Bindeshwar Pathak – A Humble Tribute

 

Bindeshwar Pathak – A Humble Tribute

Bindeshwar Pathak (April, 1943 – August, 2023), a man of sterling worth in the field of sanitation, health and environment, passed away on August 15, 2023. Pathak Sahib was a social reformer and a social entrepreneur particularly with regard to the vulnerable sections of the society commonly called the Safai Karamcharis belonging to lowest

strata of the Hindu society in the caste ridden social order of India. The Wikipedia profile of Bindeswar  Pathak writes that he first came to understand the plight of scavengers in 1968 when he joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation) Cell of Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee. During that time, he travelled 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 has a destructive impact on the Indian society. He established the Sulabh International a social service organization in 1970.  The organization worked to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, and non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. He was the Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railways. His work is considered pioneering in social reform, especially in the field of sanitation and hygiene. He received various national and international awards for his work with this organization. He was presented with the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for the year 2017.He was conferred with Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award in 1991.

Bindeshwar Pathak was rightly called a social entrepreneur. The Tribune in its obituary to the departed soul said, “Sulabh reported a turnover of Rs 490 crore in the fiscal 2020. Not just toilets, Sulabh has set up a number of vocational training institutes. Here, liberated scavengers, their sons and daughters and persons from other weaker sections of society are given training in various vocations like computer technology, typing and shorthand, electrical trade, woodcraft, leather craft, diesel and petrol engineering, cutting and tailoring, cane furniture making, masonry work, motor driving. The purpose of imparting vocational training to them is to give them new means of livelihood, alleviate poverty and bring them into the

mainstream of society. From setting up an English medium School in Delhi for children of manual scavengers to providing financial assistance to the abandoned widows in Vrindavan or establish a museum of toilets in the national capital, Pathak and his Sulabh have always worked towards the upliftment of the marginalized.” The Obituary  added, “A pioneer of public toilets in India, Bindeshwar Pathak came to be known as the “Toilet Man of India” long before the Swachch Bharat Mission made toilets a part of public discourse, even as he was often ridiculed, including by his father-in-law, for the work he was doing.”

Subsequently, PM Narendra Modi started the new project to address the issues dear to Pathak Sahib under the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan also called as the Clean India Mission or Clean India drive, of course a laudable initiative. Swachh Bharat Mission, Swachch Bharat

Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. The program also aims to increase awareness of menstrual health management. An estimated 1.3 million Dalits (the lowest group in the Hindu caste hierarchy) in India eke out a living through the most degrading practice of manual scavenging, an occupation which involves cleaning open toilets and dry latrines and carrying human excreta with bare hands. In cities and towns, Dalit workers are often employed in the maintenance of sewer systems, sweeping of roads and collection of garbage. Apart from being employed to clean toilets in individual households, they are also engaged in cleaning community dry latrines, roadside open toilets, railway stations, government hospitals and other public places. Pathak Sahib really did a great job in flagging an important issue of degraded human activity, the manual scavenging – experience which, to my mind, was wrongly called ‘a spiritual experience‘ by Mahatma Gandhi and later by PM Narendra Modi –  to Hell with such a spiritual experience.

I have had an occasion to meet and interact with Bindeshwar Pathak some years at a seminar on Guru Ravidass at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. I was impressed by his clarity of

thought and conviction to carry forward his lofty mission to empower the weaker sections of the society; particularly the Safai Karamcharis. Pathak Sahib, 80, died on August 15, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav soon after unfurling the national flag, it has been reported in the media – a glorious departure. India needs a few more sons of the soil like Bindeshwar Pathak:

Badi Mushkil Se Hota Hai Chaman Mein Didawar Paida

And –

Jis Dhaj Se Koi Maktal Mein Gya; Woh Saan Salamat Rahti Hai,

Yeh Jaan To Aani Jaani Hai; Is Jaan Ki Koi Baat Nahin