The Hindu Business Line : The missing MDG

Public policy has to provide the wherewithal for human capability to achieve its full potential. This is because, even in circumstances of sustained high rates of economic growth, as long as capabilities are highly unequal among the people, income and wealth distribution will not be equitable and across the board.

Also, neither free markets nor global economic integration can automatically ensure fairness in the distribution of capabilities. International action has been initiated, in terms of the Millennium Development Goals, to make a dent on some of the gross intra-national and international inequalities in the building blocks that support human capabilities.

A major development at the turn of the 20th century was the issuance in September 8, 2000, by the heads of state and government, of the landmark United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Declaration articulated the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include specific targets in the areas of poverty reduction, provision of education to all children, reducing the percentage of people without access to water and sanitation, reduction in infant, childhood and maternal mortality, control the spread of such diseases as HIV/AIDS and malaria, and improving the lives of slum-dwellers. All these are, indeed, important for building human capabilities.

From a long-term standpoint, the goal relating to water and sanitation has a strong link to strengthening such capabilities. How does one go about achieving it?

Water and Sanitation

The readers should pardon the following personal account. When I was about three years old, my father acquired a home with two rooms and a small courtyard in front. My childhood memory was one of keeping a vessel in line before a public tap, a little away from our home and waiting for the tap to bring water (it used to make a particular noise to signal that it would spout water soon). Once the water was flowing, my mother and I waited for our turn. It was a great thrill when we finally obtained a vessel full of water. Things at times used to get nasty when a woman or man jumped the queue. By the time I entered my early teens, we had a tap connection at home. For some `engineering' reasons, we had to dig a pit below the ground level and install the pipe. I guess it was to ensure good flow of water. When it came to sanitation, we had to wait longer for running water in the toilet

Finally, when in my late twenties, I used my first lot of savings to construct a toilet connected to a septic tank outside the house where my parents lived and, of course, heaved a sigh of relief. I do not think it is too much to expect this very basic amenity to become universally accessible to all my fellow citizens.

Housing: The Missing Goal

Many people seem to think that it is fine to supply water on a community or group basis from a borewell or via a water-tanker. The Table, however, underscores the importance of a house water supply connection. While it may make sense to have drinking water provision on a community basis, it is a disgrace to apply such a philosophy for toilet facilities. It is no exaggeration to say that the first item on the women empowerment agenda must be to ensure that every woman has access to a private toilet.

This is no exaggeration, as the following account affirms. Thanks to the low-cost housing programme in Andhra Pradesh that has gathered speed in recent years, a friend's maid received a flat comprising a room, kitchen and bath.

She expressed great joy when she received the keys for her home, chiefly because she now has her own private toilet. The Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Unicef, for instance, refers to a survey of rural households in the Philippines, which provides a listing in order of importance of the following reasons for preferring a proper toilet: lack of flies, cleaner surroundings, privacy, less embarrassment when friends visit and reduced gastro-intestinal disease.

As for housing provision, one should not forget the problems of the slum-dwellers. It is vital not to exaggerate the need for slum-dwellers to stay put and accord `property rights'. The best option is to have orderly and well-planned relocation into mid-rise housing in housing clusters in new towns.

Fine-tuning MDG by including housing

Most of the MDGs are to be achieved by 2015. Thus we are now at the half-way point. It is useful to specifically incorporate `housing the homeless', homeless being inclusive of those without proper housing. As a corollary, it is best for aid agencies (including the multilateral development banks) to assist in housing development rather than water supply and sanitation provision alone.

More than any other developmental activity, housing is the key for people to have a stake in the country and in peace and security. It could well be vital for children to stay healthy and study well.

(The author, formerly with the National University of Singapore and the World Bank, is Professor Emeritus, GITAM Institute of Foreign Trade, Visakhapatnam and Visiting Faculty, Sri Sathya Sai University, Prashanti Nilayam. He can be reached at bhanoji@gmail.com)

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