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Bindeshwar Pathak | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 15 August 2023 80) New Delhi, India | (aged
Nationality | Indian |
Education | M.A. (Sociology 1980), M.A. (English 1986), Ph.D. (1985), D.Litt. (1994) |
Alma mater | Banaras Hindu University, Patna University |
Known for | Founding Sulabh International and social reform in India |
Bindeshwar Pathak (2 April 1943 – 15 August 2023) was an Indian sociologist and social entrepreneur. [1] He was the founder of Sulabh International, an India-based social service organisation promoting human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. He was the Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railways, [2] a complement to the broader Swachh Bharat Mission. [3] 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 organisation. He was presented with the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for the year 2017. [4] He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, posthumously in 2024 and the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, in 1991.
Bindeshwar Pathak was born in Hajipur, Bihar, on 2 April 1943. [5] He graduated in Sociology in 1964 from the Banaras Hindu University. [6] He earned his master's degree in 1980 and his PhD in 1985, from the University of Patna. [7] A prolific writer and speaker, Dr. Pathak authored several books, the best known of which is The Road to Freedom, and was a frequent participant in conferences on sanitation, health and social progress around the world.
Pathak first came to understand the plight of manual scavengers [lower-alpha 1] in 1968 when he joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers' liberation) Cell of the 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 dehumanising practice that would ultimately have a destructive impact on modern Indian society.
Pathak established the Sulabh International [9] Social Service Organization in 1970, combining technical innovation with humanitarian principles. [10] [11] The organisation works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. The organisation counts 50,000 volunteers. He has made innovative use of biogas creation by linking Sulabh toilets to fermentation plants, he had designed over three decades ago and which are now becoming a byword for sanitation in developing countries all over the world. One of the distinctive features of Pathak's project lies in the fact that besides producing odour-free bio-gas, it also releases clean water rich in phosphorus and other ingredients which are important constituents of organic manure. His sanitation movement ensures cleanliness and prevents greenhouse gas emission.
Bindeshwar Pathak was a Padma Bhushan recipient from the Government of India. [12] In 2003, his name was added to the Global 500 Roll of Honour. Bindheshwar Pathak also received the Energy Globe Award, [13] and the Dubai International Award for Best Practices. He was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize in 2009. In June 2013, he also received the Legend of Planet award from the French senate in Paris, ahead of World Environment Day. [14] Antarrashtriya Bhojpuri Samman was awarded to him in the 4th world Bhojpuri Sammelan in Port Louis. [15]
In January 2011, Pathak was invited to deliver a lecture at The Cambridge Union, a debating society of the University of Cambridge in England. [16] The lecture was well received by the students where Dr Pathak urged the students to join voluntary work in the field of sanitation. [17]
In 2014, he was honoured by Sardar Patel International Award for "Excellence in the field of Social Development". [18]
In April 2016, Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, declared 14 April 2016 as Bindeshwar Pathak Day. [19]
On 12 July 2017, Pathak's book The Making of a Legend, on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was launched in New Delhi. [20]
In 2020, Namaste, Bindeshwar Pathak!, an inspiring book detailing his work as a social innovator, was published.[ citation needed ]
In 2021 the sociologist Y. Ravindranath Rao published a biography Bindeshwar Pathak : A Social Reformer with the publisher Rupa publications. [21]
Pathak was named Indian Affairs Social Reformer of the Year, 2017, at the 8th Annual India Leadership Conclave. [22] In June 2018 he was honoured with the Nikkei Asia prize for culture and community by Nikkei inc in Tokyo, Japan. [23]
Bindeshwar Pathak died in New Delhi on 15 August 2023, at the age of 80. [24] His death was reported as due to a cardiac arrest. [25]
The World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non-profit organization whose goal is to improve toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide. It was founded in 2001 with 15 members and has now grown to 151 member organizations in 53 countries. The WTO is also the organizer of the World Toilet Summit, the Urgent Run and initiated the United Nations World Toilet Day.
Dhondo Keshav Karve, popularly known as Maharshi Karve, was a social reformer in India in the field of women's welfare. He advocated widow remarriage, and he himself remarried a widow as a widower. Karve was a pioneer in promoting widows' education. He founded the first women's university in India, the SNDT Women's University in 1916. The Government of India awarded him with the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1958, the year of his 100th birthday. He organized a conference against the practice of devdasi. He started 'Anath balikashram' an orphanage for girls. His intention was to give education to all women and make them stand on their own feet. Through his efforts, the first women university was set up in 20th century.
Sulabh International is an India-based social service organization that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. The organization counts 50,000 volunteers. Sulabh International is the largest nonprofit organization in India.
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Shekhar Pathak is a historian, editor, publisher, activist, and traveller from Uttarakhand, India. He is known for his extensive knowledge of the history of colonial and postcolonial social movements and contemporary environmental and social issues in Uttarakhand, and colonial exploration in the Himalayas and Tibet. He has also been engaged in activism for various social and environmental causes since the 1970s.
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Ashok Bhagat, popularly known as Baba ji, is an Indian social worker and the secretary of Vikas Bharti, a non-governmental organization working for the upliftment of rural population of Jharkhand. He was born in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, holds a master's degree in Arts and a graduate degree in Law and is a nominated leader of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan campaign for the state of Jharkhand. The Government of India honoured him in 2015 with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the area of social service.
Natwar Thakkar, popularly known as Natwar Bhai, was an Indian social worker who worked in Nagaland. He came from Maharashtra but migrated to Nagaland for social work at the age of 23. He founded the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram at Chuchuyimlang village in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland. Because of his efforts to spread Gandhian philosophy in Nagaland and his social work, he was known as "Nagaland's Gandhi".
Vitthal Laxman Phadke, better known as Mamasaheb Phadke, was an Indian social worker, writer and Gandhian, known for his sanitation services to the rural areas in British India. He was one among the leaders of the Sanitation Brigade, comprising 1200 volunteers, set up by the 1938 Haripura session of the Indian National Congress. The Government of India awarded him its third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 1969, for his contributions to society.
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Onkar Nath Srivastava was an Indian material physicist, an Emeritus professor of Banaras Hindu University and the vice president for India and South Asia of the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, who was known for his contributions to the disciplines of nanotechnology and hydrogen energy. He was the author of two books and over 440 scientific papers and a recipient of several honors including Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the highest Indian award in the science and technology categories. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2016, for his contributions to science and engineering.
Usha Chaumar is a social worker from Alwar, Rajasthan, India. She is the President of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, the non-profit arm of Sulabh International. In 2020, she received the Padma Shri honour from the Government of India for her contribution in the field of social work, particularly in raising awareness against manual scavenging.
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