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Organizational Assignment: Sulabh International Social Service Organization

Introduction to the Organization’s mission

Discrimination in terms of class and caste has existed in India since decades and this

problem still plagues the country in some form or the other. People are delegated occupations

based on the community they were born into. So someone born in the business community is

expected to excel in industry and business, while those born in the relegated working class

are expected to continue the undignified job of cleaning trash and human excreta and carrying

it as head-load to the local disposal sites. What a waste of human capability it is! Able bodied,

healthy community members are ostracized in the name of ‘untouchability’, by an apparently

cultural society called India.

The Social Entrepreneur and the genesis of the Enterprise

Dr. Bindeswar Pathak, a sociologist by education, but decided to be a human being first.

In 1968 Dr. Pathak joined the scavenger’s liberation movement and it is thought this

movement that he got connected with the plight of the scavenging community. Dr. Pathak

was only twenty-five years then. While doing his doctoral research, Dr. Pathak travelled

extensively and also lived with the scavenger families. He is the first person in India to

enable the construction of more than 7,500 public toilets in slums, public, religious and

tourist places and maintain them via a pay-per-use model. Untouchability was a ‘disruption’

that he did not accept as part of the social structure of India. The people who helped the rest

of the society remain clean and hygienic, were defamed as untouchables. Only a true

humanist and compassionate individual could see through this inequality and accept the

challenge of addressing this social distortion. Dr. Pathak was among the contemporary

Li You and Seema Mahato


visionaries of India who chose to work towards eliminating ‘untouchability’. We as a team

admire this great social reformer and his grass root level approach of disentangling the fate of

the untouchables.

Social norms are often so deep rooted that it is extremely difficult even to create

acceptance for the existence of the problem in the first place. Untouchability is one such

problem. In 1970, Dr. Pathak set up Sulabh International Social Service Organization

(SISSO), a non-profit voluntary organization to liberate the untouchables or ‘scavengers’

from the constraints of their indecorous destiny. To achieve this vision, Sulabh developed

cost-effective sanitation systems that eliminated the need for manual cleaning of the excreta.

Target Audience

Being tied to a deep rooted social cause expanded Sulabh’s target audience far beyond

the scavenging community. Sanitation facilities are required at all public places. As such even

the average Indian is a target audience for Sulabh. The target audience could be categorized

as primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary audience the untouchables are reached by

various SSIO programs and interventions like:

The Sulabh Public School that provides quality education to the

children of the scavenger community. To avoid social exclusion, the

40 % of the children represent other social classes.

Vocational Training Center that empowers individuals from the

scavenger community with skills to find alternative employment in

ten areas– typing, shorthand, audio-visual repair, electrical



equipment, computer, dress designing, embroidery, beauty care,

tailoring and cutting and sewing.

The secondary audience are reached by helping people convert their make shift toilets into

low-cost, sustainable Sulabh toilets. In slums and less developed areas, pay-per-use public

toilets are constructed. Finally, the tertiary audience is reached by various research institutes

like the Sulabh International Institute of Technical Research and Training (SIITRAT) where

people can get training on constructing, operating, and maintenance of low cost water supply

and sanitation systems, and human excreta-fed biogas plants. Another institute, the Sulabh

International Institute of Health and Hygiene (SIIHH) helps create health awareness through

education and training programs for volunteers, school teachers and school kids. The Sulabh

International Museum of Toilets has artifacts and their replica from different civilizations

existing at different times. It is a tourist attraction that displays the development of the

sanitation is an interesting yet powerful way to those people can become advocates of the

Sulabh system.

Value creation and competitive advantage of Sulabh International

Lack of adequate water, a formal sanitation system in the rural and semi-urban areas,

affordability and an ignorant attitude towards sanitation gave rise to make shift toilets that

needed to be manually cleaned. Added to this, the easy availability of a designated class of

people to clean toilets, to earn two square meals, resulted in the persistence of the problem of

untouchability. The technology of Sulabh International, a two-pit pour-flush toilet that

required less water to flush, was a comprehensive solution to all these problems. A



conventional flush toilet requires 12-14 litres of water to flush, whereas the Sulabh toilet

requires only 2 litres of water. Further these toilets did not require to be connected to a

sewage line for disposal of the waste. The technology is such that only one pit is used at a

time. So when the first pit is full, it is blocked and the excreta is diverted to the second pit

where it dries in two to three years (depending on the size of the pit and usage) into odorless

human manure that can be used for farming. If built on a larger scale the technology allows

for biogas generation. The cost of building expansive sewage systems is ‘huge’ when it is

compared to the benefits of saving a comparatively small community of poor, unskilled,

untouchables. Being an inexpensive technology, Sulabh toilets could be afforded by the

people who were adjusting with make-shift or bucket toilets. Even the construction materials

could be adapted to what was available locally. One of the best attestations for the Sulabh

technology came when the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements declared that the

technology was one among the Global Best Practices and was recognized and approved by

WHO and UNICEF. The UNDP Human Development Report released in 2003 has

recommended the use of Sulabh toilets for the 2.6 billion people in the world, especially in

developing countries, who have no hygienic toilets in their houses.

What makes this organization unique is its holistic approach, which is radically different

from other social reform movements. In their movement, it combines technology with social

idealism, which makes them outstanding from other competitors. Though registered as a non-

profit voluntary organization, SSIO is financially independent of government or external

help. We were impressed by the Public-Private partnership model adopted by this

organization. By constructing pay and use public toilets, local governments make only a one



time investment. The toilets generate sufficient revenues for future maintenance thus,

relieving the governments of additional future investments. There are also indirect savings

that result from the elimination of construction and maintenance of sewage treatment plants.

Biogas generation, rich organic human-manure, dignity of labor, convenience of having

toilets at home and on upper floors and its low cost of construction make up a diverse

collection of value additions, that make the Sulabh model stand apart from its competitors.

Strengths and challenges of the Sulabh model

By addressing the root cause of the social problem of untouchability, Dr. Pathak has

demonstrated how even a seemingly unsurmountable problem presents a unique opportunity

that can not only solve the obvious problem, but also revolutionize social thinking and

eradicate the problem altogether. Given the growing population of India, and the resulting

need for more resources to meet the needs of the people, the Sulabh model is an opportunity

to create systems that are sustainable and supportive of each other. By providing good

sanitation facilities, the Sulabh model spins the following related benefits:

1. The cost of building expansive, water-fed sewage systems and

treatment plants can be reduced, as a lot of the sludge is diverted

for the creation of organic, odorless human-manure for agricultural

activities. This is a two-fold benefit of reduce costs and creating

manure is considerably low costs.

2. Better hygiene promotes good health reduction is cases of

infectious diseases that spread form mosquitoes and flies that breed



of filth. This directly impacts the government coffers by reducing

costs of health care for diseases that could be easily prevented with

better sanitation.

3. Biogas is a source of green, renewable energy that can be used for

cooking, lighting and electricity generation.

4. Finally, and most importantly fulfilling the mission of the

organization: “emancipation of scavengers” in a sustainable

manner that eliminates the creation of any future cycle of such

undignified destiny.

Despite the strengths and uniqueness of the Sulabh model, there are some challenges

that SSIO will have face while progressing with its mission. The first challenge would be

that of creating awareness and acceptance of the idea about the importance of having

sanitation facilities at home and in public places. Defecating and urinating in open spaces

has become a norm and breaking such deep-rooted habits requires a lot of commitment

and focus from not only the government but also citizens in general, which is difficult,

not impossible. The second challenge is again in terms of availability and acceptance.

Renewable energy and organic human manure are theoretically robust concepts, but to

create them requires change is the conventional practice. Though thermal power plants

are the biggest cause of environmental pollution, and might be more expensive to set up

and operate; it is still seen as a preferred method of electricity generation as long as there

is availability of coal. Secondly, use of human-manure might be a difficult idea to float in

some conservative Indian societies. Thirdly, and again about mindsets that threaten



SSIO’s mission. Caste system has created a divide in the Indian society and people from

the lower social classes are not only looked down upon, but are also considered

uncreative and unintelligent. Only time and radical reforms can change this mental

distortion of the ‘privileged’ Indians. Finally, this great social movement though

sustainable as a model, will need a supply of professionally qualified staff to carry on the

great mission in future. Currently, the ideal job for many Indian youngsters is a ‘fat’

salary in a swanky office doing sophisticated clerical activities. This raises an important

question on the future talent supply for organizations like SISSO.

Conclusion

Our concluding thoughts are in all admiration for the well-balanced portfolio of

Sulabh International’s activities. Despite being a public service, the impact of SISSO’s

work is measurable, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Statistics speak volumes about

the impact of SISSO. Sulabh has designed 26 toilet designs based on the variability in

budgets and locational constraints. This makes the model scalable at the same time.

Further, there some positive outcomes based on a 2006 study of SSIO. Sulabh has trained

19,000 individuals with masonry skills to build toilets, and freed 60,000 people from this

degrading occupation. As of today, there are 1.3 million households with toilets and

about 7,500 public pay-per-use toilets. In terms of employment generation, Sulabh

employs over 50, 0000 employs and operates in 26 states in India. About 54 million

government toilets are built on the Sulabh design. While the growth in the overall

number of Sulabh toilets indicate the quantitative impact of the SSIO model, the



cleanliness of public places and the lack of bad odor in such places is a qualitative

reflection of the impact of the Sulabh’s sanitation system. Another, very critical impact of

the Sulabh model would be the reduction in crimes on women who need to go out during

odd ours to relieve themselves. Such attacks are a shameful and heart-breaking trend that

has grown insidiously within the underserved rural communities. The Sulabh model, can

have an extremely high impact on the safety, security and dignity of women in poorer

families, irrespective of social class. So what began as an emotional identification with

the pain and predicament of the untouchables, had taken on additional, related problems

that emerged as society progressed. Sulabh International is a highly sustainable model of

problem solving and its ability to be a one-stop-shop solution for multiple social

problems is highly admirable.

References:

http://www.sulabhinternational.org/

Appendix: pictures of Sulabh International’s impact.



Mrs. Sushila Chauhan (in ligh blue dress, center), a liberated scavenger, is lighting the lamp at the Inaugural function of the World Toilet Summit at Vigyan Bhawan on 31st October, 2007.

Girls from the scavenging community being trained in various skills at the Sulabh Vocational Centre in New Delhi.

Sulabh Health Centre



Children of the Sulabh Public School, New Delhi, which provides English Medium education to the children of scavengers. Their ratio is 60% along with 40% children of poor families.

Public toilet-linked biogas plant with gas holder.


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ousocialentrepreneurship.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web viewHe is the first person in India to enable the construction of more than 7,500 public toilets in slums, public, religious