In 1972, when a small group of women working as cart-pullers and head-loaders approached a lawyer in Ahmedabad seeking help with unfair wages, few could have imagined the transformative movement that would follow. These women, invisible to India’s economy and unprotected by labor laws, were about to change the course of women’s empowerment in the country. At the heart of this change was Ela Bhatt, whose vision would create the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and touch the lives of millions.
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Ela Bhatt and the Gandhian foundation
Ela Bhatt was born into a family deeply connected to social causes, with grandparents who had worked alongside Mahatma Gandhi in his nonviolent campaigns. This exposure shaped her understanding that poverty itself is a form of violence. As she would later describe in her acceptance speech for the Global Fairness Award, poverty strips a person of humanity and takes away their freedom.
Working as a lawyer for the Textile Labour Association in Ahmedabad during the late 1960s, Bhatt noticed something striking. While the union protected workers in formal textile mills, thousands of women working in the informal sector had no such protection. These women rolled cigarettes at home, sold vegetables on streets, carried loads on their heads, and stitched clothes for meager wages. Despite contributing significantly to the economy, they remained uncounted and unprotected.
When Bhatt founded SEWA in April 1972, she built it on four Gandhian principles: satya (truth), ahimsa (non-violence), sarvadharma (integrating all faiths and people), and khadi (promoting local employment and self-reliance). These weren’t just philosophical concepts but practical tools for organizing. The principle of non-violence meant rejecting exploitation and harassment. Truth meant bringing visibility to invisible workers. Integration meant bringing together women across castes and religions. Self-reliance meant creating sustainable pathways out of poverty.
Who are SEWA’s members?
The women who joined SEWA came from what economists call the informal sector, though their work was anything but informal in its demands. An early survey revealed stark realities: 97% lived in slums, 93% were illiterate, and one in three was the primary breadwinner for her family. The average member had four children, often bringing them to work because childcare was unavailable.
These self-employed women fall into four broad categories. First are home-based workers who roll cigarettes, weave cloth, make handicrafts, or do piecework in cramped living spaces. Second are vendors and hawkers selling vegetables, fish, or other goods on streets and in markets. Third are service providers including construction workers, domestic workers, waste pickers, and agricultural laborers. Fourth are small-scale farmers and producers with marginal landholdings.
What unites them is economic vulnerability. They have no job security, no regular wages, no benefits, and few assets. Moneylenders charge exploitative interest rates. Middlemen take unfair cuts of their earnings. Police and officials often harass them. Despite working long hours, over 90% of India’s workers in the informal economy lack protection from hazardous conditions and have no social safety nets.
From union to movement: SEWA’s multifaceted model
SEWA started as a trade union, but Ela Bhatt quickly realized that organizing for better wages alone wouldn’t solve the deeper problems these women faced. When garment workers struck for minimum wages but couldn’t sustain the pressure because they had no alternative employment, SEWA learned an important lesson. The solution wasn’t just struggle but also development.
This insight led to SEWA’s unique integrated model that functions as three things simultaneously: a trade union, a network of cooperatives, and a financial institution. As a union, it fights for workers’ rights and policies. Through cooperatives, it creates economic alternatives and builds collective strength. Through SEWA Bank, established in 1974, it provides financial services that formal banks denied these women.
Four thousand women contributed Rs. 10 each as share capital to establish the Shri Mahila SEWA Cooperative Bank. This wasn’t just about money but about ownership and dignity. The bank adapted its practices for members who couldn’t sign their names, issuing identity cards with photographs and fingerprints. Mobile banking units traveled to slums and rural areas, bringing services to women who couldn’t easily reach bank branches.
Today, SEWA’s cooperative federation includes over 100 cooperatives across sectors including dairy, handicrafts, services like childcare and catering, vendors’ groups, and agricultural cooperatives. The annual turnover runs into billions of rupees, all managed democratically by women members who elect their own boards.
Building economic and social security
SEWA’s approach recognizes that economic empowerment requires more than just access to credit. The organization helps women form cooperatives for specific trades, allowing them to pool resources, share skills, and access markets directly. A block-printer cooperative, for example, connects artisans with designers and buyers, cutting out exploitative middlemen who previously took most of the profits.
The Banksathi model exemplifies SEWA’s community-centered approach. These aren’t distant bank officers but neighbors and fellow workers selected from within the community, trained in financial counseling, and trusted by members. They serve as bridges between SEWA’s services and women who might otherwise feel intimidated by formal financial institutions.
Beyond financial services, SEWA provides comprehensive support. Legal aid helps women fight for their rights. Health insurance protects families from medical emergencies. Childcare cooperatives allow mothers to work while ensuring quality care for children. Skill training programs upgrade workers’ abilities, whether in masonry after the Gujarat earthquake or in digital literacy for modern markets.
The organization has also achieved significant policy victories. SEWA’s advocacy contributed to the passage of laws including the Street Vendors Act of 2014, which provides vendors with licenses and prevents arbitrary eviction. These aren’t just legal victories but protections for livelihoods and dignity.
Transforming workers into entrepreneurs
Perhaps SEWA’s most profound achievement is psychological as much as economic. Women who once saw themselves as powerless victims of circumstance now see themselves as business owners and community leaders. This transformation happens through concrete steps.
First, access to credit at fair rates breaks the cycle of debt. When a woman can borrow Rs. 5,000 at reasonable interest instead of paying usurious rates to a moneylender, she gains breathing room. Second, ownership of productive assets, whether a sewing machine, a cart, or a small shop, provides a foundation for building wealth. Third, skills training increases earning potential and confidence.
But the most powerful element might be collective identity. In SEWA’s cooperatives, women aren’t isolated workers competing against each other. They’re members of an organization with 3.2 million sisters across 18 Indian states. This solidarity provides both practical support and emotional strength.
Studies show tangible results. Research found that SEWA members using microloan programs experienced increased income and found employment more easily. Women in childcare areas earned 50% more because they could work without worrying about their children. A 2007 survey found that 68% of graduates from SEWA’s training programs reported more confidence in their work and higher status within their families.
The ripple effects extend beyond individual women. When mothers gain confidence and resources, children benefit. When women participate in cooperatives, entire communities see the value of education and collective action. When female vendors get licenses and protection, urban economies become more inclusive and vibrant.
SEWA’s model has spread beyond India, inspiring similar organizations in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The organization co-founded global networks like Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) and helped establish sister organizations like the Self-Employed Women’s Union in South Africa.
From those first cart-pullers seeking fair wages in 1972 to today’s network of millions, SEWA demonstrates that empowerment comes from recognizing the dignity of work, organizing for collective strength, and building institutions that serve rather than exploit. Ela Bhatt, who passed away in 2022, left behind more than an organization. She left a proven pathway for transforming marginalized workers into confident entrepreneurs and community leaders.
What do you think? How might the cooperative model that SEWA pioneered be adapted to support informal workers in other countries? What role should governments play in protecting and empowering workers in the informal economy?
References
- https://www.sewa.org/
- https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights/making-finance-work-for-women-for-45-years-ela-bhatt/
- https://www.sewa.org/sewa-work/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_Employed_Women's_Association
- https://sewabharat.org/
- https://www.sewabank.com/about/history
- https://www.ilo.org/resource/article/sewa-cooperative-federation-india-towards-self-reliance
- https://aif.org/on-international-day-of-cooperatives-lessons-from-sewa-bank/
- https://rightlivelihood.org/the-change-makers/find-a-laureate/ela-bhatt-self-employed-womens-association/
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