Ela Bhatt Quotes

...tribute to her unflinching zeal towards the betterment of women in society.

I grew up in the time around India’s independence, in the aura of a country fighting for its freedom. It was a heady and idealistic time, and we were all infected with a spirit of optimism, and the spirit of Gandhiji.

…Inner peace is important, but I have always felt that living a daily life with peace is the end. So in reality individual peace and global peace are not separate. They are one and the same.

What we really are looking for is self reliance and that is how we should measure success. I don’t much like the word empowerment, but self-reliance is the foundation of SEWA’s approach,.

...as I worked with the unionized labor, of the much larger labor force that was outside the purview of the protective labor laws, of any form of social security, access to justice, access to financial services, anything. That tugged at my heart. And those people were unorganized and had no strength to act to seek remedies.

All my life I have worked to change concepts, and that begins with how people see and understand the problems.

Every human being has something, a spiritual element, that makes them want to do better, to reach higher.

I am Hindu, and my activism is very much framed within that context, of karma as meaning action.

The country is moving in a different direction, times have changed. But for me Gandhiji’s values are still the frame, still alive and valid.

Microfinance is the best example of success in the kinds of systemic institutional areas.

Systems are needed, for example for management, accounting, skill development and MIS to serve the needs of the working poor.

realities of our own countries rather than catching up with the western economic models, [Bhatt urged] the people to follow a principle which ensures six basic necessities- food, shelter, clothing, primary education, primary healthcare and primary banking- are available within a 100 mile distance. If these necessities are locally produced and consumed, we will have the growth of a new holistic economy.

…Poverty and violence are not God made, they are man made. Poverty and peace cannot coexist.

SEWA is now the largest union in India, with a membership of around 1.2 million women.

Women predominate in the lower strata of employment.