SEWA
Encyclopedia
The Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) is a trade union
for poor, self-employed women workers in India
. SEWA was founded in 1972 by the noted Gandhian
and civil rights leader Dr Ela Bhatt
. SEWA's main office is located in Ahmedabad
, Gujarat, and it works in several states of India. SEWA had a membership of 966,139 in the year 2008. SEWA members are women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organized sector. They are the unprotected labour force of India. Constituting 93% of the labour force, these are workers of the unorganized sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganized sector. However their work is not counted and hence remains invisible. SEWA is strongly supported by the World Bank
which holds it out as a model to be replicated elsewhere.
Radio is a medium which can be accessed by the masses and so SEWA started a community radio station in the Manipur village of Sanand taluka, Gujarat in 2009 which reaches out to nearby 40 villages. SEWA community radio has been awarded ‘best station’ by Ministry of information and broadcasting, Government of India. The award was given away by Shri Ambica Soni to Shri Shanta Koshti, Academy Coordinator. The information and the broadcasting ministry along with common wealth educational media center for Asia from 7th to 9th April at 'Vigyan Bhavan', Delhi organized the first of its kind in India conference on national community radio. The conference saw the presence of representatives of 106 community radio stations which included SEWA. SEWA’s unique method of narrow casting to reach out to the people was appreciated by one and all in the conference. In particular, it won the award for its programmes on “Community Marriages” and “Drug de-addiction”.
News about SEWA: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/SEWA--s-work-a-role-model-all--US/647012/
The inspiration for the union came from Mahatma Gandhi, who led a successful strike of textile workers in 1917. He believed that by developing unity as well as personality, a worker should be able to hold his or her own against tyranny from employers or the state. To develop this strength he believed that a union should cover all aspects of worker's lives both in the factory and at home.
Against this background of active involvement in industrial relations, social work and local, state and national politics, the ideological base provided by Mahatma Gandhi
and the feminist seeds planted by Anasuya Sarabhai led to the creation by the TLA of their Women's Wing in 1954. Its original purpose was to assist women belonging to households of mill workers and its work was focused largely on training and welfare activities. By 1968, classes in sewing, knitting embroidery, spinning, press composition typing and stenography were established in centers throughout the city for the wives and daughters of mill workers.
The scope of its activities expanded in the early 1970s when a survey was conducted to probe complaints by women tailors of exploitation by contractors. The survey brought out other instances of exploitation of women workers and revealed the large numbers untouched by government legislation and policies.
In 1971, a small group of migrant women working as cart-pullers in Ahmedabad
's cloth market came to the TLA with their labour contractor. He had heard of a transport workers' union organized by the TLA and thought they might be able to help the women find some housing. At the time, the women were living on the streets without shelter. They were sent to see Ela Bhatt, the Head of Women's Wing. After talking with the women in her office, she went with them to the areas where they were living and to the market area where they were working. While there, she met another group of women who were working as head-loaders, carrying loads of clothes between the wholesale and retail markets. As she sat with them on the steps of the warehouses where they waited for work, they discussed their jobs and their low and erratic wages.
Following the meeting, Ela Bhatt wrote an article for the local newspaper and detailed the problems of the head-loaders. The cloth merchants countered the charges against them with a news article of their own, denying the allegations and testifying to their fair treatment of the head-loaders. The Women's Wing turned the release of this story to their own advantage by reprinting the merchant's claims on the cards and distributing them to use as leverage with the merchants.
Soon word of this effective ploy spread and a group of used garment dealers approached the Women's Wing with their own grievances. A public meeting of used garment dealers was called and over hundred women attended. During the meeting in a public park, a woman from the crowd suggested they form an association of their own. Thus, on an appeal from the women and at the initiative of the leader of the Women's Wing, Ela Bhatt, and the president of the TLA, Arvind Buch, the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) was born in December 1971.
The women felt that as a workers' association, SEWA should establish itself as a Trade Union. This was a fairly novel idea, because the self-employed have no real history of organizing. The first struggle SEWA undertook was obtaining official recognition as Trade Union. The Labour Department refused to register SEWA because they felt that since there was no recognized employer, the workers would have no one to struggle against. We argued that a Union was not necessarily against an employer, but was for the unity of the workers. Finally, SEWA was registered as a Trade Union in April 1972.
SEWA grew continuously from 1972, increasing in its membership and including more and more different occupations within its fold. The beginning of the Women's Decade in 1975 gave a boost to the growth of SEWA, placing it within the women's movement. In 1977, SEWA's General Secretary, Ela Bhatt, was awarded prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award and this brought international recognition to SEWA.
By 1981, relations between SEWA and TLA had deteriorated. TLA did not appreciate an assertive women's group in its midst. Also, the interests of TLA, representing workers of the organized sector often came into conflict with the demands of SEWA, representing unorganized women workers. The conflict came to a head in 1981 during the anti-reservation riots when members of higher castes attacked the Harijans (untouchables), many of whom were members of both TLA and SEWA. SEWA spoke out in defense of the Harijans (untouchables), whereas TLA remained silent. Because of this outspokenness, TLA threw out SEWA from its fold. After the separation from TLA, SEWA grew even faster and started new initiatives. In particular, the growth of many new co-operatives, a more militant trade union and many supportive services has given SEWA a new shape and direction.
The first major development effort of SEWA, the SEWA Co-operative Bank embodies a well-thought out concept to serve poor, self-employed women. It aims at providing an integrated set of banking services which make it a multi-service organisation that has deviated from the general pattern of co-operative banks.
In order to address the problem of lack of access to timely and efficient savings and credit facilities and to free themselves from the vicious cycle of eternal debt, SEWA members devised their own solution: "a bank of their own, where they would be accepted in their own right and not be made to feel inferior". 4,000 women members of SEWA contributed share capital of Rs.10 each to establish the Mahila SEWA Co-operative Bank in May 1974. Currently, SEWA Bank has 125,000 self employed women depositors and has disbursed loans without the need for traditional collateral, of over Rs.350 million.
The experience of SEWA Bank shows that women need finances for different purposes throughout their life. These needs are personal needs as well as business needs, short term, medium term and long term needs. They may also be classified as consumption and production needs. SEWA Bank's objective is to act as a life-time friend of its clients and not as a short term provider of funds. Hence it tries to design its services, products and delivery mechanisms as per the needs of its women clients.
Objectives of SEWA Bank
The first major development effort of SEWA, the SEWA Co-operative Bank embodies a well-thought out concept to serve poor, self-employed women. It aims at providing an integrated set of banking services which make it a multi-service organisation that has deviated from the general pattern of co-operative banks.
The objectives of SEWA Bank, which are an outcome of practical experience are :
The experience of SEWA Bank shows that women need finances for different purposes throughout their life. These needs are personal needs as well as business needs, short term, medium term and long term needs. They may also be classified as consumption and production needs. SEWA Bank's objective is to act as a life-time friend of its clients and not as a short term provider of funds. Hence it tries to design its services, products and delivery mechanisms as per the needs of its women clients.
News about SEWA bank:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=369368
*SEWA Academy
SEWA have been imparting trainings to build capacity of members within the organization as well as other groups. In the effort to bring all the trainings under one umbrella, culminated the formation of SEWA Academy in the year 1991. The main trainings undertaken at SEWA Academy were to develop leadership skills. In addition to capacity building trainings; research, communication, documentation and literacy were regarded as the activities of SEWA Academy.
The two mediums of communication, Anasooya and Video SEWA involved in raising awareness and knowledge, have been directly linked with SEWA Academy. Video SEWA was functioning since 1984 as a tool for developmental communication, to bring video technology in the hands of ordinary women.
Radio was observed as an untapped source of education and communication to the remotest of villages in India. Radio is an ideal medium of communication for the women while rolling bidis, making incense stick, stitching or weaving. In April 2005, SEWA began its first community radio programme, entitled Rudi no Radio, a weekly 15-minute program produced and broadcast by members of SEWA for its rural audience.
Objective:
SEWA Academy’s primary objective is to take the SEWA movement forward. It does this in four ways - through training and capacity building, action-oriented research of its members, and by building strong communication channels, within the organization as well as with the outside world.
Training and capacity building represents SEWA’s systematic efforts at enhancing the capacity of its members to achieve greater personal and organizational development. This enables them to participate more effectively in the processes of change. Membership education (including literacy) and leadership training courses are the heart of SEWA Academy. It also carries out many other educational programmes that reinforce the philosophy and principles of the SEWA movement.
Through research, the effort is to bring the self employed women into the mainstream of the world of knowledge. Credible, scientifically based research has been a critical tool in SEWA’s advocacy efforts. Its research is designed not only to clearly demonstrate the need for overall policy changes but also identify specific measures for implementation.
Communication is a very important aspect of poor self employed women's lives and struggles. There is the need to develop and strengthen communication between members within the SEWA movement, and also between poor women and the world outside. Different media for communication are used by the women, so that they are both seen and heard.
SEWA has also explored several channels to support members in their communication efforts. These include “Anasooya” – SEWA’s fortnightly news letter in Gujarati, “Akashganga” – monthly magazine for adolescent girls, “We the Self Employed” - SEWA’s electronic newsletter published in English and aims to reach policy makers, programme planners and a wider national and international audience. Video SEWA was established in 1984 as a means to provide training to the members of SEWA and to motivate, mobilize and strengthen the existing membership of SEWA through the use of video recordings and tapes.
*Shri Mahila SEWA Anasooya Trust
"Anasooya" was started in 1982 to provide a forum for presentation of experiences, ideas and viewpoints emerging from SEWA's work. It also brings the reality of the self employed to the policy makers, planners and other involved in national and state-level development work. In additional. It serves as a link between SEWA members and other self employed workers across various geographical, social and cultural boundaries. "Anasooya" has been published regularly since 1982 and has a readership of 2500. It has completed fourteen years successfully and regular - not missing a single issue. It is published on 6th and 22nd of every month.
The editor of "Anasooya" has an accreditation card at the state level. "Anasooya" has also obtained membership in the press council. In this way, after years of efforts, "Anasooya" representing the views and experiences of the self employed, entered the mainstream of the print media.
"Anasooya" receives enthusiastic support from its readership, which in turn helps to provide the direction of this publication. Several articles of "Anasooya" have also been republished in magazines, journals and newspapers "Anasooya" was inaugurated by Shri Shankerial Banker, an important leader in the labour movement of Gujarat.
The name "Anasooya" was chosen for the two reasons first "Anasooya" means without hatred and second "Anasooya" refers to Anasooya Sarabhai - one of the early feminists and also leaders of labour movement inspired by Gandhiji.
Anasooya focuses on injustices done to the employed women and the way they are exploited, policies for the self employed. Articles given information on various schemes of the Government, and also articles related to the middle class women like dowry, working women problems, problems of children and their rights and on child labour.
SEWA too felt the need of expanding our areas in media using communication and multi media for empowerment through a variety of form and thus fulfilling its objective of Self reliance. Sustainability is a must for any organisation and it is a means to enter and reach the mainstream market. Thus, Shri Mahila SEWA Anasooya Trust was registered on 17th June 1996.
Today, Shri Mahila Anasooya Trust apart from its fortnightly has also started a monthly periodical for young girls titled, "Akash Ganga". Akash Ganga was launched on the 14th November'96 celebrating the auspicious occasion of Children Day. This is the only periodical for our girls from the working class community. It has both information, entertainment, songs, stories, quiz, jokes etc. and more speaks about their dreams - our future. Every year the Trust will bring out this 32 pages, two coloured printed periodical in 12 issues.
In December Anasooya Trust will be inaugurating its new premises at Gandhinagar in the midst of all the new papers / dairies at Akhbar Bhavan.
With the given space the other activity we propose to have is the Anasooya Feature Service (AFS). The primary aim of the AFS is to provide to mainstream media products on women poverty and development that are thought provoking enough to suggest Policy - in terms of change, it would provide and encourage correspondents to bring out their views positively.
It would enable and determine how best the material can be placed in mainstream media without distorting the content of it. Commissioning editing and translating would be the main tasks of Anasooya Feature Service. How it would work ?
Firstly, the feature would be collected. Then it would be discussed with a correspondent. Next, it will be edited and the Correspodent can be consulted, for clarification or further information.
After this process the final product will be sent to the Clients and if used the clip will be sent to the regional office and their correspondent.
This will enable and encourage women journalists to highlight various women and poverty related issues and at the same time also train our members as journalists bringing up a new breed of journalists speaking out their issues.
For the ongoing and new activities Anasooya Trust would need infrastructure facilities and equipment. At the same time it will make its own business plan to ralse money by selling and availing of advertisements.
Anasooya Trust is registered under the Bombay Public Charitable Trust Act of 1950.
There is a strong need to develop more communication system that facilities self expression, increase people's access to information and knowledge create and stimulate critical thinking and analysis and encourage creativity and self confidence. Thus helping them to take decisions on issues which have mainly been declined in the mainstream media. Given the indifference of mainstream communication channels not understanding the realities of the working women's lives especially those from the unorganised sector. SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association) made efforts to create alternate structure in the media through Video SEWA in 1984.
*SEWA Research
Credible, scientific based research has been a critical tool in SEWA’s advocacy efforts. Through research, SEWA strives to bring its members, the self employed women, into the mainstream of the world of knowledge. ‘Action oriented research’ is the corner stone of this intervention and SEWA Academy is the organizational wing responsible for this task.
The Research Programme of the Academy has the following distinctive features which sets it apart from the mainstream research bodies and think tanks and gives it the distinctive characteristic and a unique position of its own.
Action-oriented Research
SEWA Academy has a unique perspective – a grassroots perspective through which to view development issues. What sets research done by SEWA apart is its driving force and guiding principle – research must be used to understand the lives of its members and guide action. Research projects are directly linked to action and immediate usefulness – supporting SEWA’s organizing, program development and advocacy campaigns.
Linking the Micro and Macro
SEWA’s research is uniquely positioned, connecting the Micro and Macro level, between grassroots women and the local development context at the micro level, and the government policies and the economic development process at the macro level. Through its research, SEWA has been able to understand the effect of macro policies on the welfare of poor women at the grassroots level; and lobby to mitigate its worst effects. Research has also documented alternative solutions at the grassroots and then lobby for these solutions to be included in macro level program.
Mainstreaming the invisible
Research helps SEWA capture the condition and contribution of self employed women and speak credibly on their behalf for changes in local, national and international policy. Although they are significant contributors to the economy, few researches have been conducted regarding the status and needs of self-employed women. Because research is the "common language" within policy and international forums, this knowledge gap renders women "invisible" for all practical purposes and sustains their exploitation. By filling this gap through research and encouraging others to research the informal sector, SEWA has begun to translate its members’ experience into objective scientific data. These data have been used as the basis to influence policymakers and call for widespread policy change.
Today, SEWA has emerged as an organization with a strong field base which is also well knit into the both national and international networks and policy dialogues concerning the informal sector, workers and women. Through research, SEWA has been able to share its experience and lessons with colleagues across the country and the world. It has helped lay the groundwork for the larger national and international movement of self-employment women by educating external audiences including international leaders and funding agencies.
Grassroots Presence: Building strength from within
In SEWA Academy, research is informed by those deeply familiar with the issues and their context. Research is carried out by a team that includes grassroots researchers. One of SEWA’s most fundamental values is its commitment to ‘training up’ its members. In this tradition , members have been trained to become the core their new internal research team. Today SEWA Academy has developed a grassroots research team by training members as researchers and established a decentralized research structure. Developing a team of grassroots researchers has been a milestone in the organization’s evolution. Once dependent on others to capture and convey their experiences, women have learnt to tell their story themselves.
Today, 50 of the 75 researchers (including grass roots) are from the working class background. The Academy has had great success retaining both working class and middle class team members. Besides, SEWA today employs a variety of research methods on a large number of topics, produced and have disseminated their finding using both the print and the video medium.
Almost all grassroots researchers interviewed stopped education to take care of family members or earn money for the family, they recalled liking school and surprisingly most of them said maths to be their favorite subject. Some of the observations of the trainees are:
[*Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Co-operative Federation Ltd.]
From the time of its inception the Federation has concentrated in providing comprehensive training in cooperative education, marketing, management, record keeping, leadership and technical training. It also provides assistance in various areas of cooperative development.
Is an integrated insurance program aiming to provide social protection for SEWA members to cover their life cycle needs and the various risks they face in their lives, through an insurance organization in which they themselves are users, owners and managers of all services.
*SEWA Housing
Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) was established by Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) in 1994 with the overall objective of improving the housing and infrastructure conditions of poor women in the informal sector. Within this general framework, MHT facilitates access to services such as shelter finance, legal advice, technical assistance, information on the housing market, and shelter-related income opportunities for poor working women. Through its advocacy activities, MHT also attempts to influence housing and infrastructure related urban and rural development policies and programs to meet the needs of its membership.
The Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), is a registered trade union of 1.1 million poor self employed women workers of the country. In India about 92 per cent of the work force is with the informal economy and percentage is much higher among women workers. Contribution from the informal economy to the country's NDP is over 60 per cent but unlike the formal sector they do not receive regular salaries and welfare benefits. To address the issues of women in informal economy, Shri Elaben Bhatt founded SEWA in 1972 with the objective of organizing women workers in the informal economy so that they are able to get full employment and become self reliant. This was achieved through the dual strategy of struggle and development - struggle against constraints and limitations imposed on women by society and the economy, whereas development activities strengthened women's bargaining power and offered them new alternatives. SEWA particularly addresses the following problems that women from this sector generally face:
In 1974, at the initiative of 4000 self-employed women workers who contributed a share capital of Rs. 10 each, Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank Limited was established with the specific objective of providing credit to these women so as to empower them and free them from the vicious cycle of eternal debt that they incurred under the clutches of loan sharks. Currently SEWA Bank has over 318,594 account holders with a total working capital of Rs. 1291.89 million (March, 2009).
In 1992, SEWA's Executive Committee decided that housing related activities of SEWA and SEWA Bank required consolidation and expansion. This was largely prompted by the internal research of SEWA Bank which indicated that more than one-third of all loans were used for housing, and that, at least 80 per cent of those loans were spent on housing related activities, including water connections, construction of toilets and drains, and acquiring electricity. So in 1994, Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) was officially registered with the overall objective of improving housing and infrastructure conditions of poor women in the informal sector.
The Major Objectives of MHT are:
Key Activities of MHT:
*SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre
In response to the demand for creating sustainable livelihood strategies for the poorest of the poor women producers, The SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre (STFC) was established in May 2003 as the commercial arm of SEWA by more than 15000 women artisans in the textiles and handicrafts sector. STFC has set up state of the art common production facility under one roof spread over an area of 1000 sq. meter. The facility is operated by "Vastralay" the cooperative. The centre has fully headed of out to finish facility, 120 highly skilled young women trained by STFC at NIFT.
SEWA is a trade union registered in 1972. It is an organisation of poor, self-employed women workers. These are women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organised sector. They are the unprotected labour force of our country. Constituting 93% of the labour force, these are workers of the unorganised sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganised sector. However their work is not counted and hence remains invisible. In fact, women workers themselves remain uncounted, undercounted and invisible.SEWA’s main goals are to organise women workers for full employment & self-reliance. Full employment means employment whereby workers obtain work security,income security, food security and social security (at least health care,child care and shelter).SEWA organises women to ensure that every family obtains full employment. By self-reliance we mean that women should be autonomous and self-reliant, individually and collectively, both economically and in terms of their decision-making ability.
Following are some facilities:
*SEWA Manager Ni School
The SEWA Manager’s School began in 2005 as a capacity building institution within SEWA with the goal of facilitating economic self-sustainability through building a cadre of grassroots managers.
SEWA’s approach to rural organizing has always been need based and demand driven. The very basic objectives of SEWA are full employment and self reliance and by self reliance we mean economic self reliance of the members at the household level as well as the institutional level. In order to strengthen the collective strength and the bargaining power of the rural workers or labourers, there is a need to create alternative employment opportunities for them. Hence SEWA has been promoting members’ economic organizations. These economic organizations need to develop professional systems and processes to become .viable and sustainable. The birth of SEWA Manager Ni School was the result of the experience of SEWA members over the course of more than three decades of building members own economic organizations such as self help groups, producer collectives, associations, non- profit companies, for profit companies etc.
Founded in 2005, SEWA Manager Ni School is a branch of SEWA that serves as a managerial capacity building institution, facilitating economic self-sustainability by developing a cadre of grassroots managers. In this era of globalization, the mainstream market has grown larger and more competitive.
Therefore, in order to be successful and keep up with the global markets, rural members must learn to streamline their processes, and gain management-related insight so that they can compete using their own products and services.
Based in Ahmedabad, SEWA Manager Ni School has partnered with various other organizations ranging from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad to the World Bank Institute to help rural members do just that. By training individual members to become managers and leaders, SEWA Manager Ni School strengthens other organizations and contributes to a greater level of financial self .reliance among the women. SEWA Manager Ni School has also multiplied and fortified the relationships that SEWA and its members have with many private sector organizations. The members trained by SEWA Manager Ni School are chosen by their peers, ensuring that they will be respected and receive a high level of ownership and accountability within membership organizations. This adds to the structure and helps centralize the leadership of SEWA’s various cooperatives and organizations.
In the era of globalization, in order to achieve inclusive growth, the informal sector and the rural members should be brought in the mainstream. Through the SEWA Manager Ni School, the micro enterprises developed by the informal sector/SEWA members are being professionalized. As of now, there is no training institute in India which works towards building the capacities of the micro enterprises of the informal sector members. The courses are designed based on the socio and economic situation, thereby making it need based and demand driven. The training courses are conducted centrally in the classrooms at Ahmedabad, as well as decentralized in various Community Learning Centres or even below a tree in the villages.
*SEWA Sanskar Kendra
SEWA Sanskar Kendra (SSK) envisaged as the 'hub' or centre of activity for a cluster of ten to fifteen villages. SSKs were established keeping in mind that the women in the rural communities had requirements of diverse information while they had the least access to information and communication technologies. Therefore, there was a constant need for information on people's entitlements, enhancing their capacities, accessing markets, technical solutions for livelihoods as well as technologies to cater to these requirements. These SSKs offered a gamut of services - ICT training, capacity building, skill upgradation, disaster mitigation related activities and trainings, childcare, hub for village database etc.
All these initiatives were directed towards SEWA's aims to develop a sustainable ICTbased model for addressing economic and social problems, resulting from a lack of access to needed information. While establishing SSKs special attention was paid to the role of the infomediary and the processes by which ICT-based interventions could be effective in sustainable livelihoods generation.
SEWA had started with a participative and holistic approach while developing the concept of SSK. The participation of local people involved selection of village resource person for SSK in the Gram Sabha1 and recruitment of local village member for SSK. People's participation in SSK activities was ensured through participatory management process and decentralized decision making. In order to bring in maximum village contribution and participation, the endeavor had been to locate the SSKs in the community areas to ensure the community's involvement.
SEWA collaborated with local self-government bodies like Village Panchayats, District Rural Development Agency and other like-minded organizations in setting up the infrastructure for the SSKs. These local self-government bodies provided a small building or room to house the SSK and some basic amenities. Initially, all efforts were made to obtain the place for SSK from the Gram Panchayats themselves. Wherever this was not possible, the next best alternative was considered. Thus, SEWA's SSKs were set up in the village community centre, Gram Panchayat areas, schools/institutes and in extreme cases, even in rented places. In Patan and Surendranagar districts, where SEWA started running SSKs from its own constructed buildings, the land was provided by Panchayat. Wherever space permitted, an in-house SSK had been started at the district association premises of SEWA. This also served as a showcase of technology as women members poured into district offices at all times for their work and were exposed to the SSK concept and encouraged to try out and use the SSK for their routine work. Currently more than 40 SSKs had been operational in ten districts of Gujarat.
*SEWA ICT
ICT revolution has driven numerous initiatives by using new technologies for poverty alleviation and socioeconomic development. SEWA realized the potential of new information technologies in facilitating capacity development, supporting cooperative efforts and reducing vulnerability by increasing access to information, particularly about entitlements and programs. SEWA ICT has enabled poor people, particularly women, living in remote areas to access vital information related to their trade, livelihoods, government schemes including Panchayati Raj (local self-government), seeking and sharing expert opinions on disaster management, management of enterprise, marketing of produce and products. SEWA ICT represented a powerful strategy for overcoming various notions of a 'digital divide' and making the information available to the powerless.
SEWA NIRMAN generates sustainable livelihood for its members (i.e. the construction workers) by organizing & training semi-skilled workers and free them from exploitation. SEWA NIRMAN works for infrastructure development across the country, focusing on rural development benefiting the construction industry and the entire nation at large.
*SEWA Ecotourism
Vanlaxmi Women Tree Grower's Cooperative initiated by SEWA depicts one of its many achievements in the field of women empowerment and poverty alleviation through sustainable self-employment. This is a case of poor and working landless women's struggle to form and run their eco regenerative activity in the water starved area of Gujarat.
The society was established after getting a 10 acre plot from the Village Panchayat on a 30 year lease in 1986. When the land was received it was covered with shrubbery,thorny cactuses and infested with snakes and other poisonous reptiles. It took the women folk of the village over 3 years (1986-1989) to clear the land, till it and make it arable.
The women were reimbursed Rs 13/ day to work on the land as a compensation for their loss of livelihood.The hardship did not end there. The women were subject to a constant ridicule when they went to register their society. Questions were raised about the women’s ability to run a society given their education levels or rather lack of it. Finally the society was registered on 11/7/1991.
It is a salute to the self-confidence and perseverance of the women members that the society is at its present form today. The problems did not end there. Registering the society and acquiring the land was just the beginning. After which came the hurdle of fetching water. The women started with fetching water from their villages but that water dried up by the time it was brought to the fields. Digging a rudimentary well did not solve the problem as the parched earth soaked the water. Finally under training and assistance from IPCL, Vadodra they were able to make an artificial plastic pond/well for water storage. This was also not fool-proof as seasonal water could only partially meet the requirements of the farm. SEWA helped them setup a bore well that is 800 ft deep and 8 inch wide that provides them water for their daily use. And thus flourished the society! A glaring example of success amidst multiple challenges and roadblocks.
For the past two years the farm is conducting eco-tourism for outside visitors. This is a new stream of revenue for the farm. The visitors enjoy the day in the calm and serene surroundings of the farm and enjoy the clean atmosphere. The trip starts from Ahmedabad. The tourists are welcomed by a traditional welcome ritual. This is followed by serving the guests breakfast and beverage. This is followed by a tour of the farm. A sumptuous lunch is served thereafter. The evenings are reserved for a local entertainment program followed by a trek back to the city. The entire trip costs Rs 150/ ($ 2.9) person without vehicle arrangement and Rs 250/ ($ 4.8) person with vehicle arrangement.The visitors comprise of foreigners, senior citizens, students and members of clubs etc.
SEWA has organized around 10,000 salt workers and farmers in Surendranagar and Patan districts of Gujarat. Kharaghoda is situated in Surendranagar, Gujarat.
The cooperative completed 22 years of its journey with the support of women. It was started to help paper-picker women. In 1986 the first ever cleaning cooperative was formed with the support of SEWA Federation.
*SEWA Kalakruti
The marketing outlet for member artisans from craft co-operatives is promoted by SEWA. It provides regular employment and helps to preserve traditional skills through cooperative efforts for self-reliance eliminating the middleman. The federation assist the artisans in marketing, helps them in conservation and development of their products. Similarly the federation facilitates vendors and farmers to buy and sell at the Agriculture Producers Marketing Committee eliminating the middle agencies.
Sewa Kalakruti, promoted by Gujarat State Women’s Sewa Co-operative Federation is a marketing outlet for the products generated by women artisans organized under co-operatives. Its objective has been to serve as direct marketing link between the customers and the products made by these artisans. A storehouse of handicrafted products, Kalakruti is a non profit making entity. It products include a broad range of stationery items, apparels, home décor furnishings, personal accessories, bed linens and artifacts.
The poor, home-based women artisans have always been exploited by the middlemen who give them work. Their products are sold at high prices, reducing the artisans as mere laborers of the craft.
It was learnt that these women were losing hold on their traditional craft because of low earnings. Surveys revealed that the socio-economic condition of these artisans had become deplorable. In order to revive the craft and uplift their condition, these women came to be organized into co-operatives. The objective was to make available an ideal business environment to them along with an interface which would directly help market their products to the customers. This led to the development of 11 such artisan co-operatives which supported crafts like block printing, patchwork, appliqué work, tie and dye, jewelry making, beadwork, badla work, puppet making, khatla, crochet and hand embroidery. Design Sewa, a design house established by the Federation, acted as an incubator to support the artisans in design development, product diversification and educate them on new product-based skills.
Today it has churned out 11 master craftswomen who create samples, keeping in sync the modern trends for products to be exported, sold at exhibitions or marketed on a whole sale basis.
The uniqueness of Kalakruti lies in the fact that 65% of the revenue generated through the products sold, directly goes to the artisans. This gives them the leverage of earning a fair price for their skill.
Kalakruti also supports training of artisans working under the co-operatives. Product diversification and skill upgradation are two measures which are constantly practiced here.
It also facilitates linkages with other design institutes and corporate entities to initiate product development, its diversification and better visibility
*SEWA Bharat
SEWA Bharat is a federation of SEWA member organizations, with the mandate to highlight issues concerning women working in the informal sector, and to strengthen the capacity of the organizations that serve the interests of these women. Presently nine such SEWA member organizations are working in 35 districts of seven states, and together they accounted for a total membership around 12, 00,000.
Mission of Sewa Bharat:
SEWA Bharat is a federation of membership-based organisations of women workers. It is committed to strengthening the Movement of women in the informal economy by highlighting their issues at the national level and building its member organisations’ capacity to empower them.
Activities:
As described in its Mission Statement, SEWA Bharat’s mandate is to building and to strengthen developing SEWAs throughout India. This occurs through the following activities; Acting as a link among SEWAs, Coordinating and guiding the activities of existing SEWAs, Coordinating and guiding the process of establishing new SEWAs, Training and workshops for members, leaders and organisers, and Strengthening and expanding micro finance services in all SEWAs.
Supportive services like savings and credit, health care, child car, insurance, legal aid, capacity building and communication services are important needs of poor women. If women are to achieve their goals of full employment and self-reliance, these services are essential. Recognising the need for supportive services, SEWA has helped women take a number of initiatives in organising these services for themselves and their SEWA sisters. Many important lessons have been learnt in the process of organising supportive services. They provide these services in a decentralised and affordable manner, at the doorsteps of workers. Further, supportive services can be and are themselves a source of self-employment. For example, midwives charge for their services and crèche workers collect fees for taking care of young children.
Specific program areas being developed include the following; Organising & Capacity Building, Micro-finance, Employment Generations, and Social Security.
Research:
The main objective of the research carried out by SEWA Bharat is to identify and develop member organisations and to raise various issues at different forums in order to facilitate policy changes.
SEWA firmly believes that all research activity should be followed by a concrete action plan on the ground. In fact, the close interaction of SEWA Bharat members with women workers during the course of surveys fosters establishment of the rapport necessary to create targeted responses to survey results.
*HomeNet South Asia
HomeNet South Asia is a network organisation of women homebased workers promoted by UNIFEM and SEWA. It was set up after the Kathmandu Declaration, formulated in an international conference convened in Nepal in year 2000. The formal launching of HomeNet South Asia was held on January 17, 2007 in the Conference “Women Work & Poverty Policy Conference on Home Based Workers of South Asia” which was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
for poor, self-employed women workers in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. SEWA was founded in 1972 by the noted Gandhian
Gandhism
Gandhism is the collection of inspirations, principles, beliefs and philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , who was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement....
and civil rights leader Dr Ela Bhatt
Ela Bhatt
Ela Ramesh Bhatt is the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India . A lawyer by training, Bhatt is a respected leader of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements who has won several national and international awards.-Early life:Ela Bhatt was born in...
. SEWA's main office is located in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, Gujarat, and it works in several states of India. SEWA had a membership of 966,139 in the year 2008. SEWA members are women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organized sector. They are the unprotected labour force of India. Constituting 93% of the labour force, these are workers of the unorganized sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganized sector. However their work is not counted and hence remains invisible. SEWA is strongly supported by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
which holds it out as a model to be replicated elsewhere.
Goals
SEWA’s main goals are to organise women workers for full employment. Full employment means employment whereby workers obtain work security, income security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care and shelter). SEWA organises women to ensure that every family obtains full employment. By self-reliance we mean that women should be autonomous and self-reliant, individually and collectively, both economically and in terms of their decision-making ability.Some activities at Sewa
Community radio station of SEWA gets award:Radio is a medium which can be accessed by the masses and so SEWA started a community radio station in the Manipur village of Sanand taluka, Gujarat in 2009 which reaches out to nearby 40 villages. SEWA community radio has been awarded ‘best station’ by Ministry of information and broadcasting, Government of India. The award was given away by Shri Ambica Soni to Shri Shanta Koshti, Academy Coordinator. The information and the broadcasting ministry along with common wealth educational media center for Asia from 7th to 9th April at 'Vigyan Bhavan', Delhi organized the first of its kind in India conference on national community radio. The conference saw the presence of representatives of 106 community radio stations which included SEWA. SEWA’s unique method of narrow casting to reach out to the people was appreciated by one and all in the conference. In particular, it won the award for its programmes on “Community Marriages” and “Drug de-addiction”.
News about SEWA: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/SEWA--s-work-a-role-model-all--US/647012/
History
The Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) was founded in 1972 as a trade union of self employed women. It grew out of the Textile Labour Association (TLA), India's oldest and largest union of textile workers founded in 1920 by Anasuya Sarabhai.The inspiration for the union came from Mahatma Gandhi, who led a successful strike of textile workers in 1917. He believed that by developing unity as well as personality, a worker should be able to hold his or her own against tyranny from employers or the state. To develop this strength he believed that a union should cover all aspects of worker's lives both in the factory and at home.
Against this background of active involvement in industrial relations, social work and local, state and national politics, the ideological base provided by Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
and the feminist seeds planted by Anasuya Sarabhai led to the creation by the TLA of their Women's Wing in 1954. Its original purpose was to assist women belonging to households of mill workers and its work was focused largely on training and welfare activities. By 1968, classes in sewing, knitting embroidery, spinning, press composition typing and stenography were established in centers throughout the city for the wives and daughters of mill workers.
The scope of its activities expanded in the early 1970s when a survey was conducted to probe complaints by women tailors of exploitation by contractors. The survey brought out other instances of exploitation of women workers and revealed the large numbers untouched by government legislation and policies.
In 1971, a small group of migrant women working as cart-pullers in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
's cloth market came to the TLA with their labour contractor. He had heard of a transport workers' union organized by the TLA and thought they might be able to help the women find some housing. At the time, the women were living on the streets without shelter. They were sent to see Ela Bhatt, the Head of Women's Wing. After talking with the women in her office, she went with them to the areas where they were living and to the market area where they were working. While there, she met another group of women who were working as head-loaders, carrying loads of clothes between the wholesale and retail markets. As she sat with them on the steps of the warehouses where they waited for work, they discussed their jobs and their low and erratic wages.
Following the meeting, Ela Bhatt wrote an article for the local newspaper and detailed the problems of the head-loaders. The cloth merchants countered the charges against them with a news article of their own, denying the allegations and testifying to their fair treatment of the head-loaders. The Women's Wing turned the release of this story to their own advantage by reprinting the merchant's claims on the cards and distributing them to use as leverage with the merchants.
Soon word of this effective ploy spread and a group of used garment dealers approached the Women's Wing with their own grievances. A public meeting of used garment dealers was called and over hundred women attended. During the meeting in a public park, a woman from the crowd suggested they form an association of their own. Thus, on an appeal from the women and at the initiative of the leader of the Women's Wing, Ela Bhatt, and the president of the TLA, Arvind Buch, the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) was born in December 1971.
The women felt that as a workers' association, SEWA should establish itself as a Trade Union. This was a fairly novel idea, because the self-employed have no real history of organizing. The first struggle SEWA undertook was obtaining official recognition as Trade Union. The Labour Department refused to register SEWA because they felt that since there was no recognized employer, the workers would have no one to struggle against. We argued that a Union was not necessarily against an employer, but was for the unity of the workers. Finally, SEWA was registered as a Trade Union in April 1972.
SEWA grew continuously from 1972, increasing in its membership and including more and more different occupations within its fold. The beginning of the Women's Decade in 1975 gave a boost to the growth of SEWA, placing it within the women's movement. In 1977, SEWA's General Secretary, Ela Bhatt, was awarded prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award and this brought international recognition to SEWA.
By 1981, relations between SEWA and TLA had deteriorated. TLA did not appreciate an assertive women's group in its midst. Also, the interests of TLA, representing workers of the organized sector often came into conflict with the demands of SEWA, representing unorganized women workers. The conflict came to a head in 1981 during the anti-reservation riots when members of higher castes attacked the Harijans (untouchables), many of whom were members of both TLA and SEWA. SEWA spoke out in defense of the Harijans (untouchables), whereas TLA remained silent. Because of this outspokenness, TLA threw out SEWA from its fold. After the separation from TLA, SEWA grew even faster and started new initiatives. In particular, the growth of many new co-operatives, a more militant trade union and many supportive services has given SEWA a new shape and direction.
SEWA’s Sister Organizations
*SEWA BankThe first major development effort of SEWA, the SEWA Co-operative Bank embodies a well-thought out concept to serve poor, self-employed women. It aims at providing an integrated set of banking services which make it a multi-service organisation that has deviated from the general pattern of co-operative banks.
In order to address the problem of lack of access to timely and efficient savings and credit facilities and to free themselves from the vicious cycle of eternal debt, SEWA members devised their own solution: "a bank of their own, where they would be accepted in their own right and not be made to feel inferior". 4,000 women members of SEWA contributed share capital of Rs.10 each to establish the Mahila SEWA Co-operative Bank in May 1974. Currently, SEWA Bank has 125,000 self employed women depositors and has disbursed loans without the need for traditional collateral, of over Rs.350 million.
The experience of SEWA Bank shows that women need finances for different purposes throughout their life. These needs are personal needs as well as business needs, short term, medium term and long term needs. They may also be classified as consumption and production needs. SEWA Bank's objective is to act as a life-time friend of its clients and not as a short term provider of funds. Hence it tries to design its services, products and delivery mechanisms as per the needs of its women clients.
Objectives of SEWA Bank
The first major development effort of SEWA, the SEWA Co-operative Bank embodies a well-thought out concept to serve poor, self-employed women. It aims at providing an integrated set of banking services which make it a multi-service organisation that has deviated from the general pattern of co-operative banks.
The objectives of SEWA Bank, which are an outcome of practical experience are :
- Providing facilities for savings and fixed deposit accounts, thus, inculcating thrift in the women, managing their savings and ensuring safe custody of the cash the women receive as loans.
- Providing credit to further the productive, economic and income-generating activities of the poor and self-employed.
- Providing integrated insurance services covering death, sickness and asset loss – as a form of social security protection to informal sector women workers.
- Extending technical and management assistance in production, storage, procuring, designing and sale of goods and services. This includes services to buy raw materials, equipment, tools and implements establishing direct links with industries, wholesaler and producers from where the borrowers buy rags, scrap iron and wood, vessels, bamboo, yarn, vegetables and waste paper; guidance in marketing their goods; accounting services to members individually and to women's groups.
- Providing facilities to rescue their jewellery from pawn-brokers and private money-lenders and giving loans against jewellery.
- Adopting procedures and designing schemes suitable to poor self-employed women, like collecting daily savings from their places of business or houses, or providing saving boxes and giving training and assistance in understanding banking procedures.
The experience of SEWA Bank shows that women need finances for different purposes throughout their life. These needs are personal needs as well as business needs, short term, medium term and long term needs. They may also be classified as consumption and production needs. SEWA Bank's objective is to act as a life-time friend of its clients and not as a short term provider of funds. Hence it tries to design its services, products and delivery mechanisms as per the needs of its women clients.
News about SEWA bank:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=369368
*SEWA Academy
SEWA have been imparting trainings to build capacity of members within the organization as well as other groups. In the effort to bring all the trainings under one umbrella, culminated the formation of SEWA Academy in the year 1991. The main trainings undertaken at SEWA Academy were to develop leadership skills. In addition to capacity building trainings; research, communication, documentation and literacy were regarded as the activities of SEWA Academy.
The two mediums of communication, Anasooya and Video SEWA involved in raising awareness and knowledge, have been directly linked with SEWA Academy. Video SEWA was functioning since 1984 as a tool for developmental communication, to bring video technology in the hands of ordinary women.
Radio was observed as an untapped source of education and communication to the remotest of villages in India. Radio is an ideal medium of communication for the women while rolling bidis, making incense stick, stitching or weaving. In April 2005, SEWA began its first community radio programme, entitled Rudi no Radio, a weekly 15-minute program produced and broadcast by members of SEWA for its rural audience.
Objective:
SEWA Academy’s primary objective is to take the SEWA movement forward. It does this in four ways - through training and capacity building, action-oriented research of its members, and by building strong communication channels, within the organization as well as with the outside world.
Training and capacity building represents SEWA’s systematic efforts at enhancing the capacity of its members to achieve greater personal and organizational development. This enables them to participate more effectively in the processes of change. Membership education (including literacy) and leadership training courses are the heart of SEWA Academy. It also carries out many other educational programmes that reinforce the philosophy and principles of the SEWA movement.
Through research, the effort is to bring the self employed women into the mainstream of the world of knowledge. Credible, scientifically based research has been a critical tool in SEWA’s advocacy efforts. Its research is designed not only to clearly demonstrate the need for overall policy changes but also identify specific measures for implementation.
Communication is a very important aspect of poor self employed women's lives and struggles. There is the need to develop and strengthen communication between members within the SEWA movement, and also between poor women and the world outside. Different media for communication are used by the women, so that they are both seen and heard.
- SEWA Communication
SEWA has also explored several channels to support members in their communication efforts. These include “Anasooya” – SEWA’s fortnightly news letter in Gujarati, “Akashganga” – monthly magazine for adolescent girls, “We the Self Employed” - SEWA’s electronic newsletter published in English and aims to reach policy makers, programme planners and a wider national and international audience. Video SEWA was established in 1984 as a means to provide training to the members of SEWA and to motivate, mobilize and strengthen the existing membership of SEWA through the use of video recordings and tapes.
*Shri Mahila SEWA Anasooya Trust
"Anasooya" was started in 1982 to provide a forum for presentation of experiences, ideas and viewpoints emerging from SEWA's work. It also brings the reality of the self employed to the policy makers, planners and other involved in national and state-level development work. In additional. It serves as a link between SEWA members and other self employed workers across various geographical, social and cultural boundaries. "Anasooya" has been published regularly since 1982 and has a readership of 2500. It has completed fourteen years successfully and regular - not missing a single issue. It is published on 6th and 22nd of every month.
The editor of "Anasooya" has an accreditation card at the state level. "Anasooya" has also obtained membership in the press council. In this way, after years of efforts, "Anasooya" representing the views and experiences of the self employed, entered the mainstream of the print media.
"Anasooya" receives enthusiastic support from its readership, which in turn helps to provide the direction of this publication. Several articles of "Anasooya" have also been republished in magazines, journals and newspapers "Anasooya" was inaugurated by Shri Shankerial Banker, an important leader in the labour movement of Gujarat.
The name "Anasooya" was chosen for the two reasons first "Anasooya" means without hatred and second "Anasooya" refers to Anasooya Sarabhai - one of the early feminists and also leaders of labour movement inspired by Gandhiji.
Anasooya focuses on injustices done to the employed women and the way they are exploited, policies for the self employed. Articles given information on various schemes of the Government, and also articles related to the middle class women like dowry, working women problems, problems of children and their rights and on child labour.
SEWA too felt the need of expanding our areas in media using communication and multi media for empowerment through a variety of form and thus fulfilling its objective of Self reliance. Sustainability is a must for any organisation and it is a means to enter and reach the mainstream market. Thus, Shri Mahila SEWA Anasooya Trust was registered on 17th June 1996.
Today, Shri Mahila Anasooya Trust apart from its fortnightly has also started a monthly periodical for young girls titled, "Akash Ganga". Akash Ganga was launched on the 14th November'96 celebrating the auspicious occasion of Children Day. This is the only periodical for our girls from the working class community. It has both information, entertainment, songs, stories, quiz, jokes etc. and more speaks about their dreams - our future. Every year the Trust will bring out this 32 pages, two coloured printed periodical in 12 issues.
In December Anasooya Trust will be inaugurating its new premises at Gandhinagar in the midst of all the new papers / dairies at Akhbar Bhavan.
With the given space the other activity we propose to have is the Anasooya Feature Service (AFS). The primary aim of the AFS is to provide to mainstream media products on women poverty and development that are thought provoking enough to suggest Policy - in terms of change, it would provide and encourage correspondents to bring out their views positively.
It would enable and determine how best the material can be placed in mainstream media without distorting the content of it. Commissioning editing and translating would be the main tasks of Anasooya Feature Service. How it would work ?
Firstly, the feature would be collected. Then it would be discussed with a correspondent. Next, it will be edited and the Correspodent can be consulted, for clarification or further information.
After this process the final product will be sent to the Clients and if used the clip will be sent to the regional office and their correspondent.
This will enable and encourage women journalists to highlight various women and poverty related issues and at the same time also train our members as journalists bringing up a new breed of journalists speaking out their issues.
For the ongoing and new activities Anasooya Trust would need infrastructure facilities and equipment. At the same time it will make its own business plan to ralse money by selling and availing of advertisements.
Anasooya Trust is registered under the Bombay Public Charitable Trust Act of 1950.
There is a strong need to develop more communication system that facilities self expression, increase people's access to information and knowledge create and stimulate critical thinking and analysis and encourage creativity and self confidence. Thus helping them to take decisions on issues which have mainly been declined in the mainstream media. Given the indifference of mainstream communication channels not understanding the realities of the working women's lives especially those from the unorganised sector. SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association) made efforts to create alternate structure in the media through Video SEWA in 1984.
*SEWA Research
Credible, scientific based research has been a critical tool in SEWA’s advocacy efforts. Through research, SEWA strives to bring its members, the self employed women, into the mainstream of the world of knowledge. ‘Action oriented research’ is the corner stone of this intervention and SEWA Academy is the organizational wing responsible for this task.
The Research Programme of the Academy has the following distinctive features which sets it apart from the mainstream research bodies and think tanks and gives it the distinctive characteristic and a unique position of its own.
Action-oriented Research
SEWA Academy has a unique perspective – a grassroots perspective through which to view development issues. What sets research done by SEWA apart is its driving force and guiding principle – research must be used to understand the lives of its members and guide action. Research projects are directly linked to action and immediate usefulness – supporting SEWA’s organizing, program development and advocacy campaigns.
Linking the Micro and Macro
SEWA’s research is uniquely positioned, connecting the Micro and Macro level, between grassroots women and the local development context at the micro level, and the government policies and the economic development process at the macro level. Through its research, SEWA has been able to understand the effect of macro policies on the welfare of poor women at the grassroots level; and lobby to mitigate its worst effects. Research has also documented alternative solutions at the grassroots and then lobby for these solutions to be included in macro level program.
Mainstreaming the invisible
Research helps SEWA capture the condition and contribution of self employed women and speak credibly on their behalf for changes in local, national and international policy. Although they are significant contributors to the economy, few researches have been conducted regarding the status and needs of self-employed women. Because research is the "common language" within policy and international forums, this knowledge gap renders women "invisible" for all practical purposes and sustains their exploitation. By filling this gap through research and encouraging others to research the informal sector, SEWA has begun to translate its members’ experience into objective scientific data. These data have been used as the basis to influence policymakers and call for widespread policy change.
Today, SEWA has emerged as an organization with a strong field base which is also well knit into the both national and international networks and policy dialogues concerning the informal sector, workers and women. Through research, SEWA has been able to share its experience and lessons with colleagues across the country and the world. It has helped lay the groundwork for the larger national and international movement of self-employment women by educating external audiences including international leaders and funding agencies.
Grassroots Presence: Building strength from within
In SEWA Academy, research is informed by those deeply familiar with the issues and their context. Research is carried out by a team that includes grassroots researchers. One of SEWA’s most fundamental values is its commitment to ‘training up’ its members. In this tradition , members have been trained to become the core their new internal research team. Today SEWA Academy has developed a grassroots research team by training members as researchers and established a decentralized research structure. Developing a team of grassroots researchers has been a milestone in the organization’s evolution. Once dependent on others to capture and convey their experiences, women have learnt to tell their story themselves.
Today, 50 of the 75 researchers (including grass roots) are from the working class background. The Academy has had great success retaining both working class and middle class team members. Besides, SEWA today employs a variety of research methods on a large number of topics, produced and have disseminated their finding using both the print and the video medium.
Almost all grassroots researchers interviewed stopped education to take care of family members or earn money for the family, they recalled liking school and surprisingly most of them said maths to be their favorite subject. Some of the observations of the trainees are:
[*Gujarat State Women’s SEWA Co-operative Federation Ltd.]
From the time of its inception the Federation has concentrated in providing comprehensive training in cooperative education, marketing, management, record keeping, leadership and technical training. It also provides assistance in various areas of cooperative development.
- Vimo SEWA
Is an integrated insurance program aiming to provide social protection for SEWA members to cover their life cycle needs and the various risks they face in their lives, through an insurance organization in which they themselves are users, owners and managers of all services.
*SEWA Housing
Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) was established by Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) in 1994 with the overall objective of improving the housing and infrastructure conditions of poor women in the informal sector. Within this general framework, MHT facilitates access to services such as shelter finance, legal advice, technical assistance, information on the housing market, and shelter-related income opportunities for poor working women. Through its advocacy activities, MHT also attempts to influence housing and infrastructure related urban and rural development policies and programs to meet the needs of its membership.
The Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), is a registered trade union of 1.1 million poor self employed women workers of the country. In India about 92 per cent of the work force is with the informal economy and percentage is much higher among women workers. Contribution from the informal economy to the country's NDP is over 60 per cent but unlike the formal sector they do not receive regular salaries and welfare benefits. To address the issues of women in informal economy, Shri Elaben Bhatt founded SEWA in 1972 with the objective of organizing women workers in the informal economy so that they are able to get full employment and become self reliant. This was achieved through the dual strategy of struggle and development - struggle against constraints and limitations imposed on women by society and the economy, whereas development activities strengthened women's bargaining power and offered them new alternatives. SEWA particularly addresses the following problems that women from this sector generally face:
- Irregular Income and employment
- Lack of bargaining power
- Lack of working capital
- Non-ownership of assets
In 1974, at the initiative of 4000 self-employed women workers who contributed a share capital of Rs. 10 each, Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank Limited was established with the specific objective of providing credit to these women so as to empower them and free them from the vicious cycle of eternal debt that they incurred under the clutches of loan sharks. Currently SEWA Bank has over 318,594 account holders with a total working capital of Rs. 1291.89 million (March, 2009).
In 1992, SEWA's Executive Committee decided that housing related activities of SEWA and SEWA Bank required consolidation and expansion. This was largely prompted by the internal research of SEWA Bank which indicated that more than one-third of all loans were used for housing, and that, at least 80 per cent of those loans were spent on housing related activities, including water connections, construction of toilets and drains, and acquiring electricity. So in 1994, Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT) was officially registered with the overall objective of improving housing and infrastructure conditions of poor women in the informal sector.
The Major Objectives of MHT are:
- To improve housing and infrastructure conditions and overall living environment of SEWA members, including construction of low cost housing and infrastructure.
- To create improved access to important services such as shelter finance, legal advice, technical assistance, information on housing material market and shelter related income, and employment opportunities for poor working women.
- To influence housing and infrastructure related urban and rural development policies and programmes, and bring the benefits of these policies within the reach of poor women by promoting their own institutions.
Key Activities of MHT:
- Provision of basic infrastructure in slums and low income areas in partnership with Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
- Developing slum upgradation plans with ULBs to plan and design basic infrastructure in slums
- Electrification for low income households
- Training of construction workers, especially women, through Karmika School for Construction workers
- Planning and construction of low income housing and infrastructure
- Technical assistance for construction of disaster resistant housing in rural areas
- Training, awareness and capacity building of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and ULBs
- Facilitating access to housing and infrastructure finance with technical support
- Capacity building of poor on land tenure issues
- Conducting Social Audits for related government programmes, like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)
- Encouraging formation of CBOs to give voice to families living in the poor areas of the city
- Campaigning for secure tenure for the poor households
- Action ResearchAction researchAction research or participatory action research – is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Action research is done simply by action,...
- Policy influence, advocacy and networking
*SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre
In response to the demand for creating sustainable livelihood strategies for the poorest of the poor women producers, The SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre (STFC) was established in May 2003 as the commercial arm of SEWA by more than 15000 women artisans in the textiles and handicrafts sector. STFC has set up state of the art common production facility under one roof spread over an area of 1000 sq. meter. The facility is operated by "Vastralay" the cooperative. The centre has fully headed of out to finish facility, 120 highly skilled young women trained by STFC at NIFT.
SEWA is a trade union registered in 1972. It is an organisation of poor, self-employed women workers. These are women who earn a living through their own labour or small businesses. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organised sector. They are the unprotected labour force of our country. Constituting 93% of the labour force, these are workers of the unorganised sector. Of the female labour force in India, more than 94% are in the unorganised sector. However their work is not counted and hence remains invisible. In fact, women workers themselves remain uncounted, undercounted and invisible.SEWA’s main goals are to organise women workers for full employment & self-reliance. Full employment means employment whereby workers obtain work security,income security, food security and social security (at least health care,child care and shelter).SEWA organises women to ensure that every family obtains full employment. By self-reliance we mean that women should be autonomous and self-reliant, individually and collectively, both economically and in terms of their decision-making ability.
Following are some facilities:
- RAWMATERIAL STORE; The Cut to finish facility with state of art machinaries.
- SEWING; 88 machineries with Latest S7200 Brother machineries have been setup at facility.
- FINISHING DEPARTMENT; We have a full fledged finishing department that includes industrial washing and drying facility also. The machine details are as under.
- QUALITY DEPARTMENT; We have well established quality system in each department right from the inspection of fabric using Fabric Inspection machine to the inline, end of line checking in sewing and final checking in Finishing. This department ensures that right quality product goes to the customer.
- KIT DEPARTMENT; This is a unique department not found in all garment manufacturing units.This department is a link between the factory and the districts/villages where we get hand embroideries done from the artisans.
*SEWA Manager Ni School
The SEWA Manager’s School began in 2005 as a capacity building institution within SEWA with the goal of facilitating economic self-sustainability through building a cadre of grassroots managers.
SEWA’s approach to rural organizing has always been need based and demand driven. The very basic objectives of SEWA are full employment and self reliance and by self reliance we mean economic self reliance of the members at the household level as well as the institutional level. In order to strengthen the collective strength and the bargaining power of the rural workers or labourers, there is a need to create alternative employment opportunities for them. Hence SEWA has been promoting members’ economic organizations. These economic organizations need to develop professional systems and processes to become .viable and sustainable. The birth of SEWA Manager Ni School was the result of the experience of SEWA members over the course of more than three decades of building members own economic organizations such as self help groups, producer collectives, associations, non- profit companies, for profit companies etc.
Founded in 2005, SEWA Manager Ni School is a branch of SEWA that serves as a managerial capacity building institution, facilitating economic self-sustainability by developing a cadre of grassroots managers. In this era of globalization, the mainstream market has grown larger and more competitive.
Therefore, in order to be successful and keep up with the global markets, rural members must learn to streamline their processes, and gain management-related insight so that they can compete using their own products and services.
Based in Ahmedabad, SEWA Manager Ni School has partnered with various other organizations ranging from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad to the World Bank Institute to help rural members do just that. By training individual members to become managers and leaders, SEWA Manager Ni School strengthens other organizations and contributes to a greater level of financial self .reliance among the women. SEWA Manager Ni School has also multiplied and fortified the relationships that SEWA and its members have with many private sector organizations. The members trained by SEWA Manager Ni School are chosen by their peers, ensuring that they will be respected and receive a high level of ownership and accountability within membership organizations. This adds to the structure and helps centralize the leadership of SEWA’s various cooperatives and organizations.
In the era of globalization, in order to achieve inclusive growth, the informal sector and the rural members should be brought in the mainstream. Through the SEWA Manager Ni School, the micro enterprises developed by the informal sector/SEWA members are being professionalized. As of now, there is no training institute in India which works towards building the capacities of the micro enterprises of the informal sector members. The courses are designed based on the socio and economic situation, thereby making it need based and demand driven. The training courses are conducted centrally in the classrooms at Ahmedabad, as well as decentralized in various Community Learning Centres or even below a tree in the villages.
*SEWA Sanskar Kendra
SEWA Sanskar Kendra (SSK) envisaged as the 'hub' or centre of activity for a cluster of ten to fifteen villages. SSKs were established keeping in mind that the women in the rural communities had requirements of diverse information while they had the least access to information and communication technologies. Therefore, there was a constant need for information on people's entitlements, enhancing their capacities, accessing markets, technical solutions for livelihoods as well as technologies to cater to these requirements. These SSKs offered a gamut of services - ICT training, capacity building, skill upgradation, disaster mitigation related activities and trainings, childcare, hub for village database etc.
All these initiatives were directed towards SEWA's aims to develop a sustainable ICTbased model for addressing economic and social problems, resulting from a lack of access to needed information. While establishing SSKs special attention was paid to the role of the infomediary and the processes by which ICT-based interventions could be effective in sustainable livelihoods generation.
SEWA had started with a participative and holistic approach while developing the concept of SSK. The participation of local people involved selection of village resource person for SSK in the Gram Sabha1 and recruitment of local village member for SSK. People's participation in SSK activities was ensured through participatory management process and decentralized decision making. In order to bring in maximum village contribution and participation, the endeavor had been to locate the SSKs in the community areas to ensure the community's involvement.
SEWA collaborated with local self-government bodies like Village Panchayats, District Rural Development Agency and other like-minded organizations in setting up the infrastructure for the SSKs. These local self-government bodies provided a small building or room to house the SSK and some basic amenities. Initially, all efforts were made to obtain the place for SSK from the Gram Panchayats themselves. Wherever this was not possible, the next best alternative was considered. Thus, SEWA's SSKs were set up in the village community centre, Gram Panchayat areas, schools/institutes and in extreme cases, even in rented places. In Patan and Surendranagar districts, where SEWA started running SSKs from its own constructed buildings, the land was provided by Panchayat. Wherever space permitted, an in-house SSK had been started at the district association premises of SEWA. This also served as a showcase of technology as women members poured into district offices at all times for their work and were exposed to the SSK concept and encouraged to try out and use the SSK for their routine work. Currently more than 40 SSKs had been operational in ten districts of Gujarat.
*SEWA ICT
ICT revolution has driven numerous initiatives by using new technologies for poverty alleviation and socioeconomic development. SEWA realized the potential of new information technologies in facilitating capacity development, supporting cooperative efforts and reducing vulnerability by increasing access to information, particularly about entitlements and programs. SEWA ICT has enabled poor people, particularly women, living in remote areas to access vital information related to their trade, livelihoods, government schemes including Panchayati Raj (local self-government), seeking and sharing expert opinions on disaster management, management of enterprise, marketing of produce and products. SEWA ICT represented a powerful strategy for overcoming various notions of a 'digital divide' and making the information available to the powerless.
- SEWA Nirman Construction Workers Company Ltd
SEWA NIRMAN generates sustainable livelihood for its members (i.e. the construction workers) by organizing & training semi-skilled workers and free them from exploitation. SEWA NIRMAN works for infrastructure development across the country, focusing on rural development benefiting the construction industry and the entire nation at large.
*SEWA Ecotourism
Vanlaxmi Women Tree Grower's Cooperative initiated by SEWA depicts one of its many achievements in the field of women empowerment and poverty alleviation through sustainable self-employment. This is a case of poor and working landless women's struggle to form and run their eco regenerative activity in the water starved area of Gujarat.
The society was established after getting a 10 acre plot from the Village Panchayat on a 30 year lease in 1986. When the land was received it was covered with shrubbery,thorny cactuses and infested with snakes and other poisonous reptiles. It took the women folk of the village over 3 years (1986-1989) to clear the land, till it and make it arable.
The women were reimbursed Rs 13/ day to work on the land as a compensation for their loss of livelihood.The hardship did not end there. The women were subject to a constant ridicule when they went to register their society. Questions were raised about the women’s ability to run a society given their education levels or rather lack of it. Finally the society was registered on 11/7/1991.
It is a salute to the self-confidence and perseverance of the women members that the society is at its present form today. The problems did not end there. Registering the society and acquiring the land was just the beginning. After which came the hurdle of fetching water. The women started with fetching water from their villages but that water dried up by the time it was brought to the fields. Digging a rudimentary well did not solve the problem as the parched earth soaked the water. Finally under training and assistance from IPCL, Vadodra they were able to make an artificial plastic pond/well for water storage. This was also not fool-proof as seasonal water could only partially meet the requirements of the farm. SEWA helped them setup a bore well that is 800 ft deep and 8 inch wide that provides them water for their daily use. And thus flourished the society! A glaring example of success amidst multiple challenges and roadblocks.
For the past two years the farm is conducting eco-tourism for outside visitors. This is a new stream of revenue for the farm. The visitors enjoy the day in the calm and serene surroundings of the farm and enjoy the clean atmosphere. The trip starts from Ahmedabad. The tourists are welcomed by a traditional welcome ritual. This is followed by serving the guests breakfast and beverage. This is followed by a tour of the farm. A sumptuous lunch is served thereafter. The evenings are reserved for a local entertainment program followed by a trek back to the city. The entire trip costs Rs 150/ ($ 2.9) person without vehicle arrangement and Rs 250/ ($ 4.8) person with vehicle arrangement.The visitors comprise of foreigners, senior citizens, students and members of clubs etc.
- SEWA Kharaghoda
SEWA has organized around 10,000 salt workers and farmers in Surendranagar and Patan districts of Gujarat. Kharaghoda is situated in Surendranagar, Gujarat.
- SEWA Mahila Shahkari Mandli Ltd
The cooperative completed 22 years of its journey with the support of women. It was started to help paper-picker women. In 1986 the first ever cleaning cooperative was formed with the support of SEWA Federation.
*SEWA Kalakruti
The marketing outlet for member artisans from craft co-operatives is promoted by SEWA. It provides regular employment and helps to preserve traditional skills through cooperative efforts for self-reliance eliminating the middleman. The federation assist the artisans in marketing, helps them in conservation and development of their products. Similarly the federation facilitates vendors and farmers to buy and sell at the Agriculture Producers Marketing Committee eliminating the middle agencies.
Sewa Kalakruti, promoted by Gujarat State Women’s Sewa Co-operative Federation is a marketing outlet for the products generated by women artisans organized under co-operatives. Its objective has been to serve as direct marketing link between the customers and the products made by these artisans. A storehouse of handicrafted products, Kalakruti is a non profit making entity. It products include a broad range of stationery items, apparels, home décor furnishings, personal accessories, bed linens and artifacts.
The poor, home-based women artisans have always been exploited by the middlemen who give them work. Their products are sold at high prices, reducing the artisans as mere laborers of the craft.
It was learnt that these women were losing hold on their traditional craft because of low earnings. Surveys revealed that the socio-economic condition of these artisans had become deplorable. In order to revive the craft and uplift their condition, these women came to be organized into co-operatives. The objective was to make available an ideal business environment to them along with an interface which would directly help market their products to the customers. This led to the development of 11 such artisan co-operatives which supported crafts like block printing, patchwork, appliqué work, tie and dye, jewelry making, beadwork, badla work, puppet making, khatla, crochet and hand embroidery. Design Sewa, a design house established by the Federation, acted as an incubator to support the artisans in design development, product diversification and educate them on new product-based skills.
Today it has churned out 11 master craftswomen who create samples, keeping in sync the modern trends for products to be exported, sold at exhibitions or marketed on a whole sale basis.
The uniqueness of Kalakruti lies in the fact that 65% of the revenue generated through the products sold, directly goes to the artisans. This gives them the leverage of earning a fair price for their skill.
Kalakruti also supports training of artisans working under the co-operatives. Product diversification and skill upgradation are two measures which are constantly practiced here.
It also facilitates linkages with other design institutes and corporate entities to initiate product development, its diversification and better visibility
*SEWA Bharat
SEWA Bharat is a federation of SEWA member organizations, with the mandate to highlight issues concerning women working in the informal sector, and to strengthen the capacity of the organizations that serve the interests of these women. Presently nine such SEWA member organizations are working in 35 districts of seven states, and together they accounted for a total membership around 12, 00,000.
Mission of Sewa Bharat:
SEWA Bharat is a federation of membership-based organisations of women workers. It is committed to strengthening the Movement of women in the informal economy by highlighting their issues at the national level and building its member organisations’ capacity to empower them.
Activities:
As described in its Mission Statement, SEWA Bharat’s mandate is to building and to strengthen developing SEWAs throughout India. This occurs through the following activities; Acting as a link among SEWAs, Coordinating and guiding the activities of existing SEWAs, Coordinating and guiding the process of establishing new SEWAs, Training and workshops for members, leaders and organisers, and Strengthening and expanding micro finance services in all SEWAs.
Supportive services like savings and credit, health care, child car, insurance, legal aid, capacity building and communication services are important needs of poor women. If women are to achieve their goals of full employment and self-reliance, these services are essential. Recognising the need for supportive services, SEWA has helped women take a number of initiatives in organising these services for themselves and their SEWA sisters. Many important lessons have been learnt in the process of organising supportive services. They provide these services in a decentralised and affordable manner, at the doorsteps of workers. Further, supportive services can be and are themselves a source of self-employment. For example, midwives charge for their services and crèche workers collect fees for taking care of young children.
Specific program areas being developed include the following; Organising & Capacity Building, Micro-finance, Employment Generations, and Social Security.
Research:
The main objective of the research carried out by SEWA Bharat is to identify and develop member organisations and to raise various issues at different forums in order to facilitate policy changes.
SEWA firmly believes that all research activity should be followed by a concrete action plan on the ground. In fact, the close interaction of SEWA Bharat members with women workers during the course of surveys fosters establishment of the rapport necessary to create targeted responses to survey results.
*HomeNet South Asia
HomeNet South Asia is a network organisation of women homebased workers promoted by UNIFEM and SEWA. It was set up after the Kathmandu Declaration, formulated in an international conference convened in Nepal in year 2000. The formal launching of HomeNet South Asia was held on January 17, 2007 in the Conference “Women Work & Poverty Policy Conference on Home Based Workers of South Asia” which was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh.