A rare Indian contemporary

leader-crusader

M S Sridhar

July 2008

An instruction material for personality development

(leadership) program of Mahatma Vidyalaya School,
Muthtanallur, Anekal Taluk, Bangalore Rural

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 1

 Mahatma Gandhi

• said 'cleanliness is next only to godliness'

• suggested 'Tatti par mitti' (cover human excreta
with soil) or use of trench latrine which he himself
used
• felt those who are engaged in sanitation work
should not be treated as untouchables; they should
get equal respect in the society and declared that
"the Bhangi (scavenger) is as important as the
Viceroy"

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 2

 A shameful practice continued unabated
• Nearly 80 per cent of the country's population still either defecate
in open or use unsanitary bucket latrines or smelly public toilets
• 700 million Indian population who go outside for open defecation
even along roads and railway tracks
• 110 million Indian houses have no toilets and 10 million houses
have bucket toilets
• Hardly 20 per cent of the population has access to water/ flush
toilets connected to a sewerage system
• Only 14 per cent enjoy water-borne toilets connected to septic
tanks or leach pits
• In rural areas, a mere 3 per cent of the population has access to
sanitary toilets
• The need to have 'night soil' removed has given rise to the
profession of 'scavenging' or collecting it from bucket latrines
• Even after banning and after 60 years of independence there are
tens of thousands of manual scavengers in the country
• “Incredible India, drowning in its excreta” – Sunitha Narain
M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 3
 Holy Ganges
• Ganges water in Varanasi ghats contain 60,000
bacteria per ml; downstream after 32 open streams
of sewage and 60,000 half burnt corpses (per year)
join, it is 1.5 m bacteria per ml
• India has facility to treat 18 % (actually treats
13% due to power shortage) of the 33,200 m litres
of sewage its cities produce everyday
• 1000 Indian children die of diarrhea

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 4

 A ray of hope
• He is born into a respectable upper-caste Brahmin family in
Rampur Baghel village (Vaishali district of Bihar)
• He liberated scavengers and said “lack of sanitation and
hygiene is a national health hazard; should be tackled on a
war footing; the subject of toilets is much more important
than any other social challenge.“ &“toilet is a tool of social
change”
• With a passion for lavatory technology he invented low cost
(Rs. 40,000/-) community flush toilets without being
connected to sewerage system
 No manual scavenger
 Only 2 ltrs of water as against 10 ltrs in traditional flush
 Two pit system last long (for 10 people for 2 years)
 Provide composted manure clean enough to grow vegetables
 Training centre in Alwar to rehabilitate scavengers

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 5

 A ray of hope …contd.
• Sulabh International: a charitable trust founded in
1970 built 1.2 m latrines (Sulabh Shauchalayas)
across India and set up more than 7,500 pay-&-use
community toilet complexes
• nearly 10 million people have been provided with
improved, low cost sanitation
• liberated 60,000 scavengers from the demeaning
practice of physically cleaning and carrying human
excreta and found respectable new work

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 Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak:
a less known crusader-leader
1. "What Abraham Lincoln did for Blacks in America, Dr.
Pathak has done for scavengers in India. Both are great
redeemers“ - observed Mulk Raj Anand
2. The New York Times, in the article 'Untouchables gain the
help of a Brahmin”, hailed him as a "full-time crusader against
the humiliations of untouchability“
3. Sulabh declared a global 'Urban Best Practice' at the Habitat-
II conference held at Istanbul and the Economic and Social
Council of United Nations has granted Special Consultative
Status to Sulabh
4. Even UNDP and the World Bank recommend its adoption in
other countries
5. "You are helping the poor", lauded Pope John Paul II while
honouring Dr. Pathak with International St. Francis Prize for
the Environment, in 1992.
M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 7
 Achivements of Dr. Pathak
• Social commitment: set up a number of vocational training
institutes; given training in various vocations like computer
technology, typing and shorthand, electrical trade, woodcraft,
leathercraft, diesel and petrol engineering, cutting and tailoring,
cane furniture making, masonry work, motor driving etc.
• Sulabh has set up an English medium School in Delhi for
children of the scavengers, the first of its kind in India. Half the
number of children are from scavenger families and the
remaining half from other castes
• In 1988, Dr. Pathak led 100 scavengers along with Vedic
Brahmins to the famous Nathdwara temple in Rajasthan
• has made an open appeal to the elite of society to have social
interaction with at least one such family ; 5,000 scavenger
families have been socially upgraded (Mr. I.K. Gujral adopted
one scavenger's family
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 Achivements of Dr. Pathak …contd.
• A technological breakthrough: very simple device consisting of
two pits and sealed cover; while one is in use, the other pit is left
to manure; and, finally, it is cleared to be used as manure; the
two-pit pour-flush toilet in urban areas which could be
affordable, safe and hygienic system for the disposal of the
human waste in absence of sewers and septic tanks
• Public toilet-cum-bath complexes:
Sulabh Shauchalaya Complex) 5,500
community complexes in 1075 towns
across the country with 24-hours
water supply and electricity
• Poverty alleviation and rural development: imparting
participatory training to school teachers and students in the fields
of environmental sanitation and community health
M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 9
 Achivements of Dr. Pathak …contd.
• Biogas from human excreta: introduced the idea of obtaining
biogas from human excreta; first biogas plant in Patna, in 1982;
more than 68 biogas plants connected with large-sized public
toilets are operational in India
• Biogas from water hyacinth: in dried and pulverised form
blending with cow-dung, human excreta or other vegetable
wastes used as feed material for biogas production
• Low-cost waste water treatment underway
• Solid waste management: Sulabh has developed a new
technology which requires only 5-6 days to make compost
from any biodegradable waste without manual handling during
composting.

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 10

 Achivements of Dr. Pathak …contd.
• Ensuring health and hygiene: opened healthcare centres in
community toilet complexes; Hundreds of volunteers have
been trained in 158 slums; promoting women group formations
after training
• Museum of Toilets in New Delhi:
artifacts, pictures and objects
detailing the historic evolution
of toilets since 2,500
• Innovative leadership: Under the dynamic and inspiring
leadership of Dr. Pathak a dedicated team of sociologists,
scientists, engineers, journalists and public-spirited persons,
has built a large national network

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Sulabh Effluent Treatment system

New Sulabh toilet complex in Kabul

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 Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak
Founder,Sulabh Sanitation
Movement.

Date of April 2, 1943

Birth

Place of Village Rampur, Baghel, Dist. Vaishali, Bihar, INDIA

Birth

Education 1964: Graduation in Sociology

1980: Master's degree in Sociology, topping the list from Patna University
1985: Ph.D. on "Liberation of Scavengers Through Low-Cost Sanitation".
1986: Master's degree in English, topping the list from Patna University
1994: D.Litt. on "Eradication
M S Sridhar of Scavenging
A rare contemporary and Environmental Sanitation in13
leader-cusader India - a
 The Dubai International
Award for best practices
to improve the living
Environment

His Holiness Pope John Paul -

IIgave audience to Dr.
Bindeshwar Pathak before
awarding him with
international St. Francis
Prize for the Environment
"Canticle of All Creatures"
in 1992

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 14

 Dr Pathak receiving National
Citizen'sAward from the then
President,Dr. Shanker Dayal
Sharma
In 1991, Dr. Pathak was conferred
Padma Bhushan by the President
of India Mr R.Venkataraman for
his "distinguished social service"

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 15

 Sri Lankan Minister for Science
and Technology, Dr Bernard Soyasa
at Sulabh Toilet Museum, New Delhi

Dr Pathak received Indira Gandhi

Priyadarshini Award at a colourful
function in 1994 in New Delhi

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 Dr Pathak with sons and daughters
of liberated scavengers in Patna

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Mr I.K.Gujral, former Prime Minister of India, was among many eminent persons
who adopted scavenger families on May 2, 1994 at a function in New Delhi

M S Sridhar A rare contemporary leader-cusader 18

 SULABH
MOVEMENT
RESTORING
HUMAN
Profile, Aims & Objectives RIGHTS

The objectives of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation are:

 To restore human rights and dignity :
 Prevention of environmental pollution and improvement of health, hygiene and
ecology
 Harness non-conventional energy sources from human waste and other wastes
and save fuel and forests.
 Procure manure from Sulabh Shauchalayas and Sulabh toilet complexes and
use it to raise farm productivity.
 Promote job-oriented education and primary healthcare.
 Form groups of people from all walks of life throughout the country and abroad
to build public opinion against social evils of all hues and for the cause of
economically poor and neglected sections of the society.
 Create new job opportunities by training change-agents for integrated rural
development.
 Promote consultancy, research and development in technical and social fields.
 Diffusion of innovations, education, motivation and awareness through mass
communication.
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 Thank you

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