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About
the Collection
I.
Fruits & Vegetable Vendors of Ahmedabad
This
collection comprises of the details of the struggle
started when women vegetable venders of Ahmeadbad, came to
it, seeking help against the atrocities of Police and
Municipal authorities in form of traffic management,
prosecution in false cases, police beating of the women
venders. SEWAs leadership, took up the cause of women
venders on all possible fronts, at all possible levels-The
police, the Commissioner of Police, the Municipal
Commissioner, the Metropolitan Magistrate, the Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate, the High Court, the Supreme
Court, Chief Minister, Ministry of Urban Development. It
also talks of the vender friendly policies such as giving
them pitch licenses and I- cards, providing them with an
alternate space in terrace market etc. SEWA also took up
the matters at different workshops and conferences
organized at local national and international levels.
Belagio Conference, Policy workshop at Delhi, and many
other such events were part of its advocacy activities for
venders. From time to time its leaders took out
processions, which gave SEWA the kind of visibility it
required to act as a pressure group, and, which
demonstrated its strength as a trade union The struggle of
venders is still livid in the memories of its members. The
collection also includes the memories of those who took
part in the struggle in the form of profiles and case
studies. The collection also has list of all the
publications related to this struggle , which came out
during the first 30 years of SEWA and the year wise flow
of events in its history.
II.
Tobacco Agriculture Workers of Kheda district
SEWA's
struggle for tobacco agriculture workers (or Khali Kamdar,
as they are known within Gujarat) started when, its
leadership got sensitized about the conditions of women
tobacco agriculture workers while working for the bidi
workers. SEWA organized the women working in the tobacco
fields and tobacco processing factories in Kheda district.
It educated them about their rights through Workers
Education Classes, empowered them to talk in terms of
minimum wages & Minimum Wages Act, and fought many
cases for them under the Industrial Dispute Act. The
senior Khali Leaders in their profiles retells the history
of this struggle. Different images of news clippings show
its advocacy efforts for the tobacco agriculture workers,
families in the court of Labour Commissioner, & Asst
labour Commissioner, & with the local Members of
Legislative Assembly (MLA) The collection unfolds the
whole process of tobacco agriculture workers getting
united, and fighting successfully against retrenchment,
negotiating on reemployment, protesting against employing
cheap labours from other states. SEWA also encouraged them
to think of alternative employment, explored the
opportunities for such employments. SEWA also fought for
the implementation of benefit schemess, childcare,
maternity benefits, opening up the crche pensions
provident fund, casual leave, and bonus retirement
benefits, statuary of Minimum Wages. SEWA also fought for
different compensations for them, for abolition of
contract methods in tobacco agriculture. The collection
also bring in light how on one hand SEWA worked closely
with the Association of Tobacco Factory Owners to bring
about the solutions to the issues of workers, and, on the
other hand it worked with Life Insurance Corporation of
India to make policies for insuring tobacco agriculture
workers. The profiles of the workers give their personal
experiences about the struggle and there is also lists of
publications which have some material related to the
struggle of tobacco agriculture workers.
Collection
Map
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