Gandhian Ela Bhatt dies

Ahmedabad: Noted women's rights and micro-finance activist, lawyer and Padma Bhushan recipient Ela Bhatt passed away today at the age of 89.

She was also the chairperson of the Sabarmati Ashram Trust. Ela Bhatt was a well-known Gandhian and advocated the economic empowerment of women.

She founded and headed the Self-employed Women's Association in India (SEWA). In her pursuit of women's economic welfare, she founded India's first women's bank, the Cooperative Bank of SEWA in 1973. She also co-founded Women's World Banking in 1979.