UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND ENERGY STUDIES.

COLLEGE OF LEGAL STUDIES

DEHRADUN

ABSTRACT RIGHT TO SANITATION FOR NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON REALIZATION OF THE RIGHT TO SANITATION IN INDIA CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD.

BY: SAKSHI KHURANA Student, B.A.LL.B.

sakshi.khurana@stu.upes.ac.in C-29, Tilak Nagar, Aishbagh, Lucknow. +91 9415108904

Article 21 of the Constitution of India has been variedly interpreted over time. It has been said to include in its ambit the Right to a clean and healthy environment. Living in urban India, most of us are well aware of the clogged sewers around our house, that place where the entire colony dumps their trash and it never gets cleaned. The rural scenario is even worse and cannot even be emulated in words. The heaps of cow dung, the inadequacy of clean, hygienic toilets, the mud and the clogged waters do not even begin to explain the pathetic state of Sanitation in the rural areas of the country. Can we really go to the court and demand our Right to Sanitation at each one of these issues which may seem petty at the outset but are actually infringing our very basic human right to life. This paper discusses the current scenario internationally and nationally of the Right to Sanitation. It also includes the legal and practical aspect of Sanitation in the Indian society considering the number of pending cases in the Indian courts. This paper proposes that for every such neighbourhood problem the answer may not be a court case against the state for its incapacity to do anything about it, a more productive solution to the problem could be a region-wise corporation which acts as a judicial body and works to ensure that peoples Right to Sanitation is being protected. This tribunal could work hand in hand with the municipal corporation of the region and ensure that toilets are being installed at every 1Km.radius and is also being cleaned on a regular basis and such other sanitation issues. In case of any incapacity on the part of the municipality the locals can file a complaint at this tribunal and seek justice. If the tribunal fails to carry out its duties then the case could be filed at the respective High Court. Sanitation is a very basic necessity for the development of the country as it determines the health and well-being of the future of the country any danger to a sanitized environment could directly jeopardise a nations development. India being a welfare state needs to ensure that everything that is for the well-being of the people of India is being done.