"Free" is the best word in marketting, as is said. It seems to hold true in a lot of areas, especially in Politics. With voters enticed with several freebies in every election, the key aspect in Delhi elections was the 700 liters of "FREE" water every household per day seems to be a masterstroke along with a "50% OFF" on electricity. These definitely played a significant part in deciding who will win the Delhi Elections.
From a socialistic standpoint, it is a very positive step towards providing basic amenities to citizens. I was pretty delighted to understand that it was to be rolled out pretty soon, however, my delight was shortlived with the "Conditions Apply" that came with this "Offer".
Before going into some statistics lets dwelve on some facts. Delhi Chief Minister announced a 668 liter per household under the following conditions (as reported and quoted)
"All the domestic consumers having metered connection will get 20 kilolitres of water free of cost from January 1. We will not even levy any existing charges such as water cess and sewerage charge," newly-appointed Delhi jal board CEO Vijay Kumar told reporters.
He, however, said if the consumption limit crosses 20 kilolitres, then the consumer will have to pay for the water and other charges.
The "condition applied" on the free water is rather interesting. As is reported currently it seems that anyone who uses 20KL of water will be charged zero, but anyone who uses 20,001 Liters will be charged fully for full consumption (as is being understood).
In my view the above sets up a pretty unfair distribution mechanism of a subsidized (rather free) essential commodity like water.
Analyzing a few statistics (while not all informaiton is available in public domain), I tried to understand various facets and factors on how beneficial the scheme sounds and would be
Statistic (Metered v/s Unmetered)
Firstly, a statistic that might improve with good governance and time as per the Delhi Statistical Handbook of 2013,
Metered Connections : 1542825 (77%+)
Unmetered Connections : 438791 (22% +)
While hoping that this number would improve, currently around 20% of the people who derive water from DJB might not be immediately benefitted, however AAP has full 5 years to ensure this number reduces significantly.
Statistic (Source of Water)
It should be also noted that only 81% of population in Delhi rely on relies water sourced from DJB via taps as per 2011 census.
The rest of the 19% rely on Tubewells/Handpumps/Wells/etc.
It is thus evident that this 19% will typically may not benefit from the freebie dolled out and impacts only 18% of the population
It is no rocket science to understand the most people that will benefit form the same is the Urban localities and the Rural areas might not fully benefit from the same
Statistic (Average Daily Water Consumption)
Based on the same source of Delhi Statistical Handbook 2013, Average Per Capita Requirement of a Delhite in 2013 is around 50 gallons per day, which converts to around 190L per day.
Interestingly this has not changed since quite some years.
This statistic is very important to understand what follows next
Statistic (Household Sizes)
Quoting from the Delhi Census 2011 following is the distribution of households in Delhi
Source:censusindia.gov.in
First Row which has is the number of people every house hold, 1 representing a household with only 1 individual, 2 with a family of 2, and so on till 15+ individuals per household.
The second row, constitues the percentage that the section holds.
The third row, is a simple calcuation of total number of people in that section
A very important column is last row, which suggests the Per Person utlization a household will have to have if they need to be under the 668 Liter freebie per day
Some Observations from this statistic
1) 54% of households have 5 or more members
2) 75% of households have 4 or more members
Interpretatoin
Assuming that households continue their usage pattern, lets analyze how many households would actually end up having Rs. 0 Bills
As in the earlier statistic the Per capita consumption is around 190 Liters per person, if we cross reference this with the per Person Utilizaiton row in the above table (assuming every household only can use 668L of water per day), this would mean 89% people will have to reduce their water consumption to actually have free water. This would include an ideal familty of hum do hamare do.
Considering the mean family size of 5, the mean family will need to reduce their water consumption from the average by about 30%, to endup with a Rs. 0 bill in their hands
Only 11% people will be able to continue their "water lifestyle" and still manage to get a zero bill.
Lets try to further understand this 11% who are truly benefitted by this scheme. These people are recieving atleast 16% more water than average dictates and still have free water.
If they were to only still use the average of 190L water per day, this category of individuals will still be entitled for consuming 151344998L (151 Million Liters) of "extra" water "per day" that they wont be charged for.
This is a whopping surplus which is benefitting only 11% of population.
AAP has maintained that they have want to eradicate the Tanker Mafia from Delhi. It is but common sense that subsidizing an essential commodity is a major source of corruption. The Coal Gate scam was a prime example of the same. Rather providing this water for "Free" only in Delhi, it will open up more "revenue streams" for Tanker Mafia's to purchase this surplus 151Million surplus free water market. Assuming that they might not find buyers in Delhi they may simply move town and sell it else where. To extend it theory, they need not even go beyond Delhi and simply provide it to industries that are not benefitted by this subsidy at a cheaper rate.
Summary
Looking at the number of people that will truly benefit from this scheme from all the above statistics, I will leave it to you to determine whether or not this scheme was dolled out a rather too soon (in the first week itself) and some due diligence and thought should have gone into it.
There are several factors that might affect the reality, all the above data is sourced from Goverment bodies and assumed to be true.
From a socialistic standpoint, it is a very positive step towards providing basic amenities to citizens. I was pretty delighted to understand that it was to be rolled out pretty soon, however, my delight was shortlived with the "Conditions Apply" that came with this "Offer".
Before going into some statistics lets dwelve on some facts. Delhi Chief Minister announced a 668 liter per household under the following conditions (as reported and quoted)
"All the domestic consumers having metered connection will get 20 kilolitres of water free of cost from January 1. We will not even levy any existing charges such as water cess and sewerage charge," newly-appointed Delhi jal board CEO Vijay Kumar told reporters.
He, however, said if the consumption limit crosses 20 kilolitres, then the consumer will have to pay for the water and other charges.
The "condition applied" on the free water is rather interesting. As is reported currently it seems that anyone who uses 20KL of water will be charged zero, but anyone who uses 20,001 Liters will be charged fully for full consumption (as is being understood).
In my view the above sets up a pretty unfair distribution mechanism of a subsidized (rather free) essential commodity like water.
Analyzing a few statistics (while not all informaiton is available in public domain), I tried to understand various facets and factors on how beneficial the scheme sounds and would be
Statistic (Metered v/s Unmetered)
Firstly, a statistic that might improve with good governance and time as per the Delhi Statistical Handbook of 2013,
Metered Connections : 1542825 (77%+)
Unmetered Connections : 438791 (22% +)
While hoping that this number would improve, currently around 20% of the people who derive water from DJB might not be immediately benefitted, however AAP has full 5 years to ensure this number reduces significantly.
Statistic (Source of Water)
It should be also noted that only 81% of population in Delhi rely on relies water sourced from DJB via taps as per 2011 census.
The rest of the 19% rely on Tubewells/Handpumps/Wells/etc.
It is thus evident that this 19% will typically may not benefit from the freebie dolled out and impacts only 18% of the population
It is no rocket science to understand the most people that will benefit form the same is the Urban localities and the Rural areas might not fully benefit from the same
Statistic (Average Daily Water Consumption)
Based on the same source of Delhi Statistical Handbook 2013, Average Per Capita Requirement of a Delhite in 2013 is around 50 gallons per day, which converts to around 190L per day.
Interestingly this has not changed since quite some years.
This statistic is very important to understand what follows next
Statistic (Household Sizes)
Quoting from the Delhi Census 2011 following is the distribution of households in Delhi
Source:censusindia.gov.in
| Total | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| No. of HH | 2718050 | 124842 | 208095 | 323869 | 577970 |
| %HH distribution | 100 | 4.59307224 | 7.65604018 | 11.91549089 | 21.26414157 |
| No. of Pepople | 13694245 | 124842 | 416190 | 971607 | 2311880 |
| % distribution people | 0.91 | 3.04 | 7.10 | 16.88 | |
| Per Person Utilization in Household Category | 668.00 | 334.00 | 222.67 | 167.00 |
| 6 | 7 to 10 | 11-14+ | 15+ | |
| No. of HH | 378575 | 493307 | 49995 | 19490 |
| %HH distribution | 13.928184 | 18.149298 | 1.8393701 | 0.7170582 |
| No. of Pepople | 2271450 | 3946456 | 649935 | 292350 |
| % distribution people | 16.586895 | 28.818354 | 4.7460448 | 2.1348384 |
| Per Person Utilization in Household Category | 111.33333 | 83.5 | 51.384615 | 44.533333 |
First Row which has is the number of people every house hold, 1 representing a household with only 1 individual, 2 with a family of 2, and so on till 15+ individuals per household.
The second row, constitues the percentage that the section holds.
The third row, is a simple calcuation of total number of people in that section
A very important column is last row, which suggests the Per Person utlization a household will have to have if they need to be under the 668 Liter freebie per day
Some Observations from this statistic
1) 54% of households have 5 or more members
2) 75% of households have 4 or more members
Interpretatoin
Assuming that households continue their usage pattern, lets analyze how many households would actually end up having Rs. 0 Bills
As in the earlier statistic the Per capita consumption is around 190 Liters per person, if we cross reference this with the per Person Utilizaiton row in the above table (assuming every household only can use 668L of water per day), this would mean 89% people will have to reduce their water consumption to actually have free water. This would include an ideal familty of hum do hamare do.
Considering the mean family size of 5, the mean family will need to reduce their water consumption from the average by about 30%, to endup with a Rs. 0 bill in their hands
Only 11% people will be able to continue their "water lifestyle" and still manage to get a zero bill.
Lets try to further understand this 11% who are truly benefitted by this scheme. These people are recieving atleast 16% more water than average dictates and still have free water.
If they were to only still use the average of 190L water per day, this category of individuals will still be entitled for consuming 151344998L (151 Million Liters) of "extra" water "per day" that they wont be charged for.
This is a whopping surplus which is benefitting only 11% of population.
AAP has maintained that they have want to eradicate the Tanker Mafia from Delhi. It is but common sense that subsidizing an essential commodity is a major source of corruption. The Coal Gate scam was a prime example of the same. Rather providing this water for "Free" only in Delhi, it will open up more "revenue streams" for Tanker Mafia's to purchase this surplus 151Million surplus free water market. Assuming that they might not find buyers in Delhi they may simply move town and sell it else where. To extend it theory, they need not even go beyond Delhi and simply provide it to industries that are not benefitted by this subsidy at a cheaper rate.
Summary
Looking at the number of people that will truly benefit from this scheme from all the above statistics, I will leave it to you to determine whether or not this scheme was dolled out a rather too soon (in the first week itself) and some due diligence and thought should have gone into it.
There are several factors that might affect the reality, all the above data is sourced from Goverment bodies and assumed to be true.
No comments:
Post a Comment