About the Book
Though Dr Bindeshwar Pathak is referred by different names as Toilet Man of India, World Leader of Sanitation, Sanitation Soldier, Social Entrepreneur, Liberator of Manual Scavengers, Social Reformer, Great Humanist, Thinker, Sociologist, Author, Founder of Sulabh International, Sanitation Santa Claus, Sanitation King and Toilet Guru, the title ‘Sanitation Guru’ fits him very well. Dr Pathak’s pioneering work has revolutionized the concept of sanitation in India. His commitment to work and his core ability as a leader is legendary, resulting in him being referred to as ‘Sanitation Guru’.
Dr Pathak worked among the untouchables nay human scavengers and to liberate them invented a new toilet technology known as Sulabh toilets which are low-cost, two-pit, pour-flush needing little water and turns waste into a resource. The gas produced can be used for heating, lighting, cooking and electricity generation. By making public toilets ‘pay-and-use’, he made them self-sustaining. After the manual scavengers were relieved from this subhuman occupation, he also rehabilitated them by giving general and vocational education in different occupations. He also built an English medium school for their children. Basically, Sulabh is a sanitation movement in the entire country. Sanitation contributes to gender equality, access to education and dignity of labour nay dignity of life. Because of his efforts, sociology of sanitation is now taught in 22 universities and several colleges in India.
Contents
1. Introduction / Richard Pais
2. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak: Sanitation Guru / Vinay Rajath D.
3. Culture and Sanitation / B.K. Nagla
4. Sulabh International: Quest towards Total Sanitation in India / Sumit Saurabh Srivastava
5. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak and Sulabh Sanitation Movement / Anil Vaghela
6. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak and Sanitation Mission / Joseph Mathew
7. Sanitation: An Economic Perspective / V. Basil Hans
8. Interrogating Sanitation Concerns in Global Era: A Critique of Sanitation Trajectory in India / Ashish Saxena and Vijaylaxmi Saxena
9. Sanitation and Social Reforms / Y. Ravindranath Rao
10. A Re-Look at Sanitation: Practices and Policies / V. Basil Hans
11. Sanitation and Unchanging Role of Caste / Richard Pais
12. Issues and Predicaments of Sanitation: An Exploratory Investigation of Two Marginalized Groups in Karnataka / Y. Ravindranath Rao
About the Author / Editor
Richard Pais is former Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology, St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru, India. Besides teaching, he was actively involved in the organisation of academic events at the national, state and regional levels. In 2007, he received the L.P. Vidyarthi Award at Agra for his contribution to social sciences; in 2015, he received Sulabh International Gold Medal at New Delhi for his work on Sociology of Sanitation and in 2017, he received Indian Social Science Association Golden Year Award at Lucknow for his publication of the journal, Social Science Gazetteer.
He has written/edited 27 books and more than 200 articles and research papers. His latest books are: Action Sociology (2022), Understanding Social Movements (2022), Social Inclusion and Development (2018), Society and Culture in Karnataka (2016) and Sociology of Sanitation (2015). He is the Managing Editor of Samaja Shodhana and the Editor of Sulabh Journal of Action Sociology. At present, he is the Vice-President of Indian Social Science Association, Agra and Academic Consultant to Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, New Delhi.
