For the past three years, I have been nurturing an idea close to my heart — the Jinpa Toilet.
Jinpa in our culture
means the spiritual act of giving unconditionally to those in need. Just as
offering food to the hungry or water to the thirsty is an act of compassion,
giving access to a toilet to someone in desperate need is one of the kindest
forms of giving. Unlike hunger or thirst, which can sometimes wait, the urgency
of finding a toilet cannot be delayed. We all know that desperate, almost
unbearable feeling of searching for a toilet in an unfamiliar place.
Now imagine how different life would be if there were
public toilets conveniently located and evenly spread across the country.
Sadly, we are not there yet. Despite the progress made, public facilities are
still scarce, and building new ones takes time, land, and a great deal of
money. And again standalone toilets are often unsustainable and, on highways,
they can even hurt local businesses by drawing away customers.
This is where the Jinpa Toilet initiative steps
in. Until we have enough public facilities everywhere, Jinpa Toilet will fill
the gap by asking private businesses to open their toilets to the public as an
act of jinpa.
Of course, this giving is unconditional, but we
Bhutanese believe in karma. What goes around comes around. By offering their
toilet, businesses bring people to their doorsteps. For a business to thrive,
it needs people — and a toilet is often the first step in bringing them in, some
of whom will choose to spend at their establishment. What may begin as a toilet
visit may often turn into a meal, a purchase, or loyal patronage.
If enough businesses in town centers and along
highways embrace this idea, Bhutan could have a nationwide network of publicly
accessible toilets, created at almost no cost to the government. More
importantly, it would be a solidarity movement — a moment where ordinary
citizens and businesses come together to solve a national problem in the most
Bhutanese way possible.
Here’s how it will work:
- Businesses
with adequate toilets can register as Jinpa Toilets
- After
assessment and approval, we will install a Jinpa Toilet signage so
the public knows they can use it freely.
- All
Jinpa Toilets will be mapped digitally and promoted on our platforms,
alongside the businesses that host them.
Over time, these Jinpa Toilets will become trusted
landmarks, easing the suffering of those in urgent need while also bringing
recognition and prosperity to the businesses that practice jinpa.
It is not just about toilets. It is about kindness,
dignity, and solidarity. Jinpa Toilet is our way of proving that a simple act
of generosity can solve one of the most basic human problems.
