Pres Kovind presents Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award to Bindeshwar Pathak

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday presented the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for the year 2017 to Dr Bindeshwar Pathak.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the occasion revived memories of our former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

He said that Dr Bindeshwar Pathak was the most deserving person for an award named after Shastri, as he has "contributed immensely in the direction of getting rid of the practice of manual scavenging."

The President said that Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has contributed to making revolutionary changes in society and has put into practice the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak is the founder of Sulabh International and has developed and implemented, on a pan India scale, a low cost and appropriate toilet technology popularly known as the Sulabh Shauchalaya system.

He also complimented the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management for honouring people who have made such valuable contributions.

The Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, set up in Delhi in 1995, has instituted the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management.