Renana Jhabvala

Last updated

Renana Jhabvala
Born
Delhi
NationalityIndian
Alma mater University of Delhi, Harvard University, Yale University
OccupationSocial worker
Awards Padma Shri 1990

Renana Jhabvala is an Indian social worker based in Ahmedabad, India, who has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India, and has been extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women and the informal economy. She is best known for her long association with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India, and for her writings on issues of women in the informal economy. [1]

Contents

In 1990, she was awarded a Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contributions in the field of social work. [2] In April 2012, she became Chancellor of Gandhigram Rural Institute, a Deemed University in Tamil Nadu, India.

Early life, family and education

Renana Jhabvala was born in Delhi to the Booker Prize winning novelist and screenwriter, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and well-known architect Cyrus S. H. Jhabvala. [3] Her grandparents were active in public life during the early to mid part of the twentieth century. Her grandfather, Shavaksha Jhabvala, was active in the early Indian trade union movement, and her grandmother, Mehraben Jhabvala, in the emerging women's movement. In February 2012 talk given at India International Centre (Delhi), Renana spoke about the work of Mehraben, who was a dedicated organiser and advocate of women and the President of the All-India Women's Conference from 1965 to 1968. [4]

Jhabvala was raised and schooled in Delhi and graduated from Hindu College, University of Delhi, in 1972 with a distinction in BSc Maths. She attended Harvard University to pursue an additional degree in BA Maths. She then went on to the Yale University to pursue post-graduate studies in Economics. [5]

Career and honours

After completing her studies, Jhabvala joined SEWA in Ahmedabad, [6] in 1977 as an organiser. She worked first with the women workers stitching quilts in the Muslim area of Ahmedabad where she was instrumental in forming the first Cooperative in SEWA. [3] Her main work was organising women into SEWA as a trade union. In 1981, she was elected Secretary of SEWA under the leadership of Ela Bhatt and organised beedi workers, agricultural workers, garment workers, street vendors and many others to bargain for higher income, better working conditions, space to work and social security. [3] She was active in fostering the growth of SEWA across India, [7] taking the experiences of the organisation to States like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and most recently to Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Jhabvala was instrumental in forming SEWA Bharat, a National Federation of SEWAs now in 17 States of India. [8] In 1995, she became the National Coordinator of SEWA and started the national office in Delhi.

When the women members of SEWA began expressing the need for basic infrastructure and housing, she was one of the founders of the Mahila Housing SEWA Trust. In 2002 she became the Chair of SEWA Bank and helped to increase finance for poor women in many parts of the country. [7]

She has been active at the international level, representing SEWA at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1995 and 1996 during the discussion on Convention for Home Workers; and subsequently in 2002 during the Resolution on the Informal Economy. [9] At the South Asia level she was instrumental in forming HomeNet South Asia, bringing together organisations in India, Pakistan. Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan working with women home-based workers. [10] She is presently the Chair of HomeNet South Asia. She is one of the founders and present Chair of WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing) and has been active in the formation of international networks for women workers in the informal economy. [5]

In addition to organising women into trade unions and co-operatives she has been interested and involved in policy issues of poor women and of the informal economy. She has been active in many Government committees and task forces which have formulated policies ranging from National Policy for Street Vendors, to the Law for Social Security of Unorganised Workers, to policies for unorganised workers in various States. [9] She has written widely on these issues in journals and newspapers and has co-authored seven books.

Personal life

She is married to Harish Khare. The couple have a son. [3]

Positions held (selected)

In the SEWA family of organisations

In international organisations (selected)

In government (selected)

Other

Awards

Publications

1. Books

2. Selected articles in journals

3. Selected articles in edited volumes

4. SEWA Academy publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Informal economy</span> Economic activity unregulated by government

An informal economy is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countries, it is sometimes stigmatized as troublesome and unmanageable. However, the informal sector provides critical economic opportunities for the poor and has been expanding rapidly since the 1960s. Integrating the informal economy into the formal sector is an important policy challenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workforce</span> Labor pool in employment

In macroeconomics, the labor force is the sum of those either working or looking for work :

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self Employed Women's Association</span> Indian non-governmental organisation

Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), meaning "service" in several Indian languages, is a trade union based in Ahmedabad, India, that promotes the rights of low-income, independently employed female workers. Nearly 2 million workers are members of the Self-Employed Women’s Association across eight states in India. Self-employed women are defined as those who do not have a fixed employer-employee relationship and do not receive a fixed salary and social protection like that of formally-employed workers and therefore have a more precarious income and life. SEWA organises around the goal of full employment in which a woman secures work, income, food, and social security like health care, child care, insurance, pension and shelter. The principles behind accomplishing these goals are struggle and development, meaning negotiating with stakeholders and providing services, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ela Bhatt</span> Indian cooperative organiser (1933–2022)

Ela Ramesh Bhatt was an Indian cooperative organiser, activist and Gandhian, who founded the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) in 1972, and served as its general secretary from 1972 to 1996. She was the chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith from 7 March 2015 to 19 October 2022. A lawyer by training, Bhatt was a part of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements and won several national and international awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1977), Right Livelihood Award (1984) for "helping home-based producers to organise for their welfare and self-respect" and the Padma Bhushan (1986).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIEGO</span> Global research - policy network

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) is a Manchester-based global research - policy network focused on improving conditions for workers in the informal economy. WIEGO's members include membership-based organizations of workers in the informal economy, researchers and development professionals.

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The economic development in India followed socialist-inspired politicians for most of its independent history, including state-ownership of many sectors; India's per capita income increased at only around 1% annualised rate in the three decades after its independence. Since the mid-1980s, India has slowly opened up its markets through economic liberalisation. After more fundamental reforms since 1991 and their renewal in the 2000s, India has progressed towards a free market economy. The Indian economy is still performing well, with foreign investment and looser regulations driving significant growth in the country.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child labour in India</span> Child labour

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References

  1. ↑ "Author Page". openDemocracy. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  2. ↑ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Curriculum Vitae of Ms. Renana Jhabvala" (PDF). Indian Institute for Human Settlements. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Jhabvala, Renana (27 February 2012). "Celebrating Women's Leadership". India International Centre. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Indian Institute for Human Settlements | Renana Jhabvala" . Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Governance". 15 September 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Governance". SEWA Bharat. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "History". SEWA Bharat. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Renana Jhabvala". Ideas for India. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "About Us". HomeNet South Asia. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Renana Jhabvala". HACHETTE India. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  12. ↑ "Renana Jhabvala". next billion. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  13. ↑ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
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