Bindeshwar Pathak passes away: The Sulabh founder who came to be known as 'Toilet Man' of India

Bindeshwar Pathak, the man behind India’s toilet-building revolution, passed away on Tuesday following a cardiac arrest in New Delhi. He was 80. “He complained of uneasiness amid Independence Day celebrations at Sulabh complex at Palam-Dabri Road, New Delhi. He was taken to AIIMS,” Sulabh International said in a statement, adding that he died of cardiac arrest. The noted social reformer and founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation is survived by his wife Amola, and two daughters and a son. Using affordable two-pit technology, his organisation constructed 54 million government toilets in addition to roughly 1.3 million toilets in Indian homes. His organisation also actively opposed cleaning human waste by hand throughout India. Also read: 'Profound loss for our nation': PM Modi condoles death of Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International The “Toilet Man of India” Born in the hamlet of Rampur Baghel in Bihar’s Vaishali district, Pathak graduated in sociology from Banaras Hindu University in 1964. He completed his master’s degree from the University of Patna in 1980 and a PhD in 1985, reported News18. The social reformer established Sulabh International Social Service in 1970 in order to alleviate India’s sanitation problems. According to the organisation’s website, Pathak was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1991 for his efforts to free and rehabilitate manual scavengers and to introduce pour-flush toilet technology to reduce environmental pollution. [caption id=“attachment_13002352” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives a book written on him with the title ‘Narendra Modi: The Making of A Legend" from its author, Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak in New Delhi. PTI[/caption] For its contribution to the government’s flagship Swachh Bharat initiative, Sulabh received the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2016. Pathak was also awarded The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics, and Management in 2017. The same year, The Making of a Legend, a book by Pathak on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was released on 12 July in the National Capital. The Energy Globe Award, the Dubai International Award for Best Practises, the Stockholm Water Prize, and the Legend of the Planet Award from the French Senate in Paris are among the honours bestowed upon him. Pathak’s mother was a close friend and a major influence. “My mother always taught me to help people. She never refused anyone who requested assistance. She taught me to contribute without anticipating anything in return. A man is supposedly born for others, not for himself,” he once said, according to The Statesman. Also read: Explained: How toilet paper in Japan is helping suicidal youth His journey According to News18, Pathak joined the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee’s Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation) unit in 1968 and became acutely aware of the issues facing scavengers in India. As part of his PhD thesis, he visited the nation and spent time with manual scavengers. This is also when he discovered his calling. Pathak founded the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation two years later with the aim of promoting social reforms, non-conventional energy sources, waste management, human rights, and environmental sanitation through education. According to Indian Express, with the assistance of a municipal official, he went on to construct his first public toilet in Arrah, Bihar, in 1973. The official had granted him Rs 500 to build two toilets as a demonstration on the municipal grounds. Following this initiative’s success, the government approved a project for its wider application. The first Sulabh public toilet with 48 seats, 20 restrooms, urinals and washbasins was opened in Patna in 1974. After becoming a volunteer with the Gandhi Centenary Committee in Patna, he was dispatched to Bettiah in Bihar, to work on behalf of the restoration of the human rights and dignity of the Dalit population. From there, he decided to launch a quest to end open defecation and manual scavenging, which were widespread issues at the time. By 1980, 25,000 people in Patna alone were utilising Sulabh public facilities after the Bihar government issued a circular instructing all local governments to enlist Sulabh’s assistance in converting bucket toilets into two-pit pour-flush toilets. Designs created by Pathak three decades ago for producing biogas by connecting Sulabh toilets to fermentation facilities are now synonymous with sanitation in underdeveloped nations all over the world, reported News18. One standout aspect of Pathak’s creation is that in addition to creating odourless bio-gas, it also produces clean water that is rich in phosphorus and other chemicals that are crucial components of organic manure. His anti-emissions-of-greenhouse-gas movement guarantees purity. In order to provide these facilities to rural areas in South Africa, this technology is currently being expanded there. International media quickly covered Pathak’s efforts. When presenting Dr Pathak with the 1992 International St. Francis Prize for the Environment, Pope John Paul II praised him, saying, “You are helping the poor.” He received the 2014 Sardar Patel International Award for Excellence in the Field of Social Development in his honour. Also read: World Toilet Day 2018: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan claims 90% of India provided toilets under household coverage plan 14 April: Bindeshwar Pathak Day In 2016, Bill De Blasio, Mayor of New York City, declared 14 April as Bindeshwar Pathak Day honouring the Indian social worker’s substantial contributions to improving the lives of those confined in the most inhumane circumstances, according to Siasat. According to Wion News, the Indian Railways joined hands with Sulabh International, and made Bindeshwar Pathak the brand ambassador of the Swachh Rail Mission in November 2016, stepping up efforts to keep railway property clean. All about Sulabh Foundation Sulabh manages and operates restrooms in temple towns and at railway stations all around India, where there are over 9,000 community public facilities, reported News18. There is electricity and a 24-hour water supply in these complexes, which are located throughout 1,600 towns. There are separate enclosures for men and women at the complexes. Consumers pay a nominal fee for using toilets and bathroom facilities. Additionally, some Sulabh complexes offer a bathroom with a shower, cloakrooms, telephones and basic medical care. The fiscal 2020 revenue for Sulabh was Rs 490 crore, according to the report. More than just toilets Moreover, Sulabh has also established several vocational training facilities where freed scavengers, their children, and members of other marginalised groups in society can receive instruction in a variety of trades, including computer technology, typing, shorthand, electrical work, woodworking, leathercraft, diesel and petrol engineering, cutting and tailoring, cane furniture making, masonry work, and driving. Pathak and his Sulabh have always tried to improve the lives of the poor, by establishing a school in Delhi with an English curriculum for children of manual scavengers, giving financial aid to widows who have been left behind in Vrindavan, or creating a museum of toilets. After visiting Madam Tussauds, Pathak once claimed he had the idea to create a museum dedicated to toilets. The museum, which is sometimes ranked as one of the weirdest in the world, documents his journey, which began in the 1970s when he chose to raise those in the lowest social strata and adhere to Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of sanitation. Manual scavenging in India Many scavengers are being taken advantage of by subcontractors despite numerous legislative attempts to outlaw the pervasive practice of manual scavenging in India. These people, who go by the name of “manual scavengers,” collect trash in an unseemly manner with their bare hands and without any safety equipment, a practice that Bindeshwar Pathak has rightly described as “demeaning,” reported Wion. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in India reports that just 508 of the nation’s 766 districts have been designated as free of manual scavenging. The efficiency of governmental measures as well as the genuine scope of anti-manual scavenging efforts in India have come under scrutiny as a result. With inputs from agencies