Indian Sanitation Innovator & Social Reformer Awarded 2009 Stockholm Water Prize
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh Sanitation Movement in India, has been
named the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. As the Founder of the Sulabh
International Social Service Organisation, Dr. Pathak is known around the world
for his wide ranging work in the sanitation field to improve public health,
advance social progress, and improve human rights in India and other countries.
His accomplishments span the fields of sanitation technology, social
enterprise, and healthcare education for millions of people in his native
country, serving as a model for NGO agencies and public health initiatives
around the world. Since he established the Sulabh Sanitation Movement in 1970,
Dr. Pathak has worked to change social attitudes toward traditional unsanitary
latrine practices in slums, rural villages, and dense urban districts, and
developed cost effective toilet systems that have improved daily life and
health for millions of people. He has also waged an ongoing campaign to abolish
the traditional practice of manual “scavenging” of human waste from bucket
latrines in India while championing the rights of former scavengers and their
families to economic opportunity, decent standards of living, and social
dignity. “The results of Dr. Pathak’s endeavors constitute one of the most
amazing examples of how one person can impact the well
being of millions,” noted the Stockholm Water Prize nominating committee in
its citation. “Dr. Pathak’s leadership in attaining these remarkable
socio-environmental results has been universally recognized, and not least by
those who have secured the freedom of human dignity as a consequence of his
efforts.” Dr. Pathak will formally receive the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize at
an Award Ceremony at an Award Ceremony in the Stockholm City Hall during the
World Water Week in Stockholm this coming August.
Sanitation Innovator
Frequently citing the common toilet as one of civilization’s most significant
advances, Dr. Pathak has led the development of cost-effective and culturally
appropriate toilets and related treatment systems to replace the traditional
unsanitary bucket latrines in poor communities throughout India. His most
prominent innovations include:
• The Sulabh Shauchalaya twin pit, pour-flush toilet system now in use in more
than 1.2 million residences and buildings built by Sulabh. This technology has
been declared a Global Best Practice by United Nations HABITAT and Centre for
Human Settlements, and is now recommended by the UNDP for use by more than 2.6
billion people around the world.
• Sulabh public toilet and bath facilities based on that system at 7500
locations, together serving more than 10 million people daily. These
pay-per-use public facilities provide an economically sustainable, ecological,
and culturally acceptable solution to hygiene problems in crowded slum
communities and public places.
• Optimised water conservation in the Sulabh Shauchalaya systems, requiring
only 1.5 litres of water per use to flush, in contrast to conventional toilets
that require a minimum of 10 litres. This has significant additional benefits
for health and quality of life in water-poor regions.
• Environmentally balanced wastewater treatment based on a duckweed and fish
raising (pisciculture) ecosystem that provides economic opportunities for rural
poor communities.
• Several technologies that convert waste from Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets into
biogas for heating, cooking, and generating electricity.
Action Sociologist
A self-described “action-sociologist,” Dr. Pathak has worked on the leading
edge of social enterprise for decades, combining business best practices and
principled activism to advance the causes of better sanitation, societal
change, and improved quality of life. In 1970, he founded the Sulabh
International Social Service Organisation, an NGO that has been a catalyst for
improved sanitation and social change across India. Now with more than 50,000
associate members who are rendering their voluntary services, the organisation
has recently /started operations in Bhutan and Afghanistan. In collaboration
with UN-HABITAT, Sulabh has trained engineers, architects, planners and
administrators from 14 countries in Africa. Sulabh is now planning to start
work in Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Angola, Madagascar, Dominican Republic,
Tajikistan and other countries.
Through Sulabh, Dr. Pathak has waged a decades-long campaign to abolish the
traditional practice of manual “scavenging” of human waste from the simple pit
latrines that have predominated across much of India. His early concern for the
plight of the “untouchable” scavenger caste led to the development of the
Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets to eliminate the need for scavenging in poor
communities. Over the years he has led multiple initiatives to champion social
dignity, economic justice, and liberation from the caste-oriented system for
former “untouchable” scavengers and their families.
Hygiene and Health Educator
With the establishment of the Sulabh International Institute of Health and
Hygiene (SIIHH), Dr. Pathak has led efforts across the NGO and government
sectors to develop effective and culturally oriented hygiene and health models
for urban slums and rural villages. In collaboration with other organizations,
SIIHH has created hygiene curricula for young schoolchildren and their
teachers, provided sanitation and health training for volunteer instructors in
slums, and opened centres providing basic healthcare for urban poor at Sulabh
community toilet complexes. Working with the Indian Ministry of Environment and
Forests, Dr. Pathak also established the Sulabh Environmental Information
System Centre to gather and disseminate environmental information related to
hygiene, sanitation, and sewage treatment for researchers, academics, policy
makers, and students.
About Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak
Born to a Brahmin family in 1943 and raised in the Indian state of Bihar, Dr.
Bindeshwar Pathak attended Patna University where he earned an M.A. in
Sociology, an M.A. in English, a Ph.D. in “Liberation of scavengers through low
cost sanitation” and a Doctorate of Literature in “Eradication of scavenging
and environmental sanitation in India: a sociological study.” Dr. Pathak first
came to understand the plight of scavengers in 1968 when he joined the
Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation) Cell of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary
Celebrations Committee. During that time, he traveled throughout India, living
with scavenger families as part of his Ph.D. research. Drawing on that
experience, he resolved to take action, not only out of sympathy for the
scavengers but also in the belief that scavenging is a dehumanizing practice
that would ultimately have a destructive impact on modern Indian society. With
the establishment of the Sulabh International
Social Service Organisation in 1970, he thus launched a unique movement that
combines technical innovation with humanitarian principles. A prolific writer
and speaker, Dr. Pathak has authored several books, the most well-known of
which is The Road to Freedom, and is a frequent participant in conferences on
sanitation, health, and social progress around the world. He lives near the
Sulabh campus in New Delhi.
About the Stockholm Water Prize
First presented in 1991, The Stockholm Water Prize is the world’s most
prestigious prize for outstanding achievement in water-related activities. The
annual prize, which includes a USD 150,000 award and a crystal sculpture,
honours individuals, institutions or organisations whose work contributes
broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved
health of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems. An international nominating
committee appointed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible to
review the nominations and propose a candidate. The Founders of the prize are
Swedish and international companies in co-operation with the City of Stockholm.
The prize program is administered by the Stockholm International Water
Institute. The patron of the Stockholm Water Prize is H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf
of Sweden.
