Bindeshwar Pathak,  the founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, passed away in Delhi at 80 on suffering a cardiac arrest.

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak is well-known in India and throughout the world for dedicated his life to creating a national sanitation campaign that has lasted for more than 50 years.

Advertisement

He worked tirelessly to improve the situation of manual scavengers.

Using inexpensive two-pit technology, Sulabh has built 54 million public restrooms and over 1.3 million residential restrooms.

Also Read: ‘Toilets the most talked-about issue’

Dr Pathak was a prolific author and public speaker who has written numerous books, the most well-known of which being ‘The Road to Freedom’. He was a part of conferences on global sanitation, health, and social advancement.

He served as the brand ambassador for Indian Railways’ Swachh Rail Mission. In 1991, he received the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honor in India.

He received the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics, and Management for the Year 2017.

The organisation spearheaded a campaign to oppose hand cleaning of human waste in addition to building toilets.

More about Bindeshwar Pathak:

Mahatma Gandhi served as a source of inspiration for Dr Pathak, and as a result, his work and way of life have directly influenced the goals and tenets of the United Nations.

Born at Vaishali in Bihar, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak was raised in a Brahmin family in the village of Rampur Baghel.

Pathak was close to and heavily influencd by his mother.  “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.

Pathak completed his schooling in the village where he spent his whole childhood and adolescence. Later, he relocated to the state capital of Patna, where he enrolled at B.N. College and earned a sociology degree.

In 1964, Bindeshwar Pathak graduated from Banaras Hindu University with a degree in sociology. He received his master’s degree in 1980 and his PhD in 1985 from the University of Patna.