Inequality in India: Through the Lens of Differences in Water Quality

Abstract

India is ranked as the worst country in the world, in terms of number of people lacking access to safe water. This study examines the socio-economic inequity of India through the lens of privileged Indian respondents’ perceptions of the water quality accessible to communities of different socio-economic status. To address this aim, a survey was conducted to measure the level of social awareness around this issue among privileged Indian respondents with regards to their ratings of the safety of the water in three different communities: their own, the underprivileged, and India as a whole. Respondents rated their water quality to be the highest, followed by India as a whole, and then the underprivileged. The main reasons they offered for their ratings were: the government’s failure to set up an adequate infrastructure for piping water without polluting it and the inability of the underprivileged to afford water filters in India. Despite the gravity of the health problems that can ensue from the lack of access to safe water, the lack of accountability for the government, and apathy from the privileged residents, can be attributed to the deeply entrenched discrimination in India, which is founded upon its caste tradition and its pursuit of the capitalist agenda in the ‘90s. Therefore, it is vital that the Indian government and people take responsibility for providing safe water to all by: increasing awareness amongst all communities; provision of water filters for all, and the eventual changing of the piping system in the long term.