Urban Ecology: The politics of
Resources
by
Renana Jhabvala
Self Employed Women’s Association
SEWA: History
• The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is a
trade union of women workers in India’s unorganized
or informal sector. Founded by Ela Bhatt in 1972,
• Over 1.2million members in Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, Kerala, and Uttarakhand.
SEWA Members
Members are women in informal economy:
-- Street vendors, such as vegetable vendors
-- Homebased workers, such as garment stitchers,
leather workers
--Women selling their labour and services, such as
agricultural labourers, child care providers
-- Small producers, such as small farmers, milk
producers
SEWA’s Two Main Objectives
• To organise women workers to achieve full
employment, i.e. work security, income
security, food security and social security
• To make women individually and collectively
self-reliant, economically independent and
capable of making their own decisions
SEWA in Urban Areas
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Gujarat- Ahmedabad, Baroda, Gandhi Nagar…….
Madhya Pradesh- Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain…..
Delhi- West, North, North East Delhi
Bihar- Katihar, Bhagalpur, Munger, Patna
Rajasthan- Jaipur, Bikaner
Uttarakhand- Dehradun, Almora
Kerala- Trivandrum
Uttar Pradesh- Lucknow
West Bengal-
Trades/ Work/ type of
SEWA members
(Urban Employment)
Street Vendors- vegetable vendors,
small scale vendors etc
Home-based workers- Embroidery
Workers, Agarbatti roller, Bidi roller etc
Labor services- Construction workers,
Waste pickers, Head loaders etc
Work and Public spaces
example of street vendors
• About 2% of the urban population are street
vendors. Yes, cities do not plan spaces for
them
• Result– they are always illegal and beaten
and fines and have to undertake their
livelihood “illegally”
• Solution: Implement the National Policy for
street vendors– from removal to regulation
.
Work and access to public waste
• The poorest of the poor are rag pickers living
off public waste. They performing an
important “green” function of recycling.
• Solid Waste Management policies and
tenders, remove their livelihood. Stop
recycling
• Solution: Include them and recycling in SWM
by appropriate policies (tenders)
My Home – My workplace
• For about 30% of poor households their home is also their
work place.
• Poor house quality lowers productivity
• Zoning results in unemployment
Towards Solution– recognize the home as a workplace and
 Zoning should be mixed use esp. for homebased workers
 House improvement through infrastructure and loans must
be considered productive
 Electricity essential for productivity and should be priced
right.
Inclusion in Urban Infrastructure
•
Provision of urban infrastructure is tied to the
tenure status of the land on which people live
• Leads to open defecation, drinking polluted
water, illnesses and tensions in communities.
Towards Solution– make provision of drinking
water and toilet the right of every urban
resident. Delink provision of basic services from
the status of the land.
Habitat
• Lack of tenure and uncertainty of life, in spite of
making payments for their houses.
• Inability to invest due to lack of tenure
Towards Solutions
In situ up gradation, through granting shelter
rights
Spaces planned in cities for low income habitats
Housing finance for the poor
Urban GovernanceBringing in the voice of the poor
• Urban Local Body structures do not reach down
into communities/ So no forums for “Voice” of
the poor
• Only people with money and power get heard
and so lop-sided investments and policies
Towards Solution, to create forums for Voice eg:
Ward committees for street vending
CBOs which will function as RWAs for the poor
Thank you
Subyben( mother)
Old cloth vendor
Reena
SEWA worker
Gangoben (grand mother)
Street vendor