The recipients of the award — announced by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, will receive grants of up to 650,000 US dollars. The foundation’s annual budgets range from 200,000 to 4.5 million US dollars.

The SEWA trust, with a membership of one million, provides a network of social services for women not protected by employers or labour legislation.

It provides work and social security, which includes income, food and health, to poor and self-employed women workers. Jonathan Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation said in a statement: “These organisations may be small, but their impact is tremendous. From protecting human rights to improving urban neighbourhoods, to conserving biodiversity; they are blazing new paths and finding fresh solutions to some of our most difficult challenges.”

He said the groups will use their award money for a range of purposes, including development of training and research facilities, technology upgrades, and purchase of new office space.

SEWA, which aims to create the All-India Women’s Insurance Cooperative (VIMO SEWA), owned and managed by women — in nine states of India — will use the 650,000 dollar award to turn the entity into an economically viable organisation. This will be the world’s first national insurance cooperative for self-employed women.

The other recipients of the MacArthur Award are the Nigeria-based ‘Access to Justice’, which works to prevent police abuse and eliminate torture; the Caribbean Natural Resource Institute in Trinidad that works for biodiversity conservation, and the Chicago-based Centre for Neighbourhood Technology, which runs a popular car-sharing service.

The awardees will be honoured at a ceremony at the foundation’s headquarters in the city in June.