients are former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and father of green revolution MS Swaminathan. Bhatt used the opportunity to re-examine the idea of peace and interpreted it as an instrument which disarms and renders war useless. Equating pauperism with day-to-day violence, she found it to be no less foul than war and said that its removal is essential for building peace.Stressing on the need to address the realities of our own countries rather than catching up with the western economic models, Bhatt urged the people to follow a principle which ensures six basic necessities- food, shelter, clothing, primary education, primary healthcare and primary banking- are available within a 100 mile distance. If these necessities are locally produced and consumed, we leave have the developing of a new holistic economy, she said - -Dr. Ela Bhatt, recipient of the Un iversity of Chicagos 2007 William Benton decoration for Distinguished usual Service, presented a public lecture on Novermber 27th in the Weymouth Kirkland Courtroom. Ela R. Bhatt is widely recognized as one of the worlds most remarkable pioneers and entrepreneurial forces in grassroots development. Known as the gentle revolutionary she has commit her life to improving the lives of Indias poorest and most loaded women workers, with Gandhian thinking as her source of guidance.In 1972, Dr. Bhatt founded the free-lance(a) Womens Association (SEWA) a work union which now has more than 1,000,000 members. Founder Chair of the Cooperative Bank of SEWA, she is also founder and chair of Sa-Dhan (the each India Association of Micro Finance Institutions in India) and founder-chair of the Indian train of Micro-finance for Women. Dr. Bhatt was a Member of the Indian Parliament from 1986 to 1989, and subsequently a Member of the Indian Planning Commission.She founded and served as chair f or Womens World Banking, the world-wide Alliance of Home-based Workers (HomeNet), and Women in Informal Employment Globalizing, Organizing (WIEGO). She also served as a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation for a decade. Dr. Bhatt has received several awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Right Livelihood Award, the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award, and the Legion dhonneur from France. She has also received honorary doctorates from Harvard, Yale, the University of Natal and other academic institutions.In 2007, Dr. Bhatt was named a member of The Elders, an international group of leaders whose goals include catalyzing calm resolutions to long-standing conflicts, articulating new approaches to global issues that are causing or may cause immense human suffering, and share wisdom by helping to connect voices all over the world. The Benton Medal The William Benton Medal for Distinguished Public Service is inclined to individuals who have rendered howling(a) p ublic service in the field of education. This field includes not only teachers but also . . . veryone who contributes in a systematic way to shaping minds and disseminating knowledge. Previous Benton Medal recipients include John Callaway, Katharine Graham, and Senator Paul Simon. - Source http//www. law. uchicago. edu/node/1502 - - The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 18 February 2013 conferred 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development Award to Ela Ramesh Bhatt, a renowned Women social worker.The award was given away at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Ela Bhatt was given away the award for life time achievements in women empowerment, promotion of grassroot level entrepreneurship as well as contribution towards promotion of equitable development and peace. Ela Bhatt has her organisation SEWA (Self-Employed Womens Association). President Pranab Mukherjee while swelled away the award announced that SEWA was a vehicle of self trading and self reliance for the Indian women, while at the uniform time being synonymous with the rural inclusiveness. Ela Bhatt Ela Bhatt is the founder of more than 1 million SEWAs in India. Since years, Ela Bhatt has been working for women empowerment and bringing women out of poverty through promotion of Self Help Groups. SEWA has empowered women with liberty as well as financial self- reliance (Source http//www. jagranjosh. com/current-af freshs/ela-bhatt-conferred-2011-indira-gandhi-prize-for-peace-disarmament-and-development-award-1361254391-1) - It honours the unassailable work of the poor Ela Bhatt Tuesday, Feb 19, 2013, 1644 IST Place Ahmedabad Agency DNA Says Ela Bhatt on receiving Indira Gandhi peace prize.Noted social worker Ela Ramesh Bhatt was on Monday conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development by President Pranab Mukherjee. After receiving the award, Elaben (80), founder of Self-Employed Womens Association (Sewa), said the prize is recognition of hard work by the all poor working women and their leadership worldwide, who hold peace, disarm violence and reduce poverty with their honest work. She said that award has given her the opportunity to explore what constitutes the peace. I have often stated that poverty is violence.This violence is by consensus of society that lets other human beings go without roti, kapada and makan. Poverty is not god given. It is a moralistic collapse of our society. Garibi hatao to me also meant, thus, shanti banao. Garibi Hatao is a peace song, said founder of Sewa which has 17 lakh members now. She said that when Mahatma Gandhi talked more or less Swaraj, he talked about economic de underlyingisation. She urged people to ensure that six basic needs are met from resources within 100 miles. - I call it the 100-mile principle.If food, shelter, clothing, primary education, primary healthcare and primary banking are locally produced and consumed, we will have the fixth of a new holistic economy that the w orld will take note of, she said. She insisted that catching up with the western economic models will turn us into incompetent followers, not leaders. - (Source http//www. dnaindia. com/ahmedabad/1801728/report-it-honours-the-hard-work-of-the-poor-ela-bhatt - Ela Bhatt conferred prestigious Indira Gandhi PrizeFeb 18, 2013 Ela Bhatt, a long-familiar social worker, was honored for her life time achievements in empowering women and promoting grass root level entrepreneurship. Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA), was presented with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2011 by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at a glittering ceremony today. Ela Bhatt was honoured for her life time achievements in empowering women, promoting grassroot level entrepreneurship and for her contribution towards promoting equitable development and peace.Ela Bhatt is known globally for her work over decades (though officially only since 1972) that has created SEWA with a membership in excess of 1. 3 million. She also founded the SEWA Cooperative Bank in 1974, which has an outreach of 3 million women simple figures that speak volumes of her dedicated efforts and leadership to successfully bring women out of poverty into a life of self-confidence and esteem. Speaking on the ocassion President Pranab Mukherjee said Ela Bhats orgainisation SEVA has today become synonymous with rural inclusiveness and a vehicle of self employment and self reliance for women.The President praised her work for bringing women out of poverty and empowering them with the freedom to choose and attaining financial self-reliance through the promotion of Self Help. Congratulating her, the President said her life and work is reflective of the philosophy and ideals espoused by Indias former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in whose memory the prize was instituted. The President said Ms Bhatts example would spur many more initiatives in our country and elsewhere, aimed at renewal of society and all-round development of people. If women are under represented in the productive efforts of our economy, it is not only imprudent but also detrimental to the cause of social progress, the president. Due to the untiring efforts of Ms. Bhatt, SEWA has become an effective vehicle for promotion of self employment and self reliance amongst women. To realize these goals, the organization has been providing supporting services in the areas of savings and credit, health care, child care, legal aid, insurance, capacity building and communication. It has become a multi-dimensional entity a force collective, a co-operative and a womens movement. - Speaking on the occassion, Indias Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh said, By saying that poverty is the moral failure of a society, Ela-ben throws down the gauntlet to society at large. Her own attempt to attack poverty by organizing poor women and helping them empower themselves economically is at once aimed at the twin evils of poverty and gender discrimination. Ela Bhatt The gentle revolutionary a pioneer in womens empowerment and grassroots development, founder of the more than 1 million-strong Self-Employed Womens Association in India. there are risks in every action. every(prenominal) success has the seed of some failure. But it doesnt matter. It is how you go about it. That is the real challenge. Ela Bhatt has been a member of The Elders since the group was founded in 2007. Profoundly influenced by Gandhian thinking, she advocates local, grassroots solutions for those who are poor, oppressed or suffering the effects of violent conflict. She joined her fellow Elders to encourage peaceful Palestinian protest and self-reliance during The Elders two delegations toIsrael and the active Palestinian territories.One of Indias foremost womens rights activists, Ela Bhatt welcomed the Elders to India in February 2012, where the group lent their support to young people in the state of Bihar campaigning to endchild marriagein their own communities. One of Indias foremost womens rights activists, Ela Bhatt welcomed the Elders to India in February 2012, where the group lent their support to young people in the state of Bihar campaigning to endchild marriagein their own communities. We are poor, but so manyEla Bhatt is one of the worlds most remarkable pioneers and entrepreneurial forces in grassroots development. Known as the gentle revolutionary, she has dedicated her life to improving the lives of Indias poorest and most oppressed women workers. In 1972 she founded theSelf-Employed Womens Association (SEWA), a muckle union for women workers in Indias huge informal sector, who make up 94 per cent of the female advertize force and yet have never enjoyed the same rights and security as those in formal employment.Today SEWA has more than 1. 2 million members across nine Indian states. We may be poor, but we are so many. why dont we start a bank of our own? Our own womens bank, where we are treated with the respect and service that we deserve. Chandaben, SEWA member The sideline year, Ela Bhatt founded theCooperative Bank of SEWA. The bank helps women to gain financial independence and raise their standing in their families and communities and puts into act the Gandhian principles of self-reliance and collective action.Empowering women workers Among the organisations Ela Bhatt has created and inspired, she founded and chairs * Sa-Dhan (the All India Association of Micro Finance Institutions in India) * The Indian School of Micro-finance for Women * Womens World Banking * The International Alliance of Home-based Workers (HomeNet) * Women in Informal Employment Globalizing, Organizing (WIEGO) She has also served as a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation for more than ten years.In recognition of her work to improve the status of women and the working poor in India and elsewhere, Ela Bhatt was awarded the first-ever Global achromasi a Initiative Award, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Right Livelihood Award, the George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award, and the Legion dhonneur from France. She has also received honorary doctorates from Harvard, Yale and the University of Natal. - Women, work and peace Ela Bhatt,18 February 2013 Poverty is day-to-day violence, no less destructive than war. Receiving the 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, Ela Bhatt re-examines our idea of peace, arguing that equity, local economies and the empowerment of women through work are central to supporting economic freedoms, and therefore peace. Honorable President of India, Honorable Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, Honorable Prime Minister of India, and distinguished dignitaries and friends Thank you for this singular honor. I humbly accept the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on behalf of the self-employed women ofSEWA. This year, SEWA is 40 years old I turn 80.We are a sisterhood of 17 lakh1. 7 million. Our journey is long and perhaps endless. This prize has given honor to all working poor women and their leadership worldwide, who hold peace, disarm violence and reduce poverty with their honest work. And therefore, it gives me deep contentment to be here today. I still hope someday they will hold a central mall in our economy. This peace prize gives us an opportunity to re-examine our ideas of what constitutes peace. Certainly, absence of war is not peace. Peace is what keeps war away, but it is more than that peace disarms and renders war useless.Peace is a condition enjoyed by a fair and fertile society. Peace is about restoring balance in society only then is it lasting peace. In my view, restoration and reconstruction of a society are essential and get wind components of the peace process worldwide. If we seek carefully at our world, we find that where there is unfair distribution of resources, there is unrest. When people cannot enjoy the fruits of their l abors fairly, when they are forced off their land and homestead and forest, we have the basis of an unjust society. Where there is violence and conflict, we always find poverty.And where there is poverty, we find anger and acute struggles for justice and equity. And we see governments resorting to repression for ensuring law and order. I have often stated that poverty is violence. This violence is by consensus of society that lets other human beings go withoutrotiandkapadaandmakan. Poverty is not God-given. It is a moral collapse of our society. Poverty strips a person of his or her gentleman and takes away freedom. Poverty is day-to-day violence, no less destructive than war. Poverty is lack of peace and freedom. In fact, removing poverty is essentially building peace.I know I am not saying anything new. Garibi Hataoto me also meant indeedShanti Banao. Garibi Hataois a peace song. In India, we are tall of our multicultural society. Bahudhais at the heart of what makes us who we are social diversity, political diversity, religious diversity, biological diversity. But in our rush to modernise let us not forget one of our greatest assets our economic diversity. In our markets, we have the street vendor, the cart seller, the cell owner, the shop owner, and the supermarket owner, all plying their trades at the same time.Let them cater to different strata of society, co-existing and competing in a natural, organic way. Let our planning include ample room for the millions of small entrepreneurs and self-employed, who cater to the widest strata of society, to flourish and grow. They are the agents of an economic development that reaches the grassroots they weave the living web of social and economic relationships that will bind our nations together. Gandhiji talked aboutswaraj he talked about economic decentralization. I would urge us to ensure that six basic primary needs are met from resources within 100 miles around us. I call it the 100 mile principle.If food , shelter, clothing, primary education, primary healthcare and primary banking are locally produced and consumed, we will have the growth of a new holistic economy, which the world will sit up and take note of. And itispossible in and around India in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan women have done it. Catching up with western economic models will turn us into incompetent followers, not leaders. But if we address the realities of our own countries, we can create a development that makes us leaders of our destiny. Let me make clear, however, that the 100 mile principle is not a recipe for isolation.I am not asking at all that we go back but move send with heightened sentience about how and where we overlook our money and what our work is doing to us and those around us. In fact, technologies can help to share knowledge and ideas across countries. However, we do need to get away from a world where people grow what they do not eat, and eat what they do not grow w here they have lost control over their basic production and daily consumption where they have become part of a system whose outcomes are determined by people far away, in a manner not in their by-line and outside their control.This awareness is already growing among the younger generation the world over. In India, we have a running start because our local economies are still alive. Let us give them the respect they deserve by investing in people who survive despite our neglect. And where do we start? I have faith in women. Women have shown, if we care to observe, that disarmament in the end is not a accordance by two nations to render arms useless, though such treaties are much-needed in this world. In my experience, as I have seen within India and in other countries, women are the key to rebuilding a fraternity. Why?Focus on women and you will find an ally who wants a stable community. She wants roots for her family. You get a worker, a provider, a caretaker, an educator, a netw orker, a forger of bonds. I consider thousands of poor working womens participation and representation an integral part of the peace and development process. Women bring constructive, creative and sustainable solutions to the table. Also, in my experience, productive work is the thread that weaves a society together. When you have work, you have an incentive to maintain a stable society. You cannot only see the future, but you can plan for the future.You can build assets and invest in the next generation. Life is no longer just about survival. Work builds peace because work gives people roots, as well as allowing them to flower it builds communities and it gives meaning and dignity to ones life. Work restores mans relationships with himself, with fellow human beings, with the earth and the environment, and with the great spirit that created us all. Being one of The Elders, I hear to Nelson Mandela, dear Madiba, telling us frequently that money wont create success, but the freedom t o make it, will. True, in Gaza, the men and women said to me, Without work we can neither forgive nor forget, because what have we to look forward to? In a Sudanese camp, I heard refugees crying for work, not charity. After the earthquake in Kutch, when I visited the area, everywhere I went the women, who had lost everything, said to me, Ben, have you brought work? By work, I do not mean sweatshops and cheap dig in factories that leave a person a slave to yet another kind of exploitation.Treating land and forests and people and even work as a commodity cannot build a fuller human being, nor a holistic society. Such work strips them of the multifunctional, multicultural character of work that fosters a dynamic and organic growth in society. A woman who tends a small plot of land, grows vegetables, weaves cloth, and provides for the family and the market, while caring for the financial, social, educational and emotional needs of her family is multifunctional worker and the deterge nt builder of a stable society.One who labours long hours at a factory where he has no control of his work or his skills, contributes one product to society whose work is measured and therefore given greater sufferance by us, while her work is unaccounted and make outd. It is the GDP at the household level that matters. The use of word domestic in GDP should not be overlooked. Peace and development cannot be measured in numbers. I do hope that one day peace and development will shine on the hardiness of our land and the people, and the world will enjoy the wisdom of my India.Thank you very much. Ela Bhatt delivered this speech upon accepting the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, on 18 February 2013 in New Delhi. - Source http//theelders. org/article/welcoming-my-fellow-elders-india Welcoming my fellow Elders to India We hope to listen to girls affected by child marriage, their parents, their teachers and community leaders and amplify their needs and con cerns in our conversations with government, media and other powerful people. Ela Bhatt is joined in India by her fellow Elders Desmond Tutu, Gro Brundtland and Mary Robinson at the start of a week-long visit center on the empowerment of girls and women. I am very happy to be welcoming my friends Desmond Tutu, Gro Brundtland and Mary Robinson to India. This is the first time the Elders have travelled here as a group, and I hope that by the end of our visit to Delhi and Bihar, we will have become even wiser. Our aim is to listen and learn, not lecture. I also hope this is the beginning of a continued relationship with the people and leaders of India.As some of you may already know, the Elders work together as independent global leaders, supporting peace-building and human rights. These issues are closely relate in my view. Peace, human rights and human development go hand in hand, and the Millennium Development Goals the international benchmarks for progress on poverty, health, ed ucation and other issues are a very important tool. I powerfully believe that peace is not a political issue, its a human one, and will only be achieved when everyone has the freedom to grow at their own pace and to fulfill their potential.In India, the focus of our visit is to support Indian girls in particular to realize their full potential by drawing attention to the practice of child marriage. In this way, we hope we will also contribute towards Indias own development as a peaceful partner in the global family of nations. In the developing world an estimated one in three girls is married before the age of 18. One in seven marries before 15. Around ten million girls a year are affected by child marriage and one third of them live in India. Child marriage is, however, a truly global practice.It occurs across all major religions and regions, from West and East Africa to South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and communities in Europe and the United States. There are many reas ons why child marriage happens, but we now recognize that marrying ulterior, delaying pregnancy and inveterate girls education, providing them adequate skills and financial literacy, are all important ways to support development and build a more peaceful world. As I mentioned, the Elders are not here to lecture or prescribe.Nevertheless as home to a significant proportion of the worlds child brides, addressing this issue in India is very important on the global measure. What we hope to do is to listen to girls affected by child marriage, their parents, their teachers and community leaders and amplify their needs and concerns in our conversations with government, media and other influential people. I am very appealing to the difficult decisions that families must make here in India. Even if they want their daughters to be educated, there are often no schools nearby, especially outside the big towns and cities.Physical security is a real concern if girls have to travel long dista nces or stay in dormitories away from home. In India, family and community are also central to most peoples security both physical and financial. Marriages are not just between individuals, but weave together families and communities in mutually supportive networks. This makes marriage complex and important to social cohesion. Like everywhere in India, we are seeing change. I have seen differences in age of marriage from my mothers generation to my own, and my daughters. But it is far too slow.We hope that the Elders contribution will help to create an enabling environment where everyone works together government, young people, media, NGOs, and businesses too so that girls can become equal members of the family, not second class members, and can truly fulfil their potential. We look forward to sharing our thoughts along the way, and hope that you will join the conversation too. Peace by practice Mandela day 2011 Ahead of Mandela Day 2011, Ela Bhatt asks how we can live up to Nel sonMandelas example and discusses the power of thinking local to change our communities and create a better world. To me, Nelson Mandela is a supreme symbol of freedoms struggle. Next week, on 18 July, he will celebrate his 93rd birthday, a daythat around the world people now recognise as Mandela Day. Let us take this opportunityto reflect on the life of a man we have come to know and respect as a great leader, one who sacrificed his own freedom for the freedom of his people. How best do we honour his achievements? What can we do to live up to Madibas example? Looking for a solutionIt is often said that the problems facing our world are too overwhelming or intractable that you find endless conflict, injustice and poverty. I agree that if you want to fixthe worlds problems, you have a mightytask. In my own country, India, the scale of the poverty we see is enough to break your heart. After decades of independence, freedom has still not come to everycitizen discrimination has taken new forms, and the poorest of the poor live on the margins, the invisible engine of our so-called Tiger economy. When we see such suffering, it is natural to wish to solve everything at once.We turn to our governments for a solution, and feel frustrated when theyfail to act. But I have never been one to press that governments have all the answers. Change is up to us Our greatest source of strength is right under our noses the families, work-places and communities that give us strong foundations, on which equal societies are built. Thinking local, we can turn power upside down. In my work with Self-Employed Womens Association (SEWA), I have seen some of the poorest, most vulnerable women transform their lives and the communities theylive in.From being home-based workers, landless labourers or illiterate food vendors they have claimed their rights and have become the owners of their own resources, the beneficiaries of their own land. They meet resistance from the authorities at every stage but theystand firm, together, saying We are poor, but so many I believe strongly that to bring widespread change, we must first make that change ourselves. Another great teacher, Mahatma Gandhi, imagined this as ripples in water, small circles of change that grow ever wider.Our actions have an impact we may never even see. Peace by practice Rather than find yourself immobilised bythe scale of the worlds problems, look around you. Even when a problem is right under your nose, it is easyto ignore it we curse fate, blame tradition or sayits Gods will. But you will not have to search far before you find people who are hungry, lonely, downtrodden, persecuted sometimes we just need a reason to reach out to them. When Nelson Mandela founded The Elders, he invoked the idea of ubuntu that we are human onlythrough the human being of others.What he describes is more than charity, it is a certain outlook or way of life. Byserving others, we actuallyfulfil our own humanity these acti ons are full of faith, a form of prayer. This Mandela Day a dayfor personal, local action let us spend our energies serving our own communities to honour the 67 years Nelson Mandela dedicated to fighting for a better world. (Source - Harvard first team to honour Ela Bhatt (Source http//articles. timesofindia. indiatimes. com/2011-03-14/ahmedabad/28687384_1_ela-bhatt-sewa-honour )BOSTON The prestigiousHarvard Universitywill honor Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Womens Association (SEWA), for her life and work that has had a significant impact on society . Bhatt (77), whose trade union has helped over a million women inIndiagain access to opportunities for themselves and their families, will be awarded the Radcliffe Institute Medal by Harvard Universitys Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She would be presented the medal, awarded annually to individuals who have substantially and positively influenced society, on Radcliffe Day on May 27.Some of the illustrious ago win ners includeToni Morrisonin 2007,Margaret Atwoodin 2003, Billie Jean King in 2002 andAlice Walkerin 1992. The Radcliffe Institute is proud to honor her this year, in which gender in the developing world is one of its dominant themes, the Institute said. liquidator of several prestigious awards, Ela Bhatt founded SEWA in 1972. Conceived as a womens trade union, SEWA has grown into an NGO that offers micro-lending , health and life insurance and child care all overseen by more than a hundred women-run cooperatives.In January 2010, SEWA membership had reached 1. 2 million. Bhatt has been recognised for her long battle for social justice. In November last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had honoured Bhatt with the Global Fairness Initiative Award for helping move more than a million poor women in India to a position of dignity and independence. Radcliffe Day is the Institutes annual celebration of women, as well as the alumnae and fellows of Radcliffe College and the Radcliff e Institute.It is traditionally held on the day after Harvards commencement. The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is a scholarly community where individuals absorb advanced work across a wide range of academic disciplines, professions and creative arts. Within this loose purpose , the institute sustains a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender and the society. - An exhibition on Ahmadabads forgotten heroine TNNNov 17, 2012, 06. 44AM ISTAHMEDABAD She was respected by lakhs of textile workers and the poor Anasuya Sarabhai(1885-1972), fondly known as Motaben, holds a erratic place in the history of the country. She is best remembered for joining hands withMahatma Gandhiin leading the historic batter of mill workers in Ahmedabad, which eventually led to the founding of the countrys first Textile Labour Association (TLA), in 1920. A 13-day exhibition, starting on Saturday is being held in the city, chronicling Motabens life. It also marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Sewa ( mercenary(a) Womens Association) as well as the 127th birthday of Anasuya Sarabhai. Her reputation among mill workers, and the love and trust they showed in her leadership, were key to Gandhijis eventual success, says Somanth Bhatt, who conjured up rare pictures of Anasuya for an exhibition at Shantisadan on Mirzapur Road in the walled city. Anasuyabens thoughts and spirit nurtured Gandhis ideologies. This is the first time a labour organization is getting involved in an exhibition for a labour leader, Motaben, says founder of Sewa, Ela Bhatt, who first worked with Motaben in 1955. Shantisadan was where Ansuyaben lived and founded the labour movement. This is a rare oppurtunity to exhibit history in the place where it occured. The unique thing about this exhibition is that it is presented in a way that speaks about Anasuyaben in her own words and photographs, says Bhatt. She further adds, Many would not know this but Motaben was the force behind the major labour laws of our country. In my opinion, Motaben and her contribution to the reedom struggle and labour movement should become part of school textbooks. - Ela Bhat Source http//www. tolerance. org/ military action/ela-bhat) I realized that although eighty percent of women in India are economically active, they are outside the purview of legislation. Elas Story Born in 1933 to a middle class, well-educated family, Ela Bhatt has spent her life fighting for the rights and public assistance of Indias invisible workers. Her grandparents worked with Mahatma Gandhi in the non-violent struggle for Indian Independence from the British. Deeply influenced by Gandhi, Ela has followed his ideals all her life.She has pioneered the idea that people themselves, no matter how poor or uneducated, are able to solve their own problems if they organize together to do so. To help provide this, she founded SEWA, the Self-Employed Womens Association. Called one of the best -if not t he best grassroots programmes for women on the planet, SEWA proved so successful that it has become a model for micro-finance programs in other parts of the world. Ela started as a lawyer with the Textile Labour Association (TLA) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, a union founded by Gandhi, who had deep respect for Indias textile producers.Working in the womens division, Ela soon found that women were doing many of the labor-intensive tasks needed in textile production, as well as in other fields of work. However, as workers, they were invisible. Out- raged, Ela said, Personally, I dont think there can be any greater injustice to anybody in the world than to have ones work contribution negated Who is the backbone of any economy in the country? Its the poor Yet they are not recorded as workers in the national census. They are described as non-workers Home-based workers are the least visible of all. In the textile industry, contractors give the women cloth pieces which are already cut out to fo rm parts of a garment. The women sew the garments together at home and return them to the contractor. The women have to work fast and for long hours, because they are paid by the piece. Often, young daughters help with the sewing after school. The contractor would pay whatever he wished, often an extremely low rate of 4-5 rupees per day. The women, because they were unorganized, had no way to demand higher rates.Other women workers in the informal sector also had very difficult working conditions and were often exploited. These women included vegetable sellers, rag pickers, bidi rollers (a hand-rolled cigarette), incense makers, cleaners, laborers, cart pullers, and silk and cotton workers. I realized that although eighty percent of women in India are economically active, they are outside the purview of legislation. Ela recognized that these women needed the help that they could get only through organizing together as a large group. To meet that need, she founded SEWA in 1972 to or ganize for better pay and working conditions.SEWA, which today has 250,000 members, helped workers at the lowest level of society become empowered to take control of their lives. It soon became apparent that women workers had a serious problem with money and banking. Even though many of the women worked twelve hours a day or more, they made little money, had no savings, and never had enough capital to improve their conditions. For example, a home- based textile assembler might have to pay high rent on the sewing machine she used. She never had enough money at one time to buy the machine.Even if a woman was able to get a little money together, the money often was not safe at home, where men felt entitled to whatever was in the house. If a women wanted to borrow money to further her business (for example, to buy extra vegetables to sell in the market), she would have to borrow from money lenders at outlandish rates, sometimes 50% per day. Since womens wealth was often in the form of j ewelry, they also got funds through pawning. Because they were largely illiterate, these women were unable to sign their names at a bank and were unfamiliar with banking routines.A male relative would have to sign for them, gaining access to the money. In addition, bankers, who had never dealt with illiterate low-income women, treated them badly. SEWA had a meeting to which 2000 women came and told of their difficulties with the banks. Finally, someone said, Lets start our own bank Others agreed, and the idea was underway. SEWA Bank was registered in 1974 with 4,000 members. When money had to be raised to register the bank, the women, saying, We are poor, but we are so many raised the needed RS. 100,000 within six months.Ela says that the idea that illiterate women cannot be decision-makers in finance is an untrue middle-class notion. A major problem was that the women could not sign their names. How could they be identified at SEWA Bank? SEWA found a way that was so successful it is now used in banks throughout India. Each woman was photographed holding a slate with her bank account number on it. One copy of the photo was in her bank passbook, while another copy was kept at the bank. This definite identification meant that women could now have money in their own names men were no longer part of the process.When a woman joins SEWA Bank, the first step is saving. The woman must save an amount every week, no matter how small. Even if she makes only RS. 4, she is encouraged to save half a rupee. SEWA even provides a locked piggy bank for the purpose, and representatives from sewa come to the womans home to take the savings to the bank. After acquiring the habit of saving, a woman will be allowed to take out a loan. Designed to meet the needs of low-income women, the loans are small with a long payback period, up to 36 months. Ela pioneered the concept of micro-lending, the idea that very small amounts, as small as $5, may be all hat is needed to make a differen ce. Women used the loans for practical purposes buying equipment they had formerly rented, expanding a business, installing indoor plumbing, and paying for childrens education. Over 95% of the loans are repaid on time, a much higher repayment rate than for other banks. SEWA Bank also educates and assists the women through other services, such as day care, maternity protection, and job training. SEWA Bank, which now has over us $3 million in assets, has been so successful that there are now branches in other parts of India, and men have even asked to be included.It is important to realize that all this has been accomplished without any outside financial help whatsoever. The women did it themselves. Most important, the SEWA Bank model, through its concepts of micro-finance, has been used to empower poor women throughout the world. Towards this end, Ela joined with nine other women at the first UN World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975 these women shared the belief that the w orlds financial institutions must become accessible to low-income women. Incorporated in 1979, Womens World Banking now has 43 affiliates in 35 countries.Ela Bhatt has served as its chair since 1985. The far-reaching effects of Ela Bhatts work have been recognized internationally through many awards, including the Right Livelihood Award (the alternate Nobel Prize) for Changing the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1984. Formal Economy In India today, only about 11% of workers hold regular jobs with formal employer- employee relationships. These jobs are documented and the workers are protected by whatever laws are available. Informal Economy Nearly 89% of Indias workers are undocumented.Their work in the informal sector is usually not covered by legal protection that may be available to workers in formal sector jobs. They work either on their own, or as piece workers with a contractor or middleman, in relationships that depend on verbal agreement. Home-based Work Part of the informa l economy, this work is done at home, usually by women. She gets raw materials from a contractor or middleman, assembles the finished product, and brings it to the middleman for payment. Often at the mercy of the contractor, she must accept whatever pay he is willing to give.This type of worker is the most invisible in the economy. Macro-Finance Works with the large amounts of money used by banks, governments, stock markets, corporations, and other large institutions. Micro-Finance Micro-finance works with the very small amounts of money actually used by low-income people. It is often the most appropriate way to implement social programs at the grassroots level. Things to Do and Discuss 1 Imagine that you are a poor woman working in Gujarat, India. Construct a family, home, and job for yourself. You may want to consult a book or encyclopedia to get more information.What problems do you think you would have? How would you use a loan from SEWA Bank to improve the lives of yourself and your family? 2 How is womens work considered in your own country? In what ways is it similar or different from the situation in India? Do you think that changes such as SEWA provides would be useful in your country? - Interview with Ela Bhatt Founder of the Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA) A good combination of struggle and constructive work Create, as a strategy, alternative economic organizationsAhmedabad, Gujarat, India Ela Bhatt. word picture by Nic Paget-Clarke. Self-employedvegetable vendors in Ahmedabad. Clickto see a series of photos. Photo by Nic Paget-Clarke. Ela Bhattis the founder of theSelf Employed Womens Association(SEWA) and was SEWAs first general-secretary. Based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, SEWA is the largest single trade union in the country with a membership of 687,000 women. SEWAs members are vegetable and garment vendors, in-home seamstresses, head-loaders, bidi rollers, report card pickers, construction workers, incense stick makers, and agric ultural workers.They come from Indias unorganized sector and organize for their just dues and rights. 96% of all women workers in India are in this sector. Among their achievements is the SEWA Bank whose capital is made up entirely of their own contributions. The SEWA Bank was founded in 1974 by 4,000 women each contributing ten rupees. This interview was conducted August 31, 2003 by Nic Paget-Clarke for In Motion cartridge in Ahmedabad. Also see interview withJayshree VyasManaging Director of SEWA Bank. * The Independence Struggle * Self-employed laborers * A leading role in the womens movement You have to be for something * In Gandhis thinking * Civil disobedience and sit-in strikes * Satyagraha and street vendors * Face-to-face talk * Alternative economic organizations * Cooperatives and trade unions * Full employment and self-reliance social change * The diversity of our society * Literacy education * Democratic determine * To serve * Changes in the garment industry * Globali zation the construction industry * Embroidery and migration * Only because we had an organization * The interests of the local producers * Using the technology * Changing the balance of powerThe Independence Struggle In Motion MagazineWhat made you think you needed to start the organization SEWA? Ela BhattIm a product of the later years of the freedom movement, the independence movement of my country. As we were studying in school and then in college our teachers and everybody around was talking about independence. In the family, also, there was the atmosphere of the independence struggle. My own grandfather, my mothers father, was in the flavour March. He was in jail. My mothers two brothers were in jail. (Editor begun March 12, 1930, the Salt March led by Mohandas (Mahatma) K.Gandhi was a 24-day march from his ashram in Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea to make salt and protest the British ban of an Indians right to make salt. ). When I was studying in college, our teachers asked us t o go the villages and live with the villagers. Mainly against injustice, against poverty. We never had to question how to do it because Gandhiji had shown the way how to go about it and what kind of discipline you have to follow. There I met my husband (