Common Property Resources & Human Rights: Politics of Water Struggles in India

Recent wave of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) of national economies has limited the policy options of a greater number of developing countries. The impact of LPG on public policy formulation is evident both at the macro and micro level. At the macro level, various national governments are no longer in a position to retain state regulation not only in the economic realm but also with respect to the social sectors. Macro level policies are aimed at increasing the stake of private players and the privatisation drive is largely at the cost of state control. Micro level issues are sector- and case-specific. LPG has impacted Common Property Resources (CPRs) in many ways. For example, there has been a fatal blow to the harmonious relationship between state regulation and community ownership regimes. The issue of water is a good case in point. The opening up of the state regime of CPRs to the free play of foreign and domestic capital has adversely affected the interests of marginal, vulnerable and socially disadvantaged groups of society. Privatisation has resulted in the reckless exploitation of CPRs by foreign and domestic private corporations. This work is an attempt to explore the multi-dimensional effects of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation on common property resources in the context of human rights.