Ela Bhatt
Ela Ramesh Bhatt was an Indian cooperative organiser, activist and Gandhian, who founded the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) in 1972, and served as its general secretary from 1972 to 1996. She was the chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith from 7 March 2015 to 19 October 2022. A lawyer by training, Bhatt was a part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements and won several national and international awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1977), Right Livelihood Award (1984) for "helping home-based producers to organise for their welfare and self-respect" and the Padma Bhushan (1986).
Career Journey
Background
- Born in
- Ahmedabad
- Educated at
- Gujarat University
- Awards
- 🏆 Radcliffe Medal🏆 Right Livelihood Award🏆 Niwano Peace Prize🏆 Ramon Magsaysay Award🏆 Padma Bhushan
Trending & Selected Quotes
Trending topics shown first", in 1972, we started SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association. SEWA in many respects is a microcosm of the general picture of the informal sector, in India and worldwide."
"...as I worked with the unionized labor, of the much larger labor force that was outside the purview of the protective labor laws, of any form of social security, access to justice, access to financia…"
"All my life I have worked to change concepts, and that begins with how people see and understand the problems."
"…Inner peace is important, but I have always felt that living a daily life with peace is the end. So in reality individual peace and global peace are not separate. They are one and the same."
"So for her contribution to India and particularly the women of India, and to the global community, it is my honour to present the first Global Fairness Award to my friend, Ela Bhatt"
"Injustice happens at many levels, from the grass roots to the top. And one of the keys of SEWA’s vision and action is linking them."
Works & Publications
No works or publications documented yet.
Timeline
1933
Born
Birth2022
Died
Death
Influenced By
Thinkers whose ideas shaped Ela's philosophy
Influenced
Thinkers whose work was shaped by Ela's ideas
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Source Attribution
Information about Ela Bhatt is sourced from curated knowledge bases and cross-referenced for accuracy. Influence relationships are scored by thematic overlap and historical plausibility.
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