M-BACHAT: a collaborative project by Boston University, IIM Ahmedabad and Newcastle University

Abstract

Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), whose acronym translates into "service" in several Indian languages, is a trade union based in Ahmedabad, India that promotes the rights of low-income, independently-employed female workers. With over 2 million participating women, SEWA is the largest organization of informal workers in the world and largest non-profit in India. SEWA was founded in 1972 by Gandhian and civil rights leader Ela Bhatt as a branch of Textile Labour Association (TLA), a labour union founded by Gandhi in 1918. The organization grew very quickly, with 30,000 members in 1996, to more than 2 million members by 2017.