Noted Gandhian and founder of Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Elaben Bhatt passed away in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. She was 89 and was not well for quite some time. Bhatt is survived by a son and a daughter.
A recipient of Padma Bhushan and Ramon Magsaysay awards among many others, she was also the former chancellor of Ahmedabad-based Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi.
She recently gave up the chancellorship of the prestigious Gandhian institute owing to her ill health. The trustees of the Gujarat Vidyapith in a majority vote elected Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, in his personal capacity, as the chancellor. He has RSS affiliation and it is for the first time that someone with saffron leanings has occupied the post.
Bhatt’s passing away marks the end of an era. In sharp contrast to her height (she wasn’t tall), her work speaks volumes in sectors of uniting women from the unorganised sector and women’s banking, in particular.
Born in Ahmedabad to Sumantrai Bhatt and Vanallia Vyas, both followers of Gandhi, Bhatt got a degree in law apart from a degree in English.
Set up in 1972, SEWA over the years has grown into a huge umbrella under which lakhs of women working in over 125 different trades are associated.
In 1974, Bhatt started SEWA Bank that gave birth to the microfinance movement across the world.
She had once told THE WEEK that the idea of setting up a bank for women emerged from her association of working in the area where women from the unorganized sector lived. “It was a pressing reality. Women were highly indebted and used to pay as high as 10 per cent interest to the money lenders in those times,” she had said.
She had recalled the initial times when the moneylenders were upset as the women were not taking loans from them and some of them had to also lose jobs. Things then gradually settled.
Bhatt had a message for women that they all should have savings.
She was a former member of Rajya Sabha and Planning Commission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to express sorrow on the demise of Bhatt. In a post written in Gujarati—the mother tongue of both him and Bhatt—Modi wrote that her contribution in the field of women’s empowerment, social service and education of youth will be remembered for decades to come.
Among several tributes also includes a post by Hillary Clinton, who was moved by Bhatt's work.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also expressed grief over Bhatt’s demise. He said that as a Padma Bhushan recipient and a pioneer of women’s rights, she devoted her life to empowering them through grassroots entrepreneurship. Her exceptional legacy shall always inspire, he added.