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Mixing "what" and "how" - Mysore water supply protest example

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Written By silkboard - 21 March, 2009

governance PPP Mysore Complaint MCC water supply JUSCO Participation

Not writing this to take sides in the recently lit 'protest' over supposed privatization of water supply at Mysore. Good friend Vinay forwarded this article from Star of Mysore which goes by the title "Intellectuals oppose Tata deal"

Now, in there, what caught my eye were the 'demands' listed by these esteemed citizens of Mysore, which, quoting from the SoM story, are:

  1. MoU between Corporation and JUSCO should be publicised
  2. To pass a resolution in the Corporation meeting not to privatise water supply
  3. Not to take any step which results in hike of water tariff and not to reduce the number of public taps
  4. Govt. should take steps to manage themselves the supply of Cauvery water to all the extensions.

Now, this is what I'd call a case of mixing the "what" and "how".

  • If you add the missing point about quality of water, point #3 is perhaps the "what", or, the outcome we want, the service requirements from citizens.
  • But, point #2, and #4 talk about "how", notice the words, rather directions about "privatise" and "themselves".

When citizens supply "how" on top of the "what" in their demands, we make things harder for governments.

The "how" items tend to be ideological, and more distracting than constructive. We as citizens should work relentlessly to tell local governments all the "what" items in greater details. Spending energy on "how" dilutes that focus, and gives the few manipulative sorts in government and political circles a chance to drive divisions in active citizen groups. We should learn to leave it to the experts to figure out the "how". And of course, we should demand that real experts, and not enthusiasts or activists decide the "how".

Not that I am not a pro or anti privatization guy. Many people make the mistake of assuming that one has to be anti or pro on ideologies on a blanket basis. Privatization etc may be a cure here or there, but why assume on a "blanket" basis that it will or will not work everywhere? Such labeling of people as pro or anti an-ideology is another way in which we, the active citizens, lose focus from the "what" and spend hours on "how".

PS: A note on the unaviodable ideological comments. My stand on the ideology etc is that hey, in present times, when we, urban or rural citizens, are so starved of quality services, we'd rather focus on listing down quality and cost requirements for local service/utility providers, and ask for complaint systems that we will use if the promises are not kept.

Whether government serves me via publicization, privatization or PPP-ization, why do I bother?

COMMENTS

Another Case of Opposition to Unfamiliar....

Naveen - 22 March, 2009 - 10:47

Hi All,

Similar to opposition for privatization of insurance, banking, telephony, etc., we have yet another case here justifying government controlled water distribution as "better" than private controlled, because this was how it had been all along & "public taps were always free" !

As long as water supply is improved & at the same costs, if not marginally higher for the improvements, why should it not be tested ? To safeguard the interests of the poorer sections, the MoU with Tatas must contain specific clauses that each km of piping will have a certain no. of public taps. If this were incorporated, where is the harm in trying to tap private capital in to the water distribution system ?

The MoU must of course be made public so that all opposing members and activists can have a look & satisfy themselves that the terms & conditions are acceptable & for common good.

Private = Evil ?

zenx - 23 March, 2009 - 03:23

True - the "how" is not the important part.

http://wikimapia.org/46057/Dimna-Lake

I grew up in that town. That lake/dam, and many others, were created and maintained throughout my lifetime through private effort.
We had clean/potable water through the taps (I was a little surprised to find folks impressed with this aspect of the US when I got into Bangalore in 96). We saw the town getting greener through our lives.

All the "municipal-controlled" areas received clean drinking water through this effort as well, mostly free of cost!

I'd never seen an open drain (except rainwater ones) or even overhead wiring except on a short stretch of road - where it was something to wonder about!

Apart from this, there were about a 100 villages around adopted for education, sanitation, promotion of local handicfrats and employment opportunity.

"Private" is not a synonym for "evil", after all. The intent of the effort matters, and sure, getting a regulatory framework in place to understand, and manage this is important. Demonization of this "ism" or that takes the debate to the wrong place.

- Sameer, Bangalore

all for privatisation

murali772 - 23 March, 2009 - 05:35

Well, I am all for privatisation (rather, competition from private sector), unabashedly and unapologetically. From around the early nineties, when it really started picking up, things have changed considerably. Admittedly, not all for the better; but, considerably for the better, I'll dare say.

Here's my ode to the romanticists who will not agree - check:  http://praja.in/blog/murali772/2008/03/03/those-were-days-my-friend

It's nobody's case that privatisation is the panacea for all the ills. There will continue to be problems. But, like the late Sri C Subramaniam had once stated, atleast these will be new problems, and not the same old ones for which we have not been able to find solutions for over half a century.

For recent debates on the subject in the HU yahoo-group, click on:  http://mysore.praja.in/blog/silkboard/2008/12/04/tata-arm-bags-mysore-water-supply-project#comment-11512

Muralidhar Rao

Good measure

rohith - 26 March, 2009 - 03:52

But one thing these corporations must keep in mind is that there are some things in governance that mandatorily must come under public control - basics like sanitation, water supply, roads, primary education and stuff like that. That said, any tendering to a pvt party to get portions of the work done, is not equal to privatisation - and hence need not be opposed in face value.

But an element of profitability could spell disaster in these sectors. And if privatisation indeed happens, profitability will be in focus. Not that I am against profitability, but this is not the place for profits, isnt it? And anything that is done for charity is sure to be unsustainable in future. So in this scenario, how is the corporation equipped to inspect the quality of deliverables from the pvt provider? How is the MCC equipped to ensure that quality hasnt been compromised with for profits. And how transparent is the tendering mechanism? What are the deals signed under this tender?

These are the questions I think people need to be asking. So I feel as long as there are strict guidelines framed in this deal, pvt involvment is a good measure indeed.

Rohith Rao

Nice debate

zenrainman - 27 March, 2009 - 05:49

 As somebody watching the secto for long I am happy with the tenor of the debate (so far :)  ). For the first time one see's no posturing, no strident name calling and a focus on the solution.
It would be good for citizen's groups to quickly benchmark the situation with water supply in Mysore now and see for themselves the way things turnaround (or not) .
A lot of the anti-privatization efforts were led by fears of MNC's stepping in. In the Mysore case it is an Indian company-JUSCO- stepping in and for the first time talking 24/7 for a city of this scale - a million population no less. It is doing so under a contract by the Mysore City Corporation so there is no fear that the 'waters' will be privatized. Key issues to emerge will most certainly be
- the capacity of the MCC to manage the contract. How is this to be built will be crucial to the long term performance of good water supply to the citizens of Mysore. Will the MCC create a separate wing and equip it with the right trained and skilled personnel to manage contracts (and not water)?
- the price of water will definitely go up and rightly so. Ridculously the subsidies reach the well off and he poor pay a higher price for water. How will this 'vested' interest be managed?
- a pro poor policy will need to quickly emerge which will take care of the interests of the poor who may not be able to afford the true price of water. Will that include subsidised connection charges? Subsidised fist salb of water? What will be the price ? Hopefully all this will be discussed in the public domain to the satisfaction of all concerned.
- how will sewage flows be collected and treated? Is this part of the contract? this will be interesting when systematically leaks are plugged and water supply connections extended these will cause wastewater flows to assume a different pattern . Hopefully this will be managed correctly and citizens will pay the true cost of water which includes sewge collection and treatment.
- the insitutional mechanism to redress grievances by indiviuals and collectives who may feel left out or badly done by some parts of the project. Why does not the MCC think of an ombudsman for this project? Should be the right positive step for transparency, accountability and grievance redressal.

Mysore has several enlightened civic grous an a very active citizenry , they should play a pro-active role in ensuring that this project delivers socially,ecologically and economically water to all . It can be a precedent for all other towns of Karnataka and India.

As rightly pointed out by the intially discussants lets get off the high horse of ideology and lets work towards solutions which deliver safe sustainabke water to all - including rich and the poor.

Will this group in praja monitor the progress of this project? Should be interesting and challenging.  

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