Ela Bhatt

Ela Bhatt (born September 7, 1933, Ahmedabad, India—died November 2, 2022, Ahmedabad) was the founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union representing self-employed female textile workers in India. Her successful leadership of SEWA won her national and international recognition.

After graduating from Sarwajanik Girls High School in Surat in 1948, Bhatt attended MTB (Maganlal Thakordas Balmukunddas) Arts College in Surat, where she received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1952. In 1954 she graduated from Sir L.A. Shah Law College in Ahmedabad, earning a gold medal for her work in Hindu law.

In 1955 Bhatt joined the legal department of India’s oldest union for textile workers, the Textile Labour Association (TLA), formed in 1920 in the wake of a textile workers’ strike led by Mahatma Gandhi. Inspired by Gandhi’s example, she founded SEWA in 1972, serving as the union’s secretary-general until her retirement in 1996. Under her leadership, SEWA established a cooperative bank in 1974 to provide small loans to poor women to start their own businesses. The union also provided financial and business counseling.

Bhatt was a cofounder in 1979 of Women’s World Banking (WWB), a global network of microfinance organizations that assist poor women. She served as chairperson of WWB from 1984 to 1988. In 1986 the president of India appointed Bhatt to the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), the upper house of India’s parliament, where she served until 1989. In the parliament she chaired the National Commission on Self-Employed Women, which was established to investigate the conditions of poor women workers.

Bhatt also served as an adviser to multilateral organizations such as the World Bank on matters relating to microfinance, banking, and antipoverty programs. In 2007 she joined the Elders, a group of world leaders that was founded by Nelson Mandela to promote human rights and peace; she became an emeritus member in 2016. Bhatt was the recipient of several honorary degrees and international and Indian awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (1977), the Right Livelihood Award for Changing the Human Environment (1984), and the Padma Shri (1985) and Padma Bhushan (1986), two of India’s highest civilian honours.