Sulabh International founder, Padma Bhushan recipient, and social worker Bindeshwar Pathak died of a cardiac arrest. Mr. Pathak was 80 years old.
Key points
- he was credited with bringing in the revolutionary Sulabh Complex public toilet system to India.
- He contributed significantly to reducing open-defecation and manual scavenging, Mr. Pathak was closely associated with his non-profit and “worked till the end”.
- Born and educated in Bihar, Mr. Pathak had founded Sulabh International Social Services Organisation in 1970 to introduce a public toilet system in India that would go on to become a feature of hundreds of towns.
- He was conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 1991 for social work and later became an ambassador for the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission.
- Over time, Sulabh International also contributed to the welfare of people engaged in manual scavenging and helped them come out of the occupation.
- The organisation was conferred with the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2016, jointly with the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
