Case 9.12: Sharing the water tankers
- Hypothetical case
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Syllabus point
- 6: moral thinkers, applied (Mill, Rawls, Kant)
- Values and laws tested
- Utilitarianism (the greatest good of the greatest number), Rawls (the worst off first), Kant (persons never merely as means); Article 21 (a life of dignity); fairness and humane concern
Illustrative exampleSharing the water tankers
Vikram is a Sub-Divisional Officer in a district of Rajasthan. There is a drinking-water crisis in summer and he has only 12 tankers a day. Three places are asking. A town colony has about 3,000 people, but it has handpumps and the option of private tankers. A large village of about 1,500 has a dried-up pond. The third is a remote dhani of only 150 people, mostly elderly people and women, with no alternative and a poor road. The colony's pressure is the strongest and a leader says, "Where there are more people, more water must go." No representative of the dhani has come to see the officer at all. The temperature is touching 46 degrees, and the tankers come from a single filling point 25 kilometres away. Vikram cannot add a new tanker; he must work within the 12 he has been given.
- Stakeholders
- the elderly and women of the dhani (the weakest party), the large village, the colony residents, tanker drivers and contractors, the leader, Vikram, the water department.
- Issue
- justice by numbers (the greatest good of the greatest number) against the most helpless first (fairness and dignity). Also unequal pressure and unequal voice.
- Options
- A. Share in proportion to population (simple and fair by count; but the dhani gets least though it has no alternative). B. Give the dhani and the large village full water first and the colony only what is left (the weakest are safe; but the colony's poor families cannot afford private tankers). C. First guarantee every place a life-saving minimum (fixed litres per person), then in the water that remains give priority to places with no alternative, remote and weak, and make the whole allocation public (complex; but it balances both principles).
- Best
- C. Mill's utilitarianism weighs total welfare, so it counts numbers and also life-saving need; Rawls says inequality is just only if it benefits the least advantaged; Kant says never treat a person merely as a means, so the dhani's silence is no reason. Article 21 carries a life of dignity.
Lesson
Action: Short term: a minimum-quantity formula, water for the dhani from day one, a public roster of tankers and a check on every trip, a contact person from the dhani. Long term: a lasting source for the dhani such as a tanka or handpump, a pre-listed set of crisis spots with storage, an assessment of the colony's private options.
Practice Questions
Practice questionabout 100 words
(10 marks, 100 words) How should Vikram share the tankers? Solve with the five-step card.
Model answer
The weakest stakeholders are the elderly and women of the dhani; the large village, the colony, the leader and the water department are involved too. The issue is justice by numbers against the most helpless first. I have three routes: share by population, serve the weakest places in full first, or guarantee a minimum everywhere and then prioritise. The first forgets the dhani; the second abandons the colony's poor families. I choose the third, because Rawls gives priority to the worst off, and Mill's total welfare leans toward the thirsty too. I would publish the roster and recommend a permanent source for the dhani.
Practice questionabout 50 words
(5 marks, 50 words) Compare Mill's utilitarianism and Rawls's principle in this case. Where do they meet and where do they differ?
Model answer
Counting heads alone is not all of Mill; he looks at total welfare, and water gives most welfare to those with no alternative. So both lean toward the dhani. The difference: Rawls gives the weakest firm priority, Mill weighs by total welfare. The balance: a minimum for all, then priority for the weak.
Practice questionabout 50 words
(5 marks, 50 words) Suggest a long-term system for water distribution in a crisis.
Model answer
A permanent water source, advance crisis planning, storage, a public roster.