Archives: Testimonials

International experience in the management of public services shows that delivery of services can be vastly improved if a distinction is made between the ownership of these services (by the government) and the delivery of such services (by private and local enterprises). Thus, a compilation of twenty-four case studies from twelve countries all over the world has concluded that in every case where the management of a public service was contracted out to private groups or enterprises, the distribution and quality of the service improved and the net cost to the public was reduced. In India also, there are successful examples of ‘micro-privatization’ (Such as Sulabh Sauchalayas and Public Call Offices). These initiatives need to be replicated in respect of other services.

Pathak founded the organization Sulabh International in 1970. It is now India’s largest charity, with 50,000 on its staff. Millions of Indians have installed the Sulabh Shauchalaya latrine. Of more interest to non-Indians will be the half a million* public toilets that Sulabh had built all over India. Every day, ten million Indians–and plenty of relieved foreign travellers–use a Sulabh toilet, because they are in railway stations, airports, on the main streets of India’s cities. Pathak’s toilet blocks are so common, Indians now say “I’m going to the Sulabh,” and the word toilet can be left silent.

Sulabh created a low-cost toilet technology that not only helped maintain sanitation but also restored the dignity of millions of “scavengers”, the cleaners of human excreta who are traditionally untouchables. The West’s toilet technology, composed of sewage and septic tanks, was unaffordable for India’s teeming millions. Pathak’s technology relies on two simple pits and sealed covers. While one pit is in use, the other is left to decompose, forming a fertilizer that can be used in agricultural fields. Equally important, human waste no longer requires manual cleansing.