• Social Entrepreneur

Bettiah, Bihar, 1968

A man observes a small boy being chased by an angry bull. He joins the crowed which is running to save the boy’s life. Suddenly, someone from the crowed shouts, “Hey, it’s a boy from the scavenger community.” This casts a spell on the crowd. People turn their back towards the boy and leave him quietly. The man, unmoved by the caste cry, manages to send the violent animal away. He rushes the bruised boy to hospital, where he is declared dead.

That was the day the man in question took a vow to do something for the ‘untouchables.’ Bindeshwar Pathak, 68, the founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organization, has a come a long way since then.

Cut to the present

Today, Sulabh International, a Rs.300-crore organization with 15 percent of it being profits, is responsible for the construction of 1,136,446 individual household toilets in India since its inception. It has also constructed 7,356 toilets for schools across the country. Sulabh International employs 60,000 people, of which 35,000 are paid workers while the rest are volunteers. This non-profitable organization is also the world’s biggest sanitation provider.

How it all began

Born into an affluent Maithilya Brahmin family in a village of Vaishali district of Bihar in 1943, Pathak had nothing much to worry about as a child. However, the fortunes of his father, Dr Ramakant Pathak, fell in the year 1955 and worries to bring back the lost glory haunted the teenager. When he completed his graduation in sociology from Patna University in 1964, Pathak just had a vague idea that he wants to become a professor and lead a respectable life, with no other particular ambition. With his marriage in 1965, responsibilities doubled and Pathak had to do some small jobs to earn a living. He also tried his hands on his father’s family business selling ayurvedic medicines.

In 1969, with a turn of events, Pathak once again landed in Patna to join the Gandhi Centenary Celebration Committee as an English-Hindi and Hindi-English translator. For four months, he worked without pay. Later, with his seniors impressed with this “bright” boy’s work, Pathak started getting a salary of Rs.200. He was later transferred to the restoration of human rights’ cell. This sub-committee was formed with an objective of providing decent living to the scavenger caste—a community in India that manually cleans human faeces. Before Independence, they were called the untouchables. He job there was to come up with an alternate sanitary system in the country that would help the community do away with the manual cleaning of the human waste. Things worked like they do—slowly—before Pathak witnessed two accidents that changed his life, forever.

Life-changing incidents

During his job with the committee, Pathak had decided to live in a scavengers’ colony in Bettiah to have a better understanding of the people he has to work with and work for. During his stay there, he witnessed a scene where a new bride was being forced by her in-laws to clean a toilet. Despite the bride’s bitter sobs, the family was determined to make her do it. Pathak intervened, but to no avail. The incident shook him but the worst was yet to be seen—an ‘untouchable’ boy’s ruthless killing by a bull (as mentioned in the beginning). Pathak’s mind was made up that day to run a mission to free the untouchables from this society-made bane.

Objections on the homefront

Back home, his decision was not taken in good stead. “As a young boy I was forced by my grandmother to swallow cow dung and urine apart from gangajal for purification when I touched a woman from the lower caste,” remembers Pathak. Those were the kind of prejudices that prevailed in a Maithilya Brahmin family, he adds.

This time, however, most furious was his father-in-law. “I don’t care what you do. I just care for my daughter. I thought a graduate from Patna University would have better things to do in life,” his father- in-law told him. But Pathak remained undeterred. There were helping hands too. “Despite the fact that I could never give my family the quality time I should have, my wife [Amola Pathak] has always supported me. Occasional taunts from her are always taken with a smile,’ chuckles Pathak.

Tech-talk

During this time, he was given two books to read on the toilet system—one published by the World Health Organization and another by Rajendra Lal Das. “Some lines in the WHO book made a significant impact on my mind and taking cue from these lines, I decided to move ahead,” recalls Pathak.

Out of the heterogeneous mass of latrine designs produced over the world, pit privy is the most practical and universally applicable type, read the WHO note on Excreta Disposal in Rural Areas and Small Communities that stuck Pathak. Making the word ‘universal’ his key, Pathak now pondered over a model that would help all. But, he was no engineer and the work required a lot of technical knowhow.

This gave birth to an idea called Sulabh Sanitation Movement in 1970. Pathak developed the technology, a twin-pit, pour-flush compost toilet.

Earlier, only two technologies were known to the world when one talked about sanitary system—sewer system and septic tanks. The constructions as well as maintenance of both these options require high cost. They also require excessive water for flushing. In the form of deep-slope pans, the Sulabh technology came up with a cheaper and more viable alternative. Using Sulabh toilets saves eight liters of water per flush per person. There require only two liters of water on every flush. So, assuming 700 million people use these toilets, 5,600 million liters of water would be saved on every flush.

Data show that at least 630 million people in the country still do not have the luxury of lavatories at their homes. The reason in most cases is the high cost of getting septic tanks and sewerage systems installed.

Pathak also came up with the idea of decentralized water treatment plant. This is not only an alternative to sewerages but can also be useful in more ways than one. The plants recycle water and produce bio-fertilizers and biogas. Sulabh succeeded in putting the technology on stream only in 2003, after Pathak’s toil of 26 years. Today, it has 194 operational and eight under-construction biogas plants across the length and breadth of the country, besides five it has put up in Kabul. But it is interesting to note how the idea first came to Pathak.

Way back in 1977, he overheard two people talking about a tribal man, who had linked his lavatory to a plant and was using the gas produced as the cooking fuel. Pathak found it intriguing and got interested at once. After investing a little time and energy, he was able to track the man down at a place near Indore in Madhya Pradesh. He visited his house to observe the set-up and, taking cues from there, began to work on developing the technology. And he did succeed.

New options

Meanwhile, after the formation of Sulabh Swachha Shauchalay Prashikshan Sansthan, a report was sent to the state government for the new technology that the organization had to offer. The file bit dust for over three years. During this time a letter from the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi was sent to the state government to work on the Sulabh proposal. “I’m writing to the chief minister and asking him to give his personal attention to the matter,” Gandhi’s letter read. As a result, the Bihar government gave nod to Sulabh technology in 1974 and since then it has been quite a journey for Pathak, and most importantly, not an easy one. In 1978, Sulabh International got approval to function all over the country.

As a thumb rule, like he was taught by one IAS officer once, Pathak decided against taking any government grants. Sulabh International was only paid for the work it did. “If you start taking grants from the government, you won’t remain true to your cause. You are not corrupt today because you have no money to corrupt you. If you actually think it’s a mission for you, promise me today you won’t accept any grants,” the officer had told Pathak. He gave his word to the ‘God-sent angel’ and remained true to his promise ever since.

Sulabh locations

Meanwhile, first two Sulabh toilets that was set up in Arrah, received 500 visitors on its opening day for 10 paisa each. Today, apart from Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland, Sulabh has its presence in all states and is situated in around 8,000 locations and some 10.5 million people use it.

Man on a mission

A Padma Bhushan awardee, Pathak is an early riser and wakes up at 5 am. He starts his day with 45-minute exercise and he prays for one-hour before leaving for office. One can sense his religious bent of mind by having a good look at his office room. A placard there reads: “True men don’t look for directions.” Well, he did not, indeed. Though he loves simple vegetarian food—dal,chawal, roti and sabzi—the story behind him turing non-vegetarian will give one a clear idea of his large heartedness. “My family was strict vegetarian while my wife loved non-vegetarian food. I had two choices—to force her into vegetarianism or turning myself into a non-vegetarian. I chose the latter. I didn’t want Amola to feel that her husband can’t even feed her properly,” chuckles Pathak.

Described as a workaholic by his colleagues, Pathak has a record of working for 22 hours a day. “There are times when things are so busy. You actually have to drag Pathak to have his meal,” says Gaurav, his coordinator. “Age has not hindered his enthusiasm. He has more energy than youngsters when it comes to work. Apart from that his approach towards everything is very straight and simple. He is not an engineer by qualification but that also could not block his way. The lack of qualification was always done away by his sheer application of commonsense,” he further adds.

An avid reader and writer, Pathak also enjoys watching footfall. “As a teenager I tried to play football. I used to be a weakling and I would bounce with the ball all the time. I was told by other teammates to buzz off,” he recalls, laughing wholeheartedly.

A hardcore Gandhian (he is usually dressed in crisp khadi kurta, waistcoat and churidaar pyjama) who made bringing cleanliness to the country his mission as was envisaged by the Mahatma, Pathak believes that five things—vision, mission, commitment, capability and efficiency—are the primary requirements for achieving a goal.  “In one life, according to me, you can’t have more missions. You walk with one with determination, concentration, honesty, dignity ethics and morality, and nothing is impossible.”

The Stockholm Water Prize winner considers his positive attitude is greatest strength. “Also, I do not harp too much on the minuscule. That has always paid its dividends,” Pathak says. The grandfather of two children has his weaknesses too and is willing enough to admit them. “I take all my decision from my heart. That is considered my biggest weakness. I’m also very hasty in decision-making. I would decide on something on the spur of the moment,” he says.

Facts and figures

But, for the people, whose life Pathak has changed, he is no less than God. According to 1961 census, India had 3.5 million scavengers—82,000 of those engaged in cleaning human excreta. Since then, the number would have increased manifold. With Sulabh’s assistance, about 1.5 lakh people have been freed from doing this till date, while at least 5 lakh people are still believed to be cleaning human faeces.

Pathak’s strategy for liberation of scavengers through the Sublabh movement comprises a mix of technology, rehabilitation, alternative employment and social reform. His NGO runs rehabilitation programs for out-of-work scavengers, teaching them the skills they need to find new jobs.

In 2003, Pathak set up a vocational center called Nai Disha in Alwar, Rajasthan, where women are trained in tailoring, embroidery, food-processing and beauty treatments etc. Last year, some three dozen of the trainees were flown to New York City to participate in a fashion show held at the UN headquarters to mark the International Year of Sanitation.

“I used to clean faeces ever since my marriage before ‘baba’ (Pathak) came to my rescue. Behind my veil, I lived the life of an untouchable. He was a godsend and turned our lives around,” says Rajni Athwal, 27, mother of four who earns Rs.2,500 stipend at present from Nai Disha. All her children go to school.

Same is the case with Lalita Devi Daburia, 50, who has been with Sulabh since 2003. “As a kid, I used to clean toilets with my mother. It continued even after my marriage. I thought no one would buy my products if I did manage to start selling something,” Lalita says.

Today Lalita can read and write, earns her living by making papads and has sufficient customers for her product. That’s the change Pathak brought in a common scavenger’s life—from being untouchables to being a part of the society.

The road less travelled

It has not been an easy task for Pathak to convince the scavengers to leave their work and join his mission for their own rise. “It took a lot of convincing to make them understand I mean good. After years of subjugation, their spirits and confidence were totally broken. They could not trust that the misery of their lives can end; they did not believe me when I told them about my program. It was too good for them to be true. I had to build up the trust over the years,” informs the 68-year-old socialist.

Pathak’s job did not end by just providing a low-cost, universal toilet model to the country. There was a deep-rooted custom of untouchability that prevailed in the Indian social system and that was the most difficult part of the Sulabh revolution. “Between Sulabh and the government, the only difference that exists is that they can provide funds and the scavenger community will be free from cleaning human waste. What they won’t be able to do by this is giving this community a respectable place in the society,” says Pathak.

“To give the scavenger community a place in the society, I didn’t have to bring anybody down. I just have to lift this community up,” says Pathak. “I didn’t burn the holy books because they say so-and-so about the lower castes. I didn’t burn effigies or had to organize an agitation to win my battle. I always believed that for securing a place for the scavenger community, I don’t have to upset the social system,’ he adds.

Sulabh also runs an English medium school in Delhi, mainly for children of the scavengers—60 percent of the total strength is from scavengers’ children. This balanced mix means that kids from scavenger families are able to interact with people of other communities.

Besides, the organization has also undertaken a unique initiative in setting up a museum dedicated to novel toilets. The museum, in New Delhi, has a rare collection of artefacts, pictures and objects detailing the historic evolution of toilets since 2,500 BC. Under Pathak’s guidance, the museum wing has also undertaken the task of publishing an Encyclopaedia of Sanitation, which is touted to be the first of its kind in the world.

Tags:
Bindeshwar Pathak, Social Entrepreneur, Sulabh Shauchalaya