A market-based solution to a sanitation issue in a marginalised area

ABSTRACT

Neo-liberal ideology, as an abstract technique of self-governance and population management, is often viewed as tolerant of extreme inequality within a market economy. However, the range of policy proposals that flow from the ideology are not necessarily insensitive to development projects in marginalised areas. Sensitivity to market mechanisms may inject pragmatism in contexts where states are unable or unwilling to supply capability enhancing public goods. Through an analysis of the Center for Urban and Regional Excellence’s proof-of-concept development project in India, this article argues that a market-oriented framework can be useful in mitigating collective action problems.

KEYWORDS:

• Civil society
• NGOs
• Social sector
• Water and sanitation
• Governance and public policy
• South Asia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Vikash Yadav is Associate Professor of Political Science and Asian Studies, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USA.

ORCID

Vikash Yadav http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0328-4681

Notes

1 For a discussion of the capability enhancement approach to development, see Sen (2000).

2 For a discussion of public–private partnerships in promoting solutions of collective action problems, see Aoki (1998).

3 It is beyond this article’s scope to discuss the contentious politics of land acquisition and compensation, particularly during the Emergency period (1975–77) in which the town plan was put forward. The article focuses on the lived reality of the urban poor in contemporary NOIDA.

4 The reason for the relatively great portion of space devoted to housing was in part due to the desire of state planners to reduce migration to Delhi.

5 Caste groupings nominally denote hereditary occupational groupings organised hierarchically from ritually pure to ritually polluting occupations. Caste determines the largest group within which an individual can marry without social stigma. Caste status has been a focal point for social discrimination and political mobilisation.

6 It should be noted that the “bottled water” is usually just filtered local water, which is not of high quality.

7 Collective ownership is similar to collections for religious festivals, but with the added legibility of the scale of available private resources provided by CURE’s survey of residents.