Nai Disha, which has been replicated in a state government-run project in Tonk, Rajasthan, is one of the many initiatives of Sulabh International, a movement whose goal is to restore the dignity of people who carry human excreta, and bring them into the mainstream. It has liberated approximately 60,000 of them, created approximately 1.2 million pour-flush toilets across India, and 6,040 public toilet-and-bath complexes.
Dr Pathak says Sulabh's home toilet model is better than a septic tank toilet. There is no gas pipe, and gases are instead absorbed in the soil, causing no environmental pollution. As against a septic tank where at least 2 gallons of water is required per flush, Sulabh's model uses only 1 to 1.5 litres.
In the latter, two pits are created, and a user is required to switch to the second once the first pit is full. Within two years, the first pit becomes a source of manure rich in nitrogen, potassium and potash with only the contact of earth. The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements-Habitat declared the technology global 'Urban Best Practice' in 1996 and again in 2000.
Dr Pathak turns to comment to the young Nai Disha recruits that they must have been bored because the conversation in the room was in English. "But we did understand a little," they tell him. They just got an English teacher at Nai Disha, and watch English literacy programmes on television. "I was illiterate before I came here; and could not write my name in Hindi," Chaumar says. "Now I can sign in English."
They clearly are not used to strutting down hotel lobbies or riding up elevators, but are learning fast. "I feel dizzy," says one to another as they are rushed to a press conference at the UN. The other laughs, and lets her friend's head rest on her shoulder while the elevator glides down 18 floors.
Image: Dr Bindeshwar Pathak
Also read: Mission Sanitation Fashion Fiesta '08
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