Sulabh Sauchalya Sansthan

Bindeshwar Pathak Chief Minister of Bihar, Daroga Prasad Rai wanted the sanitation cell to be spun-off and institutionalised. Sulabh Sauchalya Sansthan [Simple Toilet Institution] was formed in 1970. R L Das was President, and Bindeshwar Pathak its Secretary. But there was no money for Sulabh. D P Rai government collapsed. Successors were not as keen. Grants were approved but never materialised. But Pathak's obsession with scavenger eradication made him hang in there. Pathak's major contribution may well be that he realised that the pit privy was suitable for not just rural areas but for urban India also. A deeply sloping toilet pan was developed to enable effective flushing with just a mug of water. Water was conserved and there was no excess water to leach and pollute ground water. After a three year wait, Pathak with a family to feed, went back to selling grandpa's home-cure bottles. But the Sulabh obsession never left him. He finally found a friend in Arrah, a municipal officer who gave him his first order and business model for Sulabh. Sulabh today insists on advance payments but seeks no subsidies, donations, loans or grants. All Sulabhs are pay-toilets, in order to make their maintenance sustainable. The public—that would dodge bus fares—actually pays to use Sulabh. Ministers visited the site and learnt that if you built a quality service people will pay.