[Reader-list] "Application of mind more important than knowledge"-Bindeshwar Pathak (SULABH)

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Application of mind more important than knowledge

12 Jun 2009, 0609 hrs IST, Moinak Mitra , ET Bureau





In 2003, Usha Chaumar cleaned toilets and often faced the ire of the upper castes in arid Alwar. Today, she speaks fluent English and co-ordinates 



the dayto-day affairs of the 50,000-strong Sulabh International with consummate ease. More significantly, the Brahmins and upper castes have taken a U-turn , with Usha recently presiding as the ‘best person’ at a Brahmin’s wedding in her hometown. To Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh, that is social revolution. 

The 67 year-old Pathak has empowered a swathe of people from the scavenger caste by modernizing the age-old vocation of cleaning bucket toilets. What started out with humble beginnings in Patna 39 years ago is now a revolution. The Sulabh movement has developed 54 million toilets in rural areas and about 1.2 million pay-per-use toilets. Aptly then, Pathak is revered as the ‘toilet tsar’ of India, forming the country’s own toiletariat, if you will. 

As a sociology student, Pathak witnessed untouchability first-hand in all its hues and decided to do something about it. “Application of mind is more important than knowledge, and so I read the WHO-published Excreta Disposal in Rural Areas and Small Communities, which was essentially for rural areas with scavenging largely being an urban phenomenon in India. When the soil condition of a village is similar to that of a town, I thought, why can’t I apply a technology recommended for rural areas to the cities? That’s how I developed an alternative to the bucket latrine and popularised it as Sulabh,” says Pathak. 

In 1970, when Pathak established Sulabh , it was at the height of India’s socialist era, when non-profit organisations were being encouraged. He carefully treaded that path and started his NGO. Today, Sulabh’s revenues are raked in by monies received from municipalities to set up toilets on behalf of individual beneficiaries (10-15 % margins ), while another 10-15 % comes in from the pay-per-use public toilets, with an extra buck earned from cleaning government buildings and hospitals. However, Pathak says, “Sulabh does not have a business model but Sulabh’s model is good for business.” 

Nevertheless, managing 50,000 people is a task in itself. “A small mind cannot rule an empire. I believe in decentralisation that promotes faster work,” says Pathak, who has gradually given up managing the day-to-day operations of the organisation. “From 1970 to 1980, I was the secretary (of Sulabh), and from 1980 to 1986, I was chairman. Now I’m just the founder.” However, the “just founder” is hands-on even today with all the latest stats and developments within the group on his finger tips. 



Workers greet him with folded hands whenever he’s strolling in the 3,600-square yard Sulabh campus in Delhi’s outlying Palam area. That’s when he mentions the five-fold mantra that he believes is the behind the longevity of the organisation—Vision , Mission, Commitment, Capabilities and Efficiency . But though decision-making is left to the 15 members of the board of control, success really lies in the implementation of such decisions. “Every state has its own Sulabh chief executive and then it is further decentralised.” Pathak’s decentralised empire has come a long way — from its first pay cheque of Rs 500 in the early 70s to Rs 100 crore in revenues each year. 

Top B-Schools like Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley are now studying the Sulabh model. Pathak’s pet dream is to build a University of Sanitation in Gurgaon, along with a rash of innovations in the sustainable development space. Sulabh has evolved its own water conservation septic tank, biofertiliser and public toilets linked to biogas plants,besides developing duckweed for water treatment and an inhouse solid waste management system . The organisation also runs schools, community training centres and dispensaries, which all aid in fulfilling Pathak’s Gandhian dream of a more equitable India. 
 
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Application-of-mind-more-important-than-knowledge/articleshow/4647161.cms