Abstracts
Theme: WTO and Governance
Panel: Privatization of Basic Public Services
 Privatization of Public Services: Going Beyond the Small-State Paradigm
Kiran Bhatty Abstract
The far from satisfactory record of government intervention in the social sector in the last fifty odd years since India’s independence has led to calls for replacement of publicly provided services by the private sector.
At the same time sharp regional differences between Indian states such as Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Haryana raise pertinent questions about provision of public services, especially for the poor. HP has achieved a so-called ‘schooling revolution’ effecting all sections of the population on the basis of the government sector, whereas Haryana, where privatization is rampant, shows vast disparities in the education performance of men and women, and lower and upper castes.
On the basis of my research in these two states, I attempt to question the retreat of the government sector from the provision of basic public services and its consequences (some unintended) on issues of equity, quality of services and governance.
The paper questions the rush for privatization not just in terms of equity, quality of services and governance, but more fundamentally in terms of the relevance of the minimalist state paradigm in societies where large sections of the population are still very poor and unable to access basic public services. In poor countries, where the state still has an important role to play in development, should the answers be found in privatization, or by making the government work more effectively for the poor?
Liberalizing trade in services in the era of globalization:
Stakes and concerns
Krushna Mohan Pattanaik*
With the emergence of services as the major contributor to economic development, liberalization of trade in services has become a crucial issue in international negotiations on services. The resulting General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) facilitates liberalization of trade in services through its mutual ‘offer and take’ approach. However, limited negotiations under GATS have created concerns about the fact that liberalization of trade in services entails some short and medium-term adjustment cost. This paper synthesizes the above context and finds that the opportunities from the liberalization of trade in services will be optimal only when it is accompanied by domestic reforms under transparent and fair regulatory framework, which would create a level playing field within a competitive market.
* The author is a research fellow at Economics Unit of the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India.
Water Privatization–The Human Right to Water as Guideline for Sustainable Water Management
Nils Rosemann*
Water is a limited natural resource and a public good essential for life and health. A human rights approach to a basic need such as water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. The United Nations estimated that still 1 billion people lacked access to improved water supply and 2.4 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation. Adopting the Millennium Declaration, the international community committed itself to halve the number of people without sufficient access to safe water and to wastewater treatment by 2015. Given the current trend in the rise of the world population, an additional 100 million people per annum have to be provided with safe water and another 125 million people per annum with sanitation services. In order to meet this objective it is estimated that necessary additional investment of USD 10 billion per year for lower standards and USD 17 billion per year for urban standards of water access is necessary. Since these resources are not available, it is considered that private sector participation might fill the gap of required resources via foreign direct investment. Since private sector participation calls for certain property rights, the privatization of formerly public services might be the final outcome of such a process. This paper discusses how the human right to water could guide such privatisation processes.
* Nils Rosemann is based in Islamabad, Pakistan, and works as an Attorney of Law and Human Rights and Development Consultant in Islamabad, Geneva and Berlin. He holds a Masters in Law and is a PhD candidate at Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
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