Table of Contents 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Overview 2 2. Starting NEW SEWAs 3 3. About SEWA Bharat 3 4. Members of SEWA Bharat 4 5. SEWA Bharat Programme Themes 5 5.1 Livelihoods and Market Linkages 5 5.2 Microfinance 6 5.3 Organizing and Advocacy 7 5.4 Health and Social Security 9 5.5 Skill building, Education, and Vocational Training 10 6. Strengthening Existing SEWAs 11 6.1 SEWA Munger 11 6.2 SEWA Bhagalpur 14 6.3 SEWA Delhi 16 7. Development of New SEWAs 21 7.1 SEWA in West Bengal 21 7.2 SEWA in Bareilly 25 7.3 SEWA in Uttarakhand 26 7.4 SEWA in Katihar 30 7.5 SEWA in Rajasthan 34 8. Research Studies 37 8.1 Direct Cash Transfer Study: SEWA Delhi 37 8.2 Bihar Task Force: Social determinants of healthcare 38 8.3 Madhya Pradesh: Unconditional cash transfer project 38 9. Key Achievements 2012: Established SEWAs 40 9.1 SEWA in Gujarat 40 9.2 SEWA in Madhya Pradesh 40 9.3 SEWA in Kerala 41 10. Collaborative Sister Organizations 42 10.1 SEWA Bank 42 10.2 SEWA Academy 42 10.3 SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre and Graam Haat 42 10.4 Lok Swasthy Mandali 43 10.5 Vimo SEWA 43 10.6 Mahila SEWA Housing Trust 43 11. Board Members 44 12. Our Partners 44 13. Honours for Smt. Elaben Bhatt 45 14. SEWA Bharat Activity Photos 46 1. OVERVIEW was born out of the Textile Labour Association (TLA), India’s oldest and largest union of textile workers founded in 1920 by a woman named Anasuya Sarabhai. The union drew its inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, who led a successful strike of textile workers in 1917. In 1954, the Women’s Wing of TLA was created to assist women who belonged to the households of mill workers. Its work was largely focused on imparting training and undertaking welfare activities. The scope of the Women's Wing expanded in the early 1970s when a survey was conducted to delve into the complaints of women workers. The survey revealed that a large number of women’s issues were untouched by unionization, government legislation and policies. In 1971, when Mrs. Ela Bhatt was the head of the Women’s Wing of TLA, some migrant women cart-pullers came to her office with the hope that the TLA would be able to help them find some housing. At the time, these women were living on the streets without shelter. Hearing their request, Elaben went with them to their places of work and shelter, and met more women working as head- loaders. In one of the meetings that followed, a woman from the crowd suggested that they form an association of their own. Thus, SEWA was born, on an appeal from the women and through the initiative of Elaben. The women also felt that, though it was a workers’ association, SEWA should establish itself as a trade union. The first struggle that SEWA undertook was to obtain official recognition as a trade union. As these women had no recognized employer, the workers had no one to raise their demands against. SEWA argued that a union was not necessarily against an employer, but worked for the unity of the workers. SEWA is a confluence of three movements—of women, labour, and cooperative. In the 1970s, women’s movements took a radical turn with women participating actively in social movements and demanding equal opportunity in all spheres of life. In this context, SEWA was born out of the labour movement from the idea that like salaried employees, the self-employed workers too have a right to fair wages, decent working conditions and protective labour laws. Using the cooperative approach, SEWA develops alternative economic systems wherein the workers themselves control their means of production. In 1977, Elaben won the Magsaysay Award, which brought nationwide recognition to SEWA. This was a time when the women’s movement had become active in India and worldwide and, to observers, SEWA was a unique model that not only improved the income-earning capacity of its members, but also addressed the issue of women’s empowerment through a compelling Gandhian framework. From its very inception, it was clear to SEWA that just like in any other union, solidarity between workers in a common trade was the foundation of its strength. Taken to its logical conclusion, the ‘organized strength’ of SEWA required national support to be effective. Without this, if SEWA organized bidi rollers in the state of Gujarat and negotiated for higher minimum wages, production could simply move to other states in which the women were not organized. By its very nature, therefore, the SEWA mission implied that all women workers in the informal sector were potential SEWA members. The year 2012 marked the successful completion of 40 years of the SEWA movement. Over the last four decades, SEWA has added more than 16 lakh dues-paying members in ten states of India. Responding to the needs of its members, SEWA evolved a developmental approach, along with the labour union rights-based struggles, laying the foundation for innumerable member-based organizations (MBOs) to create a family of SEWA organizations to facilitate the provision of finance, access to markets, training, research, healthcare, childcare, and housing for its members. “It is the women who are the leaders in change.” - Smt. Elaben Bhatt, Founder, Self-Employed Women’s Association 2 2. STARTING NEW SEWAs In 1980, Mr. Radhakrishna, the head of the Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPF), approached Elaben and asked her to collaborate to form new organizations using the SEWA model in the states where the GPF was active. A team led by Mrs. Renana Jhabvala visited the GPF centres in five states and found great enthusiasm among the local women for starting new SEWA organizations. The core values that were imbibed as parameters for any SEWA were: Women always at the centre; Poor women as leaders of their own programmes; Programmes centered around work; and Commitment to non-violence. Between 1981 and 1985, eleven new SEWA organizations were created, resulting in a national presence for SEWA, from Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala. Since all the SEWAs were locally rooted, each of them grew in its own way. Some took up trade union activities, others formed cooperatives, and yet others focused more on the provision of social security. However, of the eleven SEWAs founded between 1981 and 1985, only five were in a strong, independent position by the mid-1990s. Disturbed conditions and violence in some states forced a decrease in their activities and, in some cases, even a complete cessation. In Jammu and Kashmir, SEWA had to shut shop after warnings from extremists. In Munger, a child of one of the SEWA organizers was kidnapped, while in Bhagalpur, it became more and more dangerous for organizers to go into rural areas. Other SEWAs such as SEWA Jamshedpur, SEWA Delhi, SEWA Mithila and SEWA Ambala closed down when the founders moved away, died or got involved in other activities. During this period, SEWA Bharat was established as a sisterhood wherein the leaders of the different SEWAs met and gained strength from each other. At the same time, SEWA Bharat organized national events such as exhibitions to display and market the products of its members. 3. ABOUT SEWA BHARAT In order to coordinate the expanded SEWA movement, in 1984, SEWA built on the already occurring GPF–SEWA meetings to form SEWA Bharat, the federation of Indian SEWA organizations. Every SEWA all over India became a member of SEWA Bharat. The SEWA Bharat programme aims to capture the strengths and to address the challenges of the geographical expansion of the SEWA movement. Thus, SEWA Bharat is active along dimensions that roughly align with the following stages of the ‘life’ of the different SEWA member organizations. Strengthening smaller SEWAs: For smaller or less developed SEWAs, SEWA Bharat helps plan and execute new programmes. The goal is to create a foundation for future growth as an independent organization with a strong membership base, capable staff/grassroots leadership, and sustainable programmes and activities. For example, SEWA Bharat works closely with SEWA Bhagalpur to help it develop its staff capacity to undertake micro-finance and silk production. Similarly, SEWA Bharat has linked SEWA Munger for marketing agarbattis (incense sticks) to the multinational corporation ITC, and has helped it form a producers’ cooperative and a company for rolling and scenting the incense sticks. Development of new SEWAs: SEWA Bharat has taken over the role previously played by the SEWA Gujarat Spearhead Teams that travelled through India in the early 1980s. After being approached by an interested stakeholder (who may be a local leader or potential partner), SEWA Bharat investigates the potential for setting up a new SEWA organization through a survey of livelihoods and women’s concerns, as well as experience sharing between women from the existing SEWAs who are engaged in related trades. After obtaining approval from the SEWA Bharat Executive Committee and consensus on the initial project to be implemented, a new SEWA is formed. However, it is not an independently constituted organization, nor a SEWA Bharat member organization with elected representation, until the local leadership is ready to run the organization. Rather, it continues functioning under the direction of SEWA Bharat, which provides monitoring or implementation resources as 3 needed. Currently, new SEWAs are being developed in Rajasthan in Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Bikaner districts, in Murshidabad, West Bengal, in Katihar, Bihar, and most recently, in Almora and Dehradun districts of Uttarakhand. Facilitating linkages for and between SEWAs: SEWA Bharat helps each SEWA to better serve its membership through linking with new services, obtaining expertise, linking with government programmes and identifying growth opportunities for various SEWAs.

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