Elaben Bhatt

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In news– Elaben Bhatt, 89, a noted Gandhian and a leading women’s empowerment activist, passed away recently.

A brief note on her-

Ela Ramesh Bhatt was an Indian cooperative organiser, activist and Gandhian, who founded the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India in 1972, and served as its general secretary from 1972 to 1996.
A lawyer by training, Bhatt was a part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements.
Elaben was born on September 7, 1933, in Ahmedabad, in a family that engaged in social causes.
Her father, Sumant Bhatt, was a lawyer who served as a district judge and was later appointed the Charity Commissioner for Bombay and then Gujarat, where he supervised the work of all charitable organisations, trusts and NGOs.
Her mother, Vanalila Vyas, served as secretary of the Gujarat branch of the All India Women’s Conference for some time.
The organisation, founded by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay in 1927, worked for educational and social reforms.
She is the recipient of national and international awards, including the Padma Bhushan, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize and Right Livelihood Award.
She was globally recognised as a woman leader who founded many institutions and carried out pioneering work in organising the informal sector for self-employment and empowerment of women not only in India but across South Asia.
Elaben was the Chairperson of Sabarmati Ashram and recently resigned as the Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi-founded Gujarat Vidhyapith.
In 2007, she became part of a group of world leaders called the Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela to promote human rights and peace across the world.
She was also a Member of the Rajya Sabha and of the Planning Commission of India in the 1980s.
She served in many international organisations, including Women’s World Banking, a global network of microfinance organisations, of which she was co-founder and had served as Chairperson.
She also served as an advisor to the World Bank, and addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
Founded by her in 1972, SEWA is one of the largest cooperatives working for women, with a base of over two million members from around 18 States in the country and in neighbouring nations.