Bindeshwar Pathak
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2018
Awarded Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture and Community
Well known Indian social worker and the man behind low cost toilet revolution 'Sulabh Shauchalya', Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, was honoured with the prestigious "Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture and Community "- 2018, at an award ceremony in Tokyo (Japan).
Nikkei Asia Prize is an award which recognises the achievements that have improved the lives of people throughout Asia.
Launched in 1996 by Nikkei Inc, the coveted prize honours people who have made significant contributions in one of the three areas: regional growth; science, technology and innovation; and culture and community.
Former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and Infosys Chairman Narayan Murthy are among few Indians who have won this award in the past.
The award was presented by Naotoshi Okada, President of Nikkei Inc.
While conferring the award, the Chairman of the Award Committee Mr Fujio Mitarai said that Dr Pathak was chosen for "tackling two of his country's biggest challenges — poor hygiene and discrimination."
He was presented the award under the category 'culture and community'.
The other two winners of the award are Ma Jun (Economic and Business Innovation), a Chinese environmentalist -- for using the power of the internet to promote cleaner industry, and Professor Nguyen Thanh Liem (Science and Technology), a Vietnamese doctor -- for bringing cutting-edge medicine for children.
Dr Pathak invented the two-pit pour-flush ecological compost toilets that has helped provide low-cost environment friendly toilets to millions of people in the developing world.
It has also ensured the safety of rural women and freedom from manual labour of removing human waste.
The Nikkei Asia Prizes were created in 1996 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Nikkei Inc's main Japanese-language newspaper.
The company publishes Japan's leading business newspaper, The Nikki, and also operates in Japanese, English, and Chinese languages.
Experts from across the Asia-Pacific region submit nominations.
Candidates cannot nominate themselves, and Japanese individuals and organisations are ineligible.
While accepting the award, Dr Pathak dedicated it to the downtrodden section of the society for whom he is waging campaign for more than five decades.
"This award will be another milestone in my commitment to the service of the society in Asia in particular and world in general," he added.
