Barriers to access water and sanitation services by the urban poor in large towns of Madhya Pradesh, India: an assessment of citizens' perception

The barriers to rights and entitlements for the poor in the urban context have several dimensions which are structural, procedural or practice oriented. The Paper aims to understand barriers to access various basic municipal services in general and water and sanitation in particular by the urban poor from the citizens’ perspective vis-à-vis the perspective of the providers. The Paper observes that rights and services have nested relationship and denial of some of the critical rights may affect several services and entitlements quintessential for the basic survival of any poor citizen viz. subsidized ration, social security benefit, public health and education and most important water and sanitation. The growing urban poverty in India, and particularly in states like Madhya Pradesh, underscores the importance of the analyzing barriers and finding areas for improvements.