Gandhian Ela Bhatt awarded Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, 2011

January 9, 2012

Noted Gandhian and social worker Ela Bhatt awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2011.
Ms Bhatt was selected by an International Jury chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A labour lawyer by training and inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Ms Bhatt founded the Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA) in 1972 and the SEWA Cooperative Bank, the first women bank in India.
SEWA members earn their own by labour or small businesses.
Since 1972, SEWA has helped over a million women in India to move forward.
Last year, Ela Bhatt was presented the First Global Fairness Initiative Award by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ela Bhatt is known as one of the world’s most remarkable pioneers and entrepreneurial forces in grassroots development.
Ms Bhatt was given the prize for lifetime achievements in comprehensively empowering women in India and elsewhere through grassroots entrepreneurship, access to shelter, healthcare, micro-finance, micro-insurance, skills, legal services, collective bargaining power and many other means, thereby promoting equitable development and peace and following the Gandhian path of self-reliance and non-violence, the jury said, according to the sources.