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1. To invent, innovate and develop eco-friendly, appropriate and affordable indigenous technologies to:-

   Dispose of human excreta safely without causing any environmental pollution and health hazards.

   Eliminate defecation in the open and provide safety, privacy and dignity in and at toilet use to people, especially women.

   Do away with the sub-human practice of scavenging and to ensure human rights and dignity to scavengers.

   Ensure full recycling of human excreta for obtaining bio-gas for purposes of cooking, lighting and for using the sludge water as fertilizer and irrigating crops.

   Economize on the use of water for flushing toilets.

   Treat waste-water through duckweed and use water hyacinth for enhancing production of bio-gas.

2. To organize, promote and operationalize Sulabh-Shauchalayas for large scale use in the country so that even the poorest of the poor have access to safe and dignified use of toilet facilities.
3. To provide Sulabh-Shauchalayas in schools, especially in rural areas, so that girls are not discouraged going to schools in absence of toilet facilities.
4. To convert existing bucket/dry latrines into Sulabh-Shauchalayas to do away with the system of scavenging. 2
5. To construct and maintain public toilets on pay and use basis;

   To propagate the use of Sulabh biogas technology in public toilets, housing colonies, high rise buildings, hotels, hospitals, etc. where there is no sewage treatment system;

   To discourage the use of septic tank in individual houses or in public toilets;

6. To remove the practice of untouchability and social discrimination and to restore human rights and dignity of the persons who clean human excreta manually called “scavengers”’ and to bring them in the mainstream of society, so that they could live at par with other castes, which was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi.
7. To help scavengers getting employment including in the local bodies/Government and to impart training in different vocations in order to make them self-employed.
8. To impart employment - oriented vocational training to the wards of the scavengers and the boys and the girls of other castes so that they can secure employment or get self-employed.
9. To persuade the elite class of people to have social interaction with scavengers so that their social status stands elevated.
10. To take scavengers to temples for offering prayers so that they feel themselves to be part of society.
11. To take up slum-children’ welfare and slum-women literacy programmes.
12. To provide quality education including English medium schools to the wards of scavengers and of other scheduled castes and scheduled tribe citizens.
13. To work for the rehabilitation of the incapacitated and disabled men, women and children.
14. To draw up plans and their implementation for all-round social development of the people in tribal areas, scavengers and downtrodden.
15. To undertake nationwide human resource development programmes, including mass awareness campaigns, sensitization and orientation of policymakers and functionaries and training of engineers, doctors and grass-root workers.
16. To promote community water-supply through conservation and preservation of traditional water sources, rain-water harvesting and recharging of ground water. 3
17. To provide consultancy services for planning and designing of community water-supply, waste-water disposal and solid waste management schemes and provide services for hospital sanitation and waste disposal.
18. To establish an academy/centre university for the pursuit of higher education and studies in sanitation.
19. To carry out technical and social research and development studies on various aspects of environmental sanitation and community water-supply.
20. To reduce the morbidity and mortality rate of infants and young children due to diarrhoea and to stabilize the rate of growth of population.
21. To undertake health and hygiene promotional activities, including setting up of health -care centres.
22. Application, demonstration and extension of results of research and developmental efforts through workshops, campaigns, papers, seminars, training programmes, other sanitation related diseases, etc.

SUBSTANTIVE AREAS OF WORK:

Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, founded by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, an Action Sociologist and a Social Reformer, has played a defining role in changing the mindset of the people of India towards sanitation. They have been sensitized about it especially with reference to the use of toilets and sanitation practices. Prior to intervention of Sulabh in 1970 toilet was a subject of taboo and a conversation figuring toilet was generally avoided. To talk about it while having food was sacrilege, a cultural taboo.

Not only this. Sulabh has been responsible too for changing the attitude of people towards those who clean human excreta manually (known as scavengers). Respectability has been lent to discussion and writing about toilet practices. People wish to have toilets in their houses with a view to having security, privacy and dignity. Untouchables (before independence) engaged in the profession of cleaning excreta have acquired social acceptance and people do not hesitate associating with them in their day-today routine viz. while dining or mixing at social gatherings.

This change is reflected in how people now interact and view the scavengers bearing the cross of untouchability with their position being the lowest in the social hierarchy. This has been due to intense efforts undertaken by Sulabh towards motivation, education and communication. But more than anything else it has also been on account of economic gains derivable from the work of construction and maintenance of toilets. This has done away with cultural taboo; and, irrespective of religion and caste people have come forward to take up the aforesaid work. So much so, that there is now a keen competition 4

in this sphere among people. Even the corporate world, as a part of its corporate social responsibility, as also because of economic gains have come forward to involve themselves with the work.

In the sea-change effected, Sulabh Sanitation Movement has played a significant part. Those who bore the burden of untouchability, with their pride wrecked and dignity destroyed, stand out today with their heads held high. It is Sulabh which has been responsible for reformation of attitude and restoration of dignity of the socially ostracised, economically deprived and culturally marginalised.

The Sulabh International Social Service Organization is a non-profit social organization working in the field of sanitation (human excreta disposal and solid waste management), environmental pollution control, waste-water treatment and disposal, biogas generation and production of compost fertilizer, liberation of scavengers from the demeaning task of manual cleaning of excreta, vocational training & rehabilitation of scavengers and their wards, health & hygiene promotional activities, empowerment of women and other weaker sections of the society, research & development and human resource development.

Sulabh has made tremendous contribution in the areas as stated above which has long lasting and epoch making impact not only in the improvement of the physical environment of the country but also on its socio-economic and cultural environment. The major achievement of SISSO, may be categorized into three groups:

A. TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS:

Five (5) major technologies which were invented, innovated and developed by SISSO have created a revolution of sorts and sought to improve the sanitation status of the country. They are:

1. Eco-friendly Twin-pit Compost Pour Flush Toilet Technology (Sulabh Shauchalaya): Since centuries India was unable to find out solution of two problems viz. defecation in the open and scavenging. The system of Septic Tank was introduced in India in the 17th century and the Sewerage System in the 19th. During the last 300 years the septic tank system has found favour in 20% of the houses in urban areas. Sewerage system though introduced in Kolkata way back in 1870 has covered hardly 232 and odd towns and that too partially out of nearly 5000 towns. During Gandhiji’s lifetime and even after formulation of numerous Government Committees the problems have defied practical solution. On the basis of some rudimentary papers and scanty information available Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak innovated and developed Eco-friendly Twin-pit Compost Pour Flush Toilet, popularly known as “Sulabh Shauchalaya”, based on an appropriate, affordable, indigenous, socially and culturally acceptable technology with leach pits for onsite disposal of human waste. This technology is suitable for the rich and the poor alike because designs suit different income levels. Flushing requires 1.5 – 2.00 litres of water as compared with 10 to 15 litres required in conventional toilets. Moreover, the system is never out of commission because there are two pits - one is used at a time and other kept as a standby. When the first one gets filled up, the excreta is diverted to the second one and in the first one, after two years or so, while the second one is in use, the waste gets digested and can be taken out for use in agriculture land. The toilet can be built with locally available materials and is easy to maintain. It has also high potential for up-gradation because it can easily be connected to a sewerage system when one is introduced in the area. Initially the Government of Bihar was not enthusiastic in adoption of this technology and was sceptical about its application by local bodies. For the first time Ara Municipality of Bihar came forward showing courage and asked Sulabh to put up two public toilets as a demonstration project in the municipal compound of Ara for the people of the town and see for themselves the feasibility of adopting the system in their houses replacing the bucket latrines by Sulabh Shauchalayas. This demonstration was the beginning of a new revolution in the field of low-cost sanitation and the people of Ara town started adopting this technology replacing the bucket toilets. Then the Buxar Municipality came forward to adopt the system and finally in 1974, the Govt. of Bihar adopted this technology for the whole of Bihar. Gradually the message spread throughout the country and since 1970 more than 1.2 million Sulabh toilets have been built in individual households in cities and towns all over the country. These are functioning very well. Sulabh has shown not only the way to discourage defecation in open resorted to by more than 630 million people but also how 10 million bucket toilets can be converted into Sulabh model to eliminate manual scavenging by 7 hundred thousand scavengers (who clean 7.4 million bucket toilets).

   It fulfils all the seven conditions of a sanitary latrine laid down by the WHO. (Excreta Disposal for Rural Areas and Small Communities by E.G. Wagner & J.N. Lanoix, WHO, 1958, pp. 39).

   (i) The surface soil should not be contaminated.

   (ii) There should be no contamination of ground water that may enter springs or wells.

   (iii) There should be no contamination of surface water.

   (iv) Excreta should not be accessible to flies or animals.

   (v) There should be no handling of fresh excreta; or when this is indispensable, it should be kept to a strict minimum.

   (vi) There should be freedom from odours or unsightly conditions.

   (vii) The method used should be simple inexpensive in construction and operation.

   Sulabh Shauchalaya technology was selected and declared Globally Urban Best Practice out of more than 600 entries from all over the world in the year 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey. Again this technology was declared “cost effective” best practice out of 1125 entries invited by Dubai Municipality and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement Programme, Nairobi. This technology, therefore, has proved itself suitable not only for India but also for 2.6 billion people of the third world who do not have access to safe and hygienic toilets. It solves the problem of not only urban areas but also of the rural.

2. Public Toilet System: In 1878 an Act was passed in Bengal under the British Rule to implement public toilets. It was tried at some places in Kolkata but could not create an impact neither in the city nor in the country and the maintenance of public toilets remained a subject of gross neglect. So much so that public toilets used to be regarded as hell on the earth and nobody liked to use them even when required to obey the call of nature. People would not like going near the public toilets or urinals because of the foul smell emanating from the public conveniences. No municipal body was interested in encouraging the use of public toilets. Therefore, the public places like Railway Stations, Bus-stands, Market yards, places of religious and tourist importance and where people congregated were devoid of facilities of urinals or toilets. Foreign tourists were reluctant to come to India because of the absence of toilets at tourist places. The Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul in his book “An Area of Darkness” has vividly described how Indians defecate in open on both sides of railway tracks and roads. After a lapse of 96 years in 1974, Sulabh intervened in the field of construction and maintenance of public toilets on pay & use basis and, for the first time it established a Sulabh Public Toilet Complex at Patna, Bihar with the help of Patna Municipal Corporation. The land and the cost of construction was provided by Patna Municipal Corporation and responsibility for construction and maintenance of a large toilet block was given to Sulabh. This complex was provided with the facilities of toilets and baths, urinals, washbasins for cleaning hands, mirrors, soap powder to wash hands after defecation, telephone, first-aid medical facilities etc. Later more facilities were added like of washing clothes etc. The people of Bihar were apprehensive about payments being made for use of toilets etc. because people had no habit of doing so. After provision of the facilities it was a matter of utter surprise that 500 people including rickshaw-pullers, pavement dwellers and others used the facilities for the first day and did not hesitate paying the small sum of 10 paise for the use of these facilities. The demonstration of this public toilet encouraged the Patna Municipal Corporation which gave orders to provide such facilities through out the city at 200 places immediately. Later on these facilities were extended to other towns of Bihar like Ranchi, Darbangha, Deoghar, Muzaffarpur, Champaran. Sulabh has constructed and is maintaining 7,500 public toilets at important places all over the country.
3. Nationwide Spread of Sulabh Technologies: In the year 1978, the Government of India in collaboration with the WHO and the UNICEF organised a national seminar on low cost sanitation at Patna. In the seminar authorities including Engineers of the Government of India, all the State Governments and other organisations participated and for the first time it was decided to adopt these two systems through out the country. The vision envisaged in adoption of the above systems started taking shape and it gradually has extended to Bengal, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and now all over the country. Every state has got its bucket latrines converted into Sulabh Shauchalaya and every state has got public toilets built in their States. The biggest Sulabh community toilet complex of the world has been built at Shirdi, Nasik (Maharashtra) provided with 120 WCs, 108 bathing cubicles, 28 special toilets, six dressing rooms and 5000 lockers and other facilities coupled with biogas generation system. 1.2 million Sulabh Shauchalaya built in individual houses today are being used by 6 million people and public toilets by 4 million people daily. These public toilets have been built in small towns also where there are no facilities of toilets, bathrooms, urinals and drinking water. It has become a boon for the slum dwellers especially for the women. Sulabh is engaged in the development of new and sustainable technologies, their implementation, demonstration and dissemination of information, training and consultancy in the fields of sanitation, biogas from human waste, waste water treatment, solid waste management, environment, pollution study, etc.
4. Bio-Gas Plant in Public Toilets, Housing Colonies and High-Rise Buildings: Sulabh during the last three decades has tried leaching pit, Septic Tank and Bio-gas technologies in public toilets and the experience is that leach pit system is not suitable for public toilets, septic tank technology is not suitable either for public toilets because the filling of the septic tank is as frequent as in the leach pit and secondly there is no use of human excreta in septic tank and has to be cleaned periodically and a suitable place, like trenching ground is required for its final disposal. Therefore, Sulabh has tried the technology of Sulabh Biogas digester with effluent treatment plant. This has become successful. This technology is very simple. Unlike the septic tank, which is generally rectangular in shape the biogas digester is circular provided with a dome to contain the biogas. No chemical is required and no energy is put into use for its functioning. Bio-degradation of human excreta, produces biogas to be used in burning lamps, warming bodies, cooking and for being converted into energy to be used for lighting street lights and such other uses. The sludge at the bottom of the digester can be used as fertilizer. It has also developed a new and convenient technology by which effluent of human excreta based biogas plant turns into a colourless, odourless and pathogen free manure. The technology is based on filtration of effluent through activated charcoal followed by ultraviolet rays. The supernatant water from the plant too can be used as biofertilizer; because it contains phosphorous, nitrogen and potash. This can be used in plants and in the field to raise the productivity. The effluent discharged from the biogas digester has only 10 biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) therefore if not used for agriirrigation can be discharged without polluting the rivers like the Ganga, the Yamuna and other rivers. It can save rivers from the sewage pollution. Since the last two and a half decades this technology was tried out and now stands established. In non-sewered areas, housing colonies, high-rise buildings and public toilets the Sulabh bio-gas digester with effluent treatment plant should be used for treatment of water and full recycling of human waste. So far Sulabh has constructed 190 public toilet linked biogas plant in different states of India in addition, in Kabul, Afghanistan, 5 such plants have been implemented by Sulabh.
5. Duckweed Technology for Effluent Treatment: The use of this technology for treatment of waste water has been tried out earlier in other countries like China, Bangladesh, in rural and peri-urban areas and not urban areas. Sulabh took the initiative to introduce duckweed for treatment of waste water in urban areas. In Delhi a pilot project was taken up which has shown that through duckweed, waste water containing BOD 250 mg/l and COD 600 mg/l can be treated and becomes pure enough for pisciculture. Duckweed based waste water treatment units have been installed in Orissa, Bengal, Punjab and Haryana States. It is proved now that small towns having a population of up to one hundred thousand do not need any conventional treatment plant for treatment of waste water. Rather, through the use of duckweed, the waste water can be treated and generate revenue through pisciculture. This technology can help the unemployed youths in rural areas grow fish and earn money.
6. Water Hyacinth Technology: The water hyacinth too can be used for treating the waste water as well as for increasing the production in a biogas plant based on cow dung or human excreta. The water hyacinth should be dried and powdered to be used in the biogas plant mixed with a little quantity of cow dung. The use of water hyacinth enhances the production of gas 3-4 times.
   So even with one cow and one calf a family may get bio-gas for 8 -10 hrs. From experience it was found that most of the biogas plants were not functioning properly in India because of improper feed.
7. The Economy of Water: The use of water in both the technologies of Sulabh Shauchalaya in individual houses or public toilets requires only 2 litres of water per use to flush; whereas in conventional system it requires minimum 10 litres of water per use for flushing. Thus the most precious thing – the potable water of around 6000 MGD can be saved if calculated with the use of 700 million people, per day.
8. Bio Fertilizer: In Sulabh Shauchalaya technology 40 kgs of fertilizer is obtained per annum per person. If we calculate for 700 million people @ 40 kgs. the production of manure roughly works out to 28 Million Tonnes per annum and the cost of which will be roughly 15,000 crores of Rupees. So while on the one hand it can help minimise the use of chemical fertilizers, on the other it can raise agricultural productivity. In the world there is today a demand for use of biofertilizer in agriculture and horticulture. It has been found that traces of chemical fertilizers remain in the food we consume which ultimately finds its way to the body and affect adversely the health system. So this technology is also of great value in the field of production of biofertilizers.
   Since the water discharged from the public toilets also contains phosphate, nitrogen and potash it is very beneficial and could also be garnered in large quantities if the biogas technology is used in all the public toilets, housing colonies, high-rise buildings to be built in the future.
9. Biofertilizer from Human Urine: Sulabh is experimenting to obtain fertilizer from the urine. From the preliminary studies it has been found that the use of human urine enhances agricultural yield more than from use of other fertilizers. It has been found that human urine too can be used as an alternative to chemical fertilizers to reduce pollution in water and damaging effects on soil and help control other environmental hazards caused due to the use of chemical fertilizers. The use of human urine in place of chemical fertilizers reduces the rate and amount of chemical fertilizer runoff into the groundwater and surrounding water ways.
   Manure is essential to the soil to increase its fertility. Human urine can be an excellent high nitrogen liquid fertilizer for most plants. Fresh urine which contains nitrogen is a good fertilizer. It can provide enough nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and is almost free of heavy metals. When urine is used as fertilizer, the gardening costs reduce, compared to those incurred in use of chemical fertilizers.
   The main aim of the R&D on human urine is to assess the nutrient availability in urine; to stabilize pH of human urine and to prevent loss of ammonia; to find out the best option of using urine as fertilizer; to find out the effect of urine on growth of plant when used as fertilizer; to compare the growth of plant using human urine against when using chemical fertilizers; to assess the feasibility of use of human urine for making compost and also to suggest decreasing the pollution level in water bodies due to use of urine. On decrease of pollution in water bodies the cost of treatment of wastewater will be ultimately reduced.
   Today almost 10 million people are being benefitted by the various Sulabh technologies mentioned above. Apart from the tremendous beneficial impact on community health, it has also resulted in socio-cultural development and economic benefits. In terms of saving of water alone, it is estimated that about 80 to 100 million litres of water is saved everyday by the people using Sulabh Shauchalayas. Similarly at the rate of 40 kg of bio fertilizer (NPK) produced per person per annum, the potential of resource recycling is at once evident.
10. Sulabh Thermophilic Aerobic Composter (STAC): Sulabh has developed a new technology – Sulabh Thermophilic Aerobic Composter (STAC) that requires only 8 to 10 days to make compost from any biodegradable wastes without any manual handling during composting. It is based on thermophilic aerobic method. The technology does not require recurring expenditure. The plant is G.I. sheet made having double wall filled with glass wool, partitioned with perforated sheet into three chambers. After biodegradation, liquid is collected in bottom chamber that can be easily taken out and used for agricultural/horticultural purposes. Manure that contains 30-35% moisture can be directly used for agriculture/landfill purposes or it can be dried, granulated and stored till further use. The practical utilities of this technology are: (i) organic solid waste can be efficiently converted into manure and soil conditioner having direct/indirect economic return, (ii) it will control diseases transmitted from wastes, as at high temperature pathogens are eliminated from the waste, (iii) due to reduction in volume, carriage cost of wastes to disposal site as well as area needed for landfills will be drastically reduced, and (iv) spread of weeds from wastes will also be controlled. The technology is more suited for rural areas as its byproducts (compost) can be readily used for agricultural purposes, and it reduces health hazards.

SULABH LABORATORY:

Sulabh has a well-equipped laboratory with testing facilities and also for undertaking research and development in waste water treatment methods, low-cost sanitation technologies develop and improve biogas digester system etc. One of its achievements has been testing, on the recommendation of the Delhi Pollution Control Board, the samples from effluent treatment plants of various industries in Delhi and providing certificates about quality of the effluent discharged. It has analysed more than 4000 samples of waste water from different industries.

Under a project funded by the European Union and in collaboration with the Bremen Overseas Research and Development Agency (BORDA), Sulabh has developed a Low Maintenance Wastewater Treatment System (LOMWATS), under which as many as ten such treatment plants have been implemented and it is in the process of dissemination of the technology all over India.

SULABH INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION: Sulabh International Academy of Environmental Sanitation erstwhile known as Sulabh International Institute of Technical Research and Training (SIITRAT) started in 1984 with the objectives of carrying out applied and fundamental research as well as training and consultancy work on various issues related to social, environmental and technical developments in the country. During the last two decades SIITRAT had carried out significant research and consultancy projects on sustainable technologies like biogas plants, duckweed ponds, materials and designs of pan and trap of toilet, waste water disposal and treatment, solid waste management, bio-medical waste management etc. It has also carried out important studies on social issues of scavengers’ rehabilitation, their skill development etc. A few of the important projects undertaken by SIITRAT are mentioned below:

Research & Development and Consultancy Project

Waste Water Management:

Prevention of pollution of the river Yamuna.

Low Maintenance and Decentralized Waste Treatment System. Contingent evaluation survey for the Ganga Action Plan (users benefit survey) Haridwar, U.P.

Consultancy for the preparation of project report for water supply, sewerage, storm water drainage and solid waste management in the proposed Ranka town, a satellite town of Gangtok, Sikkim.

Duckweed based wastewater treatment system associated with pisciculture in small and medium towns with economic return and also

Solid Waste Management:

Hospital Waste Management in Ludhiana town, Punjab.

Occupational Health Risks of Safai Karamcharies (Scavengers) Handling Solid Waste in Ghaziabad town (Uttar Pradesh).

Recycling & reuse of organic solid waste through thermophilic aerobic method.

Solid waste management for the domestic and commercial sectors.

Sanitation and Slum Improvement and Social Issues:

Consultancy on Low Cost Sanitation under Environmental Sanitation Programme in Chennai and adjacent urban areas in Tamil Nadu (India) (World Bank assisted project)

Consultancy for community awareness and environment and health education (World Bank assisted project).

World Bank assisted Kerala Urban Development Project: Trivandrum Sewerage and Sanitation Improvement Plan.

World Bank assisted Low Cost Sanitation Alternatives for unsewered areas of Madras city and adjoining village councils.

Low Cost Sanitation in Kanpur and Mirzapur towns in Uttar Pradesh. Evaluation of low cost sanitation programme in Madhya Pradesh.

Making 19 towns scavenging free in Assam.

cost sanitation to make Imphal (Manipur) scavenging free and training and rehabilitation of scavengers.

Low cost sanitation projects for Varanasi, Kanpur and Allahabad towns under Ganga Action Plan.

Socio-economic impact on scavengers relieved from the task of manual handling of human waste in two towns in Punjab.

Water Supply:

Uttar Pradesh Integrated Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Project for the World Bank Assistance: Development of criteria for selection of villages for the project.

Consultancy for the World Bank assisted Punjab Rural Water Supply Project for 120 villages.

Consultancy for the preparation of detailed project report for water supply, sewerage and storm water drainage of a Sector in Dwarka.

Sulabh International Academy of Environmental Sanitation would not only further the objectives and functions undertaken by SIITRAT but it is envisaged that it would have a much larger mandate of acting as an international centre of holistic learning and education of all issues related to promotion of sanitation. The objective is to treat sanitation as a major field of education and study, revitalising training programme and their professional study involving highly qualified sanitation experts, engineers, health professionals, social scientists, ecologists and scholars from all other related fields. The Academy aims at bringing sanitation into sharp focus of academic activities and research nationally, regionally and globally. Towards this end the Academy is being planned on an ambitious scale in a 44 acre plot in Gurgaon and is being envisaged to be a deemed university.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING:

Under the aegis of Sulabh International Academy of Environmental Sanitation a number of HRD activities have been undertaken during the last couple of years. Regular training courses have been organised for hospital nurses, doctors and technical officers of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, officers and trainees from Human Settlement Management Institute (HSMI) and SID, HUDCO and many other departments of the Central, State and Local Governments. Personnel from NGOs from all over the country have also been trained in different aspects of sanitation. Visiting fellows and students from various universities from India as well as abroad (countries like Japan, France, USA, etc.) have visited the Sulabh campus and the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets. Students from Delhi University as well as colleges and from the American school (for the wards of various Embassies) have been trained from time to time.

Two nos. of International Training Workshops on “Sanitation Technologies”have been organised by the Academy for African countries, sponsored by the UN Habitat, under its capacity building programme on sanitation technologies.

These training workshops were organised by Sulabh International Academy of Environmental Sanitation with the following objectives:

• To orient the participants in achieving the Millennium Goals set in Habitat Agenda which were discussed in the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development;
• To enhance the Knowledge and Skills in Project Planning and Implementation of Sanitation Technologies through On-site Construction, Technical visits and its Maintenance;
• To expose to various Sanitation Systems being implemented in the 3rd World including Low Cost Sanitation (different toilets), biogas, biofertilizer, Water Treatment, Duckweed Technologies, Solid Waste Management, Environment Protection;
• Role of the Schools as Promotional Centres and to create awareness among Students and the Community in Sanitation and Hygiene;
• Rehabilitation of weaker sections – Women and Children – through Education, Vocational Training and formation of Self-help Groups for sustaining their livelihood.
  A total of 47 officials / entrepreneurs from 14 African countries (namely Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, Cote d’ Ivorie, Mali and Rwanda) were provided practical training on sanitation technology for capacity building in the year 2005 and 2006

B. SOCIAL ENGINEERING:

Sulabh is a sanitation-oriented NGO, but what is closest to its heart is the humanitarian mission to liberate and rehabilitate scavengers and remove social discrimination and untouchability. Hand-in hand with the sanitation programmes, goes the work for the liberation of Scavengers through a mixed package of technology, vocational training for rehabilitation with alternative employment and social reforms. This unique amalgamation of scientific competence matched step-by-step with the humane endeavour to abolish scavenging is inspired by commitment to basic human rights and is based on years of deep research and study of the problem.

Sulabh’s approach to restore human dignity to the scavengers has five distinct stages:

• Liberation;
• Rehabilitation;
• Vocational training;
• Social elevation; and,
• Proper education to next generation.

Scavengers were destined to spend their lives at the lowest rung of society, trapped in a cycle of poverty and social exclusion. Sulabh endeavoured to break this vicious cycle through training and restoring their dignity. About 120,000 scavengers have already been liberated from the debasing task of carrying human excreta as headload and are engaged in other professions. Some 7,000 scavengers have been trained at various Vocational Training Institutes and Centres run by Sulabh in various cities in India.

TRAINING AND REHABILITATION: In a world of cut-throat competition, skill development is essential to securing means of livelihood; all the more for scavengers as they have low literacy levels and few skills which come up to market standards. Sulabh International takes up liberation of scavengers by conversion of dry/bucket privies into Sulabh Shauchalaya and training and rehabilitation of liberated scavengers and their wards. Sulabh organises programmes to train them in various vocations such as driving, mechanics, tailoring, typing, computer, cane-work, carpentry, leather-work, masonry etc.

Besides, Sulabh also works towards the improvement of living conditions and economic standards of other poor and oppressed classes. This includes people residing in urban slums and squatter settlements. For this, various wings of Sulabh International work tirelessly to promote better health and hygiene conditions through demonstration and awareness as well as providing hardware solutions and also giving the slum residents especially women and girls training in various employment oriented vocations for financial security and increased self-confidence.

a. Education of Scavengers: Education holds the key to any major change and development and is essential to improving the condition of the traditionally oppressed scheduled caste communities. With the objective of imparting quality education, Sulabh Public School, a premium English Medium School, was set up in Delhi in 1992. The school aims at preparing children from the weaker sections of society for a better life by bringing quality education within the reach of boys and girls from scavenger families. The School is recognized by Directorate of Education, Govt. of Delhi and provides education up to tenth standard. Apart from academic activities, cocurricular activities are regularly organized at school to promote social integration among students. To avoid perpetuation of segregation that characterises the special schools for the scheduled castes, the school is open to the children of families from non-scavenging communities also. Children from scavenger families are provided tuition fee waiver apart from free uniforms, books and stationary.

b. Rehabilitation of scavengers: Sulabh is the largest NGO working on sanitation in India, the objective closest to the heart of Sulabh is ensuring social equity in the highly caste-ridden hierarchical society by guaranteeing of human rights and dignity to the scavengers who were denied the same for generations. A two-pronged strategy is adopted by Sulabh to eradicate scavenging in a systematic and coordinated manner:

Firstly, the demand and scope of scavenging be reduced by providing viable, alternative technology options for sanitation to the people.

Secondly, the task of upgradation of social status of scavengers be achieved by improving their skills for alternative occupations.

This aim is pursued through running vocational training centres, where erstwhile scavengers and their wards are educated and trained so that they are gainfully employed in other trades and professions.

c. Sulabh Vocational Training Centre: The first Sulabh Vocational Training Centre was set up in Patna in 1985. It offered vocational training to young boys and girls in several trades, followed by another centre set up in Mumbai in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra. The next centre was opened in Delhi in 1992, which offers six-month and one year training course in the market-relevant trades of Audio-equipment and Television repair, Beauty-care, Computer, Electrical, Stenography, Embroidery, Tailoring, Fashion Designing, English & Hindi Typing. The programmes and results thereof are evaluated by ITI staff and certificates are awarded by the Directorate of Training and Technical Education, NCT of Delhi.

Nai Disha: Sulabh believes in direct, unimpeded action for training for two years the scavengers, as also giving them help in gaining jobs. Sulabh deliberately and consciously includes women as both students and instructors in the re-education and training process. Set up in Alwar, Rajasthan in April 2003, this Vocational Training Centre intended to liberate women hitherto engaged in the profession of scavenging. Twenty eight women were educated and trained in food processing, beautycare and tailoring. They are paid a monthly stipend of 1800 rupees (later increased to Rs. 2000) so that they do not return to their earlier profession. In the last 18 months these women have not only gained education to receive their stipend through monthly account payee cheques, but also learnt to successfully market the goods they produce. The end goal is to make them economically independent as this is the only way to eliminate the evil of scavenging from the very roots. The products manufactured by these women have been approved by the Hotel Ashok, an ITDC five-star hotel of Delhi, with a formal agreement for purchase of the products in the offing. Another batch of 28 scavengers is undergoing training in this Centre. Sulabh has set up another vocational training centre for 225 liberated scavengers at Tonk in Rajasthan in collaboration with the State Govt.

d. Removal of Untouchability & Social Discrimination: From the time immemorial, orthodox Hinduism has forbidden the Scavengers to enter the premises of temples. After several unsuccessful attempts by leading public figures to solve this age-old barrier, Dr. Pathak resolved the issue by leading a group of 100 scavengers for offering prayers along with orthodox Vedic Brahmins to the Nathdwara Temple at Udaipur, Rajasthan, in 1988. The scavengers later interdined with the Brahmins. This programme was performed without police protection. On return from Nathdwara Temple, Dr Pathak, was given audience by the then President, Mr R Venkataraman, the then Vice-President, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma and the then Prime Minister Mr Rajiv Gandhi.

This was followed by the performance of CASTELESS PUJA in 1989, when Dr Pathak launched a campaign to help the Scheduled Castes offer prayers in temples and Puja was performed at their homes by the Vedic Brahmins. This led to common Puja and dining programmes where members of the Scheduled Castes did fasting, sat for Puja and prepared Prasad. They also prepared food for lunch or dinner which was then distributed by scavengers to all, including to Vedic Brahmins, who also eat with them. Through such activities Dr Pathak continues his ongoing battle with the vestiges of religious dogmatism and superstition.

e. Social Upgradation Programmes: The liberation of scavengers and their rehabilitation in other professions is not enough; no less important is the upgradation of their social status so that they can be absorbed in the mainstream of the society. Sulabh has evolved the concept of voluntary “social adoption” with the objective of promoting better social cohesion and boosting the sagging morale of the scavenger class, whereunder a concerned and committed person, mostly of prominent social standing, publicly “adopts a scavenger family”.

Sulabh persuaded a large number of eminent persons including judges, politicians, ministers, journalists and social workers to "socially adopt" one scavenger family each and help get jobs and other benefits permissible under the law. The adopter visits the adoptee (and vice-versa) openly so that scavengers get social respectability. This programme is getting a very encouraging response with more and more people coming forward to adopt scavenger families. More than 10,000 scavenger families have already been adopted by the well-known personalities including the former Prime Minister of India, Mr I K Gujral.

f. Sulabh Slum Children’s Welfare Programme: Living conditions in urban slums and squatter settlements throughout the country are abysmal; the lack of municipal services and overcrowding leads to appalling conditions with inexcusable health implications. For the residents of Slums to overcome poverty, priority has to be given to the proper education and development of the slum children. For the slum children, Sulabh has launched a self-development programme. Its main thrust is towards education, personal hygiene and environmental awareness. These activities are organised in the afternoon when children are put through a course in basic hygiene instruction and functional literacy in accordance with a predesigned syllabus. The programme is sustained under the hope that eventually it would succeed in building confidence and self-esteem among the slum children and help them become responsible citizens of the morrow.

The Sulabh Mahila Avom Bal Kalyan Sansthan runs two training centres, viz. one at Mahavir Enclave and the other at Nanda Block, where six month training is imparted to downtrodden women and girls on tailoring and embroidery, jute craft, beautician’s trade and computer basics. The Sansthan attempts to arrange bank loans for trainees who wish to set up their own business and helps others in securing jobs.

The International Centre for Women and Child (ICWC), another wing of Sulabh also works for betterment of slum dwellers and regularly conducts the following activities:

Baby shows for slum children

Debate competitions in schools and colleges on issues relevant to slums Food Processing Training Centres have been set up by ICWC in 6 blocks in Mewat area in Gurgaon – Nuh, Taoru, Fiorzpur Zirka, Hathin, Nagina and Punhana. Three month certificate training courses are conducted and the food products made by the trained women are marketed by ICWC to provide them financial help. A total of 300 women have already received training in food processing. Apart from this, unemployed youths are trained in the following vocations to help them acquire jobs in the market: Plumbing, Electrical and motor winding, Gardening, and Security guard duties. The placement of trainees is also taken care of by the Centre and a total of 600 youths have already been trained.

SANYUKT Vocational Training Centre: this centre aims to educate and link young girls and women with income generating activities. Women empowerment through training in Computer education, Cutting & Tailoring, Soft toy making, Mehendi application, Paper bag making, Diya & Candle making is done to make the slum women self-reliant and economically independent. Free education is provided to slum children in the afternoons.

Self Defence Programme for Women – In collaboration with the Delhi Police– Crime against Women Cell, training for self defence was also given to 93 women from slums of Delhi.

g. The Society for Disabled Women: The Society for Disabled Women (SDW), promoted by Sulabh International, was set up in 1994 for women with disabilities who suffer the dual discrimination of gender and disability. The Society has educated 50 hearing impaired children through its Model Preliminary Education Programme, whereunder these students were given five year education based on the CBSE curriculum modelled on the type followed by Lady Noyce School (Delhi Gate); and then integrated in other reputed schools for further education.

A Vocational Training Centre for disabled women is also run by the Society where Certificate level six-month training approved by the Industrial Training Institute (New Delhi) in job oriented trades of Tailoring & Embroidery and Typing is provided to disabled women. Suitable employment is sought for these trainees and regular follow-up after passing the examination.

During the year 2002-03, 114 disabled women were trained in various trades. Twenty-four women trained in beauty care and hair dressing are now employed, earning between two to three thousand rupees per month.

GYAN Computer Literacy Centre: set up in 2002 by the SDW centre provides computer literacy to poor, disabled people to help them get jobs. In 2002 -03, training of more than 120 students was accomplished with 80 students being trained in computer basics and 40 in Web designing. A thorough assessment after the training period was done of theoretical knowledge followed by viva-voce examination.

h. Sulabh International Institute of Health and Hygiene: The Sulabh International Health and Hygiene unit was established in April 1994. Since then, various development programmes have been implemented related to Sanitation, Hygiene, Health and Safe drinking water. More than 12,000 women volunteers from 240 urban slums in Delhi and other States have been educated and trained in the areas related to health and hygiene. One thousand women volunteers from urban slums of Delhi were trained exclusively on STD and AIDS. The Unit is also one of the select NGO’s in New Delhi participating in the Pulse Polio Campaign.

The awareness and training programmes were regularly supplemented by publication of write-ups and books for urban slums for better comprehension of the subject matter by the common people who understand local languages better than English/Hindi. These books have been translated into 18 regional languages recognised by the Constitution of India.

Toilet complexes have been developed as Happy Homes, where slum dwellers are provided free medical services along with facilities like bathing, toilet, urinal, washing clothes etc. Condom distribution and contraceptive tablets are also provided free of cost in these Happy Homes.

The unit is operating Health Centres, run at two Sulabh Toilet Complexes in Delhi, viz. one at Mahavir Enclave and the other at Prayog Vihar, where free medical services are provided to poor slum dwellers. Laboratory testing facilities, where pathological tests can be done are also available. A FAMILY MEDICAL FOLDER incorporating the yearly medical record of all the family members living in the Jhuljhuli village in Najafgarh district and Prayog Vihar slum in Delhi is maintained and updated regularly.

Sulabh also propagates the Sulabh Total Health Care Concept (STHC) which is an innovative approach, recommending that Healthcare services have to be integrated with programmes on Sanitation, Hygiene and Safe drinking water to have the desired reduction in the morbidity and mortality rates. Sulabh Institute of Health and Hygiene has contributed significantly in promoting sanitation in hospitals and developed a manual of bio-medical waste disposal.

i. Rural Sanitation: India is ill-served in the matter of availability of sanitation facilities. Even where available they are rather primitive, rudimentary and unhygienic, especially in the rural areas. This has led to the practice of open defecation and manual cleaning of excreta of others by a class of people called scavengers. Sulabh has found solutions to both the problems. It has innovated and developed Eco-friendly Twin-pit Pour-flush Compost toilets popularly known as Sulabh Shauchalayas. Besides, it has developed a methodology to reach every door step with a view to motivating, educating and communicating to the beneficiaries the hazards of the practice of defecation in the open and that involved in the use of bucket toilets and conversely the benefits of sanitary toilets. It has added to these efforts establishing a cadre of trained missionaries to propagate the ideals of good sanitation. This campaign of motivating and training has been initiated in nearly 350 districts of the country.

Roughly 120 million houses in rural areas have no toilets. This causes suffering and physical discomfort. In this the women are the worst sufferers since they are forced to withhold and obey the call of nature before sun-rise and after sun-set. Criminal assaults on them are not unknown. They have to use road sides, railway tracks, parks, lanes, by-lanes etc. for the purpose of defecation.

It is evident that to provide sanitation facilities meeting the needs denied to nearly 700 million people, the available resources of the Government are and may never be adequate. The problem is particularly acute in rural areas where persons irrespective of their being rich or poor do not have toilets in their houses. The approach, to meet the need, should be to encourage and help whoever comes forward to have a sanitary toilet.

Sulabh has developed a comprehensive plan to provide sanitation facilities in rural areas. As said, the thrust has been on information, education and communication combined with implementation of technical solutions devised by the Sulabh. The steps taken in this regard are :

1. People are advised to put on footwear when they go for defecation in the open in the fields or elsewhere lest they are affected by micro-organisms present in the soil contaminated by excreta of others.
2. People are taught to adopt elementary hygienic practices like taking bath regularly, keeping body clean, paring nails, brushing teeth, taking medicines when required and telling them if they do not do all this it will cause diseases.
3. If possible, to adopt the practice prescribed in `Devi Puran’ to the effect that grass and leaves should be put in the pit to be dug before defecation as also afterwards; with pit being filled with earth in addition, after defecation. It has, however, not been possible for people to practice this because of shortage of time and the effort required which people are not willing to undertake.
4. As many as 24 designs with cost ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs. 50,000 have been devised by Sulabh to suit people with different income levels. These designs can serve the purpose in different geographical and climatic conditions.
5. As part of education a book on Rural Sanitation has been published, translated in 22 recognised languages of the country, to enable it reach every part, even up to the village level, and schools in rural areas.
6. Implementing the practice popularised by concept of “Catching them Young” Sulabh Sanitation Clubs have been formed to encourage dialogue between teachers and children to spread awareness about the benefits of good sanitation and to encourage the inculcation of practices of elementary hygiene in their daily lives.
7. Painting, Essay and Poem competitions and Nukkad Nataks are organised to evoke interest in the subject and awards are given to students when they participate and win in such events.
8. Documentaries too have been prepared in different languages to promote sanitation through audio-visual presentations. Such documentaries have a telling effect upon the people in rural areas.
9. Special emphasis is placed to demonstrate how sanitation can help youths and others procure employment and earn livelihood after receiving appropriate training.
10. An example of this is demonstrating use of water hyacinth to enhance production of biogas and use duckweed for pisciculture. These are some illustrative steps that Sulabh has taken to promote sanitation and hygiene in the rural areas.

j. Museum of Toilets: Sulabh International recognises the importance of the TOILET, with the vision to spread requisite awareness amongst people, that, SANITATION is Not a Dirty Word. One way of raising awareness about Sanitation and Hygiene is to raise the curiosity of people about issues related to sanitation and make them more attractive, to do this, Sulabh has developed an exceptional Museum of Toilets, which is the first of its kind in the world.

This unique Museum of Toilets set up at Sulabh Gram in New Delhi contains records and history of the oldest toilets and the development of toilets through the ages captured through photographs, models, literature etc. It is a rare collection of relics, artefacts and other information relevant to toilets. Amid the array of toilets and chamber pot replicas, lie models of old toilets as well as the latest gadget in toilets – the INCINOLET that incinerates excreta to a spoonful of ash, doing away with flushing and expensive sewage treatment systems.

Since its establishment in 1994, more than 1.8 million visitors (online at the website http://sulabhtoiletmuseum.org as well as physically) have visited the Museum of toilets.

Encyclopaedia of Sanitation: Sulabh is in the process of compiling an Encyclopaedia of Sanitation which would be a valuable data-base containing information gathered from various countries pertaining to sanitation practices followed there and the history of sanitation.

k. Sulabh-ENVIS Centre: The SulabhENVIS Centre is the Environmental Information System wing of Sulabh, set up under the EMCBTA (Environment Management Capacity Building Technical Assistance) project of the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. It was started on 20th March 2003.

The mission of the Centre is to gather and disseminate environmental information related to the topics of Hygiene, Sanitation, and Sewage Treatment Systems and Technology for enhancing, supporting, facilitating and bringing under one umbrella the huge databank on the aforementioned subject areas for the benefit of a diverse group of people, ranging from students, policy makers, researchers and academicians to industries and institutions at national and international level.

The dissemination of information is accomplished through a web based database management system (http://sulabhenvis.nic.in), a website on the NIC server of the Government of India and a quarterly newsletter that is widely circulated within the country and abroad.

The SulabhENVIS Centre is actively involved in:

Developing and expanding the online data-base especially the publication and distribution of the E-Newsletter.

An online Query-Response system to respond to national and international queries on sanitation and related topics.

Development of training Write-ups, CDs and publication of important technologies in National & International Journals.

Surveys and data collection from urban slums and rural areas for collection of primary data on hygiene and sanitation status and the corresponding effect on health.

Developing an Educational research programme in the shape of Documentary film/s.

C. MANY INTERESTING USES OF TOILET : The history of the evolution of toilet is indeed fascinating. It shows how toilets evolved in ancient times. The history suggests that toilet systems all over the world developed to bring about significant change at the convenience level, in the quality of life and in the socio-cultural practices associated with sanitary habits and in the health, hygiene and sanitary status, arrangements and facilities in the countries. A large number of hilarious and interesting anecdotes of toilet humour mentioned in the literature on toilets reveal how toilets have changed ablutionary practices, attitudes and people’s responses towards toilets as sanitary gadgets and as products of convenience. Besides these impacts, the literature even mentions that during the third Persian war, Persian army suffered with plague due to lack of toilet facilities and lost the war. The literature reveals that ‘toilet’ is a thing of beauty and not a hideous artifact. For the rich and famous it was an item of luxury which many cannot afford to use and enjoy. For example, the toilet used by the Queen Elizabeth and James-I had cushion and lace decorations with a pot inside the toilet stool. Louis XIII (1600 AD) gave audience while using toilet. A number of workaholics use toilet while reading newspapers, disposing of office papers and even doing serious thinking while in toilet. Indeed there are moments of great solitude, introspection and relief in the toilet, though many will not admit they get their bright ideas while they are in the toilet. But there is no doubt where Archimedes got his. The graffiti on the inner and outer walls of public toilets besides being a nuisance and intolerable obscenity is quite often a piece of art by unknown amateur artists of erotics. The art arises when these vandals enter the toilets.

TOILET A TOOL OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION :

The concept that anyone working on toilets or related work would be treated as a pariah in the society has been turned on its head by Sulabh. Today, Toilets have become the source of economic gains which engage top professionals, engineers, academicians, research scholars and others. There is no discrimination associated with the work.

The economic aspect attached to the maintenance of toilets – “PAY & USE” Public Toilets has changed the way society estimates people involved in the profession. Today it is a lucrative and a much sought after career option. Earlier it was inconceivable that food cooked on biogas produced from human excreta would be consumed so readily by people, but this thinking is slowly changing. At Sulabh Gram all guests are served food cooked on human excreta based biogas.

There is increasing evidence of the mainstreaming of the scavenger classes and decreasing social discrimination.

A TOILET is a TOILET in any other country, but here in India it has led to an incredible social transformation which would have been impossible to achieve without this medium of change – The TOILET.

A deeper study of toilet that induced social change reveals many new things that have happened once the world came to realize that toilet is not merely a necessary domestic facility, and a source of comfort for good life, but also has resulted in a multitude of critically significant social changes. Some of these are identified as under:

• Change in socio-cultural attitudes, beliefs, values and practices related to toilet.
• Paradigm shift in the perception of toilet – from profanity to prestige.
• Emergence of public sanitation and increased professionalism in sanitation engineering.
• Mounting of public motivation, education and awareness campaigns for promoting the construction of simple low-cost sanitary household toilets
• Improvements in health, hygiene and sanitation status of the developing / low income countries.
• Emergence and growth of pay and use public toilets.
• Development of appropriate low-cost and eco-friendly toilet technology usable on sustainable basis in households and community centres to ensure cleanliness, health and hygiene.
• Integration of sanitation component to slum improvement and upgradation policies and programmes.
• Enabling (through servicing) the weaker sections of society who do not have means, motivation or both to build simple sanitary toilets at their dwellings.
• Toilet provision assuming a centre-stage in the process, planning and policymaking in respect of human development infrastructure building programmes and activities to meet the Millennium Development Goals for the fulfilment of which the world stands concerned and committed.
• Development of technology to harness energy from non-conventional sources like human excreta through human excreta based biogas plants.
• Creation of public demand for basic sanitation services, putting pressure on politicians and Government agencies to upgrade and expand the limited outreach of existing sanitation sector.
• Emergence and expansion of the ‘toilet market’ with accent on manufacturing and marketing simple and fancy toilets, the sanitary hardware and items of toiletry– cleaning materials and tools etc.
• Emergence and consolidation of NGO/civil society involvement in the soft sectors of sanitation development – motivation, demand creation, information, awareness, education.
• Increase in the involvement of socially committed corporate organizations and their help in creating better civic and social amenities.
• Building of comfortable modern public toilets as cornerstones of a better quality of life, comfort, safety and cleanliness – all leading to the upliftment of the urban civic life and improvements in personal and public hygiene.

SULABH IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES: In the nomenclature, Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, each word has significance and represents an activity, a philosophy, a thrust area or a way of its working. Thus the word International has its own importance considering the role that Sulabh has been playing in the field of sanitation. In international relations while generally there is commerce of ideas and trade of commodities, Sulabh in its own way has in its international dimension traded technology and exchanged ideas. As far as back as 1980 Sulabh started sending its representatives to the foreign lands to spread the culture of Sulabh, its technologies and message of sanitation. Its representatives were sent out to participate in seminars, workshops, conferences with a view to convincing people about the feasibility of adoption of Sulabh technology and good sanitation practices. These representatives led by the Founder, Dr. Pathak, have visited various countries including U.S.A, China, Phillipines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Japan etc.

Not willing to be confined to merely visiting these countries Sulabh was also desirous of implementation of technologies developed by it in countries where it felt there was need for and scope of implementation. Bhutan was first on the list where Sulabh Sanitation Projects were implemented with funding from the World Bank.

Besides spreading its message and implementing projects the third dimension viz. of providing training was added. Students, planners, administrators, engineers, scientists from numerous countries have been sponsored by various countries to undertake training in Sulabh. Only recently UN Habitat has sponsored a training programme for 20 students from six countries.

It will not be for the first time that India will be sending missionaries to other countries with the difference that this time it will be sending missionaries of Sulabh to nearly 40 countries who will go and open branches and centres in countries of Asia and Africa. It will amount to evangelism in the sphere of sanitation technology.

In this context, it will not be out of place to mention that the Organisation has held exhibitions in various countries. The one put up at Johannesburg was a resounding success. A visit to it was made by eminent persons namely Mrs. Nane Annan, Sir Richard Jolly, Ms. Anna K. Tibaijuka, the Prince of Orange of the Netherlands and others. What impressed them was seeing the working model displayed of technology implemented by Sulabh in India and other countries.

To sum up, Sulabh has made its presence felt nationally and globally. Globalization of its technologies benefits both rich and poor and countries at various stages of development.

UN-MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL ON SANITATION AND ROLE OF SULABH: It has been estimated that 2.6 billion people from various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and other parts of the world do not have access to safe and hygienic toilets. The Johannesburg Earth Summit 2002 has set the goal of halving the proportion of people who don’t have basic sanitation by 2015 and providing safe and hygienic toilets to all by 2025. The Goals aim to include actions at all levels to:

1. Develop and implement efficient household sanitation systems.
2. Improve sanitation in public institutions, especially schools.
3. Promote safe hygienic practices.
4. Promote education and outreach focused on children, as agents of behavioural change.
5. Promote affordable and socially and culturally acceptable technologies and practices.
6. Develop innovative financing and partnership mechanisms.
7. Integrate sanitation into water resources management strategies. More than two years have elapsed since then and a number of conferences have been organised to decide approach and implementation strategies to attain the goal but not much has been achieved. The two technologies in vogue namely the sewerage system with sewerage treatment plant and the septic tank system have not proved and will not prove adequate to attain the goal. Each country will have to adopt its appropriate and affordable technology. These will have to be region and development stage based technical solutions.
   Fortunately in India Sulabh has developed two technologies – one for individual households and other suitable for public toilets, housing colonies, high-rise buildings, hospitals, etc. Sulabh has shown the way how the Millennium Development Goal can be achieved in India by 2015 and 2025 and may be even earlier than that.
   To achieve the target a large number of unemployed youths need be trained and the Planning Commission, Govt. of India will need to implement decisions of the National Commission on Population. However, the budget provisions taken together of the Central and the State Governments for sanitation programmes do not appear to be adequate to meet the demand of providing toilets in 120 million houses and for converting 7.4 million bucket toilets into safe and hygienic ones. The way out appears to be devising methods and procedures for bank loans to be arranged along with other steps to be taken. The problems faced and questions raised have the answer in Sulabh.
   VISITORS TO SULABH CAMPUS: People from over 100 countries of the world have visited the Sulabh premises, primarily the Sulabh Gram situated at Mahavir Enclave at Delhi and other state offices spread all over the country. These visitors have included top politicians, bureaucrats and policy makers, eminent professors and doctors, people from international organizations, journalists and media persons. Besides, school students, research scholars, environmental engineers, nursing students and others interested and curious to learn more about Sulabh technologies are regular visitors to the campus.
   Tourists, Indian as well as foreign nationals, who have heard of Sulabh, while visiting Delhi, make it a point to drop in / stopover at the Sulabh premises to satisfy their curiosity and to see in person the various low cost sanitation technologies at work, as also to meet the individual who is the vision behind the Sulabh Movement, the founder, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak. Models of two pit toilets varying with cost and subsoil characteristics, Biogas digester with biogas being used for cooking as a fuel or for body-warming and lighting of lamps, other low-cost sanitation technologies, Sulabh Public School, Sulabh Vocational Training Centre and Health Centres associated with toilet complexes are at display, but what attracts the greatest attention of visitors is the Sulabh Museum of Toilets. The museum is the first and only one of its kind in the world and is dedicated to toilets down the ages, flush with rare toilet relics and artefacts pertaining to toilets as also little known facts about the same.
   Lots of people from urban slums and urban areas visit Sulabh Gram frequently, also to know how new technologies have been combined to provide succour to the weaker and neglected sections of society.

Geographical area of operation – Working in 25 States and 4 Union Territories in India. Besides, Bhutan Sulabh has recently constructed five community toilets-cum-bath linked with Biogas digester at Kabul in Afghanistan in collaboration with the Kabul Municipality and with the financial assistance from the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India.

Sulabh has successfully completed two training-cum-capacity building programme on Sulabh Sanitation Technology, sponsored by the UN-Habitat, Nairobi. These were organised mainly for the participants from African countries, where 47 entrepreneurs/concerned officials from 14 countries took practical training for 2 weeks, to make them enable to replicable these technologies in their respective countries.

Government of South Africa, invited Sulabh to have discussion with Premiers of 3 provinces namely, Limpopo, Blowfountains and Natal and concerned Mayors and senior bureaucrats and policy-makers, on implementation of Sulabh sustainable technologies for improvement of sanitation, biogas technology, waste water treatment and solid waste management. Senior technical officials of Sulabh visited all the above provinces and had meetings with concern Premier and other senior officials. Later, the officials from these provinces visited Sulabh to get an on-site training on these technologies.