Noted Indian social activist Ela Bhatt on Thursday received the Niwano Peace Prize for 2010 for her contribution to the uplift of poor women in India.
“My story and philosophy can be said in three words — women, work and peace,” Ms. Bhatt said after receiving the award, which included a certificate, a medal and prize money worth about $215,390.
76-year-old Bhatt established the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union, in 1972 which now has over 1.2 million members.
In 1974, she formed the SEWA cooperative bank, which now reaches out to around three million women.
“Bhatt’s work has a religious spirit, based on a Gandhian philosophy of promoting economic independence and organising for social change,” the Niwano Peace Foundation was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
The Tokyo-based foundation has been awarding the prize every year since 1983, as an initiative to recognise the significant contribution of an individual to inter-religious understanding and cooperation leading to world peace.
Known as a “gentle revolutionary”, Ms. Bhatt was also a Rajya Sabha member and founder of Women’s World Banking, and she served as its chair.
She has received a number of awards including the Ramon Magsaysay Award and France’s Legion d’honneur.
