Public Facilities:

There are many facilities which need to be provided to everyone.

These are known as public facilities. Examples: healthcare, sanitation, electricity, public transport, schools, colleges, drinking water, etc.

One important characteristic of public facility is that once it is provided its benefit can be shared by many people.

For example; if a school comes up in a locality, many children are benefited from that school.

Similarly, if a road is built through a village then many people are benefited from the road.

The Constitution recognizes that right to water is a part of the Right to Life under Article 21.

So, it is government’s duty to provide safe drinking water to every citizen.

Role of Government in Providing Public Facilities:

The government has to ensure universal access to a public facility.

The government has to provide a facility either without a charge or at a charge which is affordable to the masses.

Private companies may also be interested in providing public facilities.

But profit maximization is the main goal of a private company.

This will result in hefty charges which can be affordable to select number of people.

This will defeat the purpose of universal access to a public facility.

Hence, usually it is the government which provides public facilities.

However, there are many examples of private players providing public facilities.

For example; the electricity distribution is in the hands of private companies in New Delhi.

 In such a case, the government has to put in place proper checks and balances to keep the charges under limit.

According to Urban Water Committee a person in urban area needs at least 135 litre of water per day for quality life.

But a person living in slum gets only 20 litre water per day.

Where does the government get money for public facilities?

Every year you must have heard the government budget being presented in the Parliament.

This is an account of the expenses the government has made on its programmes in the past year and how much it plans to spend in the coming year.

In the budget, the government also announces the various ways in which it plans to meet these expenses.

The main source of revenue for the government is the taxes collected from the people, and the government is empowered to collect these taxes and use them for such programmes.

For instance, to supply water, the government has to incur costs in pumping water, carrying it over long distances, laying down pipes for distribution, treating the water for impurities, and finally, collecting and treating waste water.

It meets these expenses partly from the various taxes that it collects and partly by charging a price for water. This price is set so that most people can afford a certain minimum amount of water for daily use.

Water as Part of the Fundamental Right to Life:

Water is essential for life and for good health.

Not only is it necessary for us to be able to meet our daily needs but safe drinking water can prevent many water-related diseases.

India has one of the largest numbers of cases of diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera. Over 1,600 Indians, most of them children below the age of five, reportedly die every day because of water-related diseases.

These deaths can be prevented if people have access to safe drinking water.

The Constitution of India recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21.

This means that it is the right of every person, whether rich or poor, to have sufficient amounts of water to fulfill his/her daily needs at a price that he/she can afford.

In other words, there should be universal access to water.

Water Supply in Cities:

Water is supplied by the Jal Board or Water Board which comes under the municipality in a city. Water supply is however inadequate in most of the cities.

People who live close to pumping stations or storage tanks get better supply of water.

But people who live further away may not get adequate water supply.

Leakage in pipelines further compounds the problem.

The municipality also makes arrangement for water tankers in case a particular locality does not get water supply for a particular period.

But tanker mafia has a stranglehold over supply by water tankers.

This makes the water costly for most of the people.

Only middle class and upper class people are in a position to pay the money demanded by the tanker mafia.

Many people dig bore-wells and install water pumps to compensate for inadequate water supply.

Many people use water purifiers to get safe drinking water. But such facilities are out of the reach of poor people.

While situation is somewhat comfortable in cities, most of the villages and town do not get adequate supply of water.

Conclusion:

Public facilities relate to our basic needs and the Indian Constitution recognises the right to water, heath, education etc as being a part of the Right to Life.

Thus one of the major roles of the government is to ensure adequate public facilities for everyone.

But, progress on this front has been far from satisfactory.

There is a shortage in supply and there are inequalities in distribution.

Compared to the metros and large cities, towns and villages are under-provided.

Compared to wealthy localities, the poorer localities are under-serviced.

Handing over these facilities to private companies may not be the answer.

Any solution needs to take account of the important fact that every citizen of the country has a right to these facilities which should be provided to her/him in an equitable manner.