An Analysis of Drinking Water Supply through PPP: A Dalit Perspective in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

“A Dalit boy, Veeran Ahirwar (9), drowned in a well after a teacher denied him access to a hand pump to drink water in Damoh district, Madhya Pradesh”.[1] In another instance, “an area named Harijan Sahi, more than 60 SC families live in this village. According to Dalit families of this village, the villagers are receiving drinkable water through a water project taken up by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) department. The drinkable water pipeline of this project also exists in the area inhabited by Dalits. But it is alleged that for the past two years no water has been supplied to the area where Dalits reside.[2] “For over two years, a Dalit family at Lakshmipura-Bhandu village in Mehsana district (Gujarat) has been struggling to build a toilet for itself but can’t do so, owing to the alleged opposition to it by some local upper-caste people”.[3] There has been repetition of such incidents against Dalits throughout the country, over twenty-five years of economic reform.[4]