Working Poor Deserve the Best

CLASS DAY l SOCIAL ACTIVIST and former member of India’s Parliament Ela Bhatt called for an integrated approach for creating a flourishing society that embraces the working poor. “Most nations have diverse economies that exist simultaneously — the street vendor with the pushcart, the corner grocery store, and the large supermarket all coexist,” said Bhatt.

“Encourage their coexistence. They are the checks and balances that keep an economy vital for all strata of society.”

Bhatt, who spoke as Class Day speaker to the Kennedy School’s 2006 graduating class in June, founded in 1972 the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union of 800,000 members that provides economic stability for poor working women throughout India.

Bhatt also called for establishing global trade networks run by the producers themselves. “Let us make sure that handicrafts and the produce of local farms are not sold nationally or internationally by middle men. Let us make sure profits go into the hands of actual producers.”

The private sector must recognize the role each person plays in an enterprise, said Bhatt, and government must restore its faith in its people. Viewing the working poor as a liability to the economy is one of the problems, she said. “Why so little faith in the people?” she asked.

“Responsible governance exists in societies where there is pluralism in politics, diversity in economics, and a multiplicity of voices — where local economic structures are strengthened, not weakened. Political structures are vital and responsive, and society is alive with myriad faiths, beliefs, ideas, and opinions that flourish and coexist peacefully.”