Right to Sanitation in Urban Areas

This chapter looks at the emergence of the right to sanitation as a problem for public administration. Although sanitation has been articulated in terms of a human right, it is often unclear what this means for policy direction in relation to its administration and delivery. Indeed, it is even unclear whether there should be any fundamental change in administrative framework at all for the more effective delivery of urban sanitation. In this context this chapter recounts and critically analyses the legal framework (centred on water boards and urban local bodies) that delivers urban sanitation and the forms in which the various players are brought to account through courts and other forms of administrative regulation. Set against this background this chapter assess the connections between forms of governance and regulation, and their impact on the delivery of sanitation as a basic human right.

Assessing the Realization of the Right to Sanitation in Rural Areas

The legal framework relating to the realization of the right to sanitation in rural areas is complex and fragmented, with laws and institutions focusing on different aspects of sanitation at different administrative levels. The framework is further complicated with the presence of a strong policy framework framed by the Union Government from time to time which primarily governs the sector. This chapter examines the law and policy framework for the realization of the right to sanitation in rural areas in India. It specifically examines the framework for implementation of the right to sanitation in rural areas from the perspective of rights including the right to sanitation.

Sanitation in South Africa

South Africa has among the most progressive legal and policy frameworks for sanitation services in the world, including a legally entrenched basic minimum standard for sanitation services and a free basic sanitation policy. Yet, on the ground there are numerous problems. In recent years, some of these problems have given rise to protest action and litigation. This chapter provides an overview of the frameworks, realities, and contestation related to sanitation provision (or under- or non-provision) in South Africa. It first outlines the relevant legal and policy frameworks for sanitation services; then analyses the systemic problems of practice and implementation from a human rights-related perspective; and finally examines the emergence of litigation and protest action in response to the ongoing problems related to sanitation services, highlighting how the content, as well as the realization of the right to sanitation is increasingly being advanced through battles on the streets and the courts.

The Right to Sanitation

The right to sanitation has been recognized for many years by the Supreme Court of India and high courts. Its recognition is not in question but there is a lack of a comprehensive legal framework that can contribute to making the right a reality on the ground. Administrative directions that have come to define governmental action in practice, particularly in rural areas, fill this gap. The focus on behaviour change, individual household toilet construction and open defecation-free status has helped in achieving some sanitation related targets. It has also raised some important concerns with regard to gender equality, universality of entitlements, and the understanding of rights holders as beneficiaries. This chapter analyses different elements that need to be addressed moving forward, including the need for giving more attention to community toilets, for convergence with other rights, for mainstreaming environmental considerations, and for ensuring equality and dignity in sanitation work.

Rights of Sanitation Workers in India

The legal framework in India recognizes the right to sanitation and the rights of workers in hazardous employment. But it has failed to regulate the safety of sanitation workers. The agencies of the state and local bodies that employ sanitation workers ignore the safety dimensions of their work. In this context, the higher judiciary has granted relief to sanitation workers who were victims of accidents or to their families after their death. This chapter analyses the legal framework relating to sanitation workers and highlights the importance of making laws to achieve their right to sanitation. It focuses on two dimensions. First, sanitation work is primarily a caste based and poverty driven occupation and this explains the indifferent attitude of the public and State. Second, the realization of the right to sanitation depends on the safety of sanitation workers and their recognition as right holders.

Sanitation and State Planning

Five-Year Plans help understand the policy and planning approach of the State to issues of water supply and sanitation in India. This chapter examines the policy focus on sanitation as reflected in various Five-Year Plans and analyses the changes that have taken place over the last six decades. At first, in urban areas, the focus is on slums whose demolition is seen as the only solution while in the later plans, there is a shift towards the creation of basic amenities. In rural areas, the Plans limit their focus to ‘problem villages’ and those suffering from endemic diseases. There is a progressive move towards decentralization, but important challenges persist in respect of how local bodies would raise the required economic resources. Towards the later Plan periods, a distinct market-based approach to water supply and sanitation emerges. Welfare measures are redesignated as economic imperatives and water is considered an economic asset.

Safai Karmachari Andolan

This chapter is a first-hand exposition of the issue of manual scavenging from the point of view of the community. It provides a brief narrative history of how the manual scavenging community in India emerged as a critical organized voice against the practice of manual scavenging and the underlying link between caste and sanitation work in India. In particular, this chapter explains the emergence of Safai Karmachari Andolan as a platform for the manual scavenging community to fight against discrimination, exploitation, and violation of rights politically, socially, and legally. It provides a brief account of the unwritten history of Safai Karmachari Andolan, the gradual progression of the movement, its engagement with the government and judiciary, and challenges in achieving the goal of complete eradication of manual scavenging.

The Environmental Dimension of the Right to Sanitation

This chapter examines and analyses the law and policy framework governing treatment and disposal of human waste in India. It finds that sanitation (and the disposal of human waste) is largely viewed as a sub-set of provision of water. Social, economic, and environmental changes that necessitate amendments in existing laws and/or the enactment of new laws have not been considered. An infrastructure focused, top-down approach has been adopted insofar as treatment is concerned and there is limited or no discussion about the appropriateness of existing human waste disposal technologies or consideration of alternatives in other cases, either in laws or policies. There is poor implementation of binding and non-binding instruments laying down standards for sewage disposal in order to avoid water pollution. Despite courts’ directions in cases concerning the failure or inability of public authorities to discharge their duties, there is no change in status quo.

Introduction

The Introduction starts with an overview of the concept of the right to sanitation and its implementation in India. It examines the legal recognition of the right—expressly as a constitutional right by the higher judiciary and by implication in legislation, and then highlights some points of divergence between international law and domestic law in India. This is followed by a justification for a separate right to sanitation. It then considers the features of the existing law and policy framework that can contribute to the realization of the right to sanitation, and the implications of the dominance of the policy framework. In the next part, it advocates for a broad conceptualization of sanitation and the right to sanitation which is followed by two parts that elaborate the relevance and the scope of this work respectively.

Sanitation, Gender Inequality, and Implications for Rights

This chapter unpacks specific gender dimensions of the law and policy framework for rural sanitation in India and its implementation in order to assess its contribution to the realization of the right to sanitation of women. The core question that informs the discussion is whether the framework represents a shift towards or away from gender equality. This chapter focuses on three aspects in particular. The first section examines the extent to which the framework accommodates the issues of privacy and dignity of women as well as certain women specific sanitation needs. The second section contextualizes the position of women in terms of participation and agency. The third section analyses the issue of safety, particularly gender-based violence in the context of open-defecation or access to public toilets.