Date:05/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/05/stories/2008100555200700.htm

National

Sulabh International gets U.N. recognition

Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI: The United Nations has chosen Sulabh International as one of the 50 most successful business models targeting the poor.

The U.N. Development Programme’s latest report, “Creating value for all: Strategies for doing business with the poor,” reviews Sulabh International’s role in transforming the lives of scavengers in India.

The UNDP conducted a case study titled “Sulabh International: A movement to liberate scavengers by implementing a low-cost, safe sanitation system (India).” It gives detailed information about the key constraints and strategies used by the NGO while working among scavengers and the poor, and in providing low-cost sanitation in India and abroad.

The UNDP report says: “Business with the poor can be profitable, sometimes even more profitable than business with the rich.”

A role model

Terming Sulabh International as a role model, the report appreciates its strategy of building and operating public toilets and installing private toilets being used by 1-crore people in India.