Bindeshwar Pathak is the man behind Sulabh International Toilets and the force determined to change the plight of manual scavengers in the country. He is also one of the few social reformers who adopted Mahatma Gandhi's ideology to fight these social evils. His organization boasts of having 50,000 volunteers and claims to be the largest NGO in the country.
According to Bindeshwar Pathak, two life events had forced him to think about the way our society has been structured since ancient times. During his childhood days, he was made to drink cow urine and rinse with Ganges water when he touched a woman from lower cast. Another event which radicalized his thought was when he was on assignment for his Ph.D.and saw a newly married woman being forced to clean the toilets of her in-laws. These events shook him to the core and he decided to work for the upliftment of weaker sections of the society who get oppressed just because they are born in a particular caste and that caste is associated with a particular work.
The decisive shift in his life came in 1967 when a Sarvodaya Member Rajendra Lal Das convinced him to fulfill Gandhi's social concerns and look for ways towards the liberation of the scavenger castes He joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers' liberation) cell of the Bihar Gandhi centenary celebrations committee in 1968. Soon after that, he traveled throughout India.
In 1970, he established the Sulabh International Social Service Organization. The business model was more than profited oriented, it was aimed at upliftment of the waste carrying caste. The western style of toilet system was not feasible and could not be replicated at the mass level so he developed his own technology of twin-pit mechanism. While one pit is operational, other is covered. When other gets filled in around two years, second is made operational.
His organization has also perfected excreta based biogas plant that generates biogas for use in heating, cooking, and electricity.
He has refused to patent his twin pit technology which has been adopted countrywide.
According to Bindeshwar Pathak, two life events had forced him to think about the way our society has been structured since ancient times. During his childhood days, he was made to drink cow urine and rinse with Ganges water when he touched a woman from lower cast. Another event which radicalized his thought was when he was on assignment for his Ph.D.and saw a newly married woman being forced to clean the toilets of her in-laws. These events shook him to the core and he decided to work for the upliftment of weaker sections of the society who get oppressed just because they are born in a particular caste and that caste is associated with a particular work.
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| Bindeshwari Pathak with a family in Haryana |
In 1970, he established the Sulabh International Social Service Organization. The business model was more than profited oriented, it was aimed at upliftment of the waste carrying caste. The western style of toilet system was not feasible and could not be replicated at the mass level so he developed his own technology of twin-pit mechanism. While one pit is operational, other is covered. When other gets filled in around two years, second is made operational.
His organization has also perfected excreta based biogas plant that generates biogas for use in heating, cooking, and electricity.
He has refused to patent his twin pit technology which has been adopted countrywide.
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