The Right to Sanitation in India

Description

The right to sanitation has been recognised in India for more than two decades, and progressively integrated into the international human rights law framework since the beginning of the century. The recognition of the right itself is not a matter for debate in India since courts have repeatedly affirmed its existence as a right deriving from the fundamental right to life. Key issues arise in the context of conceptualisation and realisation of the right and relate to the existence and/or the scope of a law and policy framework for the realisation of the right to sanitation for all, the scope of the right, the links with other rights such as health and gender equality, as well as issues of specific relevance in the Indian context, such as manual scavenging, and more generally, caste-based discrimination and exploitation linked to sanitation work. In a context where sanitation challenges are more severe in India than in many other countries, this book represents the first effort to conceptually engage with the right to sanitation and its multiple dimensions in India. It also analyses the right to sanitation in India in the broader international and comparative setting.

About the authors

Philippe Cullet is Professor of International and Environmental Law, SOAS University of London and Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

Sujith Koonan is an Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, and University of Delhi.

Lovleen Bhullar is a Doctoral Candidate at SOAS University of London and Independent Researcher associated with the Environmental Law Research Society (ELRS), New Delhi.

Table of contents

Foreword by Usha Ramanathan
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations and Hindi Terms
Introduction
Part I. Conceptual Framework
Chapter I.: Sanitation: The Last Taboo Becomes A Human Right
Catarina de Albuquerque
Chapter II.: Sanitation in South Africa: Policy, Practice, and Contestation
Jackie Dugard
Chapter III.: The Right to Sanitation: Multiple Dimensions and Challenges
Philippe Cullet
Chapter IV.: Sanitation and State Planning: An Analysis of Five-year Plans
Ruchi Shree
Part II. Realising the Right to Sanitation in Rural and Urban Areas
Chapter V.: Assessing the Realisation of the Right to Sanitation in Rural Areas
Sujith Koonan
Chapter VI.: Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and Its Potential to Realise the Right to Sanitation
Lyla Mehta
Chapter VII.: Right to Sanitation in Urban Areas: Legal Obligations and Institutional Challenges
Mathew John
Chapter VIII.: The Politics of Open Defecation: Informality, Body, and Infrastructure in Mumbai
Renu Desai, Colin McFarlane, and Steve Graham
Chapter IX.: The Environmental Dimension of the Right to Sanitation
Lovleen Bhullar
Part III. Dignity, Safety, and Vulnerability
Chapter X.: Safai Karamchari Andolan: An Insider's Account
Bezwada Wilson
Chapter XI.: Invisible Inequalities: an Analysis of the Safai Karamchari Andolan Case
Shomona Khanna
Chapter XII.: Rights of Sanitation Workers in India
P. Sakthivel, M. Nirmalkumar, and Akshayaa Benjamin
Chapter XIII.: Sanitation, Gender Inequality, and Implications for Rights
Sujith Koonan and Lovleen Bhullar
About the Editors and Contributors
Index