India should treat all Indians as well-off and not poor

If you want higher standards for drinking water packaging in India, who do you turn to?

- MANU JOSEPH

A few days ago, the Supreme Court seemed to scold a petitioner for wanting that, calling his plea for India to comply with top international standards a "luxury litigation.The apex court was hearing a writ petition filed by Sarang Vaman Yadwadankar. As reported, one of the judges said, "Where is the drinking water in this country? People do not have drinking water. The quality of bottled water will come later on... This is an urban-centric approach... Water bottle should have this content, that content, these are all luxury litigations...." (shorturl.at/EFYLw)

The spirit of those observations could explain many of India's deficiencies. Poverty in the country results in a tendency to peg everything on it. So India's plans are often of low calibre. India should instead consider all Indians upper middle-class.

Plastic packaging contains some chemicals that could be harmful, even carcinogenic beyond a point. For instance, antimony, a chemical element that is something between a metal and a nonmetal, can be harmful in high quantities. DEHP is another chemical that carries a similar risk. The issue is not whether these chemicals are in fact harmful. The developed world has already worried about it and come up with guidelines to reduce their presence. The issue is whether we too require higher standards.

If carcinogens in plastic water bottles is seen as a 'luxury' concern, it may inadvertently explain a society that still struggles to get potable water to all its people. When we have low standards, we aspire to less.