KCCI / 2011 02

Good practices in promoting socialinclusion through communitymanagement of rural water supplies:A case study of WASMO, Gujarat

Aasheerwad DwivediSukanya PurkayasthaKatja Siling

In collaboration withWater and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO)Gandhinagar

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this case-study are of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflectthe policies or the views of UNICEF and/or the Water and Sanitation Management Organisation(WASMO).

Contents

Lists of Figures 1Acknowledgements 2Acronyms 3Foreword 4Executive Summary 5Issue 7Background 8Strategy and Implementation 10Implementation Constraints and Challenges 12

Insufficient trust 12Community mobilisation 12Womens representation and participation in decision-making structures 12Making the PRA process more participative 13Community contribution 13Capacity building 14Project sustainability 14

Review of Progress 15Outcomes 15Changed lives 15Promoting womens voice 15

Resource Requirements 18A visionary team 18Demand from the community 18Social mobiliser 18Operating guidelines 18Human resources 19Networking 19Finance 19

Sustainability 20Good Practices 21Potential Application 24

Project implementation in cooperation with the government 24Partnerships with ISAs 24Decentralised approach 24Needs assessment before the projects implementation 24

Community participation 25Capacity building 25

Next Steps 26Recruit and train more female social mobilisers 26Female and male social mobilisers should work together in pairs 26Hold refresher trainings for Pani Samiti members 26Organise Pani Samiti meetings at a time and place suitable for women 26Make it compulsory for women to be inducted as members in the Empowered 27ommitteeMobilise men 27Create a brand which people will associate with quality and good governance 27Create an external pool of social mobilisers 27

References 28Annexure I: Methodology and Questionnaires 29Annexure II: Womens Representation in Pani Samitis (Ps) in 14 Villages Visited 33During Fieldwork

1List of Figures

Figure 1: Implementation Process 10Figure 2: Summary of good practices in community management of rural water supply 23

2Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the many people and institutions for their valuable guidance andassistance in undertaking this research project including Mr Manish Wasuja and Mr Prasoonfrom UNICEFs office in Gujarat, and the team of district coordinators and social mobilisersfrom the Kachchh, Narmada and Panchmahal offices of the Water and Sanitation ManagementOrganisation (WASMO) for organising and accompanying us on our field trips. We are especiallyindebted to the villagers who took time off their work to share their stories with us. Thank youfor your patience and hospitality.

3Acronyms

GR Government ResolutionGWSSB Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage BoardISA Implementation Support AgencyNGO Non-Governmental OrganisationPRA Participatory Rural AppraisalSCs Scheduled CastesSTs Scheduled TribesUNICEF United Nations Childrens FundVAP Village Action PlanWASMO Water and Sanitation Management Organisation

4Foreword

The Knowledge Community on Children in India (KCCI)is a partnership between theGovernment of India and UNICEF, the aim of which is to fill knowledge gaps and promoteinformationsharing on policies and programmes related to children in India. In 2011, under theaegis of this initiative, 40 graduate students from India and across the world undertook fieldworkand documented initiatives focused on child rights and development. Their vibrant perspectives,commitment and hard work are reflected in these studies, published by UNICEF.

The nine initiatives were documented in 2011 The teams looked at a range of initiatives atdifferent levels of intervention from community radio in tribal areas of Shivpuri in MadhyaPradesh to a complaints handling mechanism of the National Commission for the Protection ofChild Rights at the national level. The lens applied to these studies is to identify the essentialelements that go into making a model intervention successful and sustainable.

UNICEF recognises the potential and power of young people as drivers of change and futureleaders across the globe. The KCCI Summer Internship Programme aims to support thedevelopment of a cadre of young research and development professionals with an interest,commitment and skills in promoting and protecting childrens rights. UNICEF will continuethis collaboration with young researchers, the Government of India and academia, so as tobring fresh perspectives and energy to development research and showcase examples of how itis possible to ensure that the rights of every child in India are fulfilled.

Karin HulshofRepresentativeUNICEF India

5Executive Summary

In the State of Gujarat as elsewhere in India, access to water is inhibited by power-relationsbased on gender, caste, tribe religion etcetera and access to safe drinking water, particularly inrural areas, is difficult due to inadequate infrastructure and public spending.

Women and girls traditionally are responsible for fetching water, because of which they haveless time to devote to other chores or to pursue other interests. Children, particularly girls, arealso less likely to go to school as they have to walk long distances to fetch water for thehousehold. Discrimination based on caste further hinders equity in access to water. AlthoughGujarati women as the main water fetchers have been responsible for gathering, storing andprotecting water resources, they lack decision-making power and knowledge of safe watermanagement.

The Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) was established in 2002 as aspecial purpose vehicle of the Government of Gujarat to facilitate the development of watersupply that is owned and managed by the community. WASMO aims additionally to increasethe participation of women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes through capacity buildingand engagement in decision making.

In partnership with civil society organisations, UNICEF and others, WASMO has brought abouta change in the lives of villagers, particularly women and children. Because they no longerhave to fetch water, women now have more time not only to do other household work but alsoto enjoy some degree of rest and leisure. Children too, can go to school on time and spend moretime studying or playing.

The present study was conducted to assess the progress and performance of WASMOs waterdevelopment projects which aim to promote social inclusion through community managementof rural water supplies. (See Annex 1 for research methodology) In all, 14 WASMO projects inthree districts of Gujarat (Kachchh, Narmada and Panchmahal) were visited (during the periodJune to July 2011) based on which several conclusions and lessons were drawn.

The following are good practices observed in WASMOs approach to community-managedwater systems that are note-worthy and can be applied to any context/issues:

! Project implementation succeeds when carried out in cooperation with the governmentwhich has the power to create policies and impact change at the highest level.

6! Use of decentralised approach is indispensable, as it is difficult for the Central or StateGovernments to reach every household. Strengthening local governance through theformation of local committees or local governmental bodies in particular speeds up projectimplementation.

! Partnerships with civil society organisations are invaluable as they are able to reachthe communities and deliver services faster, are aware of the available resources in thecommunity, and have a good rapport with the people.

! Needs assessment before implementing a project is important as it assures that the projectis relevant to and can benefit the community.

! Community participation creates a sense of ownership and is vital to the projectssustainability.

! Capacity building of the community is a prerequisite for project sustainability. Trainingfor capacity building should be given to people regardless of their gender and their socio-economic or educational background.

To overcome the challenges that WASMO currently faces in the implementation of its projects,it is recommended that the following steps are taken:

1. Recruit and train more female social mobilisers with whom women feel morecomfortable sharing their problems and voicing their opinions and hence are more likelyto participate in water management projects.

2. Female and male social mobilisers should work in pairs to increase outreach to remoteareas (to ensure greater security for women mobilisers).

3. Hold refresher trainings for Pani Samiti (Water Committee) members to ensureeveryone has the capacity to successfully manage water supply systems.

4. Organise Pani Samiti meetings at locations and times suitable for women in orderto encourage their attendance at the meetings.

5. Make womens induction as members in the Empowered Committee mandatory inorder to ensure their active participation in decision-making.

6. Mobilise men (as they traditionally have control over household resources) to collectthe community contribution so that the project implementation is not delayed.

7. Create a brand which people will associate with quality and good governance: Thiswill give WASMO more credibility in the community, enabling it to gain the trust of thepeople, and make for faster implementation.

8. Create an external pool of social mobilisers to improve the quality of social mobilisationand reduce the workload of WASMO staff.

7Issue

Although access to clean water is a basic human right, 884 million people (13% of the worldpopulation) still consume water from unsafe sources1. India is on track to reaching the MillenniumDevelopment Goal of improving access to safe drinking water by 20152. Nevertheless, accessto safe drinking water is poor in many rural areas not only on account of inadequate infrastructure,but also because of cultural practices that bring about social exclusion. This denial of equalopportunities imposed by certain groups of society upon others prevents the individual fromparticipating in the basic political, economic and social functioning of the society.

The most economically developed state in India, Gujarat still lags behind several other Indianstates in the human development indices of child survival, nutrition and literacy rates3. Affectedby water scarcity (exploitation of ground water and increase in salinity affect almost two-thirdsof the state), and with a large tribal population that is not easily reached by development services,access to water and the problem of social exclusion in accessing water in Gujarat has becomegraver.

1 WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2008) Progress on DrinkingWater and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation. UNICEF, New York and WHO, Geneva.2 UNDP India (2010) Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Viewed on 8th July 2011.3 UNDP (2004). Gujarat Human Development Report.Viewed on 5th July 2011.

8Background

In the Indian context, social exclusion manifests itself in every aspect of life, and power-relationsbased on gender, caste, and socio-economic status are primary barriers hindering peoples accessto water and other key amenities and gains of development.

Traditionally, women in India tend to neither control the resources, nor actively participate indomestic or public decision-making. Their daily schedule is limited to taking care of thehousehold and/or working in the fields. Women and girls are also responsible for fetchingwater, because of which they have less time to do other chores or enjoy any degree of leisure.To fetch water, they often have to walk five to six kilometres4 and walking such long distancesin insecure conditions makes them vulnerable and exposed to abuse. Children, particularlygirls, are also less likely to go to school because they need to fetch water for the household.

In addition to gender, caste hinders equity in access to water. In the villages, women from asocially rated lower caste are required or expected to fetch water from a different, and frequentlymore distant, source than is earmarked for higher caste women, which forces them to walkeven further and allocate more time for fetching water5. Tribal communities or Scheduled Tribes(STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) as well as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are discriminatedagainst resulting in unequal access to water. Coupled with the above limiting factors is theeconomic situation which further impacts water distribution and leads to disparities in accessingwater, as it is the rich who have control over resources.

Exclusion in access to safe water consequently is a pervasive problem in India and ultimatelycombines with exclusion in other domain such as education or health to create a cycle ofdeprivation.

Findings elsewhere suggest that women involved in water projects achieve better results thanmen6 and thus policies have been calling for a gender mainstreaming approach in water andsanitation projects. Although Gujarati women as the main water carriers/users have been

4 Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008) Five Years of Decentralised Community ManagedWater Supply Programme. WASMO, Gandhinagar.5 Kulkarni, S., Ahmed, S., Datar, C., Bhat, S., Mathur, Y., Makhwana, D. (2008) Water Rights as Womens Rights?Assessing the Scope for Womens Empowerment through Decentralised Water Governance in Maharashtra andGujarat. SOPPECOM, Utthan.6 Fisher, J. (2006) For Her Its the Big Issue: Putting women at the centre of water supply, sanitation and hygiene.WSSCC, Geneva.

9responsible for fetching, storing and protecting water resources, they lack decision-makingpower and knowledge and skills to successfully manage water resources.

Traditionally the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) has been responsiblefor the provision of water in rural Gujarat. However, its water supply development projectswere never handed over to the community which was one of the key factors undermining thesustained provision and fair use of the services. In contrast, in Kachchh (chronically a waterscarce area) largely as a result of WASMOs efforts, communities are aware of the importanceof water and have developed their own systems for management of water resources leading toimproved access and sustainability.

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake which had a devastating impact on water resources in KachchhDistrict aggravated the already urgent need for water. New infrastructure had to be rapidlybuilt. As a result, the State Government decided to shift its paradigm from providing to facilitatingthe provision of water. The Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) wasestablished in 2002 as a special purpose vehicle of the Government with the vision:

To enable rural communities to have adequate, safe and sustainable drinking water supplyand improved habitat by ensuring empowerment and active community management of naturalresources, leading to an improvement in their living standard.7

In its approach to promoting water security, WASMO follows the principle underlying the 73rd

amendment of the Indian Constitution which encourages community participation8. In particular,WASMO aims to increase the participation of women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), and ScheduledTribes (STs) through capacity building and their engagement in decision making.

7 Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008) Five Years of Decentralised Community ManagedWater Supply Programme. WASMO, Gandhinagar.8 Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008). Ibid.

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Strategy and Implementation

The main objective of WASMO is to facilitate the development of water supply that is ownedand managed by the community. To achieve this objective, WASMO implements the followingstrategies:

! Encouraging community participation.! Empowering and strengthening village level institutions.! Setting up partnerships with likeminded and community-based organisations.

WASMOs water supply development project typically is implemented over a period of 18months (see Figure 1), during which WASMO works closely with the Pani Samiti (WaterCommittee) - a subcommittee of the Gram Panchayat9 - along with a village level organisationresponsible for management of water and sanitation with the help of the community. The projecthas a provision requiring formation of an Empowered Committee of five to six members fromthe Pani Samiti which can take decisions in case of emergency even when all the members arenot present10.

Figure 1: Implementation Process

9 Local self-governing elected bodies that function at the village or small town level in India. A Gram Panchayatcan be set up in a village with a population of at least 300.10 Wasmo. (2009) Pani Samiti Margdarshika, section 5.5, page 21. Gandhinagar.

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To promote social inclusion, WASMO follows the guidelines from a Government Resolution,which states that one third of members in Pani Samiti should be women, and STs/SCs shouldbe proportionately represented whenever applicable11. This provision enables women and STs/SCs to actively participate in the official decision-making process.

As the Pani Samiti is required to take over the responsibility for maintenance and operation ofthe water supply scheme, it is important for WASMO that the whole community is involved atall stages of the project cycle, including planning and implementation. The project is introducedand its execution process explained to the village at a Gram Sabha (Village Assembly) meetingduring which the Village Action Plan (VAP) is created, A Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)that involves the whole community in identifying the drinking water needs and in mappingexisting water resources is undertaken. By engaging the community as a whole in the projectsplanning and implementation, WASMO tries to ensure that the community will assume ownershipand look after the projects fairness as well as sustainability. To build the communitys stake inthe project, the community is required to contribute 10 percent towards the total cost of theproject.

To foster community ownership WASMO forms partnerships with Implementation SupportAgencies (ISAs), which are generally civil society organisations skilled in communitymobilisation and in building capacity of the community through training. Their mainresponsibility in a WASMO project is to encourage participation of women. For empoweringthe community, WASMO follows the principles of good governance and disburses projectfunds directly to the community to ensure transparency and equity.

One of the main reasons why villages have had problems with water supply is that thecommunities lack skills necessary to manage water resources. Thus, WASMO builds confidenceand the capacity of Pani Samiti members by providing them with training on finance,bookkeeping, construction monitoring and supervision, operation and maintenance, and waterquality monitoring. Through building capacity of the community to own and operate systems,WASMO ensures that the community will be able to manage the water supply system efficiently.Special attention is given to building capacity of women, for example by training them on howto perform water quality testing. Importantly, upon the completion of the project, the PaniSamiti members take an oath in a formal ceremony in the presence of the entire village tooperate, maintain and manage the schemes. Through the above measures, the whole communitybecomes responsible for management of water supply.

11 Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008) op.cit.

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Implementation Constraints and Challenges

Insufficient trust

The community often meets WASMO initially with hesitancy and reluctance to trust the effortsof the Government, which makes WASMOs initial progress slow and difficult. WASMOattempts to break this mindset by mobilising the community and facilitating their involvementin the programme. To gain peoples trust, the process is kept transparent and the communitycontrols the finance and implementation of the project. WASMO informs and educates thevillagers of its work through exposure visits and by drawing wall paintings that convey therequired information in a visual and readily accessible way. In villages where schemes arecompleted, everyone is aware that the problem of water has been fixed. However, gaps exist inawareness and recognition of WASMO as the agent of change.

Community mobilisation

In the early days of WASMO, their lack of skills in social mobilisation was a challenge. Toaddress this, WASMO partners with ISAs who are better in reaching and mobilising thecommunities. The contracts are usually made for 18 months and ISAs performance is assessedon the basis of physical milestones which are assigned to them to motivate and assess theirperformance and increase their accountability. A challenge in working with ISAs has beeninadequate management of time and resources. The ISAs often work on several projectssimultaneously overstretching their human and other resources and causing divided or dilutedfocus. This hinders the achievement of milestones within designated time periods. There havebeen instances also where ISAs did not or could not work with the community, underminingWASMOs ideology of building strong and stable partnerships with the community. This hasled to a slight shift in WASMOs approach which now relies first on using the skills and resourcesof its own staff, and partnering with ISAs a secondary choice. Because social mobilisation is alengthy process, the workload of WASMO staff, especially social mobilisers, has increasedconsiderably adding to the challenge of social mobilisation.

Womens representation and participation in decision-making structures

Another big challenge concerns the formation of Pani Samitis and achieving the representationof women and of SCs/STs. Social mobilisation prior to implementing a project is critical to itssuccess and ownership. very important. Social mobilisers are trained on how to recognize,address and deal with social exclusion. To mobilise women to join Pani Samiti, social mobilisersoften hold meetings for women only. In addition to that, they also build the capacity of thosewomen who are actively participating in the Pani Samiti in the hope that women will take the

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lead and motivate others in the village to join in making the project a success. The existinglaws governing Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) already mandate 33 percent representationof women in the PRIs. Even so, and despite WASMOs focused efforts to encourage womensparticipation, social exclusion remains a hindrance to womens participation. In some villages,for example, in the Kuchchh and Panchmahal Districts, the requirement of one-thirdrepresentation of women in Pani Samiti is not enforced. Additionally, some District Coordinatorsinterpret the rule of proportionate representation of STs/SCs in Pani Samiti as optional therebydistorting the mandated structure of the Pani Samiti.

Even after ensuring that women become members of the Pani Samiti, achieving their activeparticipation is not always automatic or easy. It is commonly observed that women membersrarely attend Pani Samiti meetings and instead often send their husbands to do so. Regrettably,while they do appear to attend the Gram Sabha (village council) meetings where the waterissues are discussed, in these meetings as well, cultural tradition discourages women fromvoicing their opinions in the presence of men. Women are also reluctant or often not allowed bythe family to travel long distances to attend the Pani Samiti meetings. In addition, as womencontinue to be underrepresented in the Empowered Committees, they are less likely to takepart in or influence decision-making in this key forum.

Making the PRA process more participative

To involve the whole community, WASMO has sought to conducts PRAs so that the needs ofeveryone can be aired and their voices heard. One of the challenges traditionally faced inconducting PRAs is that only a section of the community may be involved in the process. Thisimplies that the village action plan (VAP) is able to reflect the ideas of only a few villagers andnot of the whole community. To address this constraint, WASMO has taken special care andtrained social mobilisers and ISAs on how to conduct PRAs. Even so, in some villages, as onesocial mobiliser in Panchmahal District reported, owing to his increased workload, he feltcompelled to work only with the Panchayat and the Pani Samiti, entrusting the responsibilityfor conducting the PRA to them.

Community contribution

Cost-sharing is a tested means of building a communitys stake in any project. To promoteownership and fiscal discipline/responsibility for the project, WASMO accordingly asks for 10percent contribution from the community. The main challenge here is peoples reluctance topay either because of past disappointments or because they feel the Government is responsiblefor the provision of water and that water therefore should be free of charge. Also, some peopleare less able to afford financial contribution. To address these difficulties WASMO works hardto gain the communitys trust and ensure its willingness to take over full control over theprojects finance and execution. WASMO also tries to make the community understand the

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importance and benefits of the water supply scheme. In this case, usually a person who fullyunderstands and appreciates the significance of the project is identified and inducted to motivateand collect the communitys contribution going from house to house. In doing this, WASMOrelies more on women, who understand the importance of water better than men. The contributionexpected takes into account affordability. Accordingly, the amount of the contribution fromeach family is linked to its economic status. While it is compulsory that at least 2.5 percentcontributions are paid in cash, the rest can be paid in kind, for example, through labour ormaterial. Notwithstanding the above flexibility, the collection of contributions is time consumingand slow, often resulting in delayed project implementation.

Capacity building

To build the skills necessary to manage water resources, WASMO and ISAs provide training toPani Samiti members. The aim of the trainings is to increase peoples skills and confidence.Through exposure visits and classroom demonstrations villagers can see for themselves whatthey can achieve. As women frequently are less skilled than men (due to illiteracy, less educationand/or vocational training) WASMO aims especially to build their skills and increase theparticipation of women in community management of water supply by training them inmonitoring water quality. Such training becomes inaccessible if it entails long commute orrequires too much time away from women performing household duties or prevents them fromworking in the farms. Where the above limitations are ignored, the level of womens skillsremains inadequate and prevents their active participation in project management as seen insome villages.

Project sustainability

WASMO ensures project sustainability by continuing to support the community (e.g. withmaintenance and operation) even after the community takes over the project. As the first pointof contact for Pani Samitis whenever they need additional support, WASMO is always availablewith the required help and guidance.

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Review of Progress

WASMO has successfully completed water-related schemes in 8,198 villages across Gujarat.In implementing its projects WASMO partners with several stakeholders, including:

! 75 different ISAs: (Of which more than 15 are in Kuchchh, 2 in Narmada, and 1 inPanchmahal, the three Districts selected for this study).

! UNICEF: (which provides water testing kits that are used by the women for water qualitymonitoring)

! CIPET (which has provided 3000 free filters to households in Kachchh to reduce the ironcontent in water).

Outcomes

The WASMO projects have led to several positive outcomes:

Changed livesHaving assured access to drinking water, and with the communitys active involvement inmanagement of water systems, the lives of villagers, particularly women and children havechanged. Women save up to three hours per day as they no longer have to walk long distancesto fetch water. This allows them to do more household and farming work and even have someleisure time. Children too, can go to school on time especially girls who used to help in fetchingwater can now spend more time studying and doing their homework, or merely having moretime to play. Easier access to water has also led to improved hygiene with beneficial impactparticularly on the health of children and women.

We used to wear one piece of clothing for 2-3 days and now can wash them daily as needed.Children previously were sent to school only with washed hands and now they can take ashower. Men now fetch their own water to take a bath.

- Women from Sedavra village, Panchmahal District

Promoting womens voiceThe Pani Samitis provide women with a platform to voice their opinions before the entirecommunity and to participate in decision-making. Women members of the Samitis indicatethey are happy to be doing something about the problems of women in the village and believethey are more respected in the community.

Field research additionally shows that compared to men, women are more aware of theimportance of water and are more proactive in dealing with problems in water supply.Importantly, a noticeable shift has occurred in the attitude of women in that they have becomemore confident. This enhanced confidence is not limited to WASMOs projects, as women inthe project areas feel ready to tackle new challenges/issues and participate in decision-makingat other levels.

Despite best efforts and several positive outcomes in womens empowerment, some challengesremain. Although in Pani Samitis one third of members by law are required to be women, notall villages follow this guideline (Annexure 2) and there are still big differences among villagesand districts in the way in which women participate. Achieving active participation of womenin community management of water supply remains a big challenge for WASMO, especially intribal areas such as Panchmahal. In this district, for example, women members of Pani Samitirarely attend meetings and prefer to send their husbands. The practice of purda (veiling/seclusionof women) in many tribal villages inhibits womens interactions with men. Moreover, PaniSamiti meetings are often held far away and women are unable to attend the meetings (eitherbecause the family forbids them to travel such a long distance or because they have too muchhousework to take care of).

I went to every household and told women that every householdwill get a tap connection. People used to tell me: Well givethe money and someone will eat it (misuse it) and well stillnot get water. So I said, Ill be the president and askedthem to trust me. It took me 14 months to collect Rupees100 from every household because some promised and didntkeep the promise, while others didnt want to give. Now thateverybody gets water everyone praises me at meeting; alsothose who said it wont work admit they were wrong.- Woman President of Pani Samiti in Kupar Bossan, NarmadaDistrict

On the positive side, field research for this study suggests that effective partnerships with ISAsalong with the presence of womens self-help groups (SHGs) enable more active participationof women in Pani Samitis as well as in the management of water supply. Importantly, the SHGsfacilitate change not only in the attitude of women but also in the attitude towards women.Both women and men report that whereas earlier, women never used to go out of the house,after the formation of SHGs they go even to distant meetings held at the district level and havemore confidence talking in front of men. In Shinay village (Kuchchh District), for instance,women actively participate in the Pani Samitis and look after the finances and water quality.The SHGs also play a crucial role in informing and mobilising women. For example, in Hadani

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Sarsan village (Panchmahal District), women collectively stepped forward and took control ofthe Pani Samiti because the previous projects, where only men were involved, had failedmiserably. Also in other villages, women members of SHGs often took the initiative in mobilisingother women in the village, particularly when it came to collecting the community contributions.In Panchpipri (Narmada District), a woman wrote to WASMO after learning that they broughtwater to two nearby villages, requesting them to start a similar project in her village. In thisvillage and elsewhere, where the men did not take interest to contribute or collect contributionsfrom others, the more active women visited every household to collect the money and evenused loans from the SHGs to help pay the contributions.

A net result in many cases where the WASMO approach is working well is that women aredemanding services and more effective delivery of services (see citation in photo).

In villages where there are moremale members in the Pani Samitiwomen are not allowed to speak.There should be more women ina Pani Samiti because we are theones who know the problems ofwater. We are many womenmembers (in this villages PaniSamiti), so we can freely talk anddo things with confidence.

To achieve anything, women have to come together! Also, patience is very important. Initiallywe had to face a lot of rejection and listened to a lot of snide remarks and criticism, but onehas to be persistent.In a neighbouring village when women complained that Pani Samiti is not working, weadvised them to call a Gram Saba meeting and voice their opinion there, request a newselection of members, and become members themselves.

- Advice from women from Panchpipri, Narmada District, where there are seven femaleand four male members in the Pani Samiti

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Resource Requirements

Based on field observations of the WASMO projects along with interaction with concernedstaff in UNICEF/WASMO and stakeholders, availability of sound financial and technicalresources appears central to a projects success. At a broader level, for a community watersupply project to work effectively, the following are required:

A visionary team

A team of people with a common vision and determination to work towards a common goal isnecessary for a projects successful implementation. The team should be familiar with thecontext and have a well-formulated plan on how it will overcome potential challenges.

Demand from the community

To implement a water supply project and have it accepted, the community must feel the needfor that particular intervention. When there is a demand for it based on felt need, the peoplewill work towards the common goal and success of the project. This demand has to exist in thecommunity before the project can be launched or successfully implemented.

Social mobiliser

Social mobilisation helps to identify the communitys specific need by working closely withthe community. It also creates demand by increasing the communitys awareness of thesignificance of the issue being addressed and the best ways to address it. Social mobilisers playan important role in this process as they are the ones who contact the community, assess theirneeds, resources and capacities, and encourage active participation of community members. Tobe able to successfully perform these tasks, the social mobiliser needs training in facilitationand requires knowledge and understanding of the socio-cultural context. He/she also needs tobe an excellent communicator who is able to build a close rapport with the community.

Operating guidelines

Clearly defining the steps that need to be followed, as was done for example, in book-keeping,community mobilisation and in the formation of Pani Samiti in WASMOs projects, makes thewhole process more transparent. However, the guidelines should leave enough room forflexibility to allow for adapting the process to different socio-cultural settings and respond tochanging times..

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Human resources

A well trained and motivated multi-disciplinary team should include managers, technical peopleand social mobilisers. Preferably, the team should consist of young, motivated professionalsalong with experienced senior advisors, who can provide technical expertise and knowledgeand guide the young professionals towards achieving best outcomes.

Networking

Close co-operation with professionals and external consultants, as well as partnerships withwell-established organisations can help greatly to win the trust of the community and ensurebetter participation.

Finance

Funds are critical to the projects implementation and continuation and for sustaining a well-qualified team. Community contribution builds a sense of ownership in the community. Financialsupport of the Government is required to promote good governance and help meet the highmaterial costs of project implementation.

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Sustainability

WASMO ensures sustainability of a community managed water supply project through severalmodalities as seen below:

! Involvement of the community at every step of the project implementation process:By forming Pani Samiti and adhering to the mandated one-third provision for inclusion ofwomen and STs/SCs, the underrepresented can get a voice and the required say in decisionmaking. At the broadest level, with appropriate social mobilisation, every member of thecommunity can participate in decision-making. Providing the Pani Samiti with a legal statusadds to its sustainability: as a fully recognised, registered body, Pani Samiti, cannot bedissolved except at the will of the people. However, even in the event that it does dissolve,a new Pani Samiti has to be formed and thus the management of water supply in the villagecan continue in a sustained fashion.

! The community has to be enabled to operate and maintain the water supply. WASMOaccordingly works to build the capacity of Pani Samiti members through training so thatthe community at the end of the training has the skills and knowledge needed to look afterthe water supply system.

! Social mobilisers focus especially on building capacity of women and encourage theiractive participation in the management of water supply schemes. Building capacity of andempowering women is particularly important because, as the prime users and conserversof water, they are more motivated to play an active role in the efficient and fair managementof water supply.

! WASMO further ensures the sustainability of the project by being always available andready to support the community in case of any repair, maintenance and other problems.

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Good Practices

The creation of WASMO, a special purpose vehicle within the government, is a good practice.Water is the basic requirement for survival and it is the responsibility of the government toensure that every citizen has access to safe drinking water. Community managed water suppliesare a result of successful partnerships between the government and the community. Throughfacilitation of the development of water supplies with communitys engagement andparticipation, WASMO provides and is able to sustain this bridge between the community andthe government.

Top-down approaches have consistently neglected the communities. WASMO is aware of thatlimitation and recognises that for a successful partnership, the community first needs to beaware of the need. Multidisciplinary teams that include social mobiliser and a technical personwork with the community from the beginning of the project. WASMO stresses the importanceof social mobilisation. Accordingly three months of the project cycle are allocated to socialmobilisation, but if additional work is needed, the programme is flexible to extend this processto six months. Recognition that social mobilisation is a first step towards success is a goodpractice because it sets a sound foundation for further cooperation and stakeholder ownership.

Another good practice is the use of female social mobilisers. This is important to be able toaccess those women in villages who, particularly in tribal areas, are less able to leave thehousehold and where social norms inhibit their ability to interact with men outside theirfamily. Women find it easier to share their problems with a female social mobiliser and theirfamilies are also less reluctant to allow them to attend those meetings. This provides afavourable environment for the empowerment of women and encourages more activeparticipation by them.

Creation of a Pani Samiti, a village level institution, ensures community involvement at allstages of project implementation along with ensuring that the community takes responsibilityfor the project. Pani Samitis also provide an opportunity for women and STs/SCs to participatein the decision-making process.

Before the systems are handed over to the community it is important to ensure that the communityhas the capacity, knowledge and skills to look after and maintain the systems. WASMOaccordingly builds the capacity of Pani Samiti members. Through trainings the community isempowered to manage its own water scheme. Everyone is involved in capacity buildingregardless of educational level, gender or caste, which empowers people and builds their

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confidence. The special strength of WASMOs approach is that it provides water for all regardlessof caste, gender or tribe.

At the operational level, several measures are taken by WASMO that constitute good practices.Among others:

! As seen in Narmada District, the Pani Samiti meetings were held at the time suitable forwomen who otherwise are often unable to attend the meetings. Holding meetings in theevening made it easier for women to attend.

! In Kachchh District, the Pani Samiti in one village had set up its own office. This goodpractice led to better recognition of the governing body in the village and also ensuredmore regularity in Pani Samitis activities. After the community took over the project, thefrequency of meetings in many villages reduced and in some, the members now meet onlyin case of emergency/problems. Having a permanent office specifically for Pani Samitiensures that there is a constant presence of a dedicated body for water management andthat the activities are carried out on time.

! In the villages where women are president of Pani Samitis, the Samitis work more effectivelyas women are more proactive in solving water related problems and mobilising other women.

! A good practice adopted by WASMO in project implementation is the aim to complete theproject within 18 months. Governmental projects usually take years to complete and bysticking to the designated time frame WASMO leads by example, in turn enhancing thecommunitys trust in government capacity to deliver.

! Further, by making the projects execution process transparent, WASMO helps to curbcorruption and enhances the trust of the community in the government. Transparency is agood practice because it generates accountability and fiscal responsibility among themembers of the Pani Samiti. Through field visits, it is observed that in every project villagea wall painting displays financial details and describes the village action plan. Also, inmany villages Pani Samiti meetings are open to the public and everyone interested canattend. In village Hadani Sarsan in Panchmahal District, villagers were also allowed tocreate a sub-Pani Samiti empowered with all decision-making authority to avoid the potentialfor manipulation by decision-makers at the Panchayat level. Civil society organisationsusually operate locally and are not only familiar with the challenges that women and othermarginalised groups face, but also have the required skills to address those issues. WASMOsutilisation of these skills through partnerships with ISAs is especially important when itcomes to empowerment of women. Because women are reluctant to talk to strangers, ISAsthat are previously known to and trusted by the community can achieve better results inmobilising women and other underprivileged groups.

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Among the most significant measures in building the communitys stake in the success andsustainability of a project is WASMOs insistence on cost sharing. To promote communityownership of the project, WASMO requests that people contribute 10 percent towards the totalproject costs. To avoid hardship, it allows the contribution to be made in cash or kind. Thisgood practice ensures that everyone in the village, even the poorest, is able to take part in theproject and receive benefits of the water supply while also feeling accountable for the projectssuccess. Communities in many villages agreed that community contribution is WASMOs bestpractice and differentiates WASMO from other organisations and projects, as it not only givesthe community the responsibility for the water supply, but also sends out the message that thegovernment alone cannot and should not be expected to do everything. (See Figure 2 for asummary table of good practices followed by WASMO)

Figure 2: Summary of good practices in community management of rural water supply

Good practice Why is it a good practiceCreation of special purpose vehicle Bridge between community and the government.within the governmentEmphasis on social mobilization It brings community together and prepares them for

collective action; makes sure that the project isrelevant to the community.

Female social mobiliser Effective way to mobilise rural women.Creation of a village level institution Makes village level institution more responsible

and accountable.Capacity building through trainings Provides skills, knowledge and confidence required

for management of water supply.Holding meetings at a time and Encourages participation of women.place suitable for womenTransparency(book- keeping by Curbs mal-practices and corruption and builds trustcommunity, open meetings, public of the community.reports)Partnerships with civil society Two-way learning and sharing of responsibilities.organisations More effective community mobilisation and

empowerment of women.Ten per cent peoples contribution Creates a sense of ownership; includes everyonein cash or kind regardless of economic status.Office for Pani Samiti Better recognition and more regularity in activities.Woman president of Pani Samiti Mobilises more women, proactive approach to

problem solving.

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Potential Application

WASMO initially worked in the earthquake affected DIstricts of Jamnagar, Kachchh, Patan,and Surendranagar and Jamnagar districts and subsequently expanded the projects to includeother districts all over Gujarat. The above pace of expansion suggests that WASMOs approachto community managed water supply systems offers strong potential for application to anycontext/issues. The key principles emerging from WASMOs good practices are:

Project implementation in cooperation with the government

The government has the power to create policies and thereby impact change at a higher level. Italso has the responsibility to fulfil the basic needs of everyone and should be involved inimplementation of projects that address these needs. Most importantly, it has the ability tomobilise funds on the scale required either from its own resources or through assistance frominternational donors to ensure the financial viability of projects.

Partnerships with ISAs

ISAs have a different set of skills than the government and their involvement is important tocomplement the work and abilities of the government. ISAs are able to reach the communitiesand deliver faster where the following conditions are fulfilled: local acceptance, strong presence,and a good rapport with the community. It is essential that they work together with the governmentto contribute to the sustainability of projects.

Decentralised approach

While the government is aware of the needs of the people, the delivery of services is often difficultand in many countries as in India, the Central (federal) Government is unable to reach everyhousehold. Water development and other development sector projects should therefore strengthenlocal governance and follow the approach of decentralisation and local empowerment. Theformation of local committees and/or local governmental bodies speeds up the implementation ofprojects at the ground level. As the local government representative bodies in India are electeddirectly by the community, the decentralised approach therefore also contributes to making localgovernments more responsible for and responsive to meeting their duties.

Needs assessment before the projects implementation

It is important that the project addresses a demand that comes from the community. In generatingand assessing demand, greater understanding is required of the ordering of needs along with

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the logical sequence of actions taken to address basic needs (e.g., providing access to safewater, soap and toilets before talking about the importance of hygiene).

Community participation

WASMOs experience demonstrates that the communitys participation is essential for thesustained management of natural resources. To achieve its active participation, the communityhas to be involved in the projects formulation and implementation from beginning to end, andparticipate in deciding on how the project should progress.

Capacity building

Capacity building is critical for sustainability of community-managed projects. Trainings shouldbe given to people regardless of their social, economic or educational background. In additionto imparting appropriate skills, training offers a long-term benefit in that the knowledge gainedis passed on from one generation to next enabling change in attitudes and behaviour acrossgenerations.

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Next Steps

The present study has uncovered several significant strengths of the WASMO approach towater development projects. However, some difficulties and challenges are encountered toovercome which the following steps should be taken:

Recruit and train more female social mobilisers

Women feel more comfortable sharing their problems and voicing opinions with women ratherthan men. Women social mobilisers achieve better results in mobilising women because familiesare less reluctant to allow women to attend meetings with female social mobilisers and/or go tomeetings when accompanied by them.

Female and male social mobilisers should work together in pairs

It is difficult for female social mobilisers to visit remote villages, especially in the evening.Male social mobilisers have reported challenges in getting permission to talk to the women inthe village without the presence of men. In some cases, they have felt compelled to directcommunity mobilisation efforts primarily to men. On the other hand, if a male social mobiliseraccompanies the female social mobiliser, the process of community mobilisation can bebroadened and made more efficient because they can work with the whole community.

Hold refresher trainings for Pani Samiti members

To address the inadequacy of skills that was observed in some villages, WASMO should holdrefresher trainings for Pani Samiti members. This is also important to ensure that the newmembers of Pani Samiti, who may join at a later date, have the opportunity to be trained andacquire the capacity to successfully manage and operate water supply systems.

Organise Pani Samiti meetings at a time and place suitable for women

One of the reasons why women do not attend Pani Samiti meetings is that either the meetingsare held too far away or that the meetings are held at times when women have to attend to otherpressing work. To increase womens participation, meetings should be held at a time and placeconvenient to them.

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Make it compulsory for women to be inducted as members in the EmpoweredCommittee

Representation of women in Pani Samitis is still below par and the present study found thatmost Empowered Committees in fact have no women members. Including women in thesecommittees will ensure that women participate in decision-making on a more equal basis.

Mobilise men

Collection of community contribution is generally assigned to and is being done by the villagewomen, which often slows down the projects implementation. By mobilising men who usuallycontrol the household finances, to undertake the task of collection, the process can be hastenedand the projects execution can begin sooner.

Create a brand which people will associate with quality and good governance

At the moment WASMOs main aim is to provide water to the households without focusingnecessarily on creating brand awareness. A strong brand will give WASMO more credibility inthe community and help them gain trust of the people sooner. Brand-building may also create ademand in other villages by making them aware who will learn of WASMOs successfullyimplemented schemes.

Create an external pool of social mobilisers

To improve the quality of social mobilisation and reduce the workload of WASMO staff, a poolof well trained social mobilisers should be created. They can be recruited to provide additionalsupport to the existing staff during the 3-6 month period when the social mobilisation processoccurs, and also to initiate other new projects/schemes.

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References

Fisher, J. (2006) For Her Its the Big Issue: Putting women at the centre of water supply,sanitation and hygiene. WSSCC, Geneva.

Kulkarni, S., Ahmed, S., Datar, C., Bhat, S., Mathur, Y., Makhwana, D. (2008) Water Rights asWomens Rights? Assesing the Scope for Womens Empowerment through DecentralisedWater Governance in Maharashtra and Gujarat. SOPPECOM, Utthan.

Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008) Five Years of DecentralisedCommunity Managed Water Supply Programme. WASMO, Gandhinagar.

UN Water. (2006) Gender, Water and Sanitation: A Policy Brief. Viewed on 7th July 2011.

UNDP (2004). Gujarat Human Development Report. Viewed on 5th July 2011.

UNDP India (2010) Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Viewed on 8th July 2011.

UNICEF. (2006) Children and water: global statistics. Viewed 7th July 2011.

Van Wijk-Sijbesma, C. (1998) Gender in Water Resource Management, Water Supply andSanitation: Roles and Realities Revisted. Delft: International Reference Centre on Waterand Sanitation, Technical Paper No. 33-E.

WASMO. (2006) From Policy to Practice: Users as Managers of Rural Drinking Water SupplySystems. Viewed on8th July 2011.

Wasmo. (2009) Pani Samiti Margdarshika, section 5.5, page 21. Gandhinagar.

WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2008)Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation. UNICEF,New York and WHO, Geneva.

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Annexure I

Methodology and Questionnaires

This report sought to identify good practices in community-managed rural water supply projectsthat result in social inclusion with a focus primarily on women. The study consisted of Fieldvisits to selected villages where WASMO had completed its water development projects. Atotal of 14 villages were covered across three districts of Gujarat State in India: Kachchh,Narmada and Panchmahal.

The research methods used included:

! Semi-structured interviews and/or focused-group discussions (FGDs) with women and malemembers of the Pani Samitis and community members

! Semi-structured interviews with the village head (sarpanch)! Semi-structured interviews with the WASMO representatives.

Primary data was supplemented with desk study and secondary information about the villagesincluding demographic and socio-economic.

Questions used to aid semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions.

Questions for women from the community1. What is your occupation? / What kind of work do you do?2. Who decides about the daily household purchases?3. Do you have a bank account?4. What is your education level?5. What is your husbands occupation?6. Who are the members in the household?7. How many children do you have? Sex? Age?8. Do they go to school?9. What is your daily routine?10. How do you spend your free time?11. Does your husband help with housework?12. When you go out of the house, do you cover your head?13. Do you need permission from your husband to go outside the house?14. Do you get water every day?15. Where do you get water from?

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16. Is there any problem with the new water source?a. If yes: How was the problem addressed? What happened?

17. What was the old water source? How far away was it?18. Who was fetching the water?

a. (If she says it was her): Have you saved any time? What do you do with the time savedfetching water?

19. Are you still using the old water source? For what purpose?20. Why are you not a member of the Pani Samiti?21. What is the role of Pani Samiti?22. How efficient do you think has the work of the Pani Samiti been?23. What do you think about women being part of the Pani Samiti?24. How is the selection of women for inclusion in the Pani Samiti done?25. Who are the women that were selected and included in Pani Samitis?26. Have you ever gone to the Pani Samiti meeting?27. Are women allowed to speak in these meetings?28. Do any of your family members participate in Pani Samiti?29. What was the role of WASMO? Have you heard of WASMO?30. Are there any activities that women do together in the community? / Self-help groups?

Questions for female members of Pani Samiti1. When and how was the Pani Samiti formed?2. Why was it formed?3. How many members are there? (How many men / women)4. How often do you meet?5. When was the last meeting held?6. What are the topics discussed?7. How are the decisions taken? / Who takes the decisions?8. Do men consult women or vice versa?9. Who motivated you to become the member of the Pani Samiti?10. What was the reaction of your family when you joined Pani Samiti?

a. Did you encounter any problems?b. What were the problems?c. How did you deal with them?

11. Is any family member of yours also involved in Pani Samiti?12. What is it like being a Pani Samiti member?13. Is there any added benefit of being a member of this Pani Samiti?14. What were your expectations when you joined the Pani Samiti?

a. Were your expectations met?15. Has it led to any changes? / If yes to what changes?16. Is it good that women are members of Pani Samiti? Why?

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17. Are there enough women in Pani Samiti?18. Do you feel comfortable voicing your opinion at meetings?19. Has there been any change in the lives of women in the community?20. What process adopted by WASMO has changed the situation of women in the village?21. Do other women in the community seek your opinion?

Questions for male members of Pani Samiti1. Why was Pani Samiti formed?2. How often do you meet?3. When was the last meeting held?4. What are the topics discussed?5. How are the decisions taken? Who takes the decisions?6. What was the reaction of your family when you joined Pani Samiti?7. Is any family member of yours also involved in Pani Samiti?8. Is there any added benefit of being a member of this samiti?9. What were your expectations when you joined Pani Samiti?10. Were your expectations met?11. Is it good that women are members of Pani Samiti? Why?12. Is there any added benefit of including women in Pani Samiti?13. Are there enough women in Pani Samiti?14. How do you feel about working with women?15. Are you aware that there are Pani Samitis where there are only women? What do you think

about that?

Questions for Men from the community1. Occupation? Education?2. What is the role of Pani Samiti?3. Were you involved in the selection of the Pani Samiti representatives?4. Do any of your family members participate in Pani Samiti?5. Have you heard of WASMO?6. Has there been any change in the status of women after WASMOs intervention?7. Have you ever attended a Pani Samiti meeting?8. Do you think women should be involved in Pani Samiti?9. Would you allow your wife to be member of a Pani Samiti?10. Should women cover their head in the presence of other men?11. Does your wife need your permission to go out of the house?

Questions for Village Chief (sarpanch)1. How long have you been a member of Pani Samiti?2. Do you participate in the Pani Samiti meetings?

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3. Do you think the Pani Samiti works efficiently?4. What was the role of WASMO in the village? What did they do?5. Have there been any changes in the status of women in the community?6. Do you think the work of WASMO has improved the situation of women in the community?

i. If yes: How are these changes seen?ii. How has this affected the children?

If a woman sarpanch:1. Do other women in the community seek your opinion?2. Before you, was there a male sarpanch?If yes: Can you see any difference between your being in charge and the man being in charge?

Questions for WASMO Representative (e.g. district coordinator or social mobiliser)1. What is the social structure of the village (especially in relation to caste)?2. How long has WASMO been present in the village?3. How did it all start? / What was the process to bring people together?4. What is the experience of working in this village?5. What were the challenges?6. How did you overcome them?7. What is the situation now?8. What is the role of the social mobiliser?9. What do you think was WASMOs role in empowerment of women?10. What was the process that achieved this?11. What were the changes in womens status in the community?12. How is this different to what it was like in the past?13. How have these changes affected children?14. Can you think of any ways that gender mainstreaming approach could be improved?

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Annexure II

Womens representation in Pani Samitis (PS) in 14 villages visited during fieldwork

Village Date PS Frequency No. of Womenformed meetings members (as % of total)

Panchmahal districtSadvara 2008 13 31

Brahma ni muvadi 2008 Every month 12 25Mowasa 2007 Every month 14 21

Hadani sarsan 2009 14 86Narmada district

Kupar Bossan 2007 Every month 11 36Kanjai 2006 Every month 11 36

Paanchpipri 2008 Every month 11 64Kherpada 2009 11 64

Kuchchh districtKirasasa roha 2009 09 33

Jiapar 2005 Every month 13 23Shinay 2009 Every month 13 31Rapar 2003-04 21 24Hudko 2004 11 27

Galpadar 2004 Every month 15 33

Background Note on Internship Programme

Knowledge Community on Children in India (KCCI) initiative aims to enhance knowledgemanagement and sharing on policies and programmes related to children in India. Conceivedas part of KCCI, the objectives of the 2011 Summer Internship Programme were to give younggraduate students from across the world the opportunity to gain field-level experience of andexposure to the challenges and issues facing development work in India today.

UNICEF India hosted 40 young interns from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Greece,India, Korea, United Kingdom, and United States of America to participate in the 2011 SummerInternship Programme. Interns were grouped into teams of four or five and placed in 10 differentresearch institutions across 8 states (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, and Orissa) studying field-level interventions for childrenfrom 25 May to 3 August 2011.

Under the supervision of partner research institutions, the interns conducted a combination ofdesk research and fieldwork, the end result of which were 11 documentations around bestpractices and lessons learnt aimed at promoting the rights of children and their development.The case studies cover key sectors linked to children and development in India, and addressimportant policy issues for children in the country few being primary education, reproductivechild health, empowerment of adolescent girls and water and sanitation.

Another unique feature of this programme was the composition of the research teams comprisinginterns with mutlidisciplinary academic skills and multicultural backgrounds. Teams wereencouraged to pool their skills and knowledge prior to the fieldwork period and devise a work-plan that allowed each team member an equal role in developing the case study. Group workand cooperation were key elements in the production of outputs, and all of this is evident in theinteresting and mutlifaceted narratives presented by these case studies on development in India.

The 2011 KCCI Summer Internship Programme culminated in a final workshop, at which allteams of interns presented their case studies for a discussion on broader issues relating toimprovements in service delivery for every child in the country. This series of documentationsaims to disseminate this research to a wider audience and to provide valuable contributions toKCCIs overall knowledge base.