In India we have already witnessed the dramatic impact that ordinary citizens can have. Bindeshwar Pathak’s invention of the dry toilet – the Sulabh shauchalya, built to function with little water and a selfcleaning pit – has done more than any bans on discrimination in helping put an end to the sordid work of manual scavenging that the Dalit Bhangi caste had been forced into for centuries.
Besides governments, there are many other non-profit organizations seeking to alleviate some of the world’s problems caused by poor sanitation. Through the WTO, I met another impressive social entrepreneur, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the Sulabh International Social Service Organization. Sulabh builds affordable, eco-friendly and hygienic toilets in rural and urban India. It is the largest nongovernmental organization in India. More than 10 million people use a Sulabh toilet daily. Unfortunately, this is literally a drop in a cistern for a country with a population of 1.1 billion people and where 65 per cent still defecate in the open.
I congratulate you on what you have achieved, which you richly deserve, for which there is no comparison. You have done such a great job and I would like to tell you that Dr Bindeshwar Pathak has brought about a revolution, a very big revolution. Financial revolution can come about and can be brought about, but to bring a revolution in the mind set of people is a very big achievement, a very difficult job which Dr Pathak has brought about.
