Pooja Gautam, Department of Law and Management, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun
ABSTRACT
The earth consists of approximately 70 percentage of water but potable water is on the verge of becoming a scarce resource. International coherence and acknowledgement for this challenging situation is at present part of the global agenda because of which access to safe drinking water was recognized as a fundamental human right by the United Nations. Reviewed in this article is that Privatization, which was sought as a solution for this challenging situation, has over the years brought both stunning benefits and openings for many individuals in regards to various aspects. The drive to privatize the water sector in India accelerated after the year 2000 when the government of India adopted various reforms suggested by various financial institutions but even after opening several fronts for the private companies, the companies have failed to improve water services and consequently approximately 1 billion individual’s access to safe drinking water is absent today.
There are two sides to this debate of water privatization and human rights in which one line of argument states that private sectors are keen on to make profits and other line states that management of water supply is an issue of rights and a basic need. Also, water is an asset of society and cannot be owned by the government, let alone the private sector. The government is the custodian of water on behalf of the people it represents. Moreover, water is embedded in the ecosystem. Any attempt to see water only as a commodity is bound to have multiple disruptive consequences. Therefore, this article doesn’t challenge any side or favor any side, however tried to show the picture that how commodification of such basic needs affects and violates the basic human rights of individuals and further tries to suggest a midway solution for the same which is better governance.
The article has been prepared through the doctrinal, descriptive and analytical method of research. Author has referred various sources and taken help of both primary as well as secondary sources. The author has taken a mono-disciplinary approach.
Keywords: Privatization, Human rights, Water
