Water council on the anvil to attract private players The Hindu : Front Page

<cite>The Hindu : Front Page : Water council on the anvil to attract private players</cite>: "

To ensure better water supply in urban areas and to make the sector attractive for private players, the State Government is thinking of setting up a regulatory body on the lines of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission.The State Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Council, which is to be the regulator, has been conceptualised as an 'independent body' that will take over all the functions of the Government with regard to the water and sanitation sector except the power to formulate policies.Restructuring tariffIt is learnt that one of the important mandates of the council will be to 'develop clarity on the kind of private participation that can be entered into', apart from restructuring tariff rates, as recommended by the Urban Drinking Water and Sanitation Policy of 2002.'Setting up of the independent council is a precursor to full-blown privatisation. When private entities enter the field, they do not have to deal with a government body that is accountable to the general public but to a small council,' says Kshitij Urs, a rights activist. (snip)

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