Ahmedabad

Well known women’s empowerment and rights activist Ela Bhatt passed away at the age of 89 following a brief illness in an Ahmedabad hospital on Wednesday.

Bhatt was founder of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and a Padma Bhushan recipient.

Elaben founded SEWA, a women’s cooperative in 1972. Today it has over 2.1 million poor and self-employed women as members. In 1974, SEWA moved a step forward to provide small loans to poor women.

She changed the lives of millions of women across India by providing them micro loans for over five decades.

She was also a Rajya Sabha MP in the 1980s and an advisor to the World Bank.

PM Modi was among those who condoled her death.

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“Sad to know about the death of Elaben Bhatt. She will be remembered long for her work for the promotion of women empowerment,” Modi tweeted in Gujarati.