Paris:
Ahead of World Environment Day, the French Senate has honoured Indian social reformer and Sulabh movement founder Bindeshwar Pathak with the 'Legend of Planet' award for bringing about a toilet revolution in his country and for liberating manual scavenges from the inhuman practice.
Senate vice president Chantal Jourdan decorated Pathak and five others from across the globe with the honour at a reception at Palais du Luxembourg on Monday night.
Hundreds of environmentalists from all over the world have gathered in the city for a three-day Green Games Congress organised at Unesco headquarters in Paris to discuss burning environmental issues.
While accepting the honour, Pathak termed it a recognition of his 40 years of service for the society, "It's an honour for India"," he said.
Pathak is the founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation which is spearheading a toilet revolution in India using indigenously-developed, cheaper and eco-friendly technology. The eco-friendly Sulabh Shauchalaya invented by him requires only one litre of water, thus directly conserving the environment.
Pathak is known around the world for his wide-ranging work in the sanitation field to improve public health, advance social progress and improve human rights in his home nation and other countries.
The Indian sanitation expert has previously been awarded the prestigious 2009 Stockholm Water Prize. The award, akin to a Nobel Prize on environmental issues, was presented to him by Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. He was awarded with Padma Bhushan by the Indian government, besides several other international and national awards.