Indian Sanitation Innovator & Social Reformer Awarded 2009 Stockholm Water Prize

25 marzo 2009

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

Send a congratulation note to the 2009 laureate.

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.