Jairam, Chidambaram condole death of Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak

New Delhi, Aug 15 (IANS) Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram on Tuesday condoled the death of Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak while recalling his tireless crusade for improved sanitation. 

Congress general secretary Ramesh in a tweet said, "For many years, Bindeshwar Pathak, who passed away earlier today, was a tireless crusader for improved sanitation."

The Rajya Sabha MP hailing the role played by Pathak said, "He made Sulabh a household name. I spent much time with him when the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan was being designed in 2011. This Abhiyan was of course rebranded and relaunched as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by the one and only master marketeer. Sulabh's International Toilet Museum in New Delhi is a most unusual and educative place."

Former Union minister Chidambaram also recalled Pathak's contributions saying that he was the pioneer of Clean India movement and his passing away is huge setback to the movement for a Clean and ODF India. 

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Chidambaram said, "The passing away of Bindeshwar Pathak is a huge setback to the movement for a Clean and ODF India and, along with thousands of admirers, I mourn his loss. Undoubtedly, Pathak was the pioneer of the Clean India movement who toiled all his life to introduce sanitation to the people of India."

"He was an innovator, who introduced novel and cost-effective techniques into household latrines and sanitation. His models were adopted all over the world. I was personally acquainted with Pathak and I pay tribute to his farsightedness and missionary work in the field of sanitation. May his soul rest in peace," Chidambaram added.

Pathak, who was known for his pioneer in building public toilets, passed away due to cardiac arrest on Tuesday.

Sulabh has constructed over 1.3 million household toilets and over 50 million government toilets based on an innovative design. Apart from construction of toilets, the organisation has been leading a movement to discourage manual cleaning of human waste.

The Indian Railways, had in November 2016, joined hands with Sulabh International and appointed Bindeshwar Pathak as the brand ambassador of Swachh Rail Mission, stepping up its efforts to keep Railway premises clean.

For his works, the Government of India conferred Padma Bhushan to him.