Bindeshwar Pathak (file photo)
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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Bihar was elated with the award of Bharat Ratna to public leader Karpuri Thakur on the eve of his birth centenary. Now when the Padma Awards were announced on the eve of Republic Day, Bihar got a lot of happiness. Bindeshwar Pathak, who gave the message of cleanliness to the whole world through accessible toilets, was posthumously awarded Padma Vibhushan. CP Thakur, famous for his research on Kala-azar and former Union Minister from BJP quota, has also been awarded Padma Vibhushan. Apart from this, famous journalist Surendra Kishore, veteran artist of Darbhanga Gharana Pandit Ram Kumar Malik, veteran of Tikuli art Ashok Kumar Biswas were awarded Padma Shri. Apart from these, Shanti Paswan-Shivan Paswan (wife-husband) have also been jointly awarded Padma Shri for tattoo art.
PM Modi had written ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on the death of Bindeshwar Pathak.
Last year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi received information about the demise of Padmashree Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, just a few hours after the Independence Day celebrations, he wrote in a special article – “Amidst the Independence Day celebrations on 15th August, absorb this news. It was very difficult for me to accept that Bindeshwar Pathak ji is no more among us. The demise of Bindeshwar ji, the founder of Sulabh International, having an easy-going, simple and humble personality, is an irreparable loss. I have seen the passion he had for cleanliness ever since. Coming, when I was in Gujarat. When I came to Delhi, the dialogue with him on various subjects increased further. I remember, when I discussed the topic of cleanliness from the Red Fort in the year 2014, Bindeshwar ji How excited he was. He was associated with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan from the very first day. His efforts gave great strength to this campaign. We often hear One Life, One Mission. But what is One Life, One Mission? This is reflected in the life essence of Bindeshwar ji. He dedicated his entire life to cleanliness and related issues. Even at the age of 80, he was equally energetic in achieving his goals. In a way he was eternally young. Remained firm on the path on which we had walked decades ago. Nowadays, if someone makes a film on a topic like toilet, then discussion starts about it. People start wondering whether this is also a topic? We can imagine how difficult it must have been for Bindeshwar ji to work on a subject like toilet at that time. He himself had to go through many struggles, had to listen to people’s words, people even ridiculed him, but his commitment to social service was so great that he devoted his life to this work.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulated and best wishes
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed happiness over the announcement of late Bindeshwar Pathak of Bihar getting Padma Vibhushan posthumously for his significant contribution in the field of social work. The Chief Minister gave Padma Bhushan to Dr. Chandeshwar Prasad Thakur of Bihar in the field of medicine, Shanti Devi Paswan and Shivan Paswan (husband and wife), Ashok Kumar Vishwas, Ram Kumar Mallik in the field of arts and Surendra Kishore in the field of language, education and journalism. Congratulated and congratulated him on the announcement of receiving Padmashree award for his important contribution in the field of.
