'India's toilet man' Bindeshwar Pathak dead: His life, contributions, achievements
What's the story
Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh International, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, on Tuesday. He was 80.
He was known for rallying against open defecation and the manual scavenging of human waste.
He pioneered sanitation services in India and constructed around 1.3 million household toilets.
Another 54 million government-run toilets are based on Sulabh's innovative design.
Information
Death due to cardiac arrest
A close friend of the sociologist disclosed that Pathak passed away due to cardiac arrest at around 1:40pm on Tuesday. Reportedly, just hours before his untimely death, he hoisted the national flag on Independence Day at his office in Delhi. He collapsed soon after that.
Twitter Post
Profound loss for India, says PM Modi
The passing away of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak Ji is a profound loss for our nation. He was a visionary who worked extensively for societal progress and empowering the downtrodden.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 15, 2023
Bindeshwar Ji made it his mission to build a cleaner India. He provided monumental support to the… pic.twitter.com/z93aqoqXrc
Details
Awarded Padma Bhushan in 1991
Pathak was conferred the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, in 1991, and various other global awards, too.
He was also a Congress MP from Bihar's Bhagalpur.
In 1968, he joined the Bhangi Mukti Cell of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee, which worked to eradicate manual scavenging.
He lived with Dalit families as part of his research and established Sulabh International in 1970.
Reform
Pathak popularized pour-flush toilet
Pathak was born in a village in Bihar's Vaishali district in 1943.
He graduated in Sociology from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1964 and completed his master's degree in 1980 from the University of Patna.
Pathak is credited with mitigating environmental pollution by popularizing the pour-flush toilet against dry latrines, which manual scavengers were forced to clean.