Everyone wants a peaceful old age, but most people do not think about it when they are young. Yet, in order to be comfortable in old age it is necessary to plan for it soon after a person starts working. SEWA members know this, and yet till recently they did not have a method by which they could plan for their old age. Finally in April 2006 a scheme for the women workers of the unorganised sector was inaugurated by the then Finance Minister Sri P Chidambaram. This scheme was introduced by SEWA Bank with UTI Mutual Funds.

Shri Chidambaram said SEWA Bank’s initiative was as a movement, and that it would not only help women financially but will provide them with new strength. On the same occasion, Elaben Bhatt, said, that the benefit of this s

cheme will not be limited to the members of ‘SEWA Bank’ only, but will also be spread among the workers of the unorganised sector across the country.

As a campaign to spread this concept, September 7 to 11, 2009 was celebrated as a Pension Week by SEWA Bank. It was a great success and SEWA Bank membership in pensions increased to 50,000 women, with a pledge to reach 100,000 by October.

Mr U K Sinha, chairman of UTI, inaugurated this campaign on the first day of the week. Appreciating this initiative by SEWA Bank, he said, “This initiative by SEWA Bank is also spreading in other parts of the country. Milk Federation in Bihar and Milk Dairy in Rajasthan, Micro Pension Scheme started in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu following the example of SEWA Bank. This scheme has reached to 1,25,000 people of the country in total”. He further added, “Out of the total workers in India, only 11% get the pension facility, whereas 89% of the workers do not have the facility of ‘pension’. More than 6 crore people in the country need to be provided with the pension facility. This is very difficult, but very important. UTI will constantly make efforts for this.”

On this occassion, Mr Gautam Bharadwaj, Director of Delhi-based company, Invest India Micro Pension Services Pvt. Ltd. informed– ”Their company is engaged in spreading the concept of ‘micro pension’ and ‘pension literacy’ in the country. They are presently working in 10 states of the country. In addition to this, they are also spreading the concept of micro pension in the south asian countries.”

Jayshreeben Vyas, MD of SEWA Bank said that the main objective of the bank is to involve more and more women in the scheme and secure their old age. It is aimed to involve all the 11 lakh women members of ‘SEWA’ in the pension scheme in near future. However, it is difficult to make the daily wage earning women to plan for their long term future. Thus, pension literacy is important for creating awareness among women.

On second day of the week, street plays on pension were performed in different areas of Ahmedabad which caught the interest of many women. It was an experience of learning with fun.

On third day of the ‘Pension’ Week, women wearing white caps lined up to make a human chain on both the ends of Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad and provided information on the ‘need for pension’ to the people passing by. About 2,000 women had joined the chain.

On 10th September, 2009, ‘Pension Dayro’ was organised in Town Hall, Ahmedabad. More than 1,200 women enjoyed ‘Dayro’ from Bhikhudanbhai Gadhvi and humour from Natubhai Patel. Bhikhudanbhai ensured his support for this great task by SEWA.

On last day of the week, 11th September, 2009, riddle and quiz competition was organised in Town Hall, Ahmedabad. Women participated with interest and won prizes.

Women showed great excitement during the week celebration. These women, keen to build society and spread awareness, brought along with them their neighbours and relatives to participate in the celebration. The main objective of celebrating the week was to spread the message of ‘old age security’ among more and more people, to create understanding and awareness among women and to secure their future.

Speaking at the function were few women who shared their experiences:

Kantaben Marwadi

75 years old Kantaben Marwadi does the work related to clay stove. She is one of the oldest members of SEWA Bank and she has also been the director of SEWA Bank. She said – “Since childhood I did carpentry and stove work with my mother. I earned money and saved as well. But spent all the money I saved”.

“Today, my children have seperated. I get tired but still have to keep working and have to go to sell stoves. I regret not thinking of my old age when I was young and earned more income.”

Surajben Jagaria

72 years old, Surajben does the business of old clothes and vessels. She says, “I worked throughout my life. I need rest now but, still have to go sell vessels door-to-door. We did not save but daughters think of your old age from today”.