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SEWACreating Women Entrepreneurs

Structure and Membership

SEWA-Introduction

SEWA support services

Leadership

Agenda

Organizational Sustainability

Key Challenges and Issues

Lessons Learnt

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Bare FactsBare FactsImportance of the Informal SectorImportance of the Informal Sector

• 93 Percent of India’s workforce comes from the informal sector

• 60 percent of the informal sector workforce comprises of women

• 40 percent of India's exports emanate from the informal sector

• Upto 70% of India’s National Income is contributed by the Informal Sector

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Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)

Seeds of Inception, Growth and the Journey…

1968: Ela asked to head the Women’s Wing of Textile Labour Association•Ela was aware that thousands of wives and daughters of textile workers toiled to supplement the family income

•No State laws protected these self-employed women.

•Self-employed women were not even included in the 1971 census as workers!

•Self-employed women were unorganized, unprotected, economically weak and had no bargaining power

•Ela determined to work for this segment of the population which had a great impact on the economy yet which was virtually forgotten in terms of legal rights or protection of interests

Ela Bhatt

Founder of SEWA

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Seeds of Inception and Growth and Journey (2)

• 1971, Israel: She studied at the Afro-Asian Institute of Labor & Cooperatives in Tel Aviv for 3 months, receiving the International Diploma of Labor and Cooperatives

• 1972: Ela, with TLA president Arvind Buch, founded south Asia’s first labour and trade union for women workers in the informal sector.

• By the end of 1975: 5,258 members, and one year later the membership had reached 9,000 in Ahmedabad.

• 1977: Ela Bhatt awarded prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, bringing international recognition to SEWA.

• 1979: SEWA begins organising workers in the villages.

• 1981: SEWA and TLA separated, after which SEWA grew even faster and started new initiatives.

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SEWA – the Organization in 2006What is SEWA now?

• An organization of poor, self-employed women workers, 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 our country

• A confluence of three movements

– Labour movement

– Co-operative movement

– Women’s movement

Goals of SEWA

• Full Employment and Self Reliance of women

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SEWA Movement

In Gujarat

• Cooperatives  (84 Cooperatives with 11,610 members)

• DWCRA (rural producers') Groups  (181 Groups with 2,981 members)

• Social Security Organizations

• Savings and Credit Groups

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SEWA – CampaignsMass mobilization through Campaigns In 1999, SEWA organized 10 campaigns:• Home-based Workers' Campaign• Vendors Campaign• Forest Workers' Campaign• Construction Workers' Campaign• The Water Campaign• Food Security Campaign• Campaign for our Right to Child Care• Campaign for Recognition of Midwives• Clean Ahmedabad Campaign• Minimum Wages Campaign• Campaign for Recognition of Unorganised Sector

workers

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• During her college days, Ela Bhatt (Ela behn) was a student leader. As she recalled later in a speech:

• “As the struggle for Independence was won, the atmosphere in the universities and the civic life was full of restless enthusiasm to rebuild the nation. I am a product of that early atmosphere…. Our teachers sent us out to the people of India, particularly to the rural poor. Our parents had their doubts, but they did not very much stop us from our journey to these people. Over a period of time we realised that the right to vote was not enough for the poor and women. They wanted a voice and visibility…As women, they wanted opportunities to learn and to act…”

Leadership

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• Earned a law degree and joined a Textile Labour Union (TLU) as a lawyer

• It was a Gandhian labour Union-with truth and non-violence as the two pillars

• In 1971, a small group of women cart-pullers of Ahmedabad’s cloth market came to the office of TLA (Textile Labour Association), looking for help to find housing

• It reconfirmed a growing incompleteness that she had been feeling about her work at the TLA’s Women’s Wing

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• According to Ela considered to be a fighter , values are most important to be instilled from childhood

• You have to come together in an organized way in an organization which works democratically and on certain values

• Every three years there should be elections, in a very systematic way

• Transparency, non-violence, equality and communal harmony are very important

• She treasures simplicity as a value. Simple needs and approach eliminate the need to lie and the craving for more

• Ela still emphasizes: "There are no clear successes or failures-- more a series of small victories and compromises. But the important thing is to keep on going on."

Ela ‘s Vision

• Gandhi an thinking is the guiding force for SEWA’s poor, self-employed members in organizing for social change

• They follow the principles of satya (truth), ahimsa (non-violence), sarvadharma (integrating all faiths, all people) and khadi (propagation of local employment and self reliance)

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• Gandhi ji put women as the leaders. He said that women are natural leaders in our fight for social justice where love and peace, nonviolence, are the chief weapons of the fight

• Ela believes that it is the women who have brought the change

• According to her, women have that capacity for social change by coming together and working on a peaceful basis

• SEWA attracted many highly qualified women (e.g.Mirai Chatterjee, a Masters in public health from John Hopkins university; Reema Nanavaty, a former IAS officer; Jayashree Vyas, former banker with Central Bank, etc.)

• They played – and continue to play - a crucial role in SEWA’s activities and management

• However, 80% of SEWA’s Executive Committee consists of self-employed women, and takes decisions in a democratic manner

• According to Mirai, “We learned from Mahatma Gandhi and others that when you want to change things, you organize and unite all citizens behind the cause, and especially the poorest of all”

More Notable Leaders in SEWA

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Structure- SEWA

• Regd as a Trade Union under the Indian Trade Unions Act of 1926.

• Open for membership to self-employed women workers @ Rs.5/- per year

• Two-tier level of elected representation - 1 representative per 100 members for each trade Trade Council (Pratinidhi Mandal) Trade Committees (Dhandha Samiti) – 15-50 members

• Executive Committee of 25 members – elected by Trade Council every 3 years

• Office-bearers elected from among Executive members

• President elected from trade with largest membership

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Self-employed workersSelf-employed workers

Hawkers, vendors, small business women

like vegetable, fruit, fish, egg and

other vendors of food items

Hawkers, vendors, small business women

like vegetable, fruit, fish, egg and

other vendors of food items Home-based workers like weavers,

potters, bidi and agarbatti

workers, papad rollers,

ready-made garment workers

Home-based workers like weavers,

potters, bidi and agarbatti

workers, papad rollers,

ready-made garment workers

Manual laborers & service providers

like construction workers,

contract laborers, handcart pullers

Manual laborers & service providers

like construction workers,

contract laborers, handcart pullers

Membership

Agricultural workersAgricultural workers

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SEWA-Growth

Gujarat535,674

Delhi 252

Uttar Pradesh 40,000

Madhya Pradesh 103,220

Bihar1,635

Kerala 923

Total 6,89,551  Year 2002

• Rural Initiative started in 1989 and now 2/3 of SEWA’s membership is rural

• Membership Growth in Gujarat– From 1070 in 1972 to 535674 in 2002

• SEWA’s membership is more than 700,000 making it the largest union in the informal sector.

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The SEWA Tree - A Women's Support Network

Union

•Social Security •Implementation & enforcement •Protective Legislation •Policy Support

Cooperatives

SEWA

•Markets •Raw materials •Skills & Management •Training •Contracts

Banks

•Savings •Credit •Life insurance •Mortgage recovery

and asset titles

•Child care •Training •Communications •Legal Aid

Services

Vendor Cooperatives:Kerosene vendorsVegetable suppliersFish vendors

Artisans Coops.:WeaversBamboo workersBlock printersPatchworkersEmbroiderers

Service Coops.Child care providersIndustrial cleanersWastepaper collectorsCommunity health workers

Land & Animal CoopsWasteland and agro-forestryDiaryTree growers

Group ralliesEstablishing nexusNegotiationsLobbyingSocial securityProtestsIdentity cardsCount cases

Trade Groups

Garment stitchesBidi rollersHead loadersCart pullersUsed garment dealersVendorsDomestic workersIncense workersScrap collectorsConstruction workersPapad rollersCarpentersSmithsAgricultural LabourersTobacco processorsFuel traders

Source: Kalima Rose:" Where Women are Leaders"

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SEWA Support Services

SEWA SEWA Support ServicesSupport Services

CapacityCapacity BuildingBuilding Health careHealth care

Video SEWAVideo SEWA

HousingHousingInfrastructureInfrastructure

Child careChild care

Legal Services Legal Services

Work SecurityWork Security InsuranceInsurance

SEWA BANKSEWA BANK

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SEWA BANK

• The financial services arm of SEWA• Established in 1974 at the initiative of 4,000 self-

employed women who contributed share capital of Rs. 10 each

• Today a fully regulated cooperative bank with more than 250,000 members

• Offers its members a wide range of savings, credit and insurance products.

• Though, a majority of its loans are unsecured, it enjoys a repayment rate of more than 96%.

• The bank provides loans to its members on market rates, with a three year repayment period, for productive purposes

• Now piloting a fourth area of service – financial education

Financial Sustainability

Mahila SEWA Sahakari Bank (or the SEWA Bank) • To bring these women out of poverty• It also helped them in becoming self-sufficient 1. To repay the moneylenders(12%)2. “capital formation” was to help women build their

savings. 3. Provide credit to the members to help them

expand their business.

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Mechanism adopted by Bank to achieve its objectives:

Rationale- SEWA Bank wants to help its members to be pro-active and forward-looking, to be able to plan and utilize financial services for a more secure and comfortable future.

Recognize/understand in detail financial problems of self-

employed women

Design procedures and adopt mechanisms which are suitable

to them

Adopt methods of operation through which they can come

out of these financial problems

Mechanisms

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Problems faced & Solutions Offered…..

Providing loan for replying old debts, at a comparatively

lower rate of interest

Providing loan for working capital at lower

rate of interest

Providing loans for buying equipment

•Relieved from debts •Increase in real income because of difference in rate of interest •A portion of increased real income being saved in SEWA Bank's personal

saving account

•Increase in real income because of difference in rate of interest •Expansion in business and thereby increase in actual income •A portion of increased real and actual income being saved in SEWA Bank's personal savings account.

•Increase in real income because of saving in rent. •Asset is created in the name of women •A portion of increased real income being saved in SEWA Bank's personal saving account

Indebtedness (paying high rate

of interest)

Borrowed working capital (paying high

rate of interest )

Hired equipment (paying rent on

equipment)

Problem Faced-

SEWA BANK’s Interv

mention-

Results-

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Problems faced & Solutions Offered…..

Providing loans, facilitating savings and financial

counseling

Mortgaged properties relieved and providing loans for buying other assets

Providing financial counseling

•Increase in real income:- by borrowing at a lower rate of interest- by repaying old debts- by borrowing to buy equipment •Increased volume of business •Interest earned on SEWA

Bank's savings account

• Equipment and tools of trade and other productive assets are in women's name. •Bank balance in women's personal bank account. •Buying other real property like house or land fromSEWA Bank's loans

• Using own funds rather than borrowed funds •Being able to convert savings into investment •Being able to survive financial crisis, emergencies etc. through insurance and other financial planning.

Low income level AssetlessnessLack of financial

planning Problem Faced-

SEWA BANK’s Interv

mention-

Results-

Details 2003-2004 2004-2005 Increase

Members 34,835 44,938 10,103

share Capital 1,79,53,000 2,05,98,000 26,45,000

Accounts 2,56,617 2,76,684 20,067

Total Deposit(Rs.) 61,96,99,000 62,47,66,000 50,67,000

Working Capital(Rs.)

87,23,62,000 89,14,47,000 1,90,85,000

No. of Loans & Advances Accounts

53,472 64,326 10,854

Loans & Advances (Rs.)

16,69,44,000 18,41,72,000 1,72,28,000

Profit (Rs.) 88,59,000 62,20,000 26,39,000

SEWA Bank Statistics

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SEWA Health- Main Features

SEWA Health operates as a cooperative consisting of midwives and heath workers-cum-educators•Provides curative care, preventive healthcare, promotes health awareness to women workers and their family. •Average healthcare expenses from Rs131 to Rs74 per household.•SEWA's team of 200 mid-wives and health workers serve as health educators-cum-barefoot doctors for 75,000 women workers•Capacity-building of local women especially traditional midwives, so that they become the barefoot doctors of their communities/villages.-emphasising self reliance•Women-centered health care led by local women, including occupational health, reproductive health, maternal health, mental health and nutrition.•Linking health services to insurance, provision of basic amenities like sanitation literacy and other developmental programmers.

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SEWA Health Care

SEWA SEWA HealthcareHealthcareApproachApproach

SEWA SEWA HealthcareHealthcareApproachApproach

Health education

Immunizations

Sanitation activities

Family Planning

Educational Healthcare

Injuries, suicide, cancer, ulcers

Promotion of low cost traditional medicines & health centers

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Healthcare Impact

Turnover of Rs 1 crore•An increase in health awareness among women and their families including alcohol and "gutkha”•In 1998, SEWA's services resulted in

– no maternal deaths reported, – no measles deaths in children, – 65% reported savings due to the low cost drug

distribution system •A Government Resolution was passed in 2005 recognizing the state level Dai Sang than which was formed to safeguard the interests of dais and recognizing them as health care providers. •One of SEWA’s most popular health initiatives is the sale of medicines at low cost in medical shops at major hospitals in Ahmadabad - sales totaled over $250,000 in 2002

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Child Care at SEWA

• ChildCare Centers take care of the children, during the working hours for the working women.

• SEWA operates 73 such centers

• Centers provide healthcare, basic education, meal for the children, and counseling to mothers

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Child Care at SEWA

SEWA Childcare through Cooperatives & Local Organisations:Sangini Child Care Workers' Cooperative, Ahmedabad-

Running centres for infants and young children. It has linked with the ICDS and social Welfare Board. Shaishav Child Care Workers' Cooperatives, Kheda district-

Running centres for 0 to 6 year old children of tobacco workers and agricultural labourers.

• The Balvikas mandal and local organisation, Surendranagar district- Run Child Care centres for children of salt workers. It is running Balvadis (day care centre) in villages bordering the desert, the little Rann of Kutch and in the desert itself alongside the saltpans.

• The Banaskantha DWCRA Mahila Sewa Association (BDMSA), Banaskantha district-

Running centres for rural workers' involved in agriculture, dairying, land-based activities like nurseries, gum-collectors and embroidery.

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SEWA’s Work Security Scheme

• VimoSEWA is an integrated insurance program • Aim-To provide social security to members,

covering their life cycle needs and the various risks they face in their lives (death, illness, accident, ‘asset loss’, etc.).

• It operates as a cooperative, and offers the services through SEWA Bank. During 2003, it offered insurance to around 1.1lac members

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Life natural and accidental death

(23,3000)

Health (30, 1200)

Widowhood (optional ) coverage of husband in case of natural & accidental death (15, 40000)

Flood, Fire, communal

riots (7,5000)

Maternity Benefits (0,300)

Type of CoverageType of Coverage(Premium ,(Premium ,

Amount Paid)Amount Paid)

SEWA’s Work Security Scheme

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SEWA Academy

Brings out the two SEWA newsletters,

‘Anusooya’ and ‘Akashganga

Brings out the two SEWA newsletters,

‘Anusooya’ and ‘Akashganga

Training in vocational skills and capability

building to the members

Training in vocational skills and capability

building to the members

conducts research on issues related to

self-employed women workers

conducts research on issues related to

self-employed women workers

Capacity Building

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Housing and Infrastructure

• Gujarat Mahila Housing SEWA Trust provides loans to members to build and repair their houses.

• The Trust understands that the house for the home-based workers is also a production unit, and helps them also with their work-related needs.

• It also works along with civic authorities to get electricity, water, sanitation, etc., to workers’ localities.

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Legal Services

• SEWA’s Legal Cell helps the members by providing legal protection, negotiating with employers, advocating policy changes, educating members about their legal rights and responsibilities

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Legal Services

In addition, SEWA runs a legal advisory centre which accepts cases and complaints lodged by members. These include:

Vendors' cases with regard to harassment by municipal corporation, traffic police and resident and consumer associations. It also includes their space-related complaints and those concerning consfiscation of their goods by the authorities.

Nidiworkers' cases on Provident Fund mentioned earlier, as well as regarding dismissal from work and stoppage of all work to SEWA members.

119 agarbatti workers who were to lose their homes due to road-widening by the town planning department, filed a case in the court against this plan.

Workmen's compensation cases for injured construction workers and those engaged in small factories for non-payment of wages by contractors.

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Video SEWA

• Is a separate unit of the Academy that uses the medium and technology to take up issues of self-employed women to national and international level.

• Video SEWA has registered itself as a cooperative specializing in communication. In this way it can both expand rapidly, market its video tapes and move towards self reliance

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Activities

Video Production

Video Documentation

Video Replays

Total number of women

viewers

Number of Women

21

125

300

20000

Some figures about Video SEWA……..

Sustainability

The meaning of self-reliance in SEWA meant both financial self-sufficiency, as well “taking your own decisions so you are not just beneficiaries or users of the program but you are also manager and owner of the program. You decide and you manage in taking decisions, in managing your own affairs. You are self-sufficient. That is, in very specific terms, what we mean by self-reliance.” Self-reliance and sustainability, both at the financial and managerial levels

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Organizational Sustainability

A structure has evolved that gives SEWA great flexibility to grow and respond to members. needs. Apart from the formal election and governance arrangements, members are engaged by unions, cooperatives and member services•Organizing members•Values•Flexibility•Leadership

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• Over 55% of total costs are covered by membership fees. Grants and donations accounted for the other 45% which are mainly for education and publications

• International affiliations - Forming affiliations to international labor bodies

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Financial Sustainability

Some Success Stories...

• Manek Chowk– systematic campaign to remove the vendors

from the city by police and municipal corp.– SEWA struggling long and hard for vendors– Appeal to Supreme Court

• Sabina, The Garment Stichers– Sabina Patch workers cooperative – Sewa organised the quilt makers when they

were refused work– Alternative khol production unit – self-reliant

women

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Conclusion- Is SEWA successful??

Methodology to monitor the success of its work and general direction

1. Have our members obtained more employment from our efforts?

2. Has their income increased?3. Have they obtained food and nutrition?4. Have their health been safeguarded?5. Have they obtained child-care?6. Have they obtained shelter?7. Have their assets increased? 8. Have the workers organisation been strengthened?9. Has workers leadership increased?10. Have they become self-reliant both collectively and

individually?11. Are more members educated?

A “social entrepreneurship venture”

• Caters to a section of society which has not been served

• Solving social problems• Primary purpose: Making an impact• Profitable= self-reliant, self monitoring• Wealth creation for the society

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Learning

Large-scale social changes can be brought about by innovatively organizing the grass-root potential, without depending on philanthropy and charity

Strength of collectivism: Organizing members helps to ensure “ownership” and that subsequent activities are based on members’ needs, while providing a firm foundation for future growth.

Values at the core of an organization help establish consistency in its purpose and perseverance in its efforts, and serve to attract and retain highly motivated staff and members

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Learning

• Flexibility in an organization’s style and structure encourages experimentation and learning, and a willingness to take advantage of partnerships with others

• Leadership is crucial not only in defining an organization’s vision, but also in establishing management and behavioral practices that reduce social distance between corporate management and grassroots members

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Learning

• Policy Action at local, national and international levels towards just and equitable policies and legislation gives SEWA and its members hope and strength to organize further, thus boosting the movement overall

• Self-reliance as the key value

• Converting disaster into opportunity for growth

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Sunita,Bangle Worker

 

Maithri,Bidi Worker

Shobha,Vegetable Vendor

Santokh,IronPicker

Kamla,Readyma

deGarmentMaker

Geeta,Agarbatti Worker

Women Entrepreneurs……Living with pride……Building the nation…..

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Thank You