Ela Ramesh Bhatt, popularly known as Elaben, a noted Gandhian, leading women’s empowerment activist, and renowned founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) passed away recently.
About:
She was known as the "Gentle Revolutionary" who changed the lives of lakhs of women through her organisation, providing them microloans for five decades.
She was the founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).
SEWA was founded by her in 1972. It 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.
She headed the women’s wing of Majoor Mahajan Sangh – the Textile Labour Association founded by Anasuya Sarabhai and Mahatma Gandhi.
She was the chairperson of the Sabarmati Ashram Memorial and Preservation Trust, also co-founded the Women’s World Banking, a global network of microfinance organisations, of which she was chairperson from 1984 to 1988.
She was also nominated to Rajya Sabha, was a member of the Planning Commission, and was advisor to organisations like the World Bank.
In 2007, she joined the Elders, a group of world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela to promote human rights and peace.
She was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, Ramon Magsaysay Award and Indira Gandhi International Prize for Peace among many other awards.
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