Bindeshwar PathakDr Bindeshwar Pathak is a great humanist and social reformer of contemporary India. He has the vision of a philosopher and the undying zeal of a missionary. He is the icon of sanitation and social reform who has made a difference in the lives of millons of people. He has identified himself with the problems of the untouchables. Dr. Pathak's multi-pronged efforts in bringing scavengers, worst victims of institutionalized caste discrimination and engaged in sub-human occupation, in the mainstream of national life, have taken the shape of a movement for social justice. Moreover, he has developed and implemented on pan-Indian scale a low-cost and appropriate toilet technology (popularly known as the Sulabh Shauchalaya System) recommended as a Global Best Practice. He has created a new culture which embraces the poor and extols the dignity of labour. He is the leader of an international crusade for restoration of human rights and dignity to millions of scavengers (cleaners and carriers of human excreta), traditionally known as untouchables; and for providing safe and hygienic human waste disposal system which can benefit 700 million Indians who go for open defecation. Apart from low cost sanitation, his contributions are widely known in the areas of bioenergy and bio fertiliser, liquid and solid waste management, poverty alleviation and integrated rehabilitation programme for the liberated scavengers. In fact, he is a Renaissance Man and combines in himself the traits of a social scientist, an engineer, an administrator and an institutionbuilder. Thus, he is fulfilling the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. Read More Read Less