India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) – Ela Bhatt’s Legacy (Part 1)

In Gandhi’s birthplace, in 1972, a labor lawyer named Ela Bhatt [pronounced Eela But] gave birth to a union comprised of home-based workers, market vendors, cart-pullers and head-load carriers, agricultural and construction laborers, and other unrecognized forms of work done by women. Two producers from Bangalore travelled to Ahmedabad to cover this movement for WINGS. Ela Bhatt died November 2, 2022, but her legacy lives on.

Host(s): Smita Ramanathan and Manju Venkat. Featured Speakers/Guests: SEWA persons interviewed for parts one and two of this program. – 1. Manali Shah (Vice President), 2. Pratibha Pandya (Administrative Officer), 3. Kapila ben (President) 4. Jyoti Macwan (general secretary), 5. Rajiben (Trade representative, ragpickers) 6. Anisa Sheikh (Representative – Incense stick roller) 7.Jayashree Vyas (M.D. SEWA Cooperative Bank), 8. Parvati Macwan (Representative – Construction workers) 9. Vali ben (Representative – farm woman, health worker) 10. Mayaben Patel (master trainer, IT) 11. Heena Dave (District Coordinator) 12. Sharadaben Jhala (Representative – Farm women, executive committee member) 13. Jignasa Parmar (Vendors’ and Hawkers’ campaign team) 14. Geeta Koshti (legal coordinator) 15. Shalini Trivedi (Legal Coordinator ).

The Women’s International News Gathering Service (WINGS) has been covering the global women’s movement with reporters around the world since 1986.

Share This Episode