From Policy To Practice

From Policy to Practice:
Users as Managers of
Rural Drinking Water Supply Systems
Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO)
Contents
Gujarat: A Water Scarce State
01
Systemic Innovations for Community Engagement
07
Building Partnerships
16
Information Education Communication
22
Capacity Building
30
Social Processes for Community Engagement
35
Fostering Leadership
49
Financial Management
55
Operation and Maintenance
60
Strategy for Drinking Water Security: Water Resource Management
65
Sanitation
75
Evaluation Reflections and Social Audit
82
Replicable Learnings
99
Scaling Up
108
Recognitions
121
From Policy to Practice: Users as Managers of Rural Drinking Water Supply Systems
Gujarat: A Water Scarce State
Guj arat has di verse geol ogi cal ,

hydrol ogi cal , cl i mati c and soi l
condi ti ons, al l of w hi ch had
implications on the status of surface
and groundwater resources in the State.
Most part of Gujarat State comes under
scarcity prone area. The distribution
pattern of rainfall in the State ranges
from over 2000 mm in the Dangs in
South Gujarat to about 200 mm in
Kutch. Typical geological formations
across the State make water storage in
the aquifers and percolation for ground
water recharge difficult.
Gujarat has long coastline and two
huge gulfs the Gulf of Cambay and
the Gulf of Kutch. The entire Little
Rann of Kutch and Greater Rann of
Kutch are inundated with saline sea
water for a long period of the year
which deteriorates the ground water
quality in adjoining areas. In a large
area of the State over drafti ng of
ground water mainly for agriculture
and subsequent depletion of aquifers
has had a great impact on the water
availability during the recent past.
Fresh Water Availability
Drinking Water Scenario

The State has 5.96 percent of nations
geographi c area w i th 5 percent
population but only 2.63 percent of
countrys water resources. The per capita
fresh water availability in the State as per
the study done i n 2001, has been
estimated as 1,137 M 3/annum as against
the countrys per capita renewable

freshwater availability of 2000 M 3/annum.
Regional variations are also very high. The
South and Central Zones, which have
major rivers like Narmada, Mahi, Tapi,
Ambica, Poorna, etc. and forested areas,
have 1932 M 3 per capita per annum fresh
water. (This is equivalent to 70% of the
total State freshwater availability). In
Kutch i t i s 875 M3/annum and i n
Saurashtra, it is 624 M 3/annum, whereas
North Gujarat has lowest freshwater
availability with 427 M 3/annum.
fresh survey is carried out in spite of

taking up strong measures to cover these
habitations. Supply through tankers was
not a common phenomenon in the State
during drought years as well as summer
months during non-drought years. During
2000-01, 4054 villages were to be
supplied drinking water through tankers.
During the drought year of 2000, even
water trains too had to be run. Thus, the
State administration was required to put
in lot of efforts and financial resources
during drought years for relief measures.
In the past 75 years, 26 years were

declared as drought years. The State
Government spent about 125 to 150 crore
rupees annually on making emergency
arrangements of dri nki ng w ater to
overcome the scarcity during droughts
upto 2002. People also spent about
Rs.700 to 800 crore on water and social
cost of paucity of water was estimated to
be Rs.2,000 crore per annum. 74 percent
of the dri nki ng w ater suppl y w as
dependent on the groundwater sources.
The detailed analysis of the habitation

survey data (GWSSB, 2003) indicates that
10287 habi tati ons coveri ng a total
population of 11.65 mn,. (34.4 per cent
of the total State Population) are getting
drinking water supply at a level of at least
40 litres or more per capita per day. As
per the survey conducted in 2003 for
ascertaining the status of drinking water
supply facilities in the habitations of
Gujarat, the status is as under:
The water quality problem in terms of

excessive fluoride and nitrate content as
w el l as sal i ni ty w as observed i n
significantly high number of habitations
with Dangs being the only district without
any quality affected sources. Moreover,
new areas were also emerging as being
quality-affected. Recurrent emergence of
not covered (NC) or particially covered
(PC) habitations is observed every time a
Fully covered habitation (FC)
25217
Not covered habitation (NC)
166
Partially covered habitations (PC)
9462
Total
34845
In addition to this 7675 habitations were

found to be quality affected having high
concentrations of fluoride, salinity and
nitrates. As per this survey, more than 50
percent of total habitations were facing
either low water availability or the water
quality problems. State has tried to
address this situation on a long term
basis by ambitious planning for drought
proofing by creation of Statewide drinking
water grid for bulk water transmission
from sustainable water sources to the
drought prone areas, taking up large scale
w ater conservati on measures and
extensive engagement of community for
managing the water supply infrastructure
and service delivery at the village level.
Genesis of WASMO
At the level of Government of Gujarat
(GoG), it was decided to create a Special
Purpose Vehicle for meeting the specific
institutional needs for facilitation and
empowering the user communities in the
villages. However, util the year 2000, no
steps in this direction were taken up. The
objectives of the Royal Netherlands
Embassy (RN E) supported Ghogha
Regional Rural Water Supply Project
(GRRWSP) for 82 villages of Bhavnagar
district that was designed as a community
managed proj ect w ere not bei ng
achieved. From 1996 to 2000, not even
a single Village Water and Sanitation
Committee could be formed. The RNE
commissioned Institutional Development
Mission consisting of Shri Sudarshan
Iyengar and Mr. Jaap Boomsma noted in
their report that the Gujarat Water Supply
and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) had only
a lukewarm appreciation and reception
for software part of the project. The
mission members blew the whistle and
reminded the Government that priority
has to be accorded to communitymanaged systems and a paradigm shift
from role of provider to that of facilitator.
It was t hen considered to create a
government supported institution that
would promote, support and monitor the
community participation and community
based management i n w ater and
sanitation projects. A software unit called
Coordination, Monitoring and Support
Unit (CMSU) was created. After the
severe earthquake of 26 January 2001,
water and sanitation facilities were
substantially damaged in five districts of
Gujarat State, more extensively in Kutch.
RN E agai n expressed i nterest for
supporting the community-managed
rehabilitation and reconstruction of water

and sanitation facilities in four districts
and the need for setting up a Special
Purpose Vehicle was felt more strongly.
After careful consideration for facilitating
the community-managed demand driven
approach, WASMO was set up as an
i nsti tuti onal i nnovati on i n the
government. It is perhaps a unique
institution in the country in the WATSAN
sector.
Peoples participation the need of the

hour
Gourisankar Ghosh, former Executive Director, Water
Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Geneva and
an ex-GoG officer said in the Rainwater International,
2001, Mannheim, Germany on 11 September, 2001, that
the problem at the core was water management through
engineering approach. The development of modern water
management science had put all the traditional approaches
hidden and in the backyard. Policy-makers were heavily
influenced by the large structure proponents. They had
slowly neglected basic principles of water management
that have been developed by mankind over the centuries.
Moving away from the structures which are seen, built
and maintained by people themselves, policy-makers and
planners heavily depended on systems far away from
people, and converted the management of natural
resources into a simple supply and demand model.
Vision and Mission of WASMO

Vision
To enable rural communities to have
adequate, safe and sustainable drinking
water supply and improved habitat by
ensuring empowerment and active
community-management of natural
resources, leading to an improvement in
their living standard.
3
Excerpts from Institutional Development Mission Report

It is beyond doubt that Gujarat will require infrastructure facilities (hardware) to provide the growing
population with water for both productive and domestic use. Intensive efforts of GoG in this respect
are laudable indeed. Politicians, administrators and engineers are firmly geared up towards creation
of such infrastructure in Gujarat.
Yet, the ground assessment suggests that effective and sustainable water supply, sanitation and water
management require more than the current mainstream of business as usual supply of infrastructure.
There is already, for some years, a world-wide wave about water supply, sanitation and water
management. This water wave manifest during the World Water Forum in March 2000 and in the
policies declared in Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission (RGDWM), addresses basically the same
set of software issues as GRRWSP does. All major players and actors in the Water and Sanitation
(WSS) sector within the Government appear to recognize this water wave well. However, despite
some progress in the software development over some years, the Mission observed that within
the Narmada, Water Resources & Water Supply (NWR & WS) Department and the Gujarat Water
Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB), there is only a lukewarm reception for software development.
The Government and the agencies such as the Board appear to regard software as important, but
not their business. The Government still continues to work and strengthen its role as a provider of
facilities and hardly as an able facilitator. A firm and clear strategy on the development and
implementation of software is still not established or forthcoming. And although NGOs are involved
in implementation of projects, it is done on an ad hoc basis and not as a partnership.
The mission can emphathise with the feelings within GoG that the Ghogha project has not brought
a quick solution for the water supply crisis in the project area. However, the mission doubts whether
calling the project a failure and, perhaps as a result of this, stopping the technical assistance and/or
abandoning the project will bring a solution. This would also mean that the participation, interest
and potential of the community on for e.g. sanitation, hygiene promotion, cost recovery and local
water resources management will be discarded. Additionally, the process of learning and capacity
building within the water sector will loose momentum.
Co-authors: Mr. Jaap Boomsma and Mr. Sudarshan Iyengar
Mission
Empowering communities to plan,
own, construct, manage and maintain
their water supply and sanitation
facilities
Ensuring participation of communities
and women in managing their water
supply and sanitation
4
Attaining drinking water security

through a combination of local and
bulk water supply systems along with
village level infrastructure
Encouraging and empowerment of
communitiesto adopt best practiceson
local water resource management,
including rainwater harvesting
Bridging the existing information and
knowledge gapsamong community on
water resource management, water

conservation, safe drinking water,
hygiene and environmental sanitation
issues
Creating a pool of manpower and
strong knowledge base in the water and
sanitation sector.
support unit. Out of these units the

technical cell guides water supply cell,
water resource management cell,
environmental sanitation cell and water
quality cell. The management support unit
guides administrative cell, HRD and
establishment cell and MIS cell.
Strategy and Approach
Programmes facilitated by
WASMO
WASMOs approach is to be a facilitator

in developing water and sanitation facilities
in villages that are owned and managed by
the communities in order to create
sustainable systems in WATSAN. The key
strategies adopted for achieving its
objectives are:
1. Empowerment and strengthening of
village level institutions;
2. Emphasis on surface water sources,
capturing rainwater runoff to recharge
groundwater, roof-top rainwater
harvesting, and utilising the bulk water
supplies from major river projects of
water surplus South Gujarat to water
deficient North Gujarat, Saurashtra and
Kutch;
3. Building demand-driven, community
owned and decentralised local water
supply and sanitation systems;
4. Sanitation campaigns in villages to
promote hygiene and cleanliness,
especially among school children;
5. Partnerships with like-minded
organisations.
How does WASMO Function?

WASMO is governed by a governing body
and isheaded by the Chief Executive Officer
who is a government officer. He directly
heads and supervises technical cell, project
management units, documentation unit,
finance and accounts and management
1. The Community-managed water supply

and sanitation programme in
earthquake-affected villages of Gujarat
(ERRproject) to provide safe and secure
drinking water and sanitation facilities
across all 1,260 earthquake-affected
villages in the districts of Kutch,
Jamnagar, Patan and Surendranagar.
2. Swajaldhara in 13 districts of Anand,
Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Bharuch,
Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Panchmahals,
Patan, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surat,
Vadodara and Valsad. Sector Reform
Scheme (state) in 11 districts. The
project was launched in November
2004 by the Gujarat government to
provide demand-based, in-village water
supply and sanitation facilities in the
districts of Amreli, Dahod, Dangs,
Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Kheda,
Mehsana, Narmada, Navsari,
Porbandar and Surendranagar.
3. Integrated development of water supply
and sanitation systems in tribal areas
of Gujarat: WASMO has initiated a
project in a cluster of 100 villages - 45
in Kaprada, 30 in Dharampur and 25
in Vansda talukas in South Gujarat, to
address the drinking water and
sanitation issue
4. National Rural Drinking Water Quality
Monitoring and Surveillance
Programme (NRDWQM&SP).
5
WASMOs outreach At a glance

A) Decentralised community-managed water supply programme
i.)
ii.)
No. of Village Water and Sanitation committees

(VWSCs) formed
No. of projects commissioned by VWSCs
13963 (75% of total

villages)
4050
iii.)
No. of projects under implementation
3800
iv.)
2900
v.)
No. of villages having institutionalized tariff

mechanisms
No. of villages on the waiting list
vi.)
Total fund allocated to Villages
vii.)
viii.)
Community contribution towards capital cost

received from villages
No. of women headed VWSCs.
ix.)
Total number of women in VWSCs
x.)
No. of NGOs as partner Implementation Support

Agencies(ISAs)
xi.)
No. of districts covered
1150
INR 882.54 Mn.
INR 83.83 Mn.
2800
42700
75
All 26 districts
B) User level Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance

i.)
ii.)
Villages where awareness generation campaigns

taken up
Villages where water quality teams formed
iii.)
Water quality kits distribution to villages
iv.)
Water quality kits distribution to Municipalities
v.)
No. of persons trained for

Monitoring and Surveillance
vi.)
No. of bacteriological testing vials distributed
vii.)
No. of villages from where Water Quality

Surveillance results are retrieved from local teams.
17961
viii.)
Sanitary surveys conducted
13984
ix.)
Mapping of drinking water sources
24262
x.)
Multi-districts assessment of water safety done with

the help of UNICEF
Water
All 18600 villages

All 13984 PRIs
13904
Quality
All 284 Municipalities

1,19,648
6,69,000
8 districts
Systemic Innovations for Community

Engagement
W hen I attended the operators

(linemen) training, people wondered how
a woman could be an operator? But the
Pani Sami ti , N GO and W ASM O
supported me. I have learnt technical
aspects including repairing works and
chl ori nati on process, requi red for
successful operation and supply of
assured potable water to people in my
village.
- Jamanaben, Nagdhaniba village
Bhavnagar
The total cost of creation of in-village
water supply facilities was Rs.13,30,000.
While planning for the community
contri buti on, i t w as real i sed that
everybody did not have the same capacity
to pay. So collectively, we decided to fix
di fferenti al rates for contri buti on.
Accordingly, socially and economically
backward households paid Rs.50 and the
well-off households paid Rs.1000 per
household. There was no disagreement
about this and the village shelled out
Rs.1,35,750 as ten per cent community
contri buti on w i th each and every
household in the village contributing.
- Gangadas, Pani Samiti member,
Kholadiyad, Surendranagar
I earn my living from block printing, so

construction was not at all my subject.
But the training helped me effectively
monitor the quality of construction. In
fact, two contractors were forced to quit
work and leave, since I insisted on good
quality material and work.
- Abdul Rehman, Pani Samiti Chairman,
Ajrakhpar, Kutch
We have a regular schedule for cleaning
the village. By having faliya (habitation)
wise meetings we tried to motivate the
peopl e and w i th parti ci pati on of
communi ty w e coul d make 283
household toilets in the village. Taking a
step further, we placed dustbins in every
faliya and encouraged people to use them.
This collected garbage is used to prepare
organic manure. Due to all these efforts
in spite of heavy rains and epidemic
breakout of Chikun guniya, our village did
not suffer a single case.
- Jitubhai, Mota Fofadiya, Vadodara
These are the words of ordinary people
in villages of Gujarat where communitymanaged in-village water supply schemes
have been implemented. They suggest the
sense of ownership that the community
feels for the work taken up in the village

and also reveal that, be it planning for
the most suitable method of recovering
community contribution, supervising the
construction quality, keeping the village
clean or operating and maintaining
(O&M) the system in the village the
community has a role to play in every
sphere of planning and management for
water and sanitation (WATSAN).
engage the citizens in the programme.

RNE assisted project was struggling for
more than four years since 1998 and still
no village water and sanitation committee
could be formed. A feeling of trust that is
needed for community engagement could
not be developed and the partnerships
with NGOs was also not working due to
ri gi d
engi neeri ng bureaucrati c
dominance.
Community engagement is easier said

than done. Invol vement of user
community and making them responsible
for water supply has been a significant
shift in the role of governance and
provi ded to faci l i tate. Hi therto the
Government
D epartment
w as
responsible to create and maintain the
water supply systems. Due to distantly
placed delivery institutions it was difficult
to maintain the efficiency of service
delivery and more often the provider was
devel opi ng a compl acent atti tude.
Community engagement and taking it to
scale called for completely new practices
and systemic transformations that were
undertaken in the following areas:
Due to the above scenario, it was decided

at the level of Government of Gujarat to
innovate a new form of governance that
will provide enabling environment to the
community wherein social process will
be of paramount importance. The policy
making and the implementation at the
grass-root level will be interactive and will
strive for engaged governance. People
will be involved at every level of planning
and i mpl ementati on, they w i l l be
involved in decision making and will be
given full control over finances. As per
the principle of subsidiarity wherein it is
stated that anything that can be done at a
lower should be done at that level itself,
devolution of functions, funds and
functionaries to the lowest level of
governance is required. At the policy
level, the above 3 Fs may suffice but a
proactive facilitation was envisaged as a
conceptual i nnovati on for the
decentralized community managed water
supply programme. It was also decided
to develop horizontal networks with Non
Governmental Organizations, Funding
Agencies and other sector players.
i.)
ii.)
iii.)
iv)
Conceptual Innovation
Institutional Innovation
Organizational Innovations
Process Innovations
Conceptual Innovation
Communi ty parti ci pati on approach

needed an altogether different kind of
governance w hi ch w oul d provi de
enabling environment for engaging the
users i n pl anni ng, devel opment of
infrastructure and owning up of Operation
and Maintenance of service delivery. The
traditional approach was not able to
Institutional Innovations for

Implementing Reforms
managing drinking water and sanitation

facilities.
Establishing WASMO
Registered as a society under the Societies

Registration Act, 1860 and as a public
charitable trust under the Bombay Public
Trust Act, 1950, WASMO has a unique
organi sati onal structure. It has a
Governing Body with five civil society
members in it and is headed by the Chief
Executive Officer who is a government
officer. Within WASMO, the units are
technical cell, project management units,
documentati on uni t, fi nance and
accounts and management support unit.
WASMO has a multidisciplinary team
with young professionals from a wide
range of fields, who are guided by senior
officials most of whom are on deputation
from the government departments. Its
head Office is located at the State capital
of Gandhinagar, while through its various
offices WASMO has a presence in all 26
districts of Gujarat.
Although a few initiatives were taken by

the State, they did not meet with much
success. The Royal Netherlands Embassy
(RNE) sponsored Ghogha project in 82
villages of Bhavanagar district, envisioned
as a community managed programme
was unable to achieve its objectives. From
1996 to 2000, not even a single Village
Water and Sanitation Committee could
be formed. When this project was studied
by a panel of experts appointed as a part
of the Institutional Development Mission,
their observation was that the typical
Government machi nery w as not
equipped to handle software matters
related to the involvement and capacity
building of people. The need for a special
organi sati on havi ng the requi red
personnel and skills to handle community
mobilisation and participatory planning
was suggested by the Mission.
An organi sati on that w oul d focus
specifically on the empowerment of the
user communities in the villages had to
be conceived. Unlike the conventional
drinking water supply departments and
its field offices, the new institution also
had to address and facilitate creating and
strengthening in-village sources and
environmental sanitation. The new
institution had to be flexible, innovative
and act as facilitating partner and not as
a quick fix provider. Thus, Water and
Sanitation Management Organisation
(WASMO) was created as a Special
Purpose Vehicle for empowering the
rural w ater user communi ti es i n
New organisational culture

According to organisation behaviour
experts W ASM O fol l ow s a matri x
structure which facilitates coordination
between a multiplicity of complex and
interdependent activities. To describe the
structure in a simple way, WASMO is
governed by a governing body and is
headed by the Chief Executive Officer
who is a government officer. He directly
heads and supervises technical cell,
proj ect
management
uni ts,
documentation unit, finance and accounts
and management support unit. Out of
these units the technical cell guides water
supply cell, water resource management
cell, environmental sanitation cell and
water quality cell. The management
10
support unit guides administrative cell,

HRD and establishment cell and MIScell.
strategy development, strengthening of

organisation and institutional structure.
Human resource planning and selection

process
Training and capacity building
A multidisciplinary team has been built

consisting of young professionals who
have had crucial experience in the sector.
The team is not dominated by engineers
selected through a government process.
Instead special emphasis has been given
to the social sciences to address the need
for social mobilization and constructive
di al ogue w i th the communi ty.
Professi onal s from the fi el ds of
environmental planning, management etc.
too have been roped in. The positions are
advertised in the open labour market and
a team of selectors drawn from both the
government and outside, but having
expertise in the sector interview the
candidates and judge the suitability and
competence. Personnel are hired on
contract by offeri ng competi ti ve
remunerati on. A l arge number of
professionals are young and they are
gui ded by rel ati vel y very seni or
professionals most of whom are on
deputati on from the government
departments. A performance appraisal
system is in place. Systematic review is
carried out after every six months to
provide financial up gradation and other
incentives and consider extension of the
contracts. At the time of its establishment
a special project Institutional Support to
W ASM O w as i mpl emented to
strengthen the organization, which
continued till September 2007. Through
the External Advisory Services supported
by RN E, A team of nati onal and
i nternati onal experts assi sted the
organisation in effective policy and
Orientation and training programmes are

organised at regular intervals. The themes
have been water, sanitation, hygiene
promotion strategy; drinking water and
sani tati on probl ems of rural areas;
rai nw ater harvesti ng); and general
orientation. The orientation and training
programmes have not been limited to the
WASMO team members only, but the
ISAs have also been included.
Work environment
A healthy work environment takes more
than office space or a desk and a chair.
From the very beginning WASMO haslaid
stress on creating a comfortable, inspiring
and appropriate work environment, by
paying attention to every employees
special needs, interests, values, and
personal goal s. Unl i ke many other
government organizations, the general
office environment is less formal, open
and encourages sharing of ideas and
information. While working in a team
mode has been accepted as an underlying
principle, each individual is encouraged
to take lead in his/her own work and take
ownership for the results.
WASMO also has an interesting feature.
Giving up the normal hierarchy, vehicles
are made available to functionaries who
have to be mobile. Quick and assured
access has made functionaries more
mobile and work output has improved.
Similarly, office automation and internet
connectivity, has given scope to build
database, library, reference material etc.
The environment in general helps in

developing professionalism.
WASMO has also been appointed as
State Water and Sanitation Mission
(SWSM) and is involved in the facilitation
of all decentralized community-managed
in-village water supply and sanitation

works through various GoI and GoG
programmes. The interpretation and
process of community participation have
come to mean different things to different
stakeholders. But broadly some of the
Key elements in the empowerment of PRIs
True representation brought about by the formation of Pani Samitis with representation from
marginaliased communities and one third members as women, who are the primary managers of
water at the domestic level.
Legitimacy of the Pani Samiti as a result of the fact that it is formed as a sub-committee of the Gram
Panchayat and thus upholds the decentralised democratic process initiated in the country with the
73rd Amendment to the Constitution. It is formed in accordance with the Government Resolution
passed by the State Government of Gujarat in 1995 and amended in 2002.
Bringing in accountability and transparency - which is done by the Pani Samiti consulting the Gram
Sabha and getting its approval at various important stages, processes and expenditure of the project
and displaying all project details (physical and financial) at a prominent place in the village.
Capacity building of the Pani Samiti and the community on a variety of issues like general awareness on water, sanitation, health and hygiene, environmental sanitation etc; construction manage
ment and supervision; masons training; financial management; book-keeping and maintenance of
records, O&M of the system including water quality testing so as to develop a good understanding
on various project components and processes.
common pr i nci pl es of communi t y

management include:
Participation: The community-managed
approach should enjoy broad community
support, all sections of the society need
to participate and for community to take
on ow nershi p of the systems and
structures created, the participation and
support should continue way past the
construction/development phase.
Control: The community should be
equipped to take decisions with regard
to the systems they want to develop in
the village and in charge of the everyday
O&M of the system.
Sharing costs: People who have stake in

something, work at it and experience a
sense of ownership over the infrastructure/
assets. Hence the community needs to
put in a contribution towards capital costs
(in cash or kind depending on individual
circumstances) and contribution for O&M
to meet the recurrent costs.
Partnerships with NGOs

The second innovative mechanism was
to build strong partnerships with 75
NGOs based on clarity in roles and
responsibility. This led to developing
operati onal rel ati onshi ps, w hi ch
recognize and capitalize on each others
11
skills and strengths. Accountability,

respect and trust have been the key
elements for this synergy. NGOs have
been selected through a structured
process to act as Implementation Support
Agencies (ISAs) to the villages described
in the section on Partnerships.
D evel opi ng l ocal i nst i t ut i ons i n

villages
One of the primary requirements for
engagement of the community was
recognised to the presence of grassroots
level institutional mechanisms. In order
to improve institutional arrangements for
the provi si on of w ater suppl y and
sani tati on servi ces i n rural areas,
W ASM O s focus has been on the
empowerment and capacity building of
the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI).
Empowerment involves various aspects
such as decentralisation, devolution of
functi ons and pow er, communi ty
involvement, power and capability to
challenge various types of discrimination
etc. At the same time it is also understood
as communi ty s abi l i ty to assume
responsibility, make informed choices
and decisions, manage resources and
institutions, address conflicts and build
new capaci ti es to deal w i th future
challenges etc. In order to bring about this
empowerment, appropriate legal and
institutional mechanisms with a specific
mandate have been devised that can be
summarised as:
Innovations in processes
12
Innovati on, l i ke many busi ness

functions, is a management process that
requi res speci fi c tool s, rul es, and
di sci pl i ne. (D avi l a et al . 2006).
Organisational process innovations refers

to general processes and procedures
which are altered taking into account the
insights from existing mechanisms, past
experiences and leading to significant
organisational improvements in terms of
improved or new products, services, or
internal processes.
In order to facilitate a true bottom up
approach and smooth grassroots level
processes several path-breaking changes
were brought in by WASMO some of
which are given below:
Reducing the levels of hierarchy

A conscious decision was taken to
interact and facilitate Gram Panchayats
directly, bypassing the district and taluka
panchayats. There were several reasons
for this. The thinking was that if the
projects were to go through the upper two
tiers this would imply dealing with a
hierarchal system where the desired
delivery may not be achieved. A true
bottom-up approach would be one where
each Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat
is directly approached. True decentralised
empowerment and planning would
emerge from this. Even though this
implied additional expenditure in terms
of human resources and expenditure, the
objective was to directly empower the
lowest rung of governance, to build up a
strong base, so that not only would
villagers be able to manage their drinking
water systems, but would also be able to
deal with other developmental issues.
Community control over finances

The Pani Samitis have been given full
control over their funds, by directly
transferring the funds into separate bank
accounts held by the Pani Samitis. Neither
NGOs, nor any intermediary level of
governance i s a si gnatory to these
accounts. In the initial phases, this
decision met with a lot of resistance both
from the N GO S and the tal uka
panchayats, yet full faith was vested in
the Pani Samitis. The Pani Samiti receives
advances in proportion to the community
contribution that it has been able to
collect so that they do not get trapped
with contractors. The Samitis are given
the management support for audit and
subsequent release of fund through
installments
and the peoples right to raise queries in

the vi l l age assembl i es and the
accountability of the Pani Samiti to the
communi ty by shari ng proj ect
information with the communities helps
create an environment of trust and
transparency.
Clear project cycle for time bound

implementation
In each village a project implementation
cycl e i s fol l ow ed. The proj ect i s
implemented in around 18 months and
is divided into two cycles. The first cycle
of around six months is for community
mobilisation and the second 12 month
cycle involves actual execution. These
two cycles are a mix of social and civil
engineering components. Activities
undertaken in the first cycle include:
Social process driven approach

The most distinct feature of WASMOs
approach has been the emphasis on
social processes adopted and space
created for community to participate at
every stage of the programme. The whole
premise for establishing WASMO was to
carry out strong social mobilization,
generating a genuine interest and demand
from the community and building their
capacities. The entire decentralized
programme rests on the soci al
mobilization process which involves
activities such as awareness generation
through information, education and
communication (IEC), Participatory Rural
Appraisals. Since the community has
direct control over the finances, steps and
procedures have also been introduced to
make sure that all records are maintained
in a transparent manner. The Village
Assembly has been given due importance
Project introduction to generate

demand;
Pani Samiti formation;
Assessment of requirements by the
vi l l agers and Pani Sami ti /Gram
Panchayat;
Development of Village Action Plan
(VAP) by the villagers with technical
support from the ISA and WASMO;
Approval of VAP by the Pani Samiti/
Gram Panchayat in the Gram Sabha;
Fixing of community contribution and
its deposit in separate bank account;
Trai ni ng on i ssues rel ated to
constructi on
and
fi nance
management;
Planning for work execution; and,
Release of the first installment of
funds from WASMO.
13
The second cycl e i nvol ves actual

construction which includes:
Supervi si on and moni tori ng of
construction by Pani Samiti/Gram
Panchayat with technical support
from the ISA and WASMO;
M ai ntai ni ng transparency and
accounts;
Setti ng of w ater tari ff through
community involvement and getting
it approved in the Gram Sabha; and,
Commissioning of water supply
scheme and i ts O & M by the
community.
Commissioning completed works

WASMO has created a unique system
through the Atmarpan ceremony
(dedication to self) for commissioning the
completed works to the communities. It
is an elaborate ceremony where all Pani
Samiti members take an oath in front of
their village communities to operate,
maintain and manage the schemes. Since
the ceremony is a public village function,
there is a great sense of responsibility
created among the Pani Samiti members
in caring for the village assets.
Operation and maintenance (O&M)

by the community
14
O ne of the accepted pri nci pl es of

decentralization is that the community
takes over the responsibility of the O&M
of the systems developed. For the first time
in the history of rural water supply in the
State this was done through WASMO.
This has been possible only because of
the intensive social processes and the
rapport created with community, due to
which the significance of O&M has been

able to transferred to the community. The
capacity of the people to carry out O&M
(both technical and financial) hasbeen built
and people have accepted this role too.
Innovations in service delivery

To provide improved access to water
supply through WASMO, the GoG has
taken up several policy changes in
planning for rural water supply systems,
which are broadly given below.
Household water connectivity and

24X7 supply
It i s w el l know n that househol d
connections can have a great impact on
the household hygiene and family health
and hygiene, especially for children, and
the result on school and workforce
participation. Another important impact
is that on the health of women who are
responsible for fetching the water, by
reducing their drudgery and the impact
of freeing time from water transport duties
on leisure, labor supply and educational
attainment. To that extent a womans right
to having access to water at the doorstep
has been recognized. Similarly round the
clock supply can greatly impact the
quality of life.
Household connections and 24x7 supply
are therefore being promoted at the user
level, wherever they are technically and
economically feasible. With increased
accessibility of drinking water through
grid, augmented supply from local water
sources, and community-managed water
supply system in the villages, it is aimed
to cover 75% of the household with tap
connectivity by 2010.
Habitation as a unit
In Gujarat, typically villages are organised
usually on the basis of castes in various
habitations. Particularly, in tribal areas
the habitations are very far flung and
dispersed, hence the unit of a village for
planning the water supply system often
proves to be insufficient to meet the needs
of all groups.
Dual water supply and strengthening

of local source:
Government of Gujarat has taken up dual
supply as a policy and encourages
conjunctive use of water at the village level
so that increasing demand for water is met
locally and State Water Supply Grid
supplements the supply through quality
assured safe water. Encouraging people
to use piped water for drinking and
cooking, while for other purpose, they
should use water drawn from local
sourcesisa pragmatic approach. Attempts
are being made to strengthen existing
drinking water sources, mainly those
supporti ng Regi onal Water Suppl y
Schemes, which are mostly based on
underground water. Technology
interventions such as bore blasting and
hydrofracturing have been taken up after
feasibility studies and this programme is
being accelerated based on the impact
seen so far.
(i).
(ii).
(iii)
regular supply of water,

regular tariff collection,
regular water charges to be paid to
GWSSB, if villages are using the
water of GWSSB,
(iv) cleanliness in and around the water
supply components,
(v) safe disposal of waste water and
(vi) overall cleanliness in village and in
schools.
Installation of meters
It is observed that in general economic
use of any commodity can only be
ensured if consumer pays for what has
been consumed rather than at a flat rate.
The GoG has already initiated the process
for installation of one water meter at each
village covered under RWSS. Since the
experience in the community managed
approach to water supply has shown that
awareness generation and community
participation are very important for any
service or system to be acceptable at
village level, WASMO has been assigned
the work of installation of meters and to
generate an acceptance for this concept.
O&M incentive policy

A one -time incentive for O&M of the
water supply systems has been put in
place for villages who demonstrate the
capacity to carry out O&M effectively for
a year. This incentive is based on various
factors such as:
15
Building Pa rtne rships
Setting the scene

On analysing the context and the scale
of the problems with the rural drinking
water supply sector in the State of
Gujarat, it was clear that community
managed rural water supply could not be
a one-man show of the Government. To
ful fi l l thi s need i t w oul d requi re a
partnership between three main players
namely, i.) the Government supplier,
which was aiming at a paradigm shift,
ii.) the community, who were to take on
the responsibility of in-village water
supply systems, and iii.) the regional
NGOs, which were well conversant with
the social and cultural context of the
community and would act as a link
betw een the Government and the
community.
For a successful partnership it is essential
that the partnership must have a clear
mission. Recognising the fact that each
partner has its own mission, a common
mission needs to be formulated in which
every partner still can perceive the work
as bei ng i n i ts ow n i nterest. The
experience from the first Phase of the
community managed Ghogha rural water

supply programme where not a single
Village Water and Sanitation Committee
could be formed in five years and which
could not meet the programme objectives
helped in formulating this common
mission for the State, the villages and the
NGOs working in the water supply and
sanitation sector. The mission was enable
rural communities to have adequate safe
and regular drinking water supply and
improved habitat empowerment and
active community management of natural
resources.
Under the people centred WATSAN
projects in Gujarat the first and the most
important partnership is with the rural
communi ty through vi l l age l evel
organizations namely the Pani Samiti
(Village Water and Sanitation Committee)
and Gram Panchayats (Discussed under
the section social processes. The second
partnership is that with NGOs who are
involved in the decentralisation process
as Implementation Support Agencies who
have to act as intermediary between the
state level organisations and the village
level organisations. The third group
16
consi sts of the state, nati onal and

international level organisations.
N GO s as I mpl ement at i on
Support Agencies (ISAs)
In the people centred WATSAN projects
i nsti tuti onal capaci ty w i th the
government departments is limited in
handling community mobilisation issues.
In keeping with the guidelines issued by
GoI for the Swajaldhara programme,
N GO s have been i nvol ved as ISAs
particularly for activities like social
mobilisation, communication, capacity
devel opment, parti ci patory rural
appraisals, developing the Village Action
Plan, and technical support for the
smooth implementation of the scheme.
Hence NGOs have also emerged as key
partners i n communi ty ow ned and
managed WATSAN schemes. The roles
and responsi bi l i ti es of the ISAs as
envisaged in the projects are:
i)
Communi ty mobi l i sati on by

awareness generation and soliciting
their participation;
ii) Institution building by forming Pani

Sami ti s i n accordance w i th the
guidelines; sanitation and hygiene
promoti on through aw areness
campaigns that especially involve
women and children and facilitate the
construction of sanitation facilities;
iii) Ensuri ng w omen s i nvol vement
through their participation as Pani
Samiti members and addressing their
water and sanitation needs;
iv) Ensure equity in and across the
villages and interest of weaker section
in the society is fully protected;
17
v) Water resource management by

faci l i tati ng pl an preparati on i n
consultation with the community;
Grading and selection process

Assessing the competencies of each
organisation and making sure that the
right partners are involved was very
important for community engagement in
decentralization of water supply and
sanitation and hence the selection of
NGOs was been done in a very systematic
and transparent manner. To start with an
advertisement was placed in the leading
new spapers of Guj arat i nvi ti ng
organisations interested in providing
support to this programme. In response
to this advertisement WASMO received
516 applications.
A selection committee was formed which
consisted of members from the civil
society, who have experience in the
sector and other developmental work.
Criteria for selection of NGOs and
weightage for each were fixed. It was
deci ded that experi ence of the
organisation would be given 60 per cent
weightage, while 40 per cent would be
given for the personnel employed with
the organisation. Experience in various
aspects such as - community-managed
projects and participatory approach,
drinking water and sanitation sector,
water resource management, mobilising
women and mainstreaming gender,
number of years in development work etc.
was considered, while the personnel
strengths of the organi sati on w ere
assessed i n terms of thei r profi l e
(techni cal and soci al sci ences
background), qualifications, years of
experience in the field etc. It was decided

that a score of 60 per cent should be kept
as a cut-off point for the NGOs to avoid
a compromise on their quality of work
Further, criteria were fixed for allotment
of numbers of NGOs in a district, number
of villages to each NGO and number of
di stri cts to each N GO etc. N GO s
bl ackl i sted by other Government
departments were disqualified.
with the project cycle at the village level.

As the realm of work expanded so did
the list of agencies. ISAs were involved
in water quality monitoring and capacity
building of the water quality team at
village level. Depending on the nature of
work allotted to each ISA, the MoUs too
were different.
In the absence of formal structures,

partnerships among organizations and
institutions can be reduced to loose
col l aborati ons,
w here
mutual
accountabi l i ty
and
meani ngful
cooperation is undermined. Functional
relations, brought out through formal
agreements and based on mutual dignity,
trust and value for each others skills and
resources enable partners to maximize
their resources and work together more
effectively.
Building a partnership cannot be a linear

process. On the contrary its a continuous
learning cycle whereby information from
the different phases is used as feedback
on the programsme and w hereby
policies, processes and activities etc. can
be adapted when necessary. As the
community managed programme scaled
up in the State and experience was gained
i n faci l i tati ng the communi ty to
implement the programme on their own,
the agreements to have been modified
(particularly the one between WASMO
and the ISAs) and made more realistic.
In mid-2007 WASMO undertook an
internal review of the work done by the
various ISAs since most of these MoUs
were to come to an end in July. Mid
programme evaluation were done to
identify gaps in project implementation
and assess the quality of work done by
ISAs, based on which additional villages
were assigned to the ISAs. New NGOs
w ere i ncl uded as ISAs based on a
composi te gradi ng system w hi ch
involved desk appraisal and field visits.
In Gujarat, this has been done by drawing

formal agreements (MoUs) that are signed
between the partners and it provides a
robust way of dealing with disagreements
and increases transparency. WASMO has
entered into a MoU with each of the ISAs,
for a term of 18 months which is in line
The administration fees of the ISAs were

converted from quarterly claim model to
one which was based on identified
milestones. The new model ensured
expediting the project implementation
schedule and provided clarity on release
of funds to ISAs.
After a rigorous selection exercise, now,

more than 75 reputed NGOs are involved
i n communi ty-managed w ater and
sanitation works as ISAs. This has set very
high transparency standards at village
level, which in turn, has resulted into
good quality works and very good
community involvement.
Putting Learning Partnerships

to work
18
Partnering with UNICEF

WASMO is closely associated with State
offi ce of U N ICEF and i ts Chi l d
Environment Porgramme. In the early
years, UNICEF provided cash support for
the three members of District Core Team
of the Swajaldhara project and the field
travel support in nine districts. Similarly,
it also provided support to WASMO
through training and field test kits to
WASMO water quality programme
before the launch of the national water
quality monitoring and surveillance
programme
Through support from UNICEF WASMO
has also been able to organise various
capacity building programmes for its staff
on themes such as gender sensitization,
leadership and team building skills,
documentation of processes and success

stories etc. Facilitation by UNICEF for
participation in national reviews and interstate learning on rural water supply has
also greatly benefitted several staff
members of WASMO.
A unique initiative supported by UNICEF,
Office-in-a-bag (provision of stationery
kits to the Pani Samitis), which started as
an experiment has gained much favour
with the community. This kit distributed
to the community at the very beginning
of programme implementation has been
found to be very handy as it helps them
to maintain records from the very start
and also helps inculcate administrative
discipline. Kits for O&M were also given
to villages in order to facilitate simple
maintenance and repair works at the
village level.
Maintaining records from the start

A simple step of giving every Pani Samiti a kit called Ofiice-in-a-bag before the community contribution
is collected and physical works actually begin, has been found to be very useful. WASMO has received
support from UNICEF, which has provided these standardized kits. The kit consists of registers for
maintaining various records, a measurement book, measuring tape, receipt book, correspondence file
and tender file, pens, pencils etc. The kit helps the Pani Samitis to keep all important documents and
records of bills at one place and is also found handy during verification of accounts by WASMO staff.
In villages where the Samitis were unable to record accounting entries, the safeguarding of these bills in
this kit helped in writing of accounts later and also helped auditor to verify fund utilisation.
In an attempt to bring in professional
techniques and develop linkages with the
Centre for Environmental Planning and
Technology, UNICEFsupported a detailed
study by the students from the institute to
develop architectural plans for extending
Anandshala concept to Ashramshalas
(residential schools for tribal children). It
has supported training of Ashramshala
teachers to build the capacity of teachers
19
and help them to support the student

mental growth and overall development.
O ne of the maj or acti vi ti es w hi ch
WASMO could undertake with support
and guidance from UNICEF has been the
Muti-District Assessment of Water Safety
(M-DAWS). So far the M-DAWS has
been completed in eight districts of the
State.
With UNICEF support WASMO has been

able to take up innovative ways like
rooftop rain water harvesting in schools,
cluster storage systems to ensure equity
i n di spersed habi tati ons and al so
documentation studies such as evaluation
of cluster storage strategy in Gujarat and
womens participation in Swajaldhara.
Other partners
W ASM O has al so devel oped
partnerships with Gujarat Water Supply
and Sewerage Board (GWSSB), the arm
of the Water supply department that is
responsible of providing water upto the
village level and integral part of the
programme.. It has also over the years
collaborated and developed partnerships
with various government departments
through convergence of their activities
such as Rural Development, Forest,
H eal th and Fami l y W el fare, Tri bal
Development and Urban Development.
At the national level it has a partnership
with the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking
Water Mission.
In addi ti on, W ASM O has sought
networking with an NGO Arghyam in
the field of WRM and sustainability of
sources in Kutch, Oxfam, The Energy and
Resource Institute (TERI), and other
pl ayers i n the sector and research
organisations in the state and in the

country. O ne of i ts most recent
partnerships is with the Sir Ratan Tata
Trust and the Coastal Salinity Prevention
Cell (CSPC) for a community managed
rural water supply and sanitation project
covering 300 villages in coastal talukas.
The partnerships at all levels have been
nurtured so as to develop operational
relationships, which recognise and
capitalise on each others capacities, be
it WASMO, the ISA or the community.
The roles and responsibilities of each
partner have been clearly enunciated
taking into account the capacities and
constraints of each partner. Through
mutual dignity and respect, the skills,
resources and knowledge that each
partner brings to the programme are
valued. Transparency in processes as well
as openness and sharing of perspectives
and information has fostered a healthy
relationship between partners and on
several occasions also helped to arrive at
solutions on crucial issues. The profound
experience of ISAs in dealing with rural
dynamicsand rural development, coupled
with a shared vision and common goals
has made implementation of programmes
possible and propelled the process of
scaling up.
Partnership networks
Partnership networks are advantageous generally because they emphasise joint cooperation by all
the partners.
They strengthen capacity of all members in the network.
They identify and implement strategies and are capable of translating the networks knowledge and
experience into policy and practice.
20
The success of partnership networks in

WASMO can be attributed to adoption
of the following principles:
Partnership networks are purpose
driven, focused on demand driven
approach.
Partnership networks are driven by
implementation. The partnership
networks are far more work than
net.
Partnership networks are based on
institutional commitment or the
participation of individuals, wherein
21
accountabi l i ty, conti nui ty and

commitment of resources are assured.
These networks are built on expertise,
not mere interest.
Partnerships have been built on
credi bi l i ty of ISAs sel ected by
accredi tati on and w orki ng by
following work protocol.
Partnership networks are aimed at
devel opi ng and strengtheni ng
capacity in all the member partners
as well as the entire team.
Information Education Communication
Within WASMOs larger framework, IEC

has been integral to supporting project
activities. It is a necessary and crosscutting component of the project through
all its phases and interventions and
includes a comprehensive package of
communication media and approaches
that are parti ci patory, fl exi bl e and
systematic.
Role of IEC
The role of IEC is in the area of:
Promoting decentralisation for
development of drinking water and
sanitation systems and village selfreliance
Community mobilisation and
awareness generation about the
project and its activities
Education and capacity building for
making informed decisions about
technology options and community
organisation through Pani Samitis
Developing messages and strategies
that can generate interest in and
willingness to pay for facilities
Addressing challenges and barriers to

sanitation and hygiene practices
IEC target groups

Pani Samiti members and villagers
School group/teachers and students
Operator of village water supply
scheme
Health workers/ASHA workers
Gram Mitras
Anganwadi workers
Self Help Groups
Members of milk cooperatives
Gujarat Water Supply Board staff
Since communities are never
homogeneous, IEC strategy and
interventions need to be tailored
accordi ngl y. Di fferent messages,
approaches and media need to be used
for the older groups and children, men and
women, higher and lower socio-economic
groups, and different occupational and
caste groups. Apart from the enlisted
primary target groups, WASMOs IEC
strategy has also included key opinion
leaders such as teachers, panchayat
leaders, and religious and caste leaders.
22
Institutional mechanisms
W ASM O has devel oped i ts ow n
institutional mechanisms to cater to its
IEC needs. In the initial period, certain
IEC material, particularly in relation to
capacity building, was sourced from
other organisations. However, as its
requirements increased and became
more specialised, it was necessary to
create an in-house team that could
develop material that was relevant to
its projects. The Documentation and
Communication (D&C) Unit that has
been set up at WASMO develops and
di ssemi nates sui tabl e materi al for
different projects and components. The
field offices at the district level have
D & C members w ho provi de
i nformati on from the vi l l ages,
collaborate with the ISAs and also assist
in the dissemination of IEC material.
The uni t, al ong w i th i ts fi el d
counterparts al so coordi nates and
develops material for large, state-level
events that call for demonstrations,
models and other IEC interventions.
Evolution of WASMOs IEC

strategy
WASMOs IEC strategy has evolved and
grown with its programmes as they
matured. During its inception five years
ago, the village communities were not
familiar with WASMOs mandate and
activities. The preliminary measure that
was undertaken before approaching the
communities was of making contact
with village sarpanches. Personalised
letters were sent out to each sarpanch,
informing them about the organisation
and its mandate.
23
The initial efforts focused on branding

extensi vel y. W ASM O s l ogo w as
developed for easy recognition of the
organisation. This logo was accompanied
by si mpl e messages on w ater and
sanitation and was painted extensively on
walls in villages and along highways.
Also, posters and brochures were also
simultaneously created to disseminate
information about the primary activities
of the projects and were placed at
strategic locations such as panchayat
offices, schools, PHCs and local fairs and
meetings.
Array of materials for various project

cycles
The i ni ti al IEC efforts contri buted
significantly to community mobilisation,
and l ed the proj ects i nto thei r
implementation phase. As knowledge
about WASMOs work increased and the
projects gained momentum, the need for
provi di ng themati c materi al ari se.
Information booklets on the project and
guidelines for the formation and role of
the Pani Sami ti s w ere publ i shed.
Manuals, training modules for O&M and
fi nance and technol ogy w ere
consequently developed. Simultaneously,
to sti mul ate cross-l earni ng and
experience sharing among community,
project partners, pressure groups and
policy makers, a regular bi-monthly
newsletter, Loksamvaad, also began to be
published.
Developing a media-mix with

scaling up
Six years down the line, WASMO projects
and programmes that had hitherto been
implemented in more than one third of

the villages of the state, are now being
scaled up. The media mix has been
expanded to also include hot media such
as the radio, television and street plays
to reinforce key messages in the written
communication. The messages are direct
and simple.
Tools and Means

Interpersonal Communication
One to one interaction with people
at appropriate levels including door
to door visits
Interacti on w i th groups on
programme introduction and for
capacity building
Meetings at habitation and social
group levels
Separate meetings with women and
womens groups,
Gram Sabhas
Meetings at schools with teachers and
school children
Meeting with identified groups like
Self Help Groups, Mahila Mandals,
youth groups, religious groups etc.
Print Media
The following types of publications are
designed in-house, printed and used for
di ssemi nati on of i nformati on and
knowledge to stakeholders and target
groups.
Brochures: Brochures were designed and
published covering wide themes and
topics for information sharing
on WASMOs overview, Swajaldhara
programme, Earthquake Rehabilitation
Reconstruction programme, Ghogha

Regional Water Supply project, water
conservation methods and internship and
volunteer programme etc.
Leaflets: Leaflets giving simple messages
with graphics and sketches on aspects of
concern in the sector are also published
on chlorination, safe drinking water,
sani tati on and hygi ene, fl uori de
contamination and preventive measures,
toilet construction etc.
Bookl et s: Bookl ets and detai l ed
guidelines for Pani Samitis have been
developed explaining the concept of Pani
Samiti and roles and responsibilities as
members of the Samiti. Booklets on water
contamination and water safety are also
gi ven. D i stri ct-w i se bookl ets w i th
description of status of drinking water
schemes and new projects are also
prepared and updated every year for
shari ng w i th l ocal governance
institutions, leaders and interested groups
and persons.
The change has

been brought through
IEC. With WASMO
the difference is that
information has
moved into
involvement of the
people and then to
implementation. From
education, we have
moved to extension
where people are
becoming aware of
what needs to be
done and how to do
it themselves.
Education has led to
empowerment,
especially of women.
Communication has
been converted into
conviction.
-P.K. Laheri,
Former Chairman and
MD, Sardar Sarovar
Narmada Nigam Ltd.
Success Stories: About 100 success

stories of villages are documented and
published in the form of booklets to
distribute among the village community,
Pani Samiti and Panchayat members.
Magazine: A Guj arati bi -monthl y
magazi ne Loksamvaad meani ng
Dialogue with the Community has
provided a platform for community to
share their experiences. 20,000 copies of
the magazi ne reach the l i terate
community members of all programme
villages who have an influence on the
community and can further disseminate
the information.
24
Posters and Flexes: Posters are developed

and printed on hygiene, household
cleanliness, village sanitation, safe water,
steps for chl ori nati on, water-borne
diseases, toilet construction, ideal village
etc. These posters outline the processes
and steps necessary to meet good hygiene
standards. Flexes depicting community
i ni ti ati ves and i nnovati ons, vi l l age
experiences and voices are used to
motivate other villages during fairs and
Melas.
St i cker s: Spreadi ng messages on
environmental sanitation has been one of
the most di ffi cul t tasks under the
programme. Stickers carrying messages
on personal hygiene and cleanliness and
judicious use of water are distributed
among school children to generate their
interest and participation.
Documentation on experiences and
l essons l ear nt :
Achi evements,
experiences gained and lessons learnt
during various stages of the programme
have been documented for larger sharing
among planners and policy makers of
different states and leading national and
international organisations associated
with drinking water sector and rural

development.
Mass Media
Radio
Radio is still a popular medium among
rural masses and is effective to reach out
to the remote areas. Messaging on radio
through spots, features, and talks weaving
around programme objective, benefits of
communi ty-managed w ater suppl y
systems, ownership of village drinking
w ater i nfrastructure, w ater qual i ty
problems, contaminants of drinking
water, water-borne diseases, concept of
safe w ater, testi ng of w ater, toi l et
constructi on, mai ntai ni ng vi l l age
cleanliness are broadcast regularly from
All India Radio covering the entire state
in relevant slots for rural audiences.
Programmes in local dialects are also
prepared for focused regi ons.
Programmes for Kutch district and tribal
areas have been specifically prepared and
broadcast for effective participation of the
target groups of these regions. The
regional programme Gam Jo Choro in
(village-meeting centre) is well received
and it is about to cross 100 episodes.
Inspiring people to take on the community-managed approach

Rising early to complete household chores and fetch water for the household is a routine activity
for rural women. Hansaben, of Majewadi village of Junagadh district, was listening as usual to the
regular radio programme one morning when she got to know about the Swajaldhara programme. For a
couple of days she listened to the programme and understood the concept thoroughly. Then, accompanied
by other women from the village Hansaben met the officials for more information. Seeing an opportunity
in the programme the village has taken up the community-managed approach and is now on the way to
have household connections based on Narmada river water.
25
Television
Television having a visual impact is also
w i del y used for IEC. The genre of
progrmme include spots, quickies, full
l ength tel evi si on seri al s and
documentaries .
Spots: Spots on Pani Samiti formation,
village cleanliness and water resource
management activities for sustainability,
need for chlorination of drinking water,
judicious use of water are televised on
Doordarshan Kendra, Ahmedabad (the
public broadcaster) and cable network to
compl ement the campai gns run at
grassroots level or part of emergency
efforts during disasters.
Quickies: Themati c qui cki es of 30
seconds are televised on need of water
testing in laboratory, water testing of local
sources at village level, disinfection of
water, fluoride and fluorosis, nitrate
contamination, water impurities, waterborne diseases and preventive measures
Television Serials and documentaries:
Pani No Mahima (Significance of Water),
Jal E jivan (Water is Life) beamed on
Doordarshan Kendra and local cable
networks reach almost every corner of
the state. It has episodes on crucial
aspects like collective efforts to equip the
village with water supply structures,
strengthening of existing local sources ,
paying for drinking water facilities,
collective ownership of the drinking
w ater systems, hazards of open
defecation, need for building individual
toilets, rain water harvesting etc.
Documentaries in English and Gujarati

have been produced on WASMO as the
State Water and Sanitation Mission the
facilitator of demand driven, communitymanaged approach. Besides, the real life
experiences of the community actively
participating in community-managed
drinking water and sanitation programme
have been captured i n Guj arati
documentaries Pani Lokji Vani
(Peoples Voice on Water) and Nirmal
Jal, Nirmal Gram(Safe Water, Clean
Vi l l age).These documentari es are
available on CDs and are shown at Gram
Sabhas and Pani Samiti meetings in
addition to training programmes. These
efforts have facilitated the process of
transparency.
The use of television as a medium to
generate i nterest i n communi ty
management and create and air of trust
and transparency has even been
demonstrated by the rural communities.
In village Bhimrana, the Pani Samiti in
Jamnagar district produced a short film
out of the footage they shot during the
construction process of water supply
systems and showed it on cable network.
The effort fetched consi derabl e
community contribution for the village
works and today, the film is a source of
inspiration for many other villages.
Folk Media
Street Theatre
Street theatre is a form of theatrical
performance and presentati on i n
outdoor public spaces. These outdoor
spaces can be at a suitable place where
26
l arge numbers of peopl e can be

comfortabl y accomodated. Thi s
medium requires no stage and a bare
minimum of props. The main purpose
of this medium is to bring awareness
through 360 degree communication
and bridging the physical gap between
the performers and the audience. Street
plays have proved to be an effective
means of mobilising, informing and
entertai ni ng the rural communi ty.
Professional media groups are engaged
to perform street plays on safe drinking
water, health implications of consuming
unsafe water, village cleanliness, roles
and responsibilities of Pani Samiti,
programme implementation process
and O&M contribution. More than 500
region specific street plays have been
performed so far and have proved to be
very effecti ve i n mobi l i zi ng the
community and ultimate acceptance of

the programme.
Lokdayra
At the vi l l age l evel a vari ety of
traditional folk-forms popular in the
regi on are used. For i nstance the
lokdayara (mostly made up of storytelling and songs) are found to be very
effecti ve i n Surendranagar di stri ct,
w hi l e i n the tri bal areas of South
Gujarat the tamasha and in North
Guj arat bhavai , both essenti al l y
consisting of drama, and dance are very
popular. The use of traditional media,
which are very entertaining, has been
found to be very effective in taking the
messages to people without sounding
condescending and serve as a good tool
for infotainment.
Effective Tool for Peoples Contribution

Ratnapar village of Mandavi taluka is a example for initiating an innovative method for collection of
peoples contribution. The village readily agreed to join when the community managed water supply
and sanitation programme was introduced. Pani Samiti was also formed soon. But the process got
stalled when people showed reluctance to contribute later. Some efforts were made by the Pani Samiti
and ISA to make people aware on the need for community involvement and contribution but in vain. At
this crucial juncture the Pani Samiti decided to try other alternatives for community mobilisation in
order to collect the much needed community contribution for water facilities. Pani Samiti opted for a
popular folk form - Lokdayra.
The essence and concepts of community managed programme was shared with the performers of the
Lokdayra the local artists, under the guidance of ISA and WASMO team. The focus areas were
community ownership, contribution and need for sanitation, health implications and sustainability of
water systems. A Lokdayra was arranged at night which was attended by people of all age. The event
generated a lot of interest amongst them and the message woven in the performance clicked with the
audience. People were so encouraged that the required contribution was collected in no time after the
show. The contribution was then utilised for village cleanliness, construction of sanitation units for the
poor, water resource management, plantation, and development of school. Due to these activities, the
village achieved the Nirmal Gram Puraskar.
27
Skits and plays in schools

WASMO has also used this effective
medium for spreading the message of
cleanliness among school children. The
script of a short skit on good hygiene
practices has been brought out in the form
of a booklet and distributed in 300 schools
acrossthe state during World Water Week.
Around 200 schools have adopted and
performed the play in their respective
schools. Since the script is available with
the schools, it can be performed on any
occasion and the message can be reiterated
and reinforced. Nikunj Jadav, a 11 year
old boy who played Rangalo (a clown)
says, We now understand the importance
of cleanliness and that too by laughing all
the way.
Fairs or Melas
Fai rs are qui te useful for message
dissemination where rural communities
especially women and children gather in
large numbers. These fora are used to give
messages on sanitation, hygiene, toilets,
soak pits, water resource management and

rooftop rain water harvesting structures.
Specific models working as well as static
have been developed for exhibition stalls.
The famousTarnetar fair in Surendranagar
district, Ravechi Mela at Rapar, Vandha
Mela at Samkhyali, Yaksh Mela at
Nakhatrana, Kutch, Shabari Mela in
southern tribal belt, Janmashtami Mela
across the entire Saurashtra, North and
Central regions are some of the fairs where
stalls having displays are arranged.
Campaigns and drives

Special drives are initiated in the villages
for specific result oriented activities. This
include Cleanliness drives of villages,
cleaning of drinking water storage and its
surrounding, greening of villages, water
conservation, clean river drive, clean
school drive.
W i th acti ve i nvol vement of ISAs
campaigns are launched on various
occasions and events.
Jal Yatras as part of World Water Day Celebrations

On the occasion of the World Water Day which is celebrated every year on 22 March, WASMO
planned Jal Yatras during16-19th March 2008 for creating awareness for water conservation and
community participation. Four routes were identified for the Jal Yatras, starting from Jamnagar, Kutch,
Junagadh and Amreli disitrct. All the four routes converged on 19th March 2008 at Ambaji, a prominent
religious place in the tribal district of Banaskantha. All the experiences, learnings and insights gained en
route were shared with participants from all the four routes at Ambaji and interacted with the Honble
Chief Minister of Gujarat.
The Jal Yatra aimed at raising the overall awareness on decentralised community-managed water supply
and sanitation schemes and also focused on demand generation for community participation. These
four routes covered 12 districts of the state (out of 26) passed through about 42 villages. At each centre
around 400 persons from nearby 100 villages participated. The participants took part in workshops and
attended talks by eminent persons from the field of development and water and sanitation.
28
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
World Water Day: March 22

World Environment Day: June 05
Independence Day: August 15
Republic Day: January 26
Childrens Day: November 14
World Science Day: February 28
International Womens Day: March 08
Kite Flying Festival January 14
School focused campaigns

Interactive communication, games, songs,
essay and painting competitions and
demonstrations are the main methods
used to shape childrens attitude towards
personal hygi ene and sani tati on.
Messages are then further backed by
constant vigilance by teachers to ensure
that hygiene practices are imbibed by
children. In about 140 schools, students
and teachers have been teamed up for skit
29
performance on hygi ene and thi s

initiative is being spread to many more
schools.
Video Conferencing
For quality surveillance programme,
efforts tow ards mass aw areness
generation have begun through video
conference using satellite technology.
Interacti on w i th rural audi ences i s
focused on district specific problem of
fluoride and measures for ensuring
consumption of safe water. So far, video
conferences have been conducted for 12
di stri cts - M ehsana, Vadodara,
Panchmahal, Dahod, Sabarkantha, Patan,
Banaskantha, Surendranagar, Amreli,
Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Kheda. In
all, 5136 participants from 2561 villages
attended these programmes.
Capacity Building
Need for capacity building

Involvement of people as partners in the
programmes at various stages in planning
and implementation called for building
capacities for partnership among the
communities. There were at least three
reasons for this.
One, compared to the conventional
arrangements of dri nki ng w ater
storage and supply in the villages,
new sources and techniques had
come into practice. Regional water
supply schemes have the sources
away from the villages and water is
transported through pipelines. Thus,
nei ther the vi l l agers themsel ves
create the source nor they have direct
control of the source. They have to
parti ci pate i n the process of
distribution and maintenance.
Second, techniques of maintenance
and management including account
keeping etc. have also changed in
managing new water sources. People
do not have expertise in it. Thus, in
bui l di ng communi ty capaci ti es
government has realised the need for

intermediary agencies. NGOs are to
assume this role.
Third and most important reason for
bui l di ng capaci ti es of the
communities at the village level was
that over last four decades or so
people have almost forgotten that their
elders used to manage the drinking
and domestic water resources with
practi cal l y
no
government
involvement in it. The conventions
and traditional management skills
w ere not passed on to the new
generations. If people have to once
agai n assume mai ntenance and
management responsibilities, their
capacities would have to be rebuilt.
Similarly, the development of source
within village areas also calls for new
skill as the traditional well-pond-tank
combinations are no longer viable.
New technologies and techniques are
to be used in rain water harvesting
and creating other sources including
lined ponds and reverse osmosis.
30
Developing capacities and local

skills
W ASM O i s an organi sati on, w hi ch
believes in investing time and resources
for building capacities of each partner and
stakeholder. Development of human
resourcesisan important activity, which can
help people perform their jobs/ tasks in a
desired manner, thus aiming to achieve the
mission and objectives of the organisation.
Developing capacities helps to
measure and unify standards
create and sustain dialogues and
relationships, which increases the
level of understanding about the
service
identify issues that need to be dealt
with
identify the members of staff that need
further support, assistance or training
help staff appreciate their professional
role, which will be reflected in their
work
be used as an opportunity to reinforce
organizational aims
be used to subtly review areas for
improvement to maintain the quality
of the service
provide opportunities for feedback
Capacity building for various

stakeholders
Capacity building is not only of the
communities involved but also of the
ISAs and the other individuals in the
organisation and it also differs depending
on the programme and focus area. As
Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs)
are the major partners in the field, hence
capacity building support to ISAs is
31
important for WASMO. The training also

encourages a culture of collaboration and
fai th betw een vari ous partners vi z,
NGOs, government and the private
sector. At WASMO, capacity building
programmes are organised at three levels:
Programmes organized at field levels
for Pani Samiti, community and other
village functionaries
Programmes organized by WASMO
for stake holders at state, district and
taluka level
Programmes attended by WASMO
personnel
St eps t o or gani se capaci t y

development programmes
Since training is a continuous activity, as
a strategy WASMO has prepared a team
of trainers among its own staff and ISAs
associated with WASMO. The training
unit of WASMO is responsible for overall
pl anni ng of capaci ty devel opment
programmes for W ASM O and i ts
partners, while trainers at district level
modify the training designs as per the
need of the area or community, based on
the background of learners and their role
in the organisation, Training is designed
for the participants based on the requisite
content areas, subject matter and using
appropriate methods, materials and
resources. If the need for a subject matter
specialist is felt, WASMO utilises the
services of a range of resource persons
available in the field. While planning, the
ideological framework of participatory
training, the potentials and limits of each
method, the learners possible physical,
psychological and emotional needs is
taken care of. The comfort level of
participants and learning atmosphere is
an important consideration while making

arrangements for the capaci ty
devel opment programmes. For the
community the venue is kept easily
accessible to them.
A capacity development programme can

be made more effective through a follow
up and evaluation of the programme in
the context of possi bl e rol es and
responsibilities of the trained participants,
emerging needs and concerns etc. Special
care is taken to improve the skills in
gathering and analysing information,
using this to adjust the course of the
training, in maintaining contact and
providing continued support, writing
reports and documentation and hence
training in this area is a continuous effort.
Repeated and conti nuous capaci ty

development has been able to encourage
and develop new leadership at village
level. Local leadership gives the project a
social dimension. Building leadership
hel ps i n cutti ng the bureaucrati c
dominance and procedural delays. The
focus i s on bui l di ng the ski l l s and
knowledge base of people who can take
lead in project implementation. It is
emphasi sed i n the programme that
people from the weaker section come to
the forefront i.e. women, schedule caste
and schedule tribe or people from the
O BC groups. Even i f a parti cul ar
community is unable to take on the
i mpl ementati on process w i th the
anticipated speed, the community is not
rushed through. Instead, more time is
spent on the above process. Thus,
capaci ty bui l di ng i s not l i mi ted to
achieving short-term goals of community
mobilisation till the time of project
completion but aims at sustainability in a
manner such that even after WASMO
moves out, the community is able to run
the water supply system independently.
Major areas
Capacity development is a continuous
process and new issues and areas keep
emergi ng over ti me. It i s therefore
essential have intermittent contact with
the community. Capacity development
starts with building an atmosphere of faith
and understanding the foundation of the
community managed approach. This is
followed by the planning, administrative
and manageri al ski l l s necessary for
implementation. Thus capacity building
i s done at the pre-constructi on,
construction and post-construction stage.
Some of the major areas where capacity
building is done are:
Encouraging collective action and

understanding
group dynamics
Technical know-how
Construction monitoring
Financial monitoring
Record keeping
Water quality
Personal hygiene
Operation and maintenance
Fostering leadership
Exposure visits
Classroom training, demonstrations and
hands-on trai ni ng are some of the
standard methods adopted for building
capacities at various levels. But exposure
vi si ts have thei r ow n rol e to pl ay
particularly in motivating communities
and instilling faith in their own capacities.
It is often found that a visit to another
village, which is in fact a peer, can often
32
set the ball rolling in a community with

low confidence and motivational levels.
The principle of Seeing is believing,
comes in vary handy. People (women
included) come back inspired and start

to take charge of their own affairs.
Water and entrepreneurship development

Navaratanpar is a coastal village 22 kilometers away from Bhavnagar town that faced acute drinking
water shortages. Capacity building and participation under the Project has been instrumental in
boosting the confidence of the women.
Both, Tidiben and Harshaben are members of the Self Help Group in the village. They bid for a
contract that was offering a dam site near Palitana for fishing and were awarded the tender. In spite
of facing threats from other male bidders, they went ahead. Members of the SHG have now visited
far off places like Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh for selling their catch. Mobile phone in hand, and now
a successful businesswoman, Harshaben says, We realised our strength during the implementation
of our village water supply programme. We started attending meetings and going to the banks. Our
decisions were respected during meetings.
The pre-construction training received during the programme has ensured that there is good quality
construction under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY). When the road was being
constructed, Tidiben and other women compelled the road contractor to use proper material.
Tidibens explanation is simple. Now that we know that public money is being used, it is our duty
to see that it is appropriately utilised. Besides, being a construction laborer, I know what quality
work is.
Maximising returns
WASMOs strategy of capacity building has sometimes proved to be good business sense since the
fraction of the total budget spent on training programmes has yielded far reaching results. The Pani
Samiti members and the villagers are confident that they can now demand what is rightfully theirs.
Lachhibai, a member of the Pani Samiti in Pipari village, Mandvi block, while talking about the sarpanch
says, As a sarpanch it is his job to ask women their problems and solve them. If he does not work in the
interests of the village, we will remove him.
In Ajrakpur village, the Pani Samiti president, Abdul Rehman, says, Construction was never my subject.
I earn my living from block printing. After training, I could effectively monitor the quality of construction.
In fact, two contractors left midway since I demanded good quality material and work.
Capacity building of ISAs
33
The ISAs are a crucial link between the

community and the government. Hence
it is an absolute essential for both the
stakeholders to be on a common plane

as far as the principles, processes and
concepts of the programme are
concerned. Regular meetings with the
field staff from the ISAs are held at the
di stri ct l evel and al so w i th the

organizational heads as and when the
need ari ses. M oreover, there i s an
envi ronment of shari ng and openmindedness due to which the ISAs can
approach WASMO to deliberate on any
field, process or administrative issues.
Orientation and training of the staff
employed by the ISAs is an important
investment for WASMO, especially as the
programme evol ves and new
interventions and policies are put into
action. For instance in February 2009 an
on-fi el d trai ni ng programme w as
organised for 21 technical staff members
from ISAs of eight districts in the State.
The objectives of the programme were:
Orientation on WASMOs culture,
mi ssi on and obj ecti ve and the
community managed programme
Enhanci ng thei r capaci ti es for a

participatory approach, having a
dialogue with the community and
identifying field issues that need to
be dealt with.
Enabling the technical team to draw
the design layout of water supply
system as per the requirement of the
communi ty and prepare vi l l age
scheme.
D uri ng the ni ne day trai ni ng the
participants carried out Gram Sabha,
village mapping, PRAs, technical survey,
w ater qual i ty testi ng and prepared
hydraulic designs in the villages which
had accepted the programme and had to
go in for implementation selected was in
all villages.
An example of peer learning

During our visit to Haripur village of Bhavnagar district I came to know about rain water harvesting
systems. I found the quality of rain water good. Our village is located in the coastal belt. We receive
good rainfall but had never thought of preserving natures gift. All the rain water got drained in the Gulf
of Khambhat. So I decided to have rain water tank in my village and constructed rain water storage tank
in my house. Now my neighbours are also motivated to have this system.
- Haribhai, Kantasayan village, Bharuch district
34
Social Processes for Community Engagement
Water is a strange natural resource: it

can unite a community as easily as it
can divide it. Therefore, it is essential
that a strong social process precede
each structure to build what economists
call social capital. - Anil Agarwal
founder of the Centre for Science and
Environment in his address to members
of Parliament and state legislatures in
2001.
These w ords symbol i ze W ASM O s
approach to decentralization in the rural
water supply sector. Human beings live
in society - a grouping of human beings
bound by some cri teri a l i ke race,
ethnicity, culture, etc. They adapt with
the environment and as they undergo
various processes that make them an
integral part of the community, gradual
changes in their thinking and behaviour
also take place. Generally, a community
refers to a group of people who live in a
particular geographical location and
work for common goals rather than for
specific interests. Every individual is core
to a community be it a boy or girl, man
or woman, rich or poor.
Process for Participation

Generally people are at the mercy of
distant groups of decision makers over
w hom they have l i ttl e control .
Participation can change all of this by
empowering people to influence the
decision making process. The term
community participation in development
indicates a vast arena, where people of
every strata of society are encouraged to
participate in development activities
spontaneously by building awareness on
thei r needs, probl ems, rol es and
responsibilities and providing them
technical information about options
ahead of them. The awareness and
spontaneity make them self-confident. As
a result they themselves take the initiative
to take a stock of the existing conditions,
analyse the problems faced by various
sections of the community and arrive at
options and solutions on their own1.
1
Training Manual on Community Participation

and Social Mobilisation in Basic Education,
Dhaka Ahsania Mission.
35
The key word for social mobilisation is

processes which require the use of
various participatory methods and tools
throughout all stages of the programme.
In fact, communities differ from region to
region within the State and even within a
vi l l age. It becomes i mportant to
understand and respect these distinct
i denti ti es and cul tures and remai n
flexible, rather than standardizing the
approach. Some of the processes
undertaken for mobilising the community
i ncl ude Informati on Educati on and
Communication (IEC) for sensitization
and generating awareness among the
communi ty; Parti ci patory Rural
Apprai sal s (PRA) w hi ch hel p i n
understanding the physical and social
environment in the village, the existing
resources and water history of the village,
and the future demands; capacity building
and training of the community on a range
of issues which will empower and equip
them to discharge their roles efficiently
and effectively.
The first step - Introduction of

the programme
Most projects in their enthusiasm and
hurry to get results, impose and suggest
solutions without giving the community
opportuni ti es for consul tati on and
dialogue among themselves to articulate
problems. In this regard, the first step is
to create awareness, and necessary
support for community participation so
as to involve a wide range of members
and interest groups in the community.
Community participation is a broad
concept and identifying the first step is
very important.
36
The fi rst meeti ng w i th the vi l l age

communi ty i s cruci al as i t often
determines the future course of the
project. This meeting is conducted
through a Gram Sabha (General village
Assembly), wherein all adult members of
the village remain present. The main
purpose of this meeting is to provide
more information in greater depth and
knowledge elicitation. The introductory
meeting is held for several reasons:
M aki ng i nformal contact w i th
communi ty and l eaders i n the
community.
To hold a meeting for talking about
issues and community participation.
Determining the readiness of the
community for a community managed
approach.
W orki ng tow ards creati ng the
required conditions for a community
development approach.
Creating a leadership team made up
of a cross-section of community
interests to start the process.
Levels of participation
Scale of Participation
The active engagement of communities
is desired and encouraged in order to
ensure their involvement in decisions
about factors that affect their lives. But
this process is not easy and demands a
substantial commitment of both time and
resources dependi ng
on
the
understanding of the community. The
form parti ci pati on takes i s hi ghl y
influenced by the overall circumstances
and the unique social context in which
action is being taken. It can scale several
l evel s and depends upon soci al
mobilisation at the grassroots level. An

assessment of participation at each stage
of the proj ect formul ati on and
implementation is needed to get an
overview of how successful community
involvement is. Usually, the situations
arrived at are as follows:
Need not perceived

Need perceived but not interested
Interested but not keen to contribute
Positive and keen to contribute to a
limited extent
Enthusi asti c and keen w i der
contribution
Champions and performers
Leading Participation
The community is made up of people
from various socio-economic groups, age
groups, educational backgrounds and
includes both men and women. Within
a community it is also true that all the
members will not participate actively and
at all times, but a certain few will take
lead in the programme. Once it is clear
that the community is to be involved for
developing the drinking water supply
systems, the next step is to identify the
people who will truly represent the
community and equally important is to
identify the people who will clearly not
represent the community.
No participation
Elected members
Elected members + few community
leaders
Elected members + community
leaders + other interest groups
(women, youth)
Elected members + community
leaders + other groups+ all sections
W hol e communi ty parti ci pates

encompassing caste, religion, gender,
age etc.
For the programme management staff,
these levels of leadership provide an
i mportant i ndi cator of communi ty
engagement. They provide a chance to
assess and monitor who is involved
duri ng the di fferent phases of the
programme from pl anni ng to
implementation and point out the changes
that need to be made by the inclusion of
wider or more focused community
representation.
Intensity of Participation
Just as all members of the community
may not acti vel y parti ci pate i n the
community managed programme, it is
also true that the extent to which people
participate will differ in different villages
and communi ti es. The extent of
participation also depends on several
factors such as level of interest, time
available, exposure, confidence and
social standing. Empowerment through
aw areness generati on, i nformati on
sharing and capacity building play a
crucial role in facilitating participation of
the communi ty and the chosen
representatives in the Pani Samiti.
No participation
Notification
Attend Meetings
Express opinions
Discussions
Influencing decision making
Involved in decision making
Innovativeness, imitation of particular
action points
Final say over implementation
37
As the social processes of communication

and capacity building gain strength in the
development programme, the intensity of
the community participation moves from
being informed spectators to being
consulted, to ultimately active project
partners who exercise control over the
programme and the manner in which it
is implemented.
Hurdles to Participation
During the programme implementation,
there are several hurdles and several
factors operate at the village level, which
inhibit participation of certain groups of
people. Some of the possible reasons for
their not participating are:
Indifference
Intimidated
Incapable
Waiting in the wings
Community managed programme, in

view of the above aspects of scale,
leadership, intensity and hurdles, needs
pati ence, perseverance, genui ne
facilitation, proactive approach and
genuine community participation.
Participatory Rural Appraisals

and pr epar i ng t he Vi l l age
Action Plan
As years of experience in the top down
approach have shown, the desired results
of any development programme can not
be achieved if the related persons and
their views are not included in the
programme. The most important resource
of any community is its local wisdom,
knowledge and technology, which they
have been applying in their daily lives for
38
years and with which they are able to

manage their resources and cope with
harsh realities during times of stress.
These inputs are crucial for planning any
development intervention and to make an
effective development programme, it is
essential to make use of this knowledge,
skills and experience.
Thi s can be achi eved through the
techni que of Parti ci patory Rural
Appraisal (PRA), which through some
definite processes gets people to share and
explain their knowledge and experiences.
A PRA helps them to identify their needs,
and problems, based on which they can
make plans, and implement the plan,
monitor and evaluate the whole process.
The PRA facilitated by the programme
staff also provides an opportunity for
peopl e to obj ecti vel y anal yse the
situation, bring conflicts to the fore,
understand each others perspectives and
also resolve issues through an open
di al ogue at the very onset of the
programme. As the people discuss the
issues and problems, as they become
aware of the solutions, a certain rapport
is built among them and they also gain
confi dence i n bei ng abl e to w ork
collectively.
Under the WASMO programmes, a team
of soci al mobi l i sers i s i nvol ved i n
bringing the community together and
planning for its in-village water supply
system. Betw een the N GO s and
WASMO, it is ensured that there is at
least one social mobiliser for every five
villages and one engineer for every ten
villages who provide the necessary
guidance and technical advice to the
villages. The first six months of the project
From unwilling to an exemplary village

Nanamatra, a village of Surendranagar district having a population of 2500 had for a long time been indifferent
to the community managed programme, particularly the men. The village dynamics and internal politics were
very challenging too with many people preventing the programme from being accepted. Since the village was
soon to receive water from the Narmada pipeline project, people were not interested in participating in a project
where they would have to contribute (either monetarily or through labour work). However, they did not realise
that the Narmada water would be made available only at one point in the village i.e. at the sump, the internal
distribution within the village would not be addressed. On the day the first Gram Sabha was held for informing
the community about the programme (19 January, 2005), a parallel meeting was held by some of the village
leaders on another village matter, thus very few people got to know about it. In fact the village faced a severe
problem of water supply. The only bore well of the Gram Panchayat, was inadequate to meet the requirements of
the village and as summer approached, problems of water quality also arose. Fights over water were common
leading to strained relations between the people. The women would often have to walk two kms. to fetch water
from farms wells, sometimes in the scorching sun and sometimes in the nights. In the second Gram Sabha, the
water supply was put forth as a problem of the entire village, a few village youth were motivated to take lead in
the programme and it was decided that the Pani Samiti should be formed. However, the process was not taken
forward by the village and in spite of the problem being grave and repeated attempts by MARAG, the ISA
involved in the project, the Pani Samiti was not formed. It seemed that the people agreed to the community
managed approach, while the meetings were held, but were not earnest to initiate the programme. The ISA too
had lost hope and it was decided to drop the village. One final attempt was made on 8th March, 2005 to try and
mobilize the village. About 4-5 women who wanted a solution to their daily woes showed willingness to do
something about it since the men were quite indifferent and assume certain responsibilities, although in their
traditional set-up, this was unheard off. Women from the Scheduled Castes also were not far behind their
counterparts from other castes and showed great resolve to change their conditions. Along with the ISA and the
WASMO team, the group moved around in the entire village and tried to garner the support of other women by
discussing the problem and sharing information on community participation.
By the evening quite a few people were mobilized, with the women being more in number for obvious reasons.
A street play was performed on the theme of community participation which generated a lot of interest even
among the Sarpanch and other community leaders. At the Gram Sabha the same evening, a final appeal was
made by the WASMO Unit Manager from Surendragar. In no ambiguous terms, he informed the people that
neither WASMO nor the ISA wanted to force the programme on the village if the people were unwilling. So this
would be the last opportunity for the people to join in the programme. If they let go of it WAMSO and the ISA
would not bother them again. After the exercise of the entire day, finally the message was clear to the community
that their participation was crucial if they wanted to lessen the burden on the village women and girls and bring
some change in their own standard of living. The Sarpanch, village elders, youth and women collectively decided
that they needed the programme and invited WASMO and the ISA to a meeting and the Pani Samiti was formed
which included a few active women from the village. The PRA was also carried out rapidly to develop the
Village Action Plan (VAP) and in a short span of time Rs. 34,000 was collected as community contribution. The
Pani Samiti assigned different tasks to different members of the Samiti, depending on their education, skills and
credentials. To strengthen the source, it was felt necessary to construct a check dam on the outskirts of the
village. But the estimated expenditure for the check dam was Rs. 14,45,500. For people with meager financial
resources, the community contribution towards the check dam was a big amount. But the Pani Samiti members
were very positive and sure that they would manage the work. Although they began work in the month of May,
they were determined to complete the construction in time and harvest the rain water that monsoon itself. The
entire village took the responsibility upon itself and there was a time when practically every member of the
village was at the construction site doing his/her own bit. For every ten days of work, the people would forgo
their wages for one day (masons @ Rs. 100/day, labourers @ Rs. 50/day and the tractor charges for lifting the
mud and debris). Working as a team of crusaders, the people constructed the check dam in one month, well
ahead of the monsoon as per plan. Supervision of the construction work was also undertaken by the community
members themselves and by using locally available material, the cost of the check dam could also be kept low.
39
cycle are very crucial during which all

out efforts are made to mobilise the
community through different techniques
involved in the PRA, like social mapping,
resource mappi ng, transect w al k,
interviews of key informants, group
discussions and falia meeting with the
community etc.
The role of the Gram Sabha (Village
Assembly) is very crucial so that all
sections of the society are consulted.
visit the WASMO local office to sign the

agreement w i th W ASM O . The
agreement, its importance, conditions
and sancti ty i s expl ai ned and the
agreement is signed in good spirit by
both sides. This process gives food for
thought to the villagers who have rarely
passed through such processes before.
Efforts are made to make the Pani Samiti
as responsible as possible, so that they
can take consci ous w el l i nformed
decisions and stand by them as also
remain aware about the risk involved.
Social Inclusion Initiatives

Social inclusion is the process of removing
barriers and promoting of incentives to
increase the access of poor, women, dalit
and di sadvantaged groups to the
development of opportunities to improve
their standard of living. The interrelated
process of social inclusion is seen as
means to shift the relationships of the
community towards social equity.
Social inclusion initiatives have been taken
up to bring system level reform in and
policy change to remove inequities within
the community. Representation of the SC
and ST communities in the VWSC in
proportion to their population in the
villages has been ensured through the
Government Resolution on the formation
of the VWSC. These changes improve
capacity and people respond equitably to
the demand of the poor and
disadvantaged groups regardless of the
social identity.
Si gni f i cance of a f or mal

agreement
Once a village decides to be a partner in
the project, active Pani Samiti members
40
Key Areas for Role of

Community
The project cycle in the decentralised
community-managed approach passes
through different stages from mobilising
the community to finally operating the
systems and carrying out the maintenance
and repair works. In each of these stages,
the representati ve Pani Sami ti , the
community and individuals can take on
different roles and responsibilities for the
effecti ve i mpl ementati on of the
programme and help in improving the
overall performance of the system.
Some of the prime themes in which the
community, if it plays a role, can bring in
considerable participation to ensure
equity and transparency, are illustrated
below.
Steps for Programme Implementation

Sr.
No.
1
Steps of Programme Implementation
Points to Consider
Passing resolution for
accepting the programme
Passing resolution
Training the target group women, children etc.
Meeting for introducing the programme in Gram

Sabha
Pani Samiti formation in Gram Sabha
Implementation of awareness raining programme and
trainings for empowerment of Pani Samiti
1) Organising workshop for providing basic
information about the programme
2) Training for construction an management
3) Awareness programme for health and hygiene in
schools
4) Training on operation and maintenance
5) Training on water quality surveillance
6) Exposure trips
7) Meetings with women's group/Self Help Groups
Providing support to Pani Samiti for identifying
drinking water needs
Preparation of Village Action Plan (VAP)
Opening a bank account of Pani Samiti
7
8
Technical approval of Village Action Plan (VAP)

Initiating construction work and other related
activities as per the VAP
Supervision and monitoring of construction work
10
Holding periodic meetings of Pani Samiti regularly
11
On completion of work, planning for sustaining the

water supply systems
12
Atmarpan - Handing over ceremony
2
3
Various PRA exercises

Presentation in Gram Sabha
and its approval
Depositing community
contribution with the
account
Approval from WASMO
Under supervision of
engineers of WASMO and
Implementing Support
Agencies (ISAs)
Appointment of a monitoring
committee
Checking and verifying
accounts
Forming rules and regulation
for operation and
maintenance
In presence of WASMO and
ISA representatives and
villagers
41
Developing the Village Action Plan (VAP)

Planning of works requires time and
patience. It is a mandatory exercise for
Pani Samitis and is the means to involve
the community at large and women as a
focal group. The VAP attempts to
recollect and document the history of
development and the efforts in drinking
water supply and sanitation in the village
over the last two decades. In other words,
it is a recollection of all important events
that have occurred in the village. It is done
based on a Participatory Rural Appraisal.
The involvement of the village elders and
thei r know l edge about the l ocal
topography, underground strata and the
weather, coupled with new technologies
available helps in planning. It is at this
stage where individuals and groups in the
village have an important role to play in:
articulating the drinking water and
sanitation needs of the village
mapping existing infrastructure
making use of traditional knowledge
with respect to topography etc. in
planning and selecting suitable sites
for source devel opment and
structures etc.
deciding the number and location of
various water supply components
ensuring equity so that the needs of
the last person in the village are met
deciding on the manner in which
community contribution should be
collected taking into account the
capacity to pay of various sections of
the community (whether uniform or
differential).
The VAP thus constitutes the very basis
for the setting of a efficient water supply
and sanitation system, in which the
42
community has a crucial role to play to

mobilise itself, resolve conflicts and take
sound decisions based on years of
experience. The VAP also is instrumental
in cultivating a sense of ownership in the
community, since people who take
interest in the planning of the project
would naturally be interested in the
i mpl ementati on, and successful
commissioning of the systems and a postproject interest in the O&M of system.
Collection of Community Contribution
Al l the decentral i sed communi tymanaged programmes require a ten per
cent community contribution towards the
capital costs, and is in fact a pre-condition
to any investment made by WASMO.
Thi s contri buti on ensures that the
communities not only own the structures,
but also participate in the project from
the very beginning. Since they are required
to deposit their contributions before
construction commences, the community
will ensure that only those structures are
created for which they have a need.
Community contribution for structures
and assets is one of the major ways to
create a feeling of ownership. As the
community bears the cost, every person
can question implementation, as well
check accounts and procedures at any
poi nt of ti me. Thus, communi ty
participation is not merely in contributing
towards capital and O&M costs, but also
in ensuring that a good quality equitable
system is put in place by following proper
procedures.
Encouraging community contributions
sometimes involves complex dynamics.
Trust, transparency, politics, all get
interwoven and have an impact on the
Getting started convincing people to contribute

Self-Help Groups strive for drinking water
According to Giraben Vaghela from Baspa village of Patan, 23 womens self help groups of the village
resolved to use their savings for contribution towards Swajaldhara programme. The men were not keen on
making a contribution because the struggle to fetch water everyday was not theirs. On the other hand each
woman member of the SHG contributed Rs.500 without any hesitation. The village now has regular,
adequate water supply in each house and the womens committee is responsible for day-to-day O&M.
communi ty s w i l l i ngness to pay.
W ASM O s experi ence show s that
women in particular play a key role in
mobilising the community and explaining
the need to pay and benefits of the scheme.
At times they have taken the first step by
putting in money from their savings,
initiating work and gaining the trust of
the rest of the community. The Pani Samiti
too has the responsibility of generating
transparency and showing the community
that its intent is serious.
The following few examples show how
different people step in to motivate the
community to accept the communitymanaged approach and appreciate the
need to contribute towards the capital
costs either in cash or kind.
Const r uct i on
supervision
management
and
Procurement of materials by inviting

quotations and/or tenders
Selection of the best vendor
Prepari ng the schedul e for
construction of different water supply
and sanitation components
Supervision of construction work
Before launching constructions, the Pani
Samiti invites quotations for materials and
labour contracts. Tenders are invited for
constructi on components such as
elevated storage reservoirs which require
technical expertise. The Pani Samiti with
the consensus of the community (through
a Gram Sabha) is free to select the best
material and contractor even though it
may not be the lowest one. WASMO has
always laid emphasis on quality work and
this has been internalised by the Pani
Samitis.
Implementation options
Once the VAP is approved by the Gram

Sabha, the Pani Samiti takes on the
responsibility for implementation. In this
process they are trained and supported
by WASMO and the Implementation
Support Agency (ISA) so that they can take
deci si ons on thei r ow n. The
implementation process includes the
following steps:
For actual construction, the Pani Samiti

has to decide on one of the following
options depending on the complexity of
works and the skills available within the
village:
a) Labour can be directly engaged on a
daily wage basis and materials can
be purchased from the open market
43
by direct competition. Here the Pani

Samiti is directly responsible for
construction. A few Pani Samitis have
succeeded in doing construction that
meets their requirements, although the
purchase of standard quality material
from open market from approved
vendorsand to get the quality work from
the labor is a tedious and time
consuming job.
b) The construction work can be entrusted
to a labor contractor where the material
can be supplied to the contractor. The
materialsare separately purchased from
open market through direct competition
by Pani Samitis. Here the Pani Samitis
have to rely on the labor contractor but
can achieve the required workmanship
with a little vigil and devotion to work.
Thishasproved to be the best alternative
for small projectsand variousmembers
of the community take turns in
monitoring the works. Pani Samitishave
been able to obtain good results,
especially for the construction of stand
posts, cattle troughs, pump houses,
small capacity storage tanks, washing
Name of villages
44
Structure
ghats, toilets, laying of pipelines and

rainwater harvesting structures.
c) The entire work can be entrusted to a
contractor, wherein the responsibility of
purchasing of materialsand providing the
finished construction to the Pani Samiti
lies with her/him. The responsibility of
the Pani Samiti is limited to monitoring
the quality of work. This is the most
accepted way of implementing the
construction for all medium-sized projects
and works requiring engineering skills
such asoverhead tanks, medium capacity
check dams, medium to large capacity
ground level and underground water
storage tanks.
Experience indicates that in most cases, the
Pani Samitishave adopted a mix of the above
approaches. Small worksare being executed
through piece workersand labor contractors
and medium to large works are being
executed through qualified contractors.
Examplesof different proceduresadopted by
Pani Samitis are given in the table below.
Table: Examples of implementing procedures
adopted by Pani Samitis
Implementation process
Jakhau, Vada, Panandhro,

Dhrub, Vadsar
Overhead tank and underground sump
Turn key, including design, materials,

construction and commissioning.
Ravapar, Bhuvad, Antarjal,

Aj apar, Khari Rohar,
Ajrakhpar
As above but materials such as cement and steel to be provided by Pani

Samiti on actual cost basis
Adesar
Pani Samiti provides cement and steel

while all other materials and labour
is provided by contractor
Amardi , Sardamagar,
N aranpar (Ravri ),Kera,
Kotda Athamana, Kotda
U gamana,
N ana
Tharawada
All the materials to be provided by

Pani Samiti, only labour contractor is
engaged.
Quality Control
In environmental sanitation
While precautions are taken by the

engineers of WASMO and ISAs to see that
the structural design of the important
structures is safe and sturdy, the ongoing
monitoring and supervision of the works
i n order to ensure qual i ty, i s the
responsibility of the Pani Samitis. Holding
sensi ti sati on w orkshops, provi di ng
documented material in the form of
manuals and lists of approved vendors
are some of the means to help Pani Samitis
ensure the quality of works that are taken
up in the village.
In general the term sani tati on i s

considered to mean construction of
latrines only. However, the use of latrines
for safe disposal of human excreta is not
always enough to control the spread of
diseases linked with poor sanitation.
Envi ronmental sani tati on i s the
prevention and control of disease by
eliminating and controlling various
environmental factors that form links in
disease transmission. It involves total
village sanitation through appropriate
disposal of wastewater, human excreta
and solid waste (garbage and cattle dung),
household sanitation, safe handling of
drinking water and food and personal
hygiene.
Construction training is a prt of the

capacity building initiatives and helps the
community to understand the basics of
construction activities and in some cases
has empow ered them to prevent
substandard work in the village.
Improved water supply brings with it both

opportunities and risks. The opportunity
Keeping strict vigil

Jekuben is an example for all other women Pani Samiti members of the state. A former member of the
Pani Samiti of Chhaya village of Bhavnagar, she used to regularly visit the construction site and monitor
work being done. During one such visit, she came to know that the contractor was not using the
building materials in prescribed quantities. Without wasting time, she rallied together other Pani Samiti
members and brought the sub-standard construction work to a halt. The Pani Samiti members did not
allow the contractor to continue the work until he gave an assurance that no malpractice would take
place in the future. When the contractor threatened to leave the work incomplete, the entire village got
together and took the task of completion on itself.
Jekuben attributes her confidence to the pre-construction training, workshops and exposure visits
conducted by WASMO for Pani Samiti members. She says, I had attended the pre-construction training
of WASMO and hence realised that the contractor was cheating us. I could not allow such compromise
on the quality of work meant for the benefit of the entire village and therefore decided to put a stop to
the work with support from others. Two years after the project has ended, the people in the village are
quite satisfied with the water supply system established. The Pani Samiti is still functional and meets 23 times every year and maintains financial records.
45
is being able to adopt better sanitation

and personal hygiene practices, while the
risks are related to waste water. A clean
and healthy environment can be achieved
onl y i f the peopl e are aw are and
concerned about the impact of their
personal practi ces and prevai l i ng
environmental conditions on their health.
How a community uses the opportunities
for its advancement, while keeping the
risks under control, varies from place to
place. It requires the active participation
and involvement of the community at
various levels so as to bring improvement
in habitat and consequently, quality of
life. The instances presented below
indicate how individuals can take lead,
set examples and inspire others to adopt
better sanitation and personal hygiene
practices or community can evolve a
collective understanding and take on
village sanitation drivesto make the whole
village clean.
cash book, updating the stock register,

issuing payment receipts and maintaining
the bank account in order to ensure that
the fund entrusted to them is utilised for
the purpose it is meant.
While the Pani Samiti as a representative
of the communi ty l ooks after the
maintenance of records, the community
itself plays the role of the watchdog and
monitors the functioning of the Samiti.
The accountability and effectiveness of the
Pani Samiti can be influenced and
monitored by the presence of a vibrant
Gram Sabha.
The communi ty can ask questi ons,
leading to increased accountability,
transparency and efficiency of the Pani
Samiti. To encourage questions from the
community, the community itself is first
made aware of the various technical and
social aspects of the programme using an
appropriate media mix.
46
In all of the programmes facilitated by

WASMO, immense faith is vested in the
community and in turn the community
takes on its responsibility very seriously.
An important feature of the community
managed approach is the devolution of
funds, which is done by transferring the
fund directly to the Pani Samitis, thus
bringing in a bottom-up approach. In turn
the Pani Samitis are expected to manage
the funds and maintain all sort of records,
cash books, bank accounts, receipt books
etc. The programme process involves
capacity building for various aspects of
record maintenance. With the support of
a field worker or by appointing an
accountant the Pani Samiti carries out the
tasks of compiling vouchers, filling in the
Operation and Maintenance of systems

developed
Water supply and sanitation systems
created under the project are meaningful
only if they continue to deliver the
benefits over a considerable period of time
after the projects have been completed.
For the drinking water systems to be able
to provide adequate and safe water to the
communities, it is imperative that they be
well-maintained and remain functional
over time. Sustainability is possible only
if the systems created are demand-driven,
the rural user community has ownership
and is appropriately empowered to
operate and manage these systems
effecti vel y. The chances of the
community to get the benefits of the
Making sanitation a priority

From water supply to disposal of waste water community does it all
The daily water requirements of Mundhvay, a no source village in the interiors of the Lakhpat taluka of
Kutch, were met by storing water got through tankers in a Sintex tank. But the supply by the tanker was
irregular. Although the community practically had a hand to mouth living, it managed to collect Rs.
35,000 as ten per cent community contribution. When the planning started, it was realised that the only
source of regular water supply was a government scheme about 3 kms away.
This would require laying of a long pipeline and in turn more contribution from the community, which
was next to impossible. But the people were not to be disheartened and decided to contribute through
labour. In a record time of 10 days people took turns, completed digging of the 3 kms stretch for the
pipeline, laid the pipeline and brought water to the village. Their efforts did not stop with that.
There is an increased understanding regarding the safe disposal and reuse of the precious resource.
Each house made a soak-pit for disposal of waste water, and everybody planted a few trees to create
some green space. The ISA Shrujan has gone a step further and given 16 households a kit for growing
kitchen gardens through waste water and has imparted appropriate training.
Gram Sabha a tool for social audit

The Gram Sabha provides an important tool for raising awareness among the community and eliciting
their participation. It is a forum that allows for participation of each and every member of the society. In
the communitymanaged approach the Pani Samiti has to consult the Gram Sabha on six different
occasions acceptance of the programme; formation of the Pani Samiti; information sharing on works
to be taken up, decisions on estimated expenditure and community participation; approval of the VAP;
commissioning of scheme and sharing of final accounts, and decisions related to O&M and water tariff.
It is for the community to make use of these Gram Sabhas and exercise its opinions so as to facilitate
decision making, help in resolving conflicts and contribute towards building up transparency in the
entire process of programme implementation.
Every important decision taken by the Pani Samiti is vetted and approved in the Gram Sabha so as to
ensure equity and transparency and a wider acceptance of the programme. Thus through the Gram
Sabhas the community can carry out a social audit of the Pani Samiti and ascertain quality of works and
transparency.
47
water supply systems are better if, they

take care of it, use it wisely, operate it
properly and pay for its maintenance and
basic repairs. The community, therefore
has a role to play in aspects such as:
Setti ng norms for tari ff and
distribution of water (time, duration,
frequency in a day)
Collection of the water tariff and
maintaining records
Regulating the use of different local
sources and reserving drinking water
if required
Operating the system

Carrying out minor repairs (either
through a person in the village or an
external paid service)
Chlorination at village and household
level
Water quality testing and mapping of
different sources
Ensuring proper use of infrastructure,
cleanliness near sources
O&M by the community

Developing norms for O&M of Reverse Osmosis plant
The Pani Samiti of Kharaghoda, a salinity-affected village in Surendranagar, operates the RO plant based
on the following elaborate norms it has laid down:
Rs .100 to be deposited with Pani Samiti for home delivery of water in 20 litres plastic bottles
Collection of water from the plant by the consumer to be done between 8:00 am to 6:00 pm
Coupons are used for collecting water from the plant. A deposit of Rs. 1600 is made to the operator
for which consumer is given Rs. 2 coupons. Each 20 litre bottle to be collected against one coupon.
Water to be available at following rates
- To people from the village @ 10 paise/litre
- To people from other villages @ 20 paise/litre
- For commercial purposes @ 50 paise/litre
Contract for water distribution has been awarded through inviting tenders
48
Fostering Leadership
Cat al yst s f or
development
communi t y
M ost communi ti es have i nherent

characteristics that support community
development but still lack an initiative
plan. This is because the conditions that
shoul d support the devel opment
process are not enough to initiate the
process. A spark or catalyst is needed
for this purpose. It may be an individual
or group who believes that change is
possible and is willing to take the initial
steps needed for creating interest in
community and support.
Catalysts are helpful in creating a long
term vision for changed approach. They
have the ability to communicate, ask
questi ons and promote di scussi on
among the community members, while
themselves being good listeners and
open to ideas of others. This helps in
generati on of i nterest, energy and
motivation for action. The likely catalysts
may be the following:
Person/s holding job for community

development
Staff, vol unteers, not for profi t
working individuals
Social agencies
Women or youth groups, village
seniors, practitioners, consultants
providing technical assistance and
communi ty member/s w ho are
concerned and just want action.
The X f act or i n communi t y

engagement
The X factor in communities is the
people, who have a desire to give their
time, energy
and resources to make their community
a great place to live. Well being of the
community not only depends on money,
resources and infrastructure for services,
but the involvement of individuals is the
driver behind each of these things. Broad
based participation and engagement of
community members, irrespective of
gender, age and ability in public affairs is
a means of creating the social capital
necessary for building a cohesive society
capable of solving its problems.
49
Social and cultural capitals make each

community unique. Human capital
includes all the knowledge, skills and
ability of the people in our community.
Political capital is about having a voice
in community and is needed for things to
get accompl i shed. Thus successful
community groups are those which get
involved in communitys issues. Working
together for the common good is a familiar
way of community response in rural
Gujarat. Community response to each
situation may be different, and thus the
best learning tool in community building
is to look how other community has
achieved success.
Volunteers and public participation

Being a volunteer boosts self esteem and
it can help to acquire new skills and
abilities and also help in meeting new
people. Volunteers take great personal
satisfaction for the work that they do for
others. O nce they vol unteer, they
understand that working together for the
greater good is a must for any thriving
community. Thus the challenge
is to motivate people to get involved so
that they can volunteer their time, energy
and skills. But it is more important to
match the right person with the right job
and create an environment for ownership
of a task by allowing them to make
decisions and supporting their choice.
Leadi ng
l ocal
transformation
50
l evel
While the standardised programme

procedures and steps identified, help in
the processes at the community level,
how a community accepts the overall
concept of community participation and

to what extent it gets involved differs
from village to village. It depends on
factors like the severity of the water
problem, whether the village is multi-caste
or the group i s homogenous,
socioeconomic backgrounds etc. Rural
dynamics play an important role in the
soci al processes i nvol ved i n a
community-managed approached. The
community may not feel the need for
participation, thegroup may not be
cohesive, there is mistrust (within the
community and also on the agencies
involved), there are conflicts, a particular
community may feel discriminated
against, people may be unwilling to pay
or unwilling to accept a new, slightly
different technology. These and many
other issues have to be handled during
the course of the project cycle. It is under
these situations that individuals in the
village - men, women, teachers, elderly
people, SHGs, youth groups - have come
to the fore, made the communi ty
managed approach possi bl e, and
strengthened the States faith in the
community. On several occasions and in
many villages, people have unexpectedly
come forward and paved the way for
others to follow. Communities under
their guidance and leadership have been
able to get together and participate in the
decentralization process for water supply
and sanitation.
Experience has also shown that there are
some women and men who exhibit a
natural ability at leadership and show
perception and skill for it. This natural
ability could be due to various factors like
experience, education, exposure, a high
sense of purpose and self-motivation to
do something for the community etc. In
some cases the water crisis has proved

to be the crucible of leadership. This is
especially true in case of women who
have time and again taken lead in the
communi ty-managed w ater suppl y
programme in Gujarat. With the burden
of fetching water being mainly the
responsibility of women, they are the
ones most gravely affected by the lack of
access to adequate, regular and safe
drinking water. The sheer need for
improved facilities and the hope for a
better future have been the motivating
factors for women to play a lead role in
many villages where the men have not
shown any interest. Women have taken
lead in collecting contribution and a few
SHGs have set an example by bringing
in the first contribution from their savings.
Whatever the reason for adopting the role
of a l eader w hether assi gned
responsibility, a natural ability or a crisis
like situation, there has been no dearth
of local level leadership which has
catalysed the change in village level water
and sanitation scenario.
Women at the forefront

As in many other cultures, in Gujarat too,
the task of fetchi ng w ater for the
household requirements lies with the
women and the young girls in a family.
The lack of easy access to water sources
compels them to often trudge long
distances balancing water pots on their
heads and put immense physical strain
on them.
Water, sanitation and hygiene deliver
outcomes across the MDGs. Improved
and safe water supply not only reduces
the burden of domestic tasks on women,
but also reduces incidence of disease in
the household. Realising that water is at

the core of womens tasks and providing
access to clean water close to the home
can dramati cal l y reduce w omen s
workloads, and free up time for other
economi c acti vi ti es, W ASM O sees
women as partners and not as mere
beneficiaries in water management
plans. Therefore, it has been the prime
objective of WASMO programmes to
encourage and include views of women,
while developing in-village water supply
systems and involve them in decision
making process at community level.
Inclusion of women in all the aspects of
project implementation is not only
limited to their physical presence; they
are given an opportunity to express their
needs and decide about the facility,
which they frequently use and its location.
From the inception of the programme
efforts are made to include women in all
the core activities of implementation,
monitoring and maintenance of the
faci l i ti es. It gi ves them a sense of
ownership and they attend meetings,
exposure visits and workshops for various
important aspects of decentralised water
supply systems.
Gender concerns are included in all the
programmes through specific capacity
development initiatives. It includes
trainings, workshops, exposure visits,
experience sharing and interaction with
other women leaders. Continuous IEC
efforts are made to help women realise
their true potential and come to the
forefront. Separate meetings are held with
the women so as to provide them a space
to speak up without inhibition and elicit
their views on their water requirements
and convenience in this connection. These
51
meetings often help to get a realistic feel

of the requirements of the village as well
as consider the locations and types of
infrastructure for the village. The result is
that there many women from different
educational backgrounds, castes, age
groups who have become the front
runners and assumed different roles in the
village level processes for community
managed water supply.
52
to Chief Minister of Gujarat, telling him

what they have accomplished.
Overcoming quality problems

Chandrakanthbhai Patel, Thamana,
Anand
Thamna village had three tube wells, but

chloride and fluoride contamination
rendered the water unfit for human
consumption the water was not used for
Emerging leaders
drinking. Chandrakanthbhai Patel the
Taki ng t he f i r st st ep t o f ul f i l l a sarpanch of the village approached
GW SSB to address the probl em of
responsibility
avai l abi l i ty of safe w ater and the
Swajaldhara scheme was introduced in
Kuvarben Ahir, Galpadar, Kutch
the vi l l age. N ow after the scheme
The male members of Pani Samiti of villagers are getting regular supply of
Galpadar did not want to contribute to potable drinking water. To solve the
the community-managed water and chloride and fluoride problem, with
sanitation programme, as in past (after the support from GoG and external support
earthquake) they had been cheated. Their a reverse osmosis and mineral water
reaction was of despondency and the plant have been installed. The villagers
Pani Samiti refused any contribution. In pay 25 paisa for 1 liter of mineral water.
one of the meetings of members from Chandrakant Bhai is actively involved in
WASMO and VIKSAT with Pani Samiti, overall development of his village. The
there were signs of hope. Kuvarben Ahir, vi l l age recei ved the best Gram
a member of Pani Samiti declared, The Panchayat award in 2004 from President
women of this village have decided to join of India.
the programme and contribution will start
from me. I will pay from my savings. She Experienced teacher mobilises a youth
says, When I mobilised the other women group
in the village, I had not only faced
opposition, but even got disgraced Aalabhai Rambhai Kachot, Revadra,
sometimes, but I continued persuasion Junagadh
and pressurized people till everybody
pai d. I tol d mysel f that I have a Revadra i s a smal l vi l l age w i th a
responsibility to fulfill. Now everybody population of 1,000, in Keshod taluka of
gets regular, adequate water in their Junagadh. The village is economically
houses and I have become a leader. I am prosperous, but i t sti l l l acks basi c
not the chairman of the Pani Samiti, but I facilities. There was no proper system
do whatever is required to be done. She for water supply in the village and in 2004is proud, that she had an occasion to talk 05 even after the village started receiving
water from the Mahi-Narmada scheme,

there were problems due to irregularity of
supply. When the dynamic Aalabhai, a
teacher, was transferred to the school in
the village, he decided to do something
different and set an example. He formed a
youth group and under his leadership they
decided to make the village an ideal
village. Aalabhai had previously worked
very actively in the Swajaldhara
programme in the village of Sindhaj and
was inspired to use his experience and do
something similar in Revadra.
Teaching and motivating people
Kiranben, Gangva, Banaskantha
Kiranben Suthar hailsfrom Navavasvillage
(Danta) and works as a school teacher in
Gangva after completing MA - B.Ed. She
was always inclined towards gathering
information on developmental schemesfor
the village. Her interest was instrumental
in implementing Swajaldhara programme
in Gangva village. Kiranben initiated
street-wise meetings in the village and
generated acceptance among the villagers
towards the concept of community
contribution. Especially, women were
encouraged by Kiranben to take their
decisions for the benefit of the village. At
present, the community undertakes regular
cleaning of the village tank and the villagers
are being sensitised to drink chlorinated
water. Also the school has more number
of girl students as they are free from the
burden of fetching water. Kiranben herself
is an example of the changes that proper
education could achieve. Now it has
become Kiranbens motto to, Make our
immediate surrounding a better place to
live even before thinking of improving the
world.
Reintroducing the project

Manjulaben Tandel, Dandi, Valsad
Proximity to sea accelerates salinity
ingress in Dhandi village of Valsad and
i n summer w el l s dri es up and
groundwater level goes down. Though
the village is covered under a group water
supply scheme, due to low pressure and
low technical facilities water does not
reach as per the requirement. To solve
these problems villagers decided to join
in the Swajaldhara programme. Although
the programme was accepted, when it
came to col l ecti ng communi ty
contribution, people were reluctant to
come forward. In fact, at one point of time
the programme had to be withdrawn due
to the lack of community contribution.
The village Sarpanch, Manjulaben Tandel
saw a golden opportunity to improve
water supply facilities slipping away and
as the village head decided to prevent this
from happening. After a series of meetings
and talks with the community, she
managed to convince the people and
change their mind towards the project.
As a result of her perseverance, the Pani
Samiti account received Rs. 1.03 lakhs
from the people and the project was
reintroduced in the village.
Becoming a model village
Pani Samiti of Bubvana village
The women and other members of the
Pani Samiti of Bubvana village were taken
to Raj Samadhiyala to interact with
villagers and get ideas on how to maintain
village and household sanitation. The
exercise proved fruitful. The women,
inspired by what they saw, resolved to
53
make Bubvana an ideal village. They met

frequently to cope with waste and sewage.
Every Sunday, between 2-3 pm, they
decided to clean up the village. Every
street was provided with discarded oil
drums as dustbins, which were later
repl aced by dustbi ns provi ded by
WASMO. Every household was also
encouraged to construct soak pits and
toilets. As the fame of these women
spread, they were invited by All India
Radio, Rajkot, to share their experiences.
Once a village where the community
visited other villages to get inspiration,
Bubavana soon became a source of
inspiration for others to follow.
Working against odds
Becharbhai
Surendranagar
54
Rozi a,
did a technical evaluation it was noticed

that there was an excess expenditure of
Rs. 90,000 which was to be recovered
from the village.
When this was conveyed to Becharbhai
he clarified his position and described his
predicament. A Gram Sabha was then
held where Becharbhai, in presence of
WASMO personnel, explained how the
village owed money to WASMO. The
people had nothing to say in their defense
and real i zed how thei r l ack of
responsibility had put the Sarpanch in
trouble, while he strived hard to bring and
end to their water problems. Within ten
days the community mobilized and
deposited its contribution with the bank
and WASMO too could recover its funds.
N adal a,
In Nadala village of Sayla taluka of

Surendranagar, the VAP was developed
for Rs. 12,51,000 and covered various
components like well deepening new
bore well, distribution pipeline, cluster
storage systems etc. However, when it
was time to collect the community
contribution, the community was hesitant
and nobody came forward. But Sarpanch
and Pani Samiti chairperson Becharbhai
Rozi a di d not w ant the w onderful
opportunity of developing the village
water supply system to slip away and so
he contributed from his own pocket and
initiated the work. Although there were
16 members i n the Pani Sami ti
Becharbhai did not get any support from
them and he toi l ed on hi s ow n to
complete the scheme. The result was that
he over estimated the work and diverted
some fund tow ards communi ty
contribution. When the WASMO team
Encouraging total sanitation

Kal pnaben
Sabarkantha
M ehta,
Jaw anpura,
Jawanpura village is a part of the Group

Panchayat, which is headed by a woman
Sarpanch, who is also the Pani Samiti
Chairperson. Kalpnaben took the lead in
implementing Swajaldhara programme in
Jaw anpura, w hi ch al so benefi ted
Sapavada and Sadatpura village. When
Kalpnaben was elected as the Sarpanch
of the village, availability of drinking
water within the village was a distant
dream. She realised this dream through
Swajaldhara programme and now people
in all the three villages are getting
adequate and regular supply of drinking
water. Kalpnaben also motivated people
to achieve complete sanitation and
encouraged people to construct toilets.
As a result of which, all the households
in Jawanpura village have toilets.
There are many instances were schemes

have failed because of poor financial
management regarding cost estimates,
transparency in accounting, contracts
going into wrong hands, fake community
contribution and other such financial
issues. Financial management of a village
water supply scheme (VWSS) is therefore
a very vital aspect in its successful and
sustainable implementation.
The beauty of the approach adopted by
WASMO lies in the unbound faith in the
community and the Pani Samitis and
believing in their abilities. As the funds
for implementation are transferred directly
to the Pani Samitis, WASMO is not
directly involved in the implementation
of the water supply scheme, but is a
faci l i tator, provi di ng fi nances and
technical support.
Regarding financial issues, Pani Samitis
are responsible for:
Generating a minimum of 10 per cent
of the capital cost as community
contribution and ensuring that each
household in the village contributes;
Opening a bank account in the name

of the Pani Samiti of the village to be
used exclusively for the scheme;
Accessing 90 per cent of the funds
from WASMO through installments
for which systems and procedures
have been set up;
Managing the funds transparently and
flawlessly; and,
Generating and maintaining the O&M
charges.
Gui del i nes f or

management
f i nanci al
After WASMO was formed, one of the

first crucial steps that WASMO took was
documenting of financial rules and
procedures for Pani Samitis in the form
of a Pani Sami ti H andbook. Thi s
handbook has answers to almost all the
questions that may arise in the minds of
the community, including technical and
financial issues. The financial rules are
non-negotiatable and include:
a) Holding a separate bank account in
the name of the Pani Smaiti
55
b) As far as possible cheque transactions

only;
c) Maintaining a register for community
contributions;
d) Receipts to be issued for all cash
incomes;
e) Every payment to be supported by
valid evidence; and,
f) Maintaining a separate cash book to
record all income and expenses.
Trai ni ng programmes for fi nanci al
management and accounti ng are
designed and conducted for at least two
representati ves from each vi l l age.
Training takes place usually before any
financial assistance is provided so that
the Pani Samiti is prepared for fund
management.
Making processes transparent

and communities accountable
Transparency can be defined as providing
all information that is demanded and
bei ng open to i nspecti on by al l
stakeholders. This practice prevents
distrust and helps curb malpractices and
corruption. The approach followed by
WASMO shows that Pani Samitis can be
good financial managers when trained
and genuine decentralisation occurs along
with responsibility and accountability of
all the parties involved. To address the
issues of transparency and accountability
and to gain community confidence and
strengthen participation, a mechanism
has been established, which is followed
by every village which gets into an
agreement with the DWSC. Some of the
major steps taken are:
56
1. Capacity building for financial

management
a) Technical and financial guidelines are
provided to the Pani Samiti members
at the time of signing the agreement.
b) All active Pani Samitis members are
provi ded cl assroom trai ni ng by
finance and accounts experts from
WASMO and the ISA.
c) If needed, the Pani Sami ti s are
supported by a field worker (one for
five villages of the ISA) and volunteer
graduates (as and when required),
w ho w ork w i th the secretary/
chai rman of the Pani Sami ti to
compile vouchers, fill in the cash
book, update the stock register, issue
payment receipts and maintain bank
accounts and simultaneously teach
them.
d) Pani Samitis have the option to
appoint an accountant. The fee must
be limited to agreed amount in the
VAP. In practice, lesser costs are
incurred as usually teachers or leaders
at the village level offer their support.
A process of constant facilitation and
monitoring by WASMO personnel
and ISAs has proved to be an effective
measure for transparent transactions
and maintenance of quality of works.
Capacity building programmes where
Pani Samitis from different villages
which are involved in the programme
interact with each other have brought
in a positive attitude and helped in
mai ntenance of transparency at
village level.
Record-keeping training instills faith in the programme

Jhikdi village, Bhuj
The village having about 303 households, received water supply from the Banni group scheme. The
women from the village initially visited the neighbouring villages where work on the community managed
programme was ongoing and got to know about WASMO and VIKSAT, the ISA and soon they contacted
WASMO for more information.
Incidentally, around the same time a training was being organised for Pani Samitis of a few villages
which had joined the programme and were moving towards the implementation after participatory
planning. The women from Jhikdi village were invited to the training and have a direct interaction with
the villages which had opted for the community managed approach and observe the capacity building
involved in the programme.
Four women from Jhikdi attended the training and were overwhelmed at hearing from the other villages
and seeing the methodical and systematic manner in which the people were being trained for maintaining
record. This also instilled faith in the programme and they realized the earnestness of WASMO and the
NGO in facilitating the communities to manage their own water supplies. Once back from the training,
the women shared their experience with the other members of the SHG and they collectively decided to
contribute from their savings and initiate the programme. In just 10 days the women collected the
money and handed it to the village Sarpanch saying, Heres the contribution, now please do take on
the responsibility of the implementation of the programme.
Today the village has household connections and with more time on hand women are able to take
better care of the children and household chores as also spend more time on agricultural works.
2. Record keeping for community

contribution
A community contribution register is
maintained along with a receipt book.
The contribution differs from village to
village and depends on aspects such as
size of the village, components included
in the plan, type of water connection
(whether public stand post or household
connecti ons etc.) and economi c
condi ti ons of the i nhabi tants. The
contribution rates are decided in the
Gram Sabha and i n some di ffi cul t
situations the Pani Samiti summons the
presence of the ISAs and project staff to
help them in taking decisions. Special
formats have been devised for arriving
at the assessment of contri buti on
through labour.
3. Release of funds
O ne of the maj or draw backs of
devel opment i ni ti ati ves has been
observed to be the delay in handing over
funds to the implementing agencies and
it was common for the beneficiaries to
visit concerned offices and authorities to
several times, before they get the funds.
This has resulted in a general feeling of
mistrust or lack of faith in government
agencies. In the community managed
water supply programme of WASMO,
the first step was to transfer fund directly
to the Pani Samiti, which was to act as
the implementing agency on the behalf
of the community. The second was
developing straightforward procedures
for disbursing funds to the Pani Samitis.
The first installment is released after a
57
bank account has been opened in the

name of the Pani Samiti in which at least
50 per cent of the total committed
community contribution is deposited.
Programme staff from the fi nance
departments then visit the village, verify
bank account details, the community
contribution register, receipt books and
makes a few cross verifications. Once
sati sfi ed that the rul es have been
observed, the first installment comprising
between 30 to 50 per cent of WASMOs
contribution is released. Thereafter,
subsequent installments are released
subject to the condition that 80 per cent
of the funds made available to the
community are spent.
4. Issuing of tender notice

Since the implementation is carried out
by the Pani Samitis, it is required to invite
quotations from at least three vendors for
the materials needed. Advertisements
inviting tenders and letters are issued by
the Pani Samiti with guidance from
WASMO. For more complex structures
requiring technical expertise, groups of
Pani Samitis issue tenders together to
attract competitive rates from registered
contractors.
58
with the Panchayati Raj department and

also enlisted in the vendor list approved
by GWSSB for a particular type of work.
5. Sanction of rates
All the decisions regarding sanctions are
taken by Pani Samiti members by adopting
and recording resolutions. Each voucher
should possess the resolution number. If
this condition is not fulfilled, an audit
para follows. Satisfactory compliance
with the audit para is pre-requisite for
release of the next installment.
6. Transparency measures
A few simple steps are taken to provide
information to all and get their views.
a) All the plans, sanction details of work

contracts and thei r rates, w ork
progress and expenditure incurred
sanctions and final expenditures are
put before the Gram Sabha for review,
discussion and correction, if any.
b) Details of the scheme, an item-wise
budget and duties of the Pani Samiti
are displayed by the Pani Samiti on a
board in a prominent place in the
village. Daily announcements, duties,
expenses of the work completed,
Flexibility in the project allows for the
consumption of materials and final
work to be awarded to the lowest bidder
expenses are mentioned on this
or to another agency at rates which are
board as well. This transparency
not the lowest, but only after approval in
measure hel ps the vi l l agers
the Gram Sabha, wherein the Pani Samiti
understand the development activity
clears its stand for awarding the work to
going on in their village and reduces
a particular agency and the rate at which
chances of fund mismanagement.
the work is awarded. The community is c) New assets such as civil structures
free to voice its concerns if any. The Pani
carry the W ASM O l ogo. Thi s
Samiti needs to take the people along and
prevents claims about other structures
j usti fy i ts deci si ons to arri ve at a
as bei ng constructed under thi s
consensus. The contractors are registered
project. Structures costing more than
Rs 25,000 carry detai l s of the

sancti oned cost, actual cost,
compl eti on date and name of
implementing agency embedded in
tiles or painted on surface.
7. Verification of accounts
Pani Samiti books of accounts are verified
to check the source of income and
application of funds through supporting
bills and records, particularly bills for
purchase of material and labor payments.
Cash and bank balances are reconciled
with the book. On the spot guidance is
provided if books are not maintained as
required. This procedure has greatly
helped in building confidence between
WASMO and the Pani Samitis. Great care
is taken by the programme staff to not
hurt the feelings of the Samiti or give them
a feeling of distrust.
8. Audit
Auditors regularly verify the Pani Samitis
bank accounts, stock register, cash
reconci l i ati on, bi l l s of i tem-w i se
expendi tures agai nst sancti oned
resolutions, sales tax payment, obeying
income tax rules and other financial
issues. They educate the members on
how to remove anomalies and issue an
audit para for compliance. In case of overexpenditure, the auditors seek the help
of engineers for rate rationalisation in
accordance with the WASMO approved
Schedule of rates and market rate analysis.
W hen expendi tures are beyond
permissible limits, the excess amount is
either recovered or deducted from further
installments.
Participatory audit
WASMOs experience shows that when
faith is vested in the Gram Panchayat,
with appropriate empowerment support,
they are more than able to rise to the
occasi on. W i th systems such as
approvals in the form of Gram Sabha
resolutions and transparency norms in
pl ace to make the process trul y
democrati c, w orki ng w i th Gram
Panchayat has enabled empowerment
from the lowest level upwards. As the
village works are completed and the
scheme commissioned, Pani Samiti
accounts are audited and final settlements
are done. In some villages it was found
that after the completion of works, the
Pani Samitis still had some unspent funds,
due to vari ous reasons. Such
discrepancies have been brought to light
by the technical and audit teams of
WASMO. The unbound faith of WASMO
in the Pani Samitis has inculcated such
an immense sense of responsibility
among the people and Pani Samitis that
recovery of the unspent funds has not
proved to be a problem. It is found that
after a dialogue with the community and
explaining to them the concept of overinvoiced funds, the Pani Samitis returned
such amount without any hesitation or
dispute. Villages, big and small have
returned amount varying from Rs 200,000
to Rs 921. At no pl ace w as any
unwillingness or improper handling of
money noticed.
etting high stan
59
O&M of Community Owned Systems
Water supply and sanitation systems

created under the project are meaningful
only if they continue to deliver the
benefits over a considerable period of time
after the projects have been completed.
For the drinking water systems to be able
to provide adequate and safe water to the
communities, it is imperative that they be
well-maintained and functional over
time. Sustainability of water supply
systems has always been a challenge
faced by the rural water supply and
sanitation sector is. One of the important
reform principles has been that the user
group takes over the day-to-day
operation and management of the local
systems so that they are independent of
any external agency for regular water
supply. But this is possible only if the
systems created are demand-driven, the
rural user community has ownership and
is appropriately empowered to operate
and manage these systems effectively.
Operation
This involves the day-to-day handling
and running of the water supply system
and the activities differ from system to
system. Various players include the

pump attendants and technicians, as
well as the direct users of water. The
starting of the pump and controlling of
the val ve are among the acti vi ti es
required before the water becomes
avai l abl e to the communi ti es. The
manner and the care with which the
different systems such as the hand
pumps and stand posts are used,
determine to a large extent the repairing
and maintenance needs.
Maintenance
This includes preventive maintenance
with regular servicing, as well as minor
and major repairs as well as regular
cleaning of tanks etc. so as to ensure
efficient and regular supply of safe water.
Since the repairs and maintenance of
systems requires funds, especially for the
larger water supply works, financial
management also comes under the
purview of the village community. The
tariff structure and contributions need to
meet recurri ng costs of sal ari es to
caretakers, repairs, spare parts transport,
etc.
60
For sustainability of the systems, O&M

requirements are considered during the
technol ogy sel ecti on phase at the
beginning of the project and options are
chosen such that users would be willing
to pay for, and that would also ensure
good public health and sustainable
environmental conditions.
Understanding O&M issues

After years of dependence on the
government for the upkeep of the services
and systems, i t w as know n that
convincing the people to take on O&M
responsibility would be difficult. Several
issues had to addressed before people
could be expected to pay O&M charges.
In the WASMO projects, through the
technical and the social process the
following conditions are met:
a) The user community should need

the facilities
es
Conformi ng to the sector reform
methodology a demand-driven approach
is followed and in-village drinking water
schemes are supported only when the
communities ask for these and are willing
to contribute towards the capital costs,
w hi ch i ndi cates thei r need and
willingness to own the scheme and bear
the responsibility for its O&M.
b) The user communi t y shoul d

recognise the need for O&M
61
As a premeditated strategy, awareness on

the need for O&M and its implication on
the sustainability of the system are created
the moment the programme is introduced
to the vi l l age communi ty. The
responsibility of the Pani Samiti to
satisfactorily operate the systems once

they become functional, the need to pay
O&M charges, as well as water charges
to the Guj arat W ater Suppl y and
Sewerage Board (GWSSB) for the bulk
water it supplies, the basis for calculating
O&M charges and the need to establish
operating rules and methodologies are
discussed extensively. Exposure visits,
inter-village workshops and inviting
representatives from villages where the
programme has just been started to O&M
w orkshops i n vi l l ages w here
construction is complete are some more
steps to motivate people and make them
appreciate the need for O&M.
c) The user community should get

what it wants
The Vi l l age Acti on Pl an w hi ch i s
developed in a participatory manner takes
into account the needs and requirements
of all sections of the community. This is
discussed and approved by the Gram
Sabha and equi tabl e systems are
designed. Through collaborative planning
and usi ng a range of appropri ate
technol ogi es based on factors l i ke
population density and topography of the
village, it is ensured that the community
gets a system that it wants and meets their
specific needs, in terms of point of access,
volume of supply, time and duration of
supply etc.
d) The user communi t y has t he

technical capacity to carry out
O&M
The capacity of the Pani Samiti for O&M
is enhanced through interactive trainings
and workshops, as the construction
approaches completion. Participants in
the training get new ideas through

i nteracti ons w i th members of
experienced Pani Samitis. The O&M
training is carried with two target groups,
a general training is meant for the Pani
Samiti heads, treasurer and 1-2 active
members, while the technical training is
meant for the operators who man the
system on a daily basis. Participative
decisions are arrived at on topics like
inventory listing, financial estimates for
materials required, methods to raise
funds and book keeping. Awareness on
water quality issues and cleaning of water
heads and structures and demonstrations
on the use of field test kits and water
chlorination are important aspects of the
training. The second part of the training
is on operation and maintenance of the
hardware which is done for operators.
e) The user community should be

able to devise appropriate water
tariff
Based on the training received, Pani
Samiti proposes a water and sanitation
tariff to the users in a clear and logical
manner. The tariff structure is arrived at
taking into account:
The number of persons needed to
operate the water supply and their
monthly honorarium
Operational charges like electricity
bills and chlor4ination powder
Depreciation costs of machinery and
fi tti ngs, w hi ch i ncl ude usual
replacement and repairs
Contingency funds and
Payment to the GWSSB for supplying
water in bulk from outside source
Once an annual amount is arrived at, the

Pani Samiti decides the frequency of
collection and whether the tariff should
be per household or per person, keeping
the socio-economic and livelihood cycles
in the village.
f) Acceptance of the O&M tariff

The tariff and the number of installments
as proposed by the Pani Samiti are
presented to the Gram Sabha for
approval . Thi s practi ce enhances
consensus and the willingness to pay.
Differential tariffs
The continuous social process over the
entire project cycle and the intensive
training on O&M at the end of the cycle
has helped rural water users pay welldefined O&M tariffs The understanding
on the need to use preci ous water
resources has prompted some villages to
lay down strict rules for its use as well as
for payment of the O&M charges and
penalties for defaulters. At the same time
the communi ty i s sensi ti ve to the
conditions of the underprivileged and
economically backward groups in the
village and concessional rates for such
families have been fixed. Differential tariffs
have also been fixed taking into account
thi ngs l i ke the type of connecti on
(household or stand post), the number of
cattle owned by the household, whether
the connection is for commercial use or
construction of individual house or
village work etc. The most important
thing is that people have realized that
water is not a free commodity and running
the internal village distribution system
also incurs certain costs and that they
62
need to be ready for any eventuality, such

as breakdowns etc.
D evel opment of cor pus

through one time lump sum
payment
It has been observed that some of the
villages have already developed a corpus
of funds that will be sufficient for running
the scheme for 3 to 4 years. For instance,

in village Kobadi the collection has been
Rs.1,53,000/-, which is 4.2 times the
required amount. Similarly in Gundi
vi l l age the col l ecti on has been
Rs.1,20,000/- against an annual estimated
O&M expenditure of Rs. 34,430. Even in
very poor villages women are willing to
pay Re.1 per day per family.
Pani Samiti takes firm steps to ensure equal distribution of

water across all habitations
Located only 5 kms away from the sea-coast, Ralaj village suffered from excess TDSin water. Under the
Swajaldhara programme a new borewell was constructed and pipelines were laid for household
connections. The scheme was completed and commissioned. Yet there some habitations on the periphery
of the village which did not get any supply. The people from these habitations complained to the
Sarpanch and the Pani Samiti. A meeting was held with complainants and their unanimous feeling was
that people staying towards the head of the distribution system wasted water by keeping the taps on and
wasting water.
The Pani Samiti immediately decided to do a transect walk in the village and check the situation first
hand. They observed that many of the houses did not have any taps, while at many places the taps were
running and water was just being wasted. Throughout the duration of supply, water was freely flowing
even if it was not being used. Because of this the houses situated at a height and those on the boundaries
of the village were not getting even a single drop.
Sanjaybhai, the village Sarpanch and the Pani Samiti called for a Gram Sabha immediately to discuss
the situation and find a solution to the problem. At the meeting, all fingers were raised at one member
of the Pani Samiti who resided in the habitation where the wastage of water was maximum. He explained,
that in spite of repeatedly reminding the women they keep the taps running even after their chores are
done. In the Gram Sabha the Pani Samiti decided to lay down the following rules to prevent wastage of
water and ensure equitable supply to all parts of the village:
Each and every house should have a tap and not merely spout.
Any household not having a tap or found wasting water would be charged a fine of Rs. 100.
For houses found wasting water the connection would be cut
Any person reporting the wastage of water in the village would be given a reward of Rs. 51
The Sarpanch of the village believes that if people do not understand the value of water such strict
measures become necessary. A vigilance committee has also been formed in the village which does
regular rounds of the habitations and streets to monitor the use of water.
63
D esi gni ng i ncent i ve based

support for O&M
WASMO has very recently brought into
effect a new policy for O&M support, the
main idea being that the villages develop
a corpus of funds to meet any future
eventualities. This incentive is to extent
of 10% of the O&M costs of the in-village
water distribution system. The criteria for
availing this incentive is that the Pani
Samiti should be managing the system
efficiently for at least one year, collection
of the water tax should be regular and
deposited in a bank account and records
clearly maintained . The incentive is in
the form of a fixed deposit with a bank

having a term of 3 years. The deposit term
cannot be closed for at least a year and
on maturity, it can either be transferred
to the Pani Samiti bank account or
renewed. It is hoped that the incentive
w i l l moti vate the communi ty to
contribute regularly for the O&M of the
system and generate their own funds
through savi ngs, bank i nterest and
contributions from donours etc, thus
bringing in the concept of social financing.
The incentive fund is to be used only for
new infrastructure or major replacements
and not day-to-day expenses.
64
Strategy for Drinking Water Security: Water

Resource Management
Development of groundwater holds

special significance in Gujarat, where
frequent occurrence of droughts has a
major impact on the water availability.
The effects of drought are compounded
by the over-withdrawal of ground water
for irrigation and industries resulting into
drying of source. This has seriously
affected the availability of potable water
from local sources.
Consequently, villages which have been
covered under a water supply scheme
often relapse to no-source villages or
quality-affected villages. Till now, the
scarcity of water was resolved by the
transfer of w ater through regi onal
schemes, mostly ground water based, to
supplement the local traditional drinking
water sources.
However, transfer of water from distant
sources is often complex, expensive and
suffers from probl ems rel ated to
infrastructure, unreliable water supply
and high operations and maintenance
costs.
Ultimately, when a regional scheme

proves inadequate, people have to fall
back on traditional local sources of water
such as village ponds, tanks, dug wells
and bore wells. But where such common
resources deteriorate or do not exist,
vi l l agers face probl ems of both
inadequacy and quality along with
increase in efforts to access.
Realising this, local solutions which are
more under the control of the
community are now increasingly being
sought. Better management of water
resources and measures to make it
sustainable resources is appreciated.
The long-term objective is to see - if,
where, and how - demands for drinking
water supply can be optimally met by
devel opi ng l ocal sources dul y
supplemented by import of water. Hence
water resource management in terms of
strengthening local sourcesthrough water
harvesting and recharging so as to sustain
the created in-village water infrastructure
are given high priority in WASMO
programmes.
65
Technology suitable for Water

Harvesting Structures for
strengthening drinking water
system in Gujarat
Injection well/Tube wells
These structures are proposed on the
basis of the site conditions and the
intensity of the rainfall. In such areas
flood water (Run-off), water from streams/
rivers, water of ponds, etc. can be injected
in to the deeper aquifers by means of
wells, shallow bores and tube wells.
Hydro-fracturing Technology
66
H ydro-fracturi ng technol ogy w as

introduced in 1990. This technology has
been used widely in the Khedbrahma
Taluka of Sabarkantha District two year
back and very encouraging result was
obtained. The taluka has become self
reliant in water supply. The Hydro
fracturing of bore wells is a new approach
to stimulate the bore well to improve the
yield by applying the water pressure in
the bore well sealed in by the packers
thereby producing confined conditions.
The initiation of fractures or development
of weak network of fractures lead to
wi deni ng
and
extendi ng
the
interconnection of the fractures so that
the bore well is connected to the aquifer
and the yield is improved. With Hydrofracturing existing fractures are widened
and extended under high-pressure to
break the fissures and clean silt clogging
and other impurities. This leads to
interconnection of conduits with adjacent
water bearing bodies. The yield of bore
well is improved since the fractures are
exposed to larger catchment and aquifers
receive higher recharge with increase in

storage capacity.
Bore Blasting Technique

In steep and compact rocky terrain,
where the run-off is more and rain water
can not penetrate into the ground it is
necessary to create the voids in the
compact upper l ayer of the rocky
formation. Bore Blasting Technique could
do thi s. In the nearby states of
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh these
techniques are widely used, as the states
have more or less similar geological and
hydro geological conditions like Gujarat.
Bore Blasting technique is adopted to
create more storage space for ground
water artificially in massive and crystalline
rocks by fracturing the bedrocks.
Under Ground Check dams

In Gujarat Under Ground Check dams
for watershed development have been
made cost effective by using unlined
sticky clay subsurface dykes. Efforts can
be made to make underground check
dams more cost effective by using HDPE
sheets instead of brick/ masonry lining.
Silt removal and deepening of existing

ponds
In Gujarat almost all villages have ponds
as tradi ti onal sources and in some
villages even more than one pond is in
existence. These ponds are being utilized
for domestic as well as irrigation needs.
Over due course of time transfer of silt
load to ponds reduces both its storage and
downward percolation of the rainwater.
This restricts the sustainability of the
surrounding water structures to limited
periods. Silt removal and deepening will

counter such problems and provide long
term sustai nabi l i ty to surroundi ng
sources.
pollution. Renovation of such traditional

sources wi l l faci l i tate the recharge
activity. These sources have developed
aquifer system around them, which can
readily accept the water.
Diversion of water through Pipelines

Roof Top Rainwater Harvesting
Surplus water of an area can be diverted
through pipelines to dry ponds of drought
prone area. W i th devel opment of
injection bore wells in these ponds we
can effectively enhance recharge.
Khet talavadi (Small ponds in or near

Agricultural fields)
Khet talavadi can be developed at low
costs. Thi s hel ps store w ater for
immediate use and allows water to
percolate to the subsurface at higher
rates. A casing pipe lowered up to
shallow aquifers will enrich the soil
moisture and increase percolation to the
subsurface at a faster rate.
I nt er l i nki ng of Ponds/r i ver s/
CanalsInterlinking of ponds, rivers
and canals to divert excess water to
dr y r i ver s/ponds and cr eat e
optimum storage from run-off.
Interlinking of Channels/streams
increase the saturated catchments
and facilitate more recharge to the
surrounding aquifers.
Traditional sources
Since ancient times groundwater sources
have been developed in India. However
with implementation of modern water
extracting systems, these traditional
sources have been abandoned. Most of
these sources have become a source of
Roof Rainwater harvesting structure is

designed as per the available roof area
and intensity of rainfall. However, in areas
where frequency and intensity of rainfall
is more water from roof can be also be
diverted as recharge through a nearby
water supply source, in addition to tank
water storage. Roof Rainwater Harvesting
is made cost effective by using flexible
plastic/ polyurethane pipes in several
areas. This cost effective measure will
encourage masses to take initiative in
water conservation and thereby provide
sustainability to nearby sources.
Bhungroo-innovative method to harvest
water
The bhungroo is an underground water
storage created without any construction.
All it requires is a long perforated pipe to
be inserted into the ground, up to just
above the saline aquifer found at 60 feet
in villages here. Rainwater that falls on
the field is collected and stored in the
subsoil through this pipe. This saves the
water underground, reducing evaporation
losses. Post monsoon, this rainwater is
pumped out from the subsoil through the
same pipe to irrigate the field. Because of
the higher density of these highly saline
aquifers with total dissolved solids (TDS)
as high as 3,500, the freshwater collected
through the pipe floats above the saline
layer as a freshwater layer and can be
stored for as long as 180 days without
67
any deterioration in water quality. This

can then be pumped out. This locally
devel oped system can make a bi g
difference in the income of small farmers.
meeting the increasing need of the

population.
Integrated Area Based

Approach
In vi l l age Ramvav of Rapar tal uka

desilting and deepening of pond was
taken up, and to have assured storage a
diversion channel of 550 metre from
another run-off area was also constructed
in 2005. As pond would get filled up with
every rain event, two recharging tube
wells are also made in the pond. This
structure is beside Ramvav Khengarpar
Regional Water Supply Scheme having 6
tube wells and 2 open wells to serve
nearby 6 villages having population of
9232. Thi s Regi onal W ater Suppl y
sources got exhausted and ultimately it
could serve partially Ramvav village only.
Recharging has revived these tubewells
and wells and are able to discharge
15000 litres/ hour enabling to restart
servicing to 3 villages having a population
of 5675.
Area wise planning is essential for getting

better results for sustainability of sources.
In this regard, measures taken for North
Gujarat and Kutch region have provided
very encouraging results. A specific
project for drinking water sustainability
in coastal regions is also taken up, where
water source management measures are
i ntegrated i n the pl anni ng for
sustainability of water availability at decentralised local levels. The works done
in this way have provided very good
results in most of the cases, salinity levels
in drinking water in these areas have
come to almost half the earlier levels and
in most of the cases the water has become
potable. Fluoride level has also come
down in several habitations wherever
such measures are taken up.
68
The water management plan is also

implemented for most of the individual
water supply schemes and Regional Rural
Water Schemes, for which the sources
were mainly depending on ground water.
After the implementation of WRM works
in these areas, the water availability has
increased significantly in addition to
lowering of TDSlevels in the sources and
thus have shown an improvement in the
water availability and stabilization of
seasonal fluctuations in Kutch district. In
view of this, it is imperative to scale up
these efforts to cover all drinking water
sources which are utilized at habitation
level for sustenance of water supply for
Ramvav of Rapar taluka
Underground checkdam at Kanakpur

of Abdasa taluka
It has two open wells to supply water to
this village. In addition two tube wells in
the basin of Kankavali River serves as
additional source to Suthari RWSSserving
10 villages. An underground checkdam
having a length of 240 metre in Kankavali
ri ver i s made by Pani Sami ti , w i th
technical support of WAPCOS, and
WASMO at a cost of Rs. 19.28 lakhs in
2006. One monsoon has resulted in
increasing yield of open wells and tube
wells and has strengthened the water
supply system of Kanakpur village, and
that of RWSS which caters to 10 villages.
Similar types of structures have been
Case Studies of Kutch and Bhavnagar

WRM in Kutch Region
Status of Work
Sr.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
Type of WRM work

Checkdam/UG checkdam
Construction/Repair of water weir
Diversion channel & recharge pit
Repair/deepening of pounds
Construction/repair of Percolation tank
Total
Status of work
Completed
Progress
57
23
1
1
3
0
78
17
33
3
172
44
Capacity (in
lac cum)
53.67
0.25
24.52
16.28
94.72
Expenditure
(Rs in lacs)
692.17
9.08
5.79
263.20
204.46
1174.7
Year
Fluoride
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
2007
2.50
1.50
0.50
3.54
1.00
0.50
1.96
1.50
0.50
1.25
1.00
0.50
0.82
1.50
0.60
Year
Fluoride
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
2007
2005
2006
4448
2990
1220
4264
3840
1260
2828
2870
1514
2576
1117
2007
1080
Improvement in quality of water decrease in Fluoride

Sr.
No.
Name of village
Taluka
Type of
structure
Benefit to
source
Raydhanjar
Abdasa
Checkdam
Well
Sinugra
Anjar
Checkdam
Borewell
Nagalpar Nani
Anjar
Checkdam
Borewell
Chitrod
Rapar
Checkdam
Tubewell
Kalyanpar
(Khadir)
Bhachau
Percolation
tank
Tubewell
Improvement in quality of water decline in TDS

Sr.
No.
Name of village
Taluka
Type of
structure
Benefit to
source
Dholavira
(Khadir)
Bhachau
Percolation
tank
Tubewell
Kalyanpar
(Khadir)
Bhachau
Percolation
tank
Tubewell
Bada
Mandavi
Checkdam
Tubewell
Makhana
Bhuj
Percolation
tank
Tubewell
69
constructed at village Lakdiya of Bhachau

taluka and Raydhanjar of Abdasa taluka
and similar results have been obtained.
Khirai of Rapar taluka

A percolation tank, one open well and a
tubewell serves the need of domestic/
drinking water for population of 1200 of
Khirai village. Since last 5 years the yield
has gone down drastically and the pond
also does not get filled up, when there
are i nsuffi ci ent rai ns. An earthern
diversion channel is constructed to divert
run-off to percolation tank, resulting in
filling up even with less rainfall. The
filling of pond assures recharge and the
open well and tube well water yield has
increased sufficiently to cater to the need
of the drinking/domestic water of the
village. Many such constructed structures
have given similar results.
WRM in Ghogha Region
70
Status of Work
Structures
No.
Chek Dams
Pond Repair & Construction
Well Recharge
Well Upgradation
78
45
124
83
Under the Ghogha project alongwith invillage water supply systems, water
resource management structures were
also constructed at strategic locations
near drinking water sources to harness
rain water, to recharge ground water
sources, w hi ch provi de w ater for
domestic and irrigation purpose. Local
sources were complimented by piped
water from Mahi. The capacity of the
community was also built for testing of
water quality before the commissioning

of the scheme.
82 Villages were facing acute drinking
water shortage.
50 villages have become self reliant
through local sources
30 villages are getting water from
Mahi pipeline
02 villages are getting water from both
local as well as pipeline network
67% villages recorded rise in water
levels
Discharge in wells has increased
Quality has shown improvement as
dilution of TDS also.
Avaniyas Journey to Safe Water
Avaniya is a village with a population of
about 3,250 people, located in Ghogha
block of Bhavnagar. It had a history of
struggle for drinking water for nearly two
decades. Over-extraction of ground
water, salinity ingress and erratic rains
had culminated in acute paucity of
drinking water. The Durbar women were
at the mercy of the men as they waited
until the men folk fetched water from
virdas, field wells, village outskirts or
someti mes, nei ghbouri ng vi l l ages.
Although the residents of Avaniya knew
that their water tasted different, they did
not know that it was laced with fluoride
until incidence of fluorosis began to
emerge. In 1991, there were as many as
50 cases of fluorosis in the village.
Efforts from different quarters to improve
w ater qual i ty di d not bri ng about
significant change. When the Ghogha
project was introduced in Avaniya, it
received an overwhelming response.
WRM structures were erected at strategic
locations near drinking water sources to

harness rain water. Simultaneously, Mahi
water also reached the village and the
people started getting safe and potable
water. The impact of the piped water was
quickly reflected in fewer aches and
water-related diseases.
Yet, there were still occasional problems
in the supply of Mahi water. The residents
of Avaniya realized that they would need
to ensure that their local sources were
also well-maintained so that water quality
problems were minimised and there was
water security. The WRM interventions
not only recharged ground water but also
improved water quality. In 1998, the
fluoride content in the ground water was
3 mg/L and TDS was 3000 mg/L. After
the monsoon in 2005, the fluoride was
within the permissible limit of 1.5 mg/L,
and was at 1.4 mg/L. The TDS level was
2076 mg/L, only marginally higher than
the permissible limit of 2000 mg/L.
Vi l l agers are now aw are of the
importance of having safe drinking water
to avoid diseases and the information and
know l edge gai ned from trai ni ngs
conducted by WASMO is being used by
villagers to measure the quality of the
water in village wells. These tests are done
with the help of the kits provided by
W ASM O . After a mi shap that had
damaged the Mahi bulk water pipeline
provi di ng water to the vi l l age, the
community could unhesitatingly use the
drinking water from their local sources
which they had tested themselves.
In January 2006, the communi ty
conducted water quality tests for all
drinking water sources. The village was
divided into three zones and then the tests
were carried out. The results of the test

have been sent to Central Ground Water
Board, Sal i ni ty Control Board and
Narmada Water Resource, Water Supply
and Kalpasar Department. This unique
initiative taken by the community helped
boost their confidence and restore faith
in their own capacities.
Harvesting Rain Water

I ndi vi dual Roof Top Rai n Wat er
Harvesting Structures (IRRWHS)
IRRWHS is a method of direct collection
of rain water and storing it in tanks or
using it for recharging ground water. It is
an efficient technique to take the benefit
of high intensity and short duration rains
characteristic to regions to hilly and dry
area l i ke tri bal pockets, Kutch,
Surendranagar located near Little Desert
of Kutch. Till January 3057 IRRWHS
have been created.
Water Security in Kasvali village
Kasvali village of Surendranagar district
is a small village having 188 households.
This village is situated on a hill and all
the efforts in past to provide water to this
village have failed. In the last 10 years at
least seven bores for hand-pumps and
deep bore were dug with the same result.
This village continues to depend on one
well which is in the village tank. The
yield of water from this well gets to trickle
in summer months and women have to
walk 2 to 2 1/2 km to fetch water from a
farm bore.
AKRSP, as an Implementing Support
Agency for W ASM O , had tri ed to
convince people that individual water
71
harvesting structure may be the solution

to their problem. It took 3 years to
construct tanks of 10,000 to 12,000 litres
capaci ty for each house of 188
households. The construction was done
by the villagers themselves after they had
undergone training for construction.
There are 128 families which are below
poverty line and they contributed Rs.7.46
lakhs in the form of cash and labour
contribution which is around 30% of the
cost of constructing tankas. The rest of
60 families have contributed Rs.5.86
lakhs, which is 50% of the cost. The total
cost i ncurred for constructi ng 188
individual water harvesting structures
was Rs.36.60 lakhs.
In addition, a water harvesting structure
having capacity of 20,000 litres has also
been constructed in the school for which
the peoples contribution was 10%.
These efforts enabled them to have
drinking water security in the village. The
harvested water is enough for 4 to 5
months in a season, while the Mahila
Manch of the village arranges for tankers
once in a year to fill it up.
The case of this village and many other
villages having scattered hamlets situated
in tribal areas also face problems of
drinking water at least for four summer
months. In the coastal area and along the
Rann villages have quality problem.
Such hamlets and villages have been
identified and a programme of Roof Top
Rain Water Harvesting Structures have
been started. Roof Top Rai nwater
Harvesting Structure can only assure
drinking water security in such villages.
72
Roof Rai n W at er
structures in Schools
H ar vest i ng
Large scale Roof Rain Water Harvesting

Structures have been done in primary
schools of Kutch, Surendranagar and
Jamnagar districts under ERR programme.
The capacity of each varies from 10
thousands litres to 30 thousand litres
depending on roof area. 1012 such
structures have been created till January
2008 in these districts. This programme
has given a demonstrative affect to the
village regarding its usefulness along with
assured water supply for students.
Inspiring Example
Balachhadi Sainik School was established
in 1935. This prestigious institute is
situated 30 km away from Jamnagar and
is just on the sea coast. Actually all
around the campus, there is sea. There
are no local sources of water and until
now, the drinking and domestic water
were brought by tankers. Gujarat Water
Supply & Sewerage Board had also given
them a connection few years ago, but the
piped water supply is irregular and
inadequate.
The Principal of this institute approached
WASMO for solving their problem of
drinking water. After undertaking a
survey, in eight buildings, roof top
rainwater harvesting structures have been
made. As buildings are located at a
di stance, roof rai nwater harvesti ng
structures were built separately for each
bui l di ng. Three structures have a
capacity of one lakh litres, four have
capacity of 40,000 litres, while one has
70,000 litres. In addition to that they have
built up a big sump of 8 lakh litres. Thus
they have created a capacity of 5,30,000

litres for roof rain water harvesting and
another eight lakh litres which can be
filled up through rain or supplement it
through pipeline. This has given them
now water security for more than 700
resident students and around 100 staff
members. Water Harvesting Structures
in this campus have given inspiration to
many those who visit the campus.
pipeline to Dwarka town area. This has

been able to give 255 days supply to the
tow n. Thi s W H S has i mproved
tremendously the availability of water to
Dwarka town, which is so essential for
meeting drinking water and sanitation
need of the town.
Renovation of Ponds
Dhedhuki Regional Water Supply Scheme

provides water to 22 villages of Sayla
taluka in Surendranagar. Dhedhuki area
is composed of sand stone, which is
medium to coarse grained and has good
porosity and transmissibility. However,
the area around Dhedhuki has poor
ground water quality and the average
rainfall in the area is also on the lower
si de, about 500 mm. U nder these
ci rcumstances,
w ater
resource
management assumes significance for
source sustainability. Dhedhuki has two
ponds namely, Somani talao and the
Bhimnath talao which is on the road to
Dhandhalpur. Both these ponds were
deepened by excavating 55,000 m3 and
6,000 m3 mud respectively and the mud
was used to increase the height of both
the talaos by 30 cms. As result of the
deepening the capacities of the two ponds
have been augmented by 1,38,000 m 3. in
addition a 3 km stretch of recharge
channel has been deepened and diverted
to the two ponds. Thus the water that
overflows from the Bhimnath talao as well
as the run-off from the village borders is
diverted through the recharge channel
into the Bhimnath talao. In each talao a
recharge bore has also been developed
so that water easily percolates into the
aquifer.
Mayasar Pond in Jamnagar District

Dwarka is one of the most important
pilgrimage places of India which is
around 5000 years old. It is a small town
with a population of 35000 persons but
have many visitors. On certain occasions,
the number of visitors exceeds the local
population. Dwarka is on sea coast and
the ground water around Dwarka is
saline. To cater to the need of drinking
water to Dwarka is a challenge. It gets
some water irregularly from Sany dam,
which is around 100 km from Dwarka.
A project to strengthen and reshape
Mayasar talav, which is 4 km away from
Dwarka was taken up after detailed
survey and investigation. This tank has
16 sq. meter of catchment. W i th
partnership of Tata Chemicals Ltd., this
project was done at a cost of Rs.50 lakh,
w hi ch consi sted of deepeni ng,
interlinking with another talao and
strengtheni ng of w aste w ei r. Thi s
construction helped in receiving more
water even with less rains and the
capacity has increased from meagre 3070
lakh litres to 5,770 lakh litres. Dwarka
Nagar Palika has renovated their well of
this talao and has put up a filtration and
Dhedhuki Pond in Surendranagar

District
73
The Dhedhuki Regional Water Supply

Scheme, sources the ground water in the
area through 11 bore wells. Of these nine
are functional and the water is pumped
from a depth of about 112 meters. The
artificial recharging carried out at the two
ponds will help in improving both the
quantity and quality of water in the bore
wells of the RRWSS. The Pani Samiti of
Dhedhuki participated in the work with
complete enthusiasm. The total cost of
pond deepening was Rs.20,93,000 of
which the community has contributed
two per cent i.e. Rs.40,000.
74
Based on the report from operator of

RWSS and village people of Dhedhuki,
the inflow of water started in the ponds
from mid night of July 01, 2007 and
outflow started just after 8 hours from the
time of inflow i.e. at about 0800 hrs on
July 01, 2007 because it was in deed very
heavy rains in the beginning itself. It was
noticed that the result has been very
encouraging and a huge quantity of pond
water penetrated into deep aquifers
through the bore w el l s. Impact of
recharge has been very good in quantity
and qual i ty of dri nki ng water. Net
recharge in first spell of monsoon was
1.7699 mcm (1769.9 million litre)
Sanitation
Despite enormous achievements made

over the past two decades, an estimated
one billion of the worlds citizens do not
have accessto sustainable and safe drinking
water while three billion do not have
adequate sanitation. More than two billion
children die every year due to sanitation
related illnesses. India, one of the most
densely populated subcontinents in the
world, has the lowest sanitation coverage.
Within Gujarat state too, there is a
significant rural-urban divide in terms of
improved sanitation. The 2001 census
reveal ed that 44.6% of the state
popul ati on had access to toi l ets.
H ow ever, the data for the rural
population indicated that only 22% had
toilets, and this has increased to about
28% presently. The challenge with
sani tati on can be i l l ustrated w i th
economics involved in the creation of
toilets. Although the cost of building a
toilet is not high, even those who can
afford to have toi l ets prefer open
defecation. While poverty contributes to
poor sanitation standards, it is also a fact
that behavioral change needs to be
brought about to improve sanitation.
As compared to water supply, sanitation

requi res a di fferent approach i n
interventions for several reasons. While
water is regarded as a community issue,
sanitation is perceived as an individual
preference, and something more private.
Further, sanitation behaviour is ingrained
and is often a reflection of the cultural
and social milieu. Traditional rural
sanitation practices are based on open
defecation along the village outskirts. The
challenge of safe disposal of excreta lies
in not only facilitating the construction
of sanitation infrastructure and facilities,
but also in bringing about behavioral
change where communities are sensitised
and demand latrines.
Pr omot i ng envi r onment al

sanitation
One of the main objectives of WASMOs
efforts is habitat improvement, leading to
a reduction in water and sanitation-related
diseases and improvement in quality of
life. The approach adopted in WASMOs
sanitation programme includes:
75
1. Strengthening the Pani Samiti by

empowering them with information
and knowledge about water quality
and the need to adopt environmental
sanitation and personal hygiene
practices.
2. Ensuring community involvement,
management, ow nershi p and
sustainability of infrastructure by:
a) Involving communities right from
the beginning and seeking their
contribution in cash, labour or kind;
b) Focusing on several separate
stakeholders such as teachers, school
children, Pani Samitis and womens
groups; and,
c) Informing them about the need to
sustain and operate the created
infrastructure by collection of O and
M charges.
3. Providing various technological
options (for toilet construction, for
example) as well as practices (for solid
and w astew ater di sposal to the
community.
Bridging knowledge gaps

Efforts are made to heighten awareness,
bridge knowledge gaps and involve the
community using various strategies. Pani
Samiti members, women and school
children are sensitised about water quality
issues and the adoption of hygienic
practices. Emphasis is laid on developing
an understanding amongst the women on
the nature of problems associated with
health and sanitation in the village and
their role in improving the existing
scenario. They are informed about the
repercussions of drinking unsafe water in
terms of water-borne diseases: their cause,
76
treatment and prevention. The Pani Samiti

and villagers are encouraged to maintain
cleanliness within the village. Extensive
sanitation drives, rallies, participation in
fairs and sanitation-related events are
organised to commemorate special
occasi ons to encourage greater
participation. Clean home and clean lane
competitions and cleanliness drives are
held.
With this kind of information and efforts
to involve village communities, the rural
communi ty i s now by and l arge
convinced about the need to construct
and use household sanitation units and
stop open defecation.
Focus areas and strategies to

pr omot e
envi r onment al
sanitation include
1. Household sanitation promotion
Water scarcity is often stated as one of
the reasons for not having individual toilet
units. Now that water is or will be
available through the ERR project, the
villagers are urged to construct individual
household toilets. No financial support
is offered while promoting this concept.
Guidance for construction of low cost
sanitation units is provided if needed.
Some 6-10 low-cost sanitation units for
demonstration are constructed for needy
households (for example, where a widow
is head of the family, or for handicapped
persons, or for those below the poverty
line) in every village. The ISAs support
them by helping in construction of
demonstration latrines and motivating the
villagers through campaigns, meetings
and discussions with women.
2. Wastewater disposal
Inappropriate disposal of domestic
wastewater leads to dirty streets and an
unhygienic environment which can be a
hotbed of disease. The community is
informed about the repercussions of such
an unhealthy environment and convinced
to construct appropriate wastewater
di sposal systems. Based on l ocal
geographical and economic conditions,
different safe wastewater disposal options
are proposed to the villagers before the
commencement of water supply to
individual households. The feasibility of
soak pit construction is explored and
design options for different soil conditions
are provided. Due to the large-scale
awareness that has been generated, in
several villages, all the households have
constructed soak pits.
3. Safe solid waste disposal

The villagers are informed on how to
dispose off solid domestic waste and cattle
dung and are also told about overall
environmental sanitation. They are
explained the need to transfer garbage to
garbage disposal sites or compost pits so
that the village is maintained clean.
Dustbins have been provided in the
villages at concessional rates. The Pani
Sami ti i s responsi bl e for ensuri ng
appropriate solid waste disposal.
4. Village cleanliness
Concerted campaigns are held to convince
the villagers to keep their village clean and
contribute for the same. The need for
ensuring that their surface or groundwater
remains clean by disposing solid waste
and domesti c wastewater through
appropriate disposal systems is explained.

In fact, village cleanliness is a prerequisite
in the programme and is an important
i ndi cator of the wi l l i ngness of the
community to join the programme.
It is the spirit of the community that has
led to this campaign being a success with
everyone getting involved in village
everyone getting involved in village
cleanliness. Village cleanliness campaigns
are now conducted on fixed dates as
decided by the village. On no moon day
or full moon day, villagers do not go for
work and utilise their free time for village
community work. In order to
commemorate special events, village
cleanliness drives are organised with the
participation of the Gram Panchayat, Pani
Samiti members, school children and
teachers. In villages where no system for
solid waste management or wastewater
disposal existed, campaigns by ISA
members have brought about significant
change. The campaign has succeeded in
motivating even those who were not ready
to remove solid waste lying just beside
their homes. Womens groups in villages
have been extensively involved in bringing
about this change in the village.
In Surendranagar, 500 vertical brooms
were distributed in 35 villages so that
communities could keep their village
clean. Often initiatives were taken by the
villagers themselves, without support from
WASMO or the ISA. For instance, tractors
are engaged to remove the garbage. Roads
are marked with white painted stones. So
far 12894 dustbins have been given to Pani
Samitis in districts of Kutch, Jamnagar,
Patan, Surendranagar and Bhavnagar. In
these districtsabout 303 washing facilities
have been created by the community.
77
5. School sanitation and hygiene

education programmes
hardware interventions undertaken by

WASMO for school sanitation are:
Schools are an important forum for

promoting and generating awareness on
personal hygiene and sanitary conditions
as children are potential change agents
within their families and communities.
Schools also provide an opportunity for
creati ng enduri ng i mprovement i n
personal hygiene behaviour. Yet, as with
the community at large, with children too,
encouraging them to use sanitation units
requires concerted efforts and follow-up.
Behavioral changes take place slowly, and
the availability of water near the toilets
determines whether the sanitation units
are used.
Provision of adequate number of

school sanitation corners consisting
of toilets and urinals with wash
facilities separately for boys and girls;
Repair of existing structures; and
Linking the schools to the village
water distribution network to ensure
regular supply.
There were several reasons why WASMO

decided to target children. According to
the survey it conducted under the Ghogha
project, it found that poor sanitation
facilities in schools persisted despite
several other programmes that had been
implemented in this field. While some
schools did not have any sanitation
facility, in others that did, they were
inadequate or unusable.
78
To address school children, WASMO has

developed and adopted a strategy that
ensures that school sanitation and hygiene
goes beyond provision of facilities. It also
works with teachers and does intensive
IEC campaigns so that improved hygiene
gains favor with children. Interactive
communi cati on, games, songs and
competitions are the main methods used
to shape childrens attitude towards
sanitation. Messages are then further
backed by constant vigilance by teachers
to ensure that hygiene practices are
imbibed by children. Some of the major
Activities for School Sanitation

Activity
Awareness programme on
hygiene and sanitation
Use of School Sanitation
Complex
Distribution of nail
cutters
Programme for Handling
of Safe water
School Cleanliness
Programme
Numbers
4679
1329 units
10092 units
3969
3222
6. Promoting plantation
Tree plantation has been promoted for
eco-sanitation and conservation of water
resources around water structures within
the village, in the school campus and in
individual households.
Sani t at i on
Complexes
Educat i on
A unique initiative was launched by

WASMO i n partnershi p wi th other
organisations to educate communities
about hygiene practices. Certain highly
frequented si tes w ere sel ected for
generating awareness about the use of
Putting pocket-money to perfect use

All students of the school in Lakshmipar village of Nakhatrana taluaka in Kutch have come up with a
unique way to generate fund for upkeep of water and sanitation facilities in the school. Once every month,
they donate their pocket-money, deposit it into a money-box and use the fund so generated for purchase of
disinfectant, cleaning agents, brooms, buckets and other material required. There is a sanitation committee
of the children which ensures that the school is spic and span and all sanitation units clean. The children
have also taken up greening of the school campus. Information, education and communication on health
and hygiene issues at a regular interval and targeting children specifically with various messages has
helped in inculcating healthy habits among the children and motivated them to put a system in place for
keeping the school clean and green.
Impacts of the Programme
Improved hygiene practices (washing hands before cooking and eating, brushing teeth, daily bathing,
combing);
Use of ladle to take out water from pots;
Sustaining system within the village for solid waste and wastewater;
Attitudinal change in use of individual sanitation unit;
Cleaning up the village on one designated day every month;
Construction of soak pits in 100 per cent households across some villages in different talukas;
Increasing numbers of individual sanitation unit constructed in each village;
Increase in number of villages where open defecation has either reduced or stopped
toilets. The first attempt has been made

i n D w arka, an i mmensel y popul ar
pilgrimage centre in Jamnagar district. The
lack of adequate sanitation facilities and
the inappropriate maintenance of existing
facilities has given rise to unhygienic
conditions and created a poor image of
the city.
WASMO embarked on a joint initiative
with Dwarka municipality and Sulabh
Internati onal to bui l d a Sani tati on
Educati on Compl ex contai ni ng a
sanitation unit and rooftop rainwater
harvesting system. The complex will
function on a pay and use basis and will
have uri nal bl ocks, bi o gas pl ant,
common ameni ti es and a hut for
providing water. An exhibition hall, wind

mill and solar implements have also been
planned under the complex. The total cost
is estimated to be Rs. 39.46 lacs, and
Sulabh International will bear the O&M
responsibility for 15 years.
A similar sanitation complex for truckers
has also been set up at Suraj Karadi.
Surajkaradi village of Mithapur taluka in
Jamnagar, is known for its salt production
and the salt is transported all over the
country. On an average every day 500700 trucks pass through the village and
many of them also make night halts. The
truckers, cleaners, and other daily wagers
do not have any appropriate bath and
toilet facilities and they invariably have
79
to perform these daily activities in open

public places, thus making environmental
sanitation a cause for concern for the town.
To meet this requirement of the truckers,
WASMO with support from TCSRD and
Sulabh International has taken on the
development of a sanitation complex that
will consist of separate units for men and
women. The work for the complex began
in September 2006 and is expected to be
completed by end of 2007. The unit will
also have the provision of lockers for
storage of luggage and hot water for
bathing. The total cost of the project is Rs.
30 lakhs of which 10 per cent has come
from Sulabh International, 40 per cent from
TCSRD and 50 per cent from WASMO.
The sanitation unit will help address the
difficulties faced by truckers and will have
demonstration value for the common
citizens with regard to environmental
sanitation and health and hygiene.
Gujarat Campaign in the rural areas have

been identified by the Water Supply
Department as:
1. Providing safe drinking water
2. Focused IEC programme for disinfection at village level before service
delivery.
3. Water qual i ty moni tori ng and
survei l l ance
w i th
peopl e s
participation
4. Cleanlinessand hygiene in and around
drinking water sources.
5. Regular cleaning of all components of
multi-village water supply schemes.
6. Awareness in schools regarding
drinking water, sanitation and safe
health and hygiene practices.
7. Awareness for roof top rain water
harvesting in rural areas.
8. Repairs of all hand pump platforms
and stand posts along with disposal
mechanism of wastewater.
Nirmal Gujarat
In early 2007, the Government of Gujarat
launched the Nirmal Gujarat Campaign,
the aim being to ensure Clean Land, Clean
Water and Clean Air with the popular
participation of all citizens. This
programme encompasses a holistic and
integrated thrust with all departments
doing their own bit in order to make
improve their productivity and efficiency,
make the cities, towns and villages of
Gujarat clean and green and enhance the
health of the citizens of the state.
80
The Water Supply Department too is

involved in the Nirmal Gujarat programme
to ensure safe water to all through the
prevention of water-borne and water
related diseases in both rural and urban
areas. The focus areas for the Nirmal
The steps of implementation of the

campaign include:
1. Preparation of IEC material focused on
Nirmal Gujarat theme addressing
water quality in specific and hygiene
and sanitation in general.
2. Training and orientation of Pani
Samitis, Sarpanches, water quality
teams etc.
3. Extensive IEC dissemination at village
level in particular and other levels in
general for generating public opinion
for focused attention.
4. Action oriented campaign at village
level:
Cleanlinessnear water sourcesand
water storage structures such as
ESR, sump, and filtration plantsetc.
Wastewater disposal through the

use of drainage system and soak
pits along with planting trees and
greening of the area
Cleanliness of washing ghats and
cattle troughs
As a part of Nirmal Gujarat campaign; a
short term action plan was implemented
in the state to generate awareness and
interest in the campaign among the people,
during 14 April to 1 May, 2007. The
campaign was carried out in one taluka of
all the districts of the state (except Kutch
where it was carried out in all talukas) and
it focused on four main activities.
Orientation programmes: To create
aw areness among the vi l l age
community about sanitation and safe
dri nki ng w ater, tal uka l evel
orientation workshop for village
l eaders, Pani Sami ti members,
women, etc. were organised.
Cleanliness campaigns: Head work
sites and structures like ESR, sump,
filtration plants, pump house, etc.
were cleaned small repairs required
were undertaken
Sanitary survey and drives: A sanitary
survey to assess the general level of
cleanliness and the threat thereby to
water safety was carried out in villages
covered
under
Swajaldhara
programme/Sector Reform Scheme
(State) in each of the talukas. Further a
sanitation drive for cleaning around
drinking water sources and storage
structures was organised through the
Pani Samiti with the support of
Implementation Support Agenciesand
district officials.
Water Quality Surveillance: For regular
water quality surveillance at the village
level the responsibility is to be given to

a specific team of village community
known aswater quality team. Asa part
of the Nirmal Gujarat campaign, special
efforts were made for the formation of
these teams, and training them
regarding importance of drinking water
quality and its impact on health. As a
part of the training water quality field
test kit for carrying out testing of their
drinking water sources and to identify
the proper (fit) sources were also
distributed in villages.
The long-term action plan for the Nirmal
Guj arat campai gn w i l l i ncl ude the
following activities to be carried out
through the year:
W ater qual i ty moni tori ng and
surveillance
Formation of new Pani Samitis to
scale up the community-managed
approach
IEC
Training and HRD programmes
Construction of RRWHS in most
water scarce areas of the State with
participation of the community
Cleaning of all storage structures and
filtration plants of GWSSB
Providing water supply facilities to
remaining schools of the state and IEC
campaign regarding drinking water
and sanitation
Hand-pump and Stand post repairing
The result is that in 2006-07, of the 576
villages of Gujarat that received the
N i rmal Gram Puraskar , W ASM O
interventions had been carried out in 52
villages (38 in the ERR project and another
14 from the Ghogha project which was
completed in December 2005).
81
Evaluation Reflections and Social Audit
A social audit is a way of measuring,

understanding, reporting and ultimately
improving an organizations social and
ethical performance. It helps to narrow
gaps between vision/goal and reality,
between efficiency and effectiveness.
Social auditing creates an impact upon
governance. It val ues the voi ce of
stakeholders, including marginalized/
poor groups whose voices are rarely
heard. Social auditing is taken up for the
purpose of enhancing local governance,
parti cul arl y
for
strengtheni ng
accountability and transparency in local
bodies and it focuses on the neglected
issue of social impacts.
Different approaches were taken up for
social audit, assessment and evaluation
of projects which included assessment/
evaluation studies taken up by external
agencies, students doing their internship
with WASMO, and in-house monitoring
and evaluation by WASMO. Using
di fferent tool s and techni ques l i ke
structured surveys, village meetings,
personal interviews and focus group
discussions a systematic attempt is
regularly made to gain insight into
performance of di fferent proj ects,

processes, aspects of communi ty
participation and impact. Presented in this
section are the broad findings of various
studies.
Assessments and evaluations

done by external agencies
Institutional Reforms in Rural Water
Supply Sector: Case Study of Gujarat
St at e, by W at er and Sani t at i on
Programe - South Asia, The World
Bank
In December 2008, WSP-SA, visited
Guj arat i n order to anal yze the
governance reforms undertaken in the
state of Gujarat in India in the sector and
its impact thereof. In its draft report it has
summarized the pre-reforms situation as
follows:
82
Gujarat: Pre reforms Overlap of roles and reduced accountability
Policy
GWSSB/GOG
Define the priorities

Define the Rules
Oversight
GWSSB
Delivery
GWSSB/GP
Monitor compliance
Regulate pricing for bulk supply
The evolution of reforms in terms of

policy, service delivery and institutional
mechani sms and the i mpact so far
documented by the WSP are presented
in the section on recognitions in this
volume.
ii.) quality/reliability, iii.) responsiveness

of the service providers, iv.) transparency
in service provision and user satisfaction
Performance evaluation of various

RWSS to study their efficiency and
user
sat i sf act i on
t hr ough
i ndependent
pr of essi onal
organisations
i)
The Water Supply Department has carried

out the performance evaluation of seven
Regional Water Supply Schemes in
Gujarat to assess the i.) access and usage,
83
Deliver services
Follow rules
Example: Some of the findings from the

evaluation of the Dharoi RWSS, provided
helpful indicators for improving the
scheme performance.
The ground water being saline and
high in fluoride content, after the
scheme, most people (except a few)
have started using water from Dharoi
RWSS, but due to uncertainty in the
timing of supplies, and high demand
for water, dependency on local bores
continues to a certain extent.
ii) Sufficient head/pressure is available at

the public stand posts provided on the
main water pipeline upto the tail end.
iii) The scheme, which provides regular

water supply upto household level,
has considerably reduced problems
of availability and the burden on
women.
iv) The water is having residual chlorine
content up to the tail.
v) There is lack of responsibility of
private vendors being appointed to
run the system.
vi) 78.4% of respondents in rural areas
reported being satisfied with quality
of water.
Rapid Assessment of the ERR project

by GIDR
Towards the middle of 2006, about 500
villages of the ERR project were either
completed or nearing completion and
WASMO wanted to visit all these villages
in order to find out the key areas where
specific attention and support to the
community is required so that this could
be provided in the next eight months
before the project is completed. A third
party assessment was also considered
necessary to give an objective view on
the processes adopted, the impact and
status after facilitation was withdrawn.
Guj arat Insti tute of Devel opment
Research (GIDR) was assigned the task of
rapid assessment of 200 villages of ERR
while the remaining 300 were visited by
joint teams of WASMO and staff from the
Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs).
The objectives of the study were to:
i)
Evaluate the impact of the

implementation of the activities done
at village level
ii) Assess the effecti veness of the
processes adopted for implementation
and the bottlenecks faced.
iii) Know the acceptability of the concept

by the village community
Key findings of the GIDR study
Some of the highlights from the final
report prepared by GIDR are:
Sources, use and availability of water
The sample villages indicated the
predominance of state-run supply
systems (39.4%) as the major source
of water. Eventually, these include the
regi onal w ater suppl y schemes
(RRWSS) of the Gujarat Water Supply
and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) and
individual tubewells. The importance
of local sources (wells, ponds and
virdas), mostly as supplementary
provision, has continued in many of
the sample villages. Over threefourths of the sampl e vi l l ages
recei vi ng pi ped w ater suppl y,
reported recei vi ng w ater w i th
adequate pressure.
The pattern of use of water showed a
distinctive emphasis upon the need
for water for drinking by the cattle.
In fact, this single purpose accounts
for over one third of total water
consumption, followed by drinking
and domesti c use (> 31%) by
villagers.
Maintenance and management of water
supply
The dominant form of water institution
is clearly the Pani Samiti, although in
some villages of Kutch local bodies,
villages and NGOs have contributed
to the maintenance of water structures.
A variety in management practices is
84
reflected in the manner in which water

tariff is collected. Calculations were
based on a per capita basis (46.7%) or
per house basis (34.5%) or even by
household tap connection. 62.5 per cent
villages collected the tariff yearly, while
25.6 per cent collected it monthly.
No.of Gram Sabhas during project

cycle
70
60
Percentage
60
50
40
25
30
20
Role of key local institutions: Gram Sabhas

and Pani Samitis
11.5
3
10
0
1-5
6-10
11-20
>20
Functioning of PS
90
88.5
88
88
Percentage
86
84
82
79
80
78
76
74
Call for tender Financial issues

Display of
given
discussed in PS project details
meeting and GS
During the entire period of

implementation, at least in 40 per cent
of the villages more than six Gram
Sabhas were held in connection with
the project, even as in the remaining 60
per cent villages, the total number of
Gram Sabhas held, were between one
and five.
In Gram Sabhas the recurrent themes
included acceptance of the new project
and formation of Pani Samitis,
subsequent stages of work and O&M of
structures, while in the Pani Samiti
meetings the recurrent theme was
collection of community contribution
Public display of project details, were
observed in 80 per cent of the sample
villages.
Impact on womens lives
45
Percnet of villages
40
Changes in women's lives following the project

41.12
35
30
26.40
22.84
25
20
12.69
15
10
5
0
More spare time for

Increased
Improved
Able to go for
income generation availability of water knowledge & value wage work on time
activities at home
for daily chores
for sanitation
85
Change
With better availability of water women

found spare time to engage in income
generating activities, including finding
more time for wage work. Their
knowledge about sanitation and hygiene
practices was also stated to have
improved through both the hardware
and the software interventions of the
project. In 52.56 per cent villages
women played an active role in
collecting the initial community
contribution towards capital cost of the
in-village works.
Rapi d eval uat i on of communi t ymanaged, decent r al i sed Sect or

Ref or m Pi l ot (SRP) pr oj ect s i n
Mehsana, Surat and Rajkot districts Directorate of Evaluation, Govt. of
Gujarat
In 1999, Government of India had
introduced reforms in drinking water
sector and as a part of pilot project
launched Sector Reform Pilot (SRP)
project in selected 67 districts of the
country. These proj ects have been
implemented through Gram Panchayat/
Pani Samiti. Gujarat Water Supply and
Sewerage Board (GWSSB) through its
District Project Implementation Unit
(D PM U ), has faci l i tated the Gram
Panchayat and provi ded techni cal
support i n the i mpl ementati on. In
Gujarat, three districts namely Surat,
Rajkot and Mehsana were selected and
833 vi l l ages w ere covered. These
projects come to an end in 2004.
Specific findings
i.)
Community participation in the

planning and implementation of the
proj ect brought transparency.
Decisions are taken into gram sabha
where everyone can give their
opinion about it.
Decentralisation of water supply
system really implemented as now
habi tati ons/ fal i ya themsel ves
solves their own water related
issues / problems and they dont
have to w ai t for government
official/ outsider agency to repair it.
Village community has contributed
more than 10% of the capital cost
and hence has the ownershi p
feeling. They are also doing O&M
of the scheme at their own.
Water tariff mechanism developed
at village level which ensures
availability of the fund for looking
after O&M of the scheme
Women were involved in decision
making process for deciding the
location of stand post, dhobi ghats
or other related structures
ii.)
iii.)
iv.)
v.)
Objectives of the study
Fol l ow i ng i ssues w ere taken i nto
consideration during evaluation exercise:
Contribution towards capital cost and water tax
ii.) W ho has i mpl emented the

programme and who has benefited?
iii.) To assess the quality of work done?
iv.) To assess the satisfaction regarding
availability of water befor and after
implementation of the scheme.
v.) Who owns and maintains the assets
created under the programme?
97.05
93.16
95
90
Perentage
i.) Whether or not the project was

completed in real sense?
100
92.67
87.2
85
81.52
80
75
70
10%
community
contribution
Receipt for
community
contribution
given
Water tax
paid
Receipt for
water tax
given
Water tax
collected (%
of estimated
amount)
86
areas with diverse socio-cultural contexts

- Valsad, a predominantly tribal district
and Rajkot, a predominantly multi-caste
and feudal district.
Opinion regarding the Pani Samitis

work
1.12
1.99
31.8
Study objectives
1. To exami ne profi l e of w omen
members of the Pani Samiti and
reasons for their selection.
65.09
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Basis for fixing water tariff
2. To examine the level of participation

of the women members of the Pani
Samiti, both in terms of interest,
ability to voice opinions, influence
decisions and take decisions and
attendance in meetings, trainings etc.
3. To examine the role played by the
non member w omen of the
community and the Pani Samiti
members.
7.2%
36.15%
56.65%
4. To assess the hi nderi ng and

motivating factors for involvement of
women in the programme.
5. To analyse the women led initiatives
for Swajaldhara programme.
According to no. of connections

Per house
Per person
Si t uat i on anal ysi s of w omen s

participation Swajaldhara
87
The study w as carri ed out by an

independent consultant for gender issues
and was supported by UNICEF. It was
conducted in ten villages taken as a
sample where NGOs have worked in
partnership with WASMO or even where
WASMO has worked directly. However,
the underlying criteria to choose villages,
w as varyi ng degree of w omen s
leadership. The study was taken up in two
Study tools
Focus group discussions with women
separately, focus group discussions with
men and women jointly, visit/interview
of poor HHs/those who have not taken
tap connection, transect walk through the
vi l l age, di scussi on w i th N GO and
WASMO staff and looking at record books
were some of the methods used to get
information from the target group.
Study findings
Roles played by women member and
non members of PS
a). Lead role in retaining the scheme
for the village!
This is the most significant role women
have played in 3 villages out of 10 where
10% contribution could not be collected
by men and men were about to give up
the scheme. In a society where women
normally dont even talk or raise questions
against decisions of men, women have
fought and taken over reigns in their
hands so that the Swajaldhara scheme for
drinking water security does not go away,
implying that issues like water, which
have direct bearing on women, are taken
up by them.
b). In col l ecti ng contri buti on from
households
As it is womens role to fetch drinking
water, it is the drinking water shortage
that affects them the most. So, in 3
villages where men have taken up a back
seat or gi ven up i n col l ecti ng
contri buti ons, w omen have come
forward and taken up the challenge to
do so, breaking the normal gender
stereotypes.
Impact of women themselves getting into
collection of contribution in public had
been tremendous. Apart from mens
acceptance to womens role in getting the
scheme in the village, there had been a
tremendously high level of awareness
and ownership among the women about
the scheme.
c.
In paying contribution and O&M

charges for individual households
Control over money is with man of the

house, and water is perceived as a
womans problem. Hence, several
women exclaimed that the contribution
of Rs.400 to Rs. 800 was gathered
through their own agriculture labor,
working at the salt pans, savings from their
own income from animal husbandry or
even money received from their relatives!on refusal from their own husband to pay
up this money. This is an extremely
significant role played by individual non
member women to get increased access
to drinking water.
Influencing decisions indirectly
One significant role which was observed
in five of the ten villages is the way
women influence decisions indirectly.
There are w omen w ho do tal k to
Sarpanch or other i nfl uenti al mal e
members (not necessarily PS members).
They talk internally about status of
implementation, where the scheme has
halted, how it can overcome the barriers,
status of contribution, who has not paid,
pipelines extended, etc. They are aware
broadly of whats happening and then
also try to influence some decisions in
some way. Both in Tol as also in Nargol,
where Sarpanch have changed and are
now little more listening, women do
approach them with problems as also
with meaningful and implementable
suggestions.
88
Supervising the quality of work during

construction
It was interesting to note how in 3 villages
women kept an eye on the quality of work
done by the contractors: be i t i n
construction of pipelines or tank. The
motivation behind this was to have a
good quality system which would help
them for a longer time. Hence, they gave
up their wages or compromised by
working for longer hours but still ensured
that the work done was being done well.
This gave them visibility in the village and
was appreciated by men too. This also
broke the norm of technical work being
mens domain and thus built womens
confidence
Guarding value-based functioning of the
programme
Women playing the roles given below in
four villages reflect womens interest not
only in access to water, but access to
w ater i n an equi tabl e, honest and
transparent way.
Improvement in personal hygiene among school children

120%
96%
100%
Bringing poor families to the notice

of Sarpanch
Bringing malpractices in village
related to drinking water to notice
of Sarpanch
Raising noise against dishonesty of
PS
Taking lead in taking DW conflict
to Sarpanch for management
Studies carried out by students

doing internship with WASMO
I mpact eval uat i on of School
Sanitation and Hygiene Education
(SSHE), 2006: (student pursuing Rural
Management )
The study was conducted in 35 schools
from five different talukas of the district
of Kutch where both, students and
teachers were interviewed. The objectives
of the study were to assess the:
Behaviour change among school
children in sanitation and personal
hygiene
U se of the dri nki ng w ater and
sanitation structures and facilities
created in the school
Aw areness among the l ocal
community related to the health and
hygiene of their children
80%
80%
60%
63%
53%
40%
20%
0%
Bathing regularly
Clean clothes
Habits
89
Short nails
Washing hands
after toilet &
before meals
Some of the broad findings of the study

were:
There is a significant improvement in
the overall personal hygiene of the
school children, with many of them
practicing healthy habits as seen in
the graph.
Washing of hands after using the
toilet and before meals (particularly
for children and the aged in the family

and parti ci pati ng i n acti vi ti es at
community level, thus increasing their
social mobility. A student pursuing
Masters in Rural Management from the
Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad and an
intern with WASMO carried out an
impact assessment of the ERR programme
on the lives of women in Surendranagar.
18 villages from 7 different talukas of the
di stri ct w hi ch had been recei vi ng
adequate drinking water for the last one
year were selected for the study and 90
w omen (5 i n each vi l l age) w ere
interviewed. Some of the results of the
study are:
Half the respondents were of the
opinion that post-ERR programme,
water is available from at least one
source throughout the year as
compared to the pre-programme
situation, when water used to be
available only for a certain period
during the year.
Earlier, 70 per cent respondents
fetched water from distant farms (vadi
vistar), and other sources such as
tanks, wells and virdas, but the water
Problems in fetching water - Pre and Post ERR
120
100
100
87.8
80
88.9
87.8
88.9
87.8
Percentage
the mid-day meal at the school) was

practiced by 63 per cent of the
students. For the remainder 37 per
cent who have not adopted this
practice, the reasons attributed to it
are lack of understanding about the
issue among school children below
six years of age, lack of awareness
among the parents and general
environment at home.
In 84 per cent schools the facilities
for drinking water were created and
were being regularly cleaned by the
children on a weekly, fortnightly or
monthl y basi s, w i th the school
teachers monitoring the cleaning
activity.
All the schools have a RRWHS,
which was being used in 13 per cent
for drinking water, by 64 per cent
schools for watering the plants and
other uses. In about 60 per cent of
the school s the roof and the
underground tank was cleaned before
the beginning of monsoon.
90 per cent of the school s had
separate sanitation facilities for girls
and boys, which were being used by
the about 74 per cent of the students.
These facilities were being cleaned
every w eek to ten days by the
children in 90 per cent of the schools
and by teachers in the remaining
schools.
71.1
60
40
1.11
Inadequae water
Insults faced from private

source owners
Problems
Pre- ERR
Post - ERR
Anxiety in going alone
Restrictions on women
stepping out of home
Improved and safe water supply not only

reduces the burden of domestic tasks on
women, but also reduces incidence of
disease in the household. Thus it provides
women more time, which can be used
for income generation activities, caring
14.4
2.22
1.11
0
Tussle at home
2.22
Tussle with other women
3.33
Physical and mental stress
2.22
Travel long distance
23.3
20
Long time spent
Impact on women lives post ERR

programme
90
was inadequate and not secure. PostERR 75.6 per cent have house
connections. If water supply is not
available at household level, majority
of the women fill water from standposts, which after the programme, are
much closer to home than the virdas.
70 to 80 per cent households in
villages have soak-pits as a result of
which waste water is not disposed
into the streets. This has helped
improve village sanitation, end rifts
between households and reduced the
incidence of diseases. 31 per cent
respondents feel that the once filthy
looking streets now bear a clean look.
64 per cent respondents agreed to
usi ng w ater j udi ci ousl y, as per
requirement.
Training and capacity development
has helped women to take lead in
other development works. 32 per
cent respondents said that trainings
have helped them become aware of
their rights and duties and they take
interest in financial matters of the
Gram Panchayat.
O&M systems in ERR programme
91
This study was carried out in February

2007 by a student from Entrepreneurship
Development Institute, Gandhinagar, in
12 villages of Kutch and Surendranagar
districts. The sampling was purposive and
villages where water supply had been
ongoing for some time, the community
was involved in O&M, and where some
concrete steps for O&M had been taken,
were sel ected. The study ai med at
understanding how different villages
managed the institutional, financial and
technical aspects of O&M in the context
of acceptance of the project by the
stakeholders. One Pani Samiti member

and four villagers (two males and two
females) were met with for the studying
each village. The study indicated:
The system designed is user friendly,
well accepted and owned by the
community. WRM measures and
al ternate source faci l i ti es have
ensured the scheme sustainability to
a great extent.
More than 90% of the people were
satisfied with the services received
under the scheme, which are better
than before.
All the respondents were satisfied
with the Pani Samiti leadership. 92%
believed in its financial transparency.
The Pani Sami ti l eaders w ere
confident that they would be able to
manage the O&M of the existing
scheme without external support, but
17% felt a little more training would
help in O&M.
All schemes are need based and
people were aware that the service
needs to be paid for. In most cases
only the actual expenses are collected
from the users as tariff. Recovery is
100 per cent in three-fourths of the
villages and 92 % villagers are ready
to pay more tariff, if necessary.
One-fourth of the villages had surplus
funds. In general , to meet any
emergency needs, people and the
Pani Sami ti are comfortabl e i n
depending on certain well-off people
in the village for help.
U se of qual i ty materi al , hi gh
standards in project design and
i nvol vement of Pani Sami ti i n
implementation and supervision have
all resulted in reducing technical
issues related to the maintenance.
among
t he
Under the internship programme of

WASMO, a study was conducted by a
student pursuing Masters in Social Work,
from Gujarat Vidyapith. The study was
carried out in five project villages of
Surendranagar district and one of its
objectives was to examine the impact of
community-managed WATSAN project
on water borne diseases. In each of the
villages, four types of respondents were
approached namely, women, school
children, village leader and the health
worker/doctors at PHC.
Findings of the study
Reduced i nci dence of di sease and
resultant improvement in health was
observed by all the three types of e
respondents i.e. the women, village
leaders and the health worker. This also
was complemented by the fact that there
is an improvement in awareness on
sani tati on and cl eanl i ness i ssues,
methods of disinfection of water, the
personal hygi ene practi ces among
respondents themselves and children.
The fi ndi ngs rel ated to heal th are
presented below:
Reduction in water borne diseases upto

winter
70
60
60
46
50
Percentage
I mpr oved heal t h

community
i.) Perception among women
40
40
28
30
32
16
20
10
0
Jaundice
Before ERR prog
Post ERR prog
Dysentery
Malaria
Disease
Reduction of water borne diseases in

summer
60
50
Percentage
Shortage of trained and committed

people to do the accounting jobs
within the community and operators
appointed by the influence of local
politicians or PRI leaders are some
of the problems faced in a few
villages.
40
48
32
30
20
8
10
0
Diarrhoea
Before ERR prog
Post ERR prog
Jaundice
Dysentery
Disease
50 per cent w omen attri buted

reduction in the incidence of diseases
to availability of safe water, while 18
per cent attributed it to a combination
of safe water and improved sanitation
practices.
Reduction in joint pain as a result of
water from the defluoridation plant
was observed by 12 per cent women.
92
ii.) Opinion of Doctor/Primary health

worker
Reduction in water borne diseases
170
180
No. of cases
160
140
115
120
80
66
36
40
23
20
9
20
0
Diarrhoea
Dysentery
Jaundice
Diseases
Malaria
Before ERR prog

Post ERR prog
Reduction in diseases due to contamination in
water
80
68
70
60
No. of cases
I nt er nal assessment s and

monitoring by WASMO
93
100
60
50
34
40
30
20
20
15
10
5
Stone
Skeletal
Disease
dysfunctions
of teeth
Before ERR prog

Post ERR prog
Discolouration
disorders
0
Joint
W ASM O has an i n-house uni t for

continuous monitoring of ongoing works
and evaluation of completed projects,
which can be considered as its tool for
introspection. The unit reports back the
findings to the concerned project units
based on which corrective actions are
taken up at various levels. The lessons
learnt through monitoring and evaluation
can lead to necessary changes in policy,
processes and guidelines to enhance the
programmes. W ASM O s i n-house
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) unit
takes up the following works.
48
45
10
As can be seen from the findings, 50 per

cent respondents feel that incidence of
disease has gone down due to availability
of safe water. This has been done through
various means, like improving the quality
of the local source by taking appropriate
WRM measures, providing connection
through a RW SS, i nstal l ati on of
defluoridation plants in fluoride affected
93
areas, promoting the concept of dual

water (differential use of safe source for
drinking and unsafe source for other
domestic uses) etc.
M i d-Ter m Eval uat i on (M TE) of

projects / schemes taken up under
WASMO programme
Post-Implementation Evaluation
(PIE)
Performance Evaluation (MPE) of
Implementation Support Agencies
(ISA) working with WASMO
Any other assignments received from
ot her out si de or gani zat i ons /
institutions
WASMO has also been empanelled as
Institutional Monitor with Council for
Advancement of Peoples Action and
Rural Technology (CAPART).
Since its establishment the M&E unit has
till date carried out monitoring and
evaluation of about 750 completed and
Revisiting Ghogha Project villages
Regularity of water supply

25
20
Number of villages
in progress villages of Swajaldahar and

the Sector Reform Scheme. The unit had
also evaluated 271 villages covered under
Narmada Master Plan and 70 towns
under Accelerated Urban Water Supply
programme. Given below are the findings
from some of the evaluations
23
19
15
11
10
5
In three fourths of the vi l l ages

(77.0%), the water supply systems
were in a working condition.
In 68.0 per cent of the villages the
water supply was for at least one hour
and 22 per cent villages received
water for more than 2 hours.
63 per cent of schools in villages
visited had drinking water facilities.
14 Ghogha project villages received
the Nirmal Gram Puraskar.
WRM has had a significant impact
and in 61.0 per cent villages. Even
during summer when the villages
were revisited, the hand pumps and
wells had not dried up and could
yield water.
A study of sample Ghogha project

villages conducted by a MSW student
from North Gujarat University, Patan
gave WASMO the idea of revisiting al the
82 project villages in Bhavnagar. In early
2007, it was decided to revisit the project
villages a year and a half after withdrawal
from the scene to asses the current
si tuati on of the w ater suppl y and
sanitation system created and its use by
the community, sustainability of the local
sources and impact of WRM. Some of the
broad results of the assessment were:
5
3
0
0
>300 days
200-300 days
<200 days
Irregular
No. of days of supply in a year
Mahi
Borewells/Wells
Hand pumps
Internal evaluation of Swajaldhara/

Sector Reform schemes
The ongoi ng moni tori ng of the
Swajaldhara and SRSprogrammes during
the year, have been able to provide the
necessary feedback and observations to
the field units for strengthening the
processes. Some of the broad findings
from the evaluation of the 222 villages
where schemes have been commissioned
are graphically presented below:
When the participatory approach was
introduced and 10 per cent community
contribution was included as a principle,
there were many reservations on its being
accepted by the community, which had
for many years, not been contributing in
any manner. However, with appropriate
social processes and constructive and
continuous dialogue being taken up at the
users level, it has been found that the
principle of contribution has not just gone
well with the people, but in as many as
18.5 per cent of the studied completed
schemes, people have contributed more
than the required 10 per cent.
94
In more than 78 per cent of the villages

the community was satisfied with the
services and the functioning of the Pani
Samiti. There was a distinct improvement
in the service too in terms of the duration
of the supply, with almost 31 per cent of
the villages getting a supply for more than
two hours a day or at least 1-2 hours a
day. The dependence on getting water
from an open well source too had gone
down considerably from 18 per cent
before the water supply system was
developed to 4 per cent after the scheme.
The water quality team had been formed
in 68 per cent of the studied villages and
72 per cent villages were carrying out
chlorination at source regularly. About 75
per cent of the Pani Sami ti s had
maintained all the required records such
as community contribution registers,
recei pt books, cash books, bank
statements, records of cheque
transactions etc. and the financial audit
too has been completed in these villages.
With improved understanding on the
need for collecting water tariff, it was
found that the collection was regular in
almost 73 per cent of the villages.
95
In case of the vi l l ages w here the

community managed programme was
still on-going, the M&E unit provided
timely information on the problems faced
by the community and the lacuna in the
processes, such as delay in technical
approval by W AM SO , del ay i n
completion of schemes, problems due to
contractors etc. Based on this feedback
the programme team could take informed
decisions and corrective actions on a case
to case basis and facilitate the Pani
Samitis in completing the works.
Findings from other studies
During the back checks done by KPMG,

it was told by TDOs/Talatis that for the
implementation of the pipe connection
or public stand post, around 10% of the
total cost should come from the general
public. In the backward regions of some
of the districts, it has not been possible
so far. However, they fel t that the
situation is improving with time and
usage of tankers is also decreasing.
The proporti on of the number of
households receiving adequate quantity
of water supply through pipe connection/
public stand post has not only restored
to the pre-earthquake levels, but also has
show n an i ncrease. 86% of the
beneficiaries surveyed were willing to
pay for drinking water across all districts.
88
100
Percentage
80
98
92
89
65
62
60
40
20
0
BEQ
Patan
Kutch
Survey I
Now
% Respondents receiving adequate water and

willingness to pay for drinking water
95
92
90
Percentage
The impact of the ERR project in Kutch is

reflected in a study carried out by KPMG
Advisory Services for Gujarat State
Disaster Management Authority. The
following are excerpts from the draft
Benefit Monitoring Third Sample
Survey Report of March, 2007. Findings
for only Kutch and Patan districts where
concentrated efforts have been made by
WASMO have been presented here.
Access to water - Pipe connection/public stand post
84
85
79
80
78
75
70
Kutch
Patan
Adequate water
Kutch
Patan
Willingness to pay
also initiated certain steps within the

department i n order to i ncrease
accountability and develop an efficient
public administration. Some of the steps
taken are:
Increasing accountability in the

Innovative mechanisms and their
sector
Service delivery efficiency is the basic
parameter for performance of drinking
water supply works. Various methods
have been evolved by Water Supply
D epartment i n Guj arat State for
evaluation and regular feedback through
various agencies and user groups and
impact on improvements in service

del i ver y, ef f i ci ency and cost
reduction
BPO concept for feedback mechanism
As strong micro-links with the consumers
have been developed through formation
of Pani Samitis regular feedback from
96
users is now possible to ensure quality

of servi ces. Proacti ve feedback
mechanism from users is being practiced
by the State for water supply services and
even telephonic feedback from large
number of vi l l ages has been
institutionalised.
Example: A telephonic feedback was
taken from all the villages in Kutch district
for evaluating the performance of water
supply management systems in one of the
most water scarce districts for users
satisfaction regarding water supply
service delivery. Results from one such
round of telephonic feedback is as
follows:
To tal ho u se ho ld s
Wa te r sup p ly a t ho use ho ld le ve l
Sa tisfie d with wa te r sup p ly
Ta riff Co lle c tio n me c ha nism
Chlo rina tio n d o ne re g ula rly
1,84,557
1,59,502 (86.4%)
Ye s 506
No
Ye s 534
No
Ye s 555
No
51
155
138
Federation of Pani Samitis for Regional

Water Supply Schemes and small group
schemes
97
For some regional schemes and small

group schemes, user group meetings of
villages covered under the scheme have
been initiated. The thought behind such
meetings is that, if these villages are
mobi l i zed and w i l l i ng to form a
federation, then they can collectively take
on the O&M of water supply schemes
under which they are covered. If such a
federation is formed and the ultimate
O&M of the scheme is transferred to the
users, i t may prove to be a strong
mechanism for problem solving, efficient
service delivery and improved user
satisfaction level. After seeing the positive
response from the rural community in
managing their internal water supply
distribution, it was thought that the same
concept could be extended to multivillage schemes. Such institutions can

resolve conflicts, minimize water thefts
and tail-end villages can get sufficient
quantity of water. These institutions can
be given the responsibility of minor repair
and maintenance and overall operation
in certain cases. For smaller group piped
w ater suppl y schemes, vi l l age
community has started O&M which is
efficient as well as cost effective. For
larger schemes, user group meetings are
conducted for feedback as w el l as
awareness generation.
Metering of Water Supply at Villages
Gujarat is the only State wherein, water
supply is being metered in several
villages. This is not only ensuring the
quantity of water supply monitoring but
also proves to be good measure for
grievances of redressal and billing.
Proactive feedback mechanism for tail
end villages in various schemes
Vi l l age Panchayat nomi nates some
persons for giving feedback to specific
responsible personnel from Gujarat
Water Supply and Sewerage Board
(GWSSB). The person from village is
provided phone number and address of
designated official for that particular
vi l l age and he i nteracts w i th hi m
whenever failure or irregularity in water
supply is observed. Necessary correctives
are undertaken by the designated official
i n the shortest possi bl e peri od for
rectification.
Maintenance of registers at village level

for recording supply, quality, regularity
etc.
At village level persons have been
nominated by Pani Samitis who maintain
daily records of water supply received
from multi-village scheme or supply from
local source. They also test the quality of
water, particularly residual chlorine on
the spot before service delivery to the
village. Intermittently other parametersare
also recorded for monitoring of water

quality.
The system is working well in many
villages of Kutch district and some local
persons are monitoring the service
delivery and water quality along with
regularity of water supply. In case of
fai l ures, feed-back mechani sm and
correcti ve acti ons have al so been
institutionalised.
98
Replicable Learnings
The basic learning experience of WASMO

has been that USERS are the BEST
MANAGERS. Social dimension in the
form of a strong ownership feeling has
been attached to the engineering service
delivery infrastructure, which has been
instrumental for catalytic attitudinal
changes. The following replicable lessons
have consolidated the above belief:
Peer monitoring and social audit
The entire community acts as a strong tool
of social audit and people are watching
the proper i mpl ementati on of
infrastructure creation. As people have
contributed towards the cost in part, they
have right to question. As the entire
programme is for long term benefits to
the entire village, peer pressure acts as a
strong tool for effective programme
implementation and efficient service
delivery.
Elections as strong tool for performane
Re-formation of Pani Samitis every two
years especially after the Panchayat
elections has come out as a verystrong
Traditional knowledge and hidden

information
Due to strong social processes taken up
for enabling the community to come
forw ard and contri bute i n the
development efforts, the traditional
knowledge has been utilized while
planning the drinking water sources,
infrastructure and delivery mechanisms.
There is a lot of hidden information
available with the community which
comes out only when an environment of
trust, openness and transparency is
developed. The process driven approach
has been a driving force for the coming
forth of traditional knowledge in the
programme implementation.
Breaking of information asymmetry
As the engineering approach in drinking
water sector was basically working in
silos, the information on technology
and delivery mechanisms was restricted
with the functionaries of government.
Implementation of the programme for
community engagement has resulted in
breaking of this information asymmetry
99
and now there is a synergistic impact on

the programme due to amalgamation of
i nformati on avai l abl e w i th the
communi ty and the techni cal
professionals, out of which the best
combination is selected. This is leading
to both allocative as well as technical
efficiency in the entire programme.
Countervailing power of social
mobilization
Social process driven approach has
provi ded a new di mensi on to the
engineering approach. Taking the help of
professional social mobilizers has not
only helped engaging the community for
drinking water supply programme, but it
has led to entirely different attitudinal
transformation at the village level. Social
mobilization has addressed the inclusion
i ssues, col l ecti on of communi ty
contribution and has resulted in setting
up of redressal mechanisms. In several
cases, door to door efforts were required
for effective community engagement.
Voluntarism and social capital
development
Most of the community leaders and
village committee members have joined
the efforts for effective community
managed programme. They have acted
solely for voluntarism and a strong social
capital has been developed at the village
level with effective micro links for local
actions for efficient service delivery and
programme implementation. All the
members of Village level institution have
contributed significantly in terms of time,
money as well as knowledge resource
base. The members engaged at the village
100
level are now contacted for effective

feedback and further facilitation for
sustainability.
Flexible mechanisms
A flexible approach is required while
implementing the community driven
programme. In several cases, projects
were approved partially at the beginning
or part funds were released for getting the
large scale trust with community at
village level who were not willing to
contribute at the beginning. Lot of
interventions were required during the
implementation phase also.
Partnerships with Non-Governmental
Organizations were also developed based
on flexibility in approach as well as
mutual respect which is essential for
effectiveness.
Special drives for enthusiasm
Several drives have also been taken up
on various occasions for creating an
environment of enthusiasm amongst the
community. Celebrations of World
W ater D ay , W orl d W omens D ay,
World Environment Day and various
local festivities on a large scale has
strengthened the ownership feeling of the
community.
During scaling up, large scale block level
motivational meetings have been very
effective tool for community engagement.
In such meetings, several village leaders
took upon the responsibility of not only
motivating their own village but also a
group of vi l l ages for j oi ni ng the
programme.
Transparency and accountability

Due to mutual trust between government
agency and community as well as social
audit by bearing part of capital cost,
transparency has been achieved in
i mpl ementati on and O & M of the
infrastructure. The village assembly
system of local self governance and
community contribution have, been the
instruments for bringing transparency at
the forefront. As the community is
bearing the cost, every person can
question faulty implementation as well
can check accounts and procedure at any
point of time
Care for underprivileged and labour
class
People have not only taken along all the
poor people but also have devised
systems that take care for such families.
Cl uster storage systems have been
developed in various villages so that
labour class can collect water whenever
they return from w ork. Si mi l arl y,
differential lower tariffs or no tariffs are

in practice in various villages for poor
families.
Ownership feeling
As the entire infrastructure is created
by the community with some cash
contri buti on from everyone i n the
vi l l age, i t gi ves a strong feel i ng of
ownership to the community.
This feeling is the most important factor
for sustainability of service delivery.
Gender sensitivity
Women being mandatory members of
the local committee, their participation
is ensured. There are instances wherein
women folk could motivate the entire
community for owning the system when
male members were reluctant. At places
women are operating the system. As the
issue affects women the most in the
vi l l ages, they have not onl y been
benefited but also have participated
Cable TV a novel way to gain faith of the community

Bhimrana village just about eight kilometers from Dwarka, in the Okha taluka of Jamnagar was a
village without any local water source, and for several years it faced a severe water crisis. After the
village became a part of the ERR project of WASMO and formed a Pani Samiti, the initial enthusiasm
of the villagers soon faded as they were skeptical to contribute 10 per cent of the expenses in a
government programme. Devubha, the head of the Pani Samiti, found a solution for the problem in
the neighbourhood cable operator.
He decided to start the construction work with whatever funds the Samiti had managed to collect.
He then hired a video camera person who was asked to record the construction of the in-village
water supply system. This footage was then transmitted through the local cable network. As people
saw the daily progress of the work their faith was restored and they realised that the communitymanaged programme could bring an end to their dependence on tankers for drinking water.
Contributions soon began to trickle in and then to pour in.
101
Developing cluster-based storage systems

The primary sources of Sadai village were the small virdas, which yielded sweet water when there
was sufficient water in it. At most other times, the water was saline. Although Sadai was served by
the rural group water scheme, the water points were at a distant location and the supply was extremely
unreliable. As part of WASMOs interventions, a large tank of 40,000 litres storage capacity is being
constructed to store and distribute piped water in the village under the ERR programme. This tank is
connected to a cluster of seven sumps of 5000 litres capacity through a gravity-based system. Water
is available to communities from the sumps by means of hand pumps. The construction of the sumps
is already complete, and each serves an individual hamlet within the village, and the women will no
longer have to travel to one central point. After the main tank is completed, the villagers say that
there will be enough water in the village to last them for as long as ten days if there is any breakdown
or disruption in the supply of piped water. The Pani Samiti in Sadai maintains a map which gives the
layout of the network of the sumps and the main tank. Whenever there is a breakdown in one hand
pump and repair is in progress, it is ensured with the help of the map, that the water supply is
stopped only for the faulty pump and not the entire network.
Convincing people to contribute

When the community-managed pogramme was introduced in Mota Asambia village, Sharifaben
resolved to make it a success and ease the woes of the women in the village. As a member of the Pani
Samiti, Sharifaben took the lead in making house-to-house visits, explaining the benefits of the project
to the villagers and cajoling them into making the community contribution. She maintained the
records, operated the bank account and when the repair and reconstruction work was on, monitored
it very diligently in order to ensure quality works. The village now has functional in-village water
supply distribution and women do no have to trudge long distances.
actively. Women self help groups have
been instrumental in this respect in
several villages.
Conflict resolution mechanisms
102
D uri ng the i mpl ementati on of

programme, lot of learnings regarding
conflict resolution mechanisms are
providing effective methods during
scal i ng up. Vi l l age assembl y has
emerged as an effective tool in this
regard. Although lot of discussions
leading up to quarrels are observed
during the village assembly, finally the
assembly resolves the conflict in most
of the cases. Repeated assembl y

meetings are required in some cases,
village elders act as mediators in some
cases and there are a few cases where
top political leaders of district or even
State level come forward to resolve the
conflicts. Most of the villages where
conflicts have arisen, have led to pathbreaking success at the end.
Quality consciousness
The communi ty has become very
conscious about quality of works and at
places acted as a watchdog during
implementation of works. For instance,
Women at the fore-front

In Gelda village of Kutch, when the community-managed water supply programme was introduced,
the Panchayat and its members were not interested in the programme. In one of the Gram Sabhas,
the active Mahila Mandal took the lead and its chairperson Manguba, inspired the women of the
village to form Pani Samiti, as the problem of drinking water affects them the most. They constituted
an all womens Pani Samiti. Manguba took up the lead and now she says, In the beginning two
members were active, but as we progressed, the team gelled together and took up the full
responsibilities for supervision of works. The times when we had to run for collecting water at night
have passed. Now we have adequate and regular water supply at our doorstep. She further says,
Women save at least two to three hours a day and that time is utilised in making papads, which
gives us a regular income. The women say that, This income has given us an opportunity to contribute
for O&M of the systems, which ensures us regular water supply.
in a village, women members forced

stoppage of works of inferior quality. Due
to awareness generation and regular
training, people have taken up water
quality surveillance work and are able to
monitor the quality at village level besides
taking corrective action in case of nonpotability. 13,984 villages have now
formed village level Water Quality Teams
for this purpose.
Users to pay
Due to the motivational process followed
in the programme, community has
started bearing partial capital expenditure
and full Operation & Maintenance (O&M)
cost. A critical examination of villages
where tariff structures are in place has
shown that users have started paying
tariffs due to availability of assured, safe
and reliable water along with quality of
services.
It has been observed that some of the
villages have already developed a corpus
of funds that will be sufficient for running
the scheme for 3 to 4 years. Even in very
poor villages women are willing to pay
Rs.1 per day per fami l y. Vari ed

innovations in fixing the tariff structures
have been observed in the project villages
as seen in the table below:
Creation of social funds
One of the most important aspects for
sustai nabi l i ty of the programme i s
creation of social funds in the form of a
corpus at the community level. WASMO
has institutionalized a system of one time
performance related incentive fund for
community as a corpus for operation and
mai ntenance. D ue to the strategi c
i nterventi ons by W ASM O , the
community is motivated to contribute
towards this corpus so that sufficient
funds are built up.
It is envisioned that in a significant
number of villages, the entire O&M costs
can be met from interest amounts on fixed
deposits made in the banks by the Village
Water and Sanitation Committees. Many
vi l l ages have al ready contri buted
matchi ng contri buti ons or some
significant contribution to these social
funds at the community level. The savings
103
from O&M tariffs are also being added to

this fund and some donors are also
contributing for this purpose
This concept of social funds has been
developed very recently and is showing
promising trends.
Innovative ways of service delivery
in water distribution to all its members.

Fixation of time for water delivery, use
of potable water for drinking and inferior
quality water for other purposes, minimal
use of water, hygienic practices storage
structures, augmentation of sources,
concern for everyone as well as social
equi ty i ssues are addressed by the
community in a very prudent way.
The community has developed its own

innovative mechanism for ensuring equity
Table: Examples of O&M tariff set by the community
1.
Sangammer
(Kutch)
Annual Tariff
Collection
Penal Provision
Connection charges
Extra Charges
:
:
:
:
:
2.
Madhapar Navavas
(Kutch)
Annual Tariff
3.
Purasai
(Kutch)
Annual Tariff
Collection
:
:
4.
Manai
(Bhavnagar)
Annual Tariff
Rs. 480 per household

Every month by Youth Group
Rs. 50/- as fine if not deposited by 10th.
Rs.1,200/Rs. 2/- per Sq. Feet for construction for slab
house and Rs.1/- per Sq. Feet without slab
Half inch connection - Rs. 250/12 mm connection - Rs. 275/Commercial
- Rs. 6,000/Construction
- Rs. 2/- per foot
Rs. 300 + Rs.24/- per animal
Every 3 months
For Connection Soak Pit compulsory
Non-payment of tariff - Disconnection
Accounts put in Gram Sabha every 6
months
Operation - House-wise responsibility
House connection Rs.2,500 per household
Stand post Rs. 60 per household
Equity in water distribution
104
The design of the old pipeline system in Nani Virani was linear, resulting in a lot of pressure problems
and the families towards the end of the pipeline had a chronic problem of insufficient water. While
planning their project activities, the community decided to replace the linear system with a parallel one
as the village was small and a new pipeline would not involve high costs. Consequently, there are now
three parallel lines in the village which are controlled by three valves. Apart from the pipelines, repair
works, construction of a cistern of 50,000 litres, a check dam and a rooftop rainwater harvesting structure
were also carried out. All houses have individual house connections and regular, adequate and safe
water is available. Village level chlorination is also done regularly.
Care for traditional sources

Community has shown innovative ways
for restorati on, augmentati on and
recharge of local and traditional water
sources. Due to the care taken by the
community, the local sources have

developed not only in terms of water
availability but also quality of drinking
water. As a result, conjunctive use of
water has been started in several villages.
Water resource management for water security

Kotadi, a coastal village of Amreli, about 17 kms. away from the nearest town Rajula, faced severe
drinking water crisis because of salinity. Rain water harvesting was the only solution for the village.
Anandbhai Makwana was determined to make potable water available to the village and he
approached the irrigation department for construction of check dams in the villages. A check dam
committee was formed and eight check dams were constructed in the village through this committee
and with labor contribution by the villagers. Four wells of the village have got recharged and people
started getting potable drinking water. The people of the village take care of the maintenance of the
check dams.
Water use efficiency
Regulations have been made by the
communi ty and are pi ousl y bei ng
followed by them for conservation in use
of water resources at the village level. In
most of the villages, hardly any spillages
are observed after implementation of
community managed actions.
Linking of multiple water sources
Community has tried to build in effective
sustainability for water resources at the
village and habitation level. During water
budgeting, they have devised mechanisms
for linking of various sources in case of
stressconditions. They have even resolved

to take help of private water sources in
case of water scarcity and the owners of
these sources being the members in the
village assembly have happily agreed to
this purpose, without taking any charges
in most of the cases.
Local level services
Management of servicesbeing shouldered
by community itself, local level solution
have been put in place which are cost
effective, efficient and rapid. Village
sanitary marts are also started in several
villages.
O&M in the hands of women

After the death of her husband who served as an operator, Manguben of Thana village, Banaskantha
got his job. Responsibilities of a pump operator did not come easy, but having received training
Manguben now carries out the pumping and distribution of water at night, when there is continuous
supply of electricity, so that the community gets water in the morning. She takes care of operation of
the system and minor maintenance works, carries out chlorination of the water and cleans the water
tank regularly.
105
Sanitation and better hygiene practices

Due to a whole lot of efforts in bringing
up attitudinal changes, community has
started adopting better hygiene practices
and has started caring for local sanitation.
Several villages have now resorted to total
sanitation by using soak-pit latrines, daily
garbage collection systems have also been
developed and all the waste water is
either carried out of village for alternative
uses after treatment or soak-pits are made
so that waste water is not accumulating
in the villages for germs to develop.
School Sanitation
106
i ncenti ves. Soci al recogni ti on and

development of village environs, have
mostl y been the moti vati onal
determi nants for i nvi si bl e these
leaderships.
Responsiveness
D ue to the peer pressure on the
committee, responsiveness in case of
damages or disruption of service delivery,
responsiveness time is very short. The
disruptions are very effectively managed
and several members including women
are taking voluntary responsibility for
timely repairs and performance.
A simultaneous movement for educating

school chi l dren and teachers w as
undertaken for better hygiene practices
and i t has resul ted i n heal th
consciousness among the entire target
group. Looking to the efforts for this
purpose, UNICEF is now partnering
WASMO in this regard. In addition to
building and maintenance of school
sanitation complex, regular health checks
are being done by teachers and health
workers in the villages.
Customer feed-back
Emerging Local Leadership
Support of outside actors
The most effective outcome of initiative

has been in the form of effective local
leadership and community engagement,
which has led to building up a strong
soci al capi tal that i s responsi ve,
accountable, transparent and active for
addressing the water supply issues at
village level.
D uri ng the i mpl ementati on of

community managed approach, lot of
support has been forthcoming from
vari ous quarters i ncl udi ng w el l of
people from particular villages, who are
willing to contribute for well being of
their villages.
The local leaderships have worked for

mobi l i zi ng the communi ty and
implementing the projects without any
W ASM O has al so acted as an

i ntermedi ary customer feed-back
mechanism for the Government utility
providing bulk water through multivillage schemes. The committee members
are contacted proactively by the WASMO
professionals for feed back on service
delivery and any encumbrances are
brought to the notice of utility board for
corrective actions.
The contributions have been both in

terms of cash as w el l as ki nd l i ke
providing further facilities including
water purification plants, additional
storages, w ater cool ers and

contribution towards Operation and
Maintenance.
Linkages with self-help groups,
cooperatives, etc. for sustainability
At several places, effective linkages have
been establ i shed w i th the mi croentrepreneur, self-help groups and dairy
cooperati ve w ho have know -how
regarding financial transactions and have
some corpus funds. These linkages are
providing financial sustainability to these
efforts.
Responsiveness during disasters

Due to the strong community engagement
in the programme, capacity building of
village committees for mitigating disasters
l i ke fl oods, storms, cycl ones, etc.
community have taken up effective
measures during such adversities. In most
of the floods encountered during last
three years, communi ty has done
effective chlorination and sanitation
precautions and hardly any epidemic was
there during these years.
107
Scaling Up
The community participation in drinking

water supply was initiated by taking up a
project of 82 villages in water scarce areas
of Bhavnagar district. The beginning was
quite tough and even after frequent follow
up from the Royal Netherlands Embassy,
the initial 4 years from 1998 can be termed
as failure. The community was not
moti vated enough for j oi ni ng the
programme as trust building could not be
achieved to satisfactory level. Although
Non Government Organizations were
also engaged for community capacity
building, there was lack of synergy and
team effort. At such a negative note, it
was decided to form a small unit of about
15 persons as Coordination Monitoring
and Support Unit (CMSU) for facilitating
the project and capacity building of
community with implementation support
for soci al processes by 3 N on
Government Organizations. The efforts
of this team started showing results and
based on the initial learnings from this
on-going project of 82 villages, it was
deci ded to undertake earthquake
reconstruction programme for more 1260
vi l l ages i n 3 di stri cts on a si mi l ar

approach. The decentralized communitymanaged programme was then scaled up
to cover all the districts from 2003 by
taking up Swajaldhara programme of
Government of India and Sector Reform
(State) Programme from State
Government finances. The scaling up of
community managed programme can be
seen from the following graph.
Scaling up
20000
18000
13542
16000
14000
10649
12000
No . of Vi llage s
Introduction
10000
8313
8000
6000
4077
4050
4000
2522
2000
1585
784
08 2
2002-03
No. of schemes completed
450
119
2003-04
Pani Samitis formed
732
367
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09 (Dec 08)
Year
During the initial phase, lots of efforts had

to be done by the professionals of
WASMO as well as Implementation
Support Agencies (ISAs) for community
108
mobilization and the progress was very

sl ow . The trust bui l di ng betw een
community and the facilitating agency
was taking time. The learnings from initial
villages and the models for demonstration
in various areas were ingrained in the
further activities and after first three years,
the progress of the programme has been
remarkable. The entire programme has
seen a sea change as now WASMO is
w i tnessi ng a l ong w ai t-l i st. The
programme bei ng demand dri ven,
necessary modalities have been worked
out to take up the villages on wait-list as
fast as possible and the organizational
flexibility of need based staffing is able to
address the issue. Earlier, the facilitating
teams w ere pl aced at the di stri ct
headquarter, but seeing the positive trend,
it was decided to create cluster teams at
the level of Blocks. Due to the need based
adjustments, progress of works as well
as villages taking up the programme has
increased significantly for the last two
years, wherein more than 5500 new
villages have joined the programme and
about 2500 villages have commissioned
their projects.
Some of the issues that emerged over the
years with respect to decentralised
community-managed programme and
WASMOs experiences are enlisted here.
1. Community dynamics
109
The concept of community in itself

may be a hurdle in scaling up. To act as
a community, as a united group, to
overcome problems can be complicated
in itself. If this does not happen, a
system, such as a community managed
water supply system, can easily break
down.
Duri ng scal i ng up of decentral i sed

programme of WASMO, lot of efforts
have been made for bringing different
secti ons of soci ety on a common
platform. Awareness generation about
the programme w i thi n vi l l age and
subsequent Gram Sabhas, have served as
a strong tool in which community can
work for a common goal. Village Pani
Samitis have also been selected in the
Gram Sabha for ensuring the commitment
of the Samiti, as they are accountable to
the Gram Sabha. The first 1-3 months
are qui te cri ti cal for bri ngi ng the
community together for a common goal
and in WASMOs approach this period
is dedicated to software activities, which
has brought about the envisaged outcome
at community level.
Gender and diversity
The issues of gender and diversity have
been addressed by involving the entire
community right from the beginning.
Some interesting instances have been
observed in villages, where special care
has been taken for weaker sections. In
some cases, w eaker secti ons w ere
exempted from contributing towards
community contributions. In several
other cases, w ater tari ff i s hi ghl y
subsidised for the weaker sections. In
other cases, where people leave for work
early in the morning, separate need based
cluster storage has also been built in the
habitations so that people can take water
when they return home after the days
work. In few villages there have been
instances where weaker sections have
been given the first charge on water and
during service delivery it is supplied first
to their habitations and afterwards to
other areas of the village so that people
from such groups can go to work and do

not have to wait for water.
n some cases, when it was proposed in
the Gram Sabha that the weaker sections
be exempted from contributing towards
capital costs, the leaders from such
groups, on the contrary, did not agree to
it and said that this was the work of the
village and they would also give their
share of contribution. These groups
insisted on contributing even from the
hard earned daily wages for making the
vi l l age proud of devel opi ng such
amenities.
Working with Resolve

When Rajpara village in Dwarka,
Jamnagar district became part of the
project villages, majority of the
people extended their whole-hearted
support. There existed, however, a
small dissenting group which was
loyal to the sarpanch, that did not
w ant the proj ect to make any
headway. The people and the Pani
Samiti members, unwilling to relent
to this group decided to join forces
and approached the police for help.
The police coerced the sarpanch into
handing over the files and financial
detai l s to the commi ttee, and
consequently construction work
resumed again.
There are several instances in every
di stri ct w here the men w ere not
interested in the programme even after
repeated meetings in the village and
women themselves took charge of the
entire programme. As the programme
was perceived to be very beneficial for
women and children, women themselves
mobilised the leaders and in several

villages, men followed and got convinced
whereas in certain other cases, the entire
programme was implemented by the
womens groups themselves. There are
instances when some womens self help
group came forward and contributed
towards the programme and also initiated
steps for its implementation.
Role of Elite Groups
There are always apprehensions that
pow er groups may monopol i se
discussions and dominate as well as take
charge of the water supply system,
depriving access to others. There were
instances of this sort while implementing
the programme. However, in most of the
cases once the issue was taken up in the
public domain i.e. Gram Sabha, instances
of domination have reduced considerably
and a consensus decision was taken for
the benefit of the entire village and all
sections of the society.
Conflict
Conflicts are certain in community
mobilisation programme and in most of
the cases, conflict resolution can be
done in the Gram Sabha for building
consensus in the villages. There are
instances where after the introduction
of the programme and social process
villages have become samras (Samras
is colloquial tem for a village where the
village leader is selected by consensus
and panchayat elections are not required
to be held). In several villages lot of
efforts had to be made during software
activities to bring together the rival
groups for reconciliation and working
together.
110
Mediation
Due to complex community dynamics,
issues of communitys willingness need
to be taken care of by some mechanism.
Social process and further facilitation
throughout
the
programme
implementation and even after the exit,
the teams have worked extensively for
medi ati on, confl i ct resol uti on and
bringing in sustainability of the institution
(Pani Samiti) created at the village level.
Water and Unity

If water causes conflict, it also unites opposing factions. In Rampar village, there were two distinct
groups, one with loyalty to the sarpanch, Nakubhai and the other loyal to Dhirubhai, a former sarpanch.
These two conflicting groups were the cause of major hurdles in the progress of the village. Meanwhile,
villagers were facing problems due to lack of drinking water for several years. No solution appeared to
be in sight as the groups refused to work together. When the Ghogha project was introduced in the
village by the ISA Medhavi and WASMO, initially there was no positive response from the community.
Not willing to give up easily, efforts by these two organisations continued. Gradually the villagers
began to understand the novel approach proposed and the benefits that would accrue. The two leaders
decided to bury their past differences and work together. They convinced the community to get involved.
Both of them took active part in construction activities. Their efforts bore fruit when the in-village water
supply scheme was commissioned and they assumed responsibility during the Atmarpan ceremony on
November 30, 2004. The village now has two water sources - piped water from the Mahi pipeline and
the local well. O and M contribution and salary for the scheme operator is being collected regularly.
The local sources are strengthened and water quality has improved due to well up-gradation and
recharge activities.
2. Demand creation
The entire programme was taken up as a
process driven and demand driven
programme. IEC strategy has played a
significant role during scaling up. It is
essential that communities must be given
time to come together and they can join
the programme when ready. Awareness
generation leads to articulating their
needs and demands, which motivates the
whole community to involve themselves
in every stage of implementation
3. Preparation of the Community
111
It is stated that communities are not

prepared well enough for management
of the system and their confidence is very

low for sustaining these systems. As
mentioned elsewhere in the document,
several myths on this issue have been
broken during the implementation of the
programme by WASMO. Preparing the
communi ty for the programme by
awareness generation and continuous
capacity building through facilitation and
training programmes has been the key for
development of community capacities
and building confidence amongst them
for implementation and operation of the
projects. At the end of the programme,
the community has rejoiced by taking
pride of their own work and very often it
is quoted We never knew, such work
can be accompl i shed by us, i n
vernacular Gujarati language Amne to

khabaraj na hati ke amara thi aatlu motu
kam thai shake.
4. Role of government
Good governance must be addressed in
order to be able to move away from
islands of success and every stakeholder
has to play a role for this purpose.
Furthermore, government needs to
change its role to support an environment
in which community management can be
successful by creati ng an enabl i ng
facilitation process and design legislation
for
communi ty
management.
Discouraging political interference and
genuine community management was
also focused.
By creation of WASMO, it was envisaged
to bring in a paradigm shift in the role of
governance from provider to facilitator.
During these 5 years, the conceived role
has been consol i dated. Necessary
environment with strong tools for social
audit in the form of Gram Sabha was
created for facilitation of the community
in the decentralised programme, wherein
genuine community involvement has
been stressed, which has been possible
because of the exhaustive social process
and the involvement of all sections of
society in the programme. IEC has been
a key factor for the success of the entire
programme. An exhaustive IEC strategy
was decided and put into practice along
with social process at village level, which
resul ted i nto genui ne communi ty
managed projects under the programme.
Community contribution to the tune of
10% of the project cost was also stressed
in such a way at village level that most of
the houses contributed towards it so that
they get a right to question and also have

a stake in the entire programme. This has
resulted in the demand driven programme
during finalisation of Village Action Plan,
as unnecessary components, which
usually enhance the liability on the
community, were mostly not stressed on
by the community.
5. Type of support needed

In the community-managed programme,
support is quite a crucial aspect for
implementation and sustainability. Through
the creation of WASMO, support systems
have been established at variouslevels. The
assumption that social mobilisation in
communitiesissufficient to manage systems
in the long run, is well taken. Yet, it is not
only social mobilisation but also the
support throughout the programme for
trai ni ng and capaci ty bui l di ng of
community institutions as well as support
for qual i ty assurance, contract
management, supervision of construction
etc, that is required at village level.
WASMO teams have acted as facilitators
i n the enti re programme, w herei n
community is implementing the projects
and all types of support for this purpose
i s provi ded by the faci l i tati ng
professionals of the organisation or ISAs.
6. Enabling Environment
An enabl i ng envi ronment i s very
essenti al w hi l e deal i ng w i th
communities. It could be created by
building a strong bond with community
and faci l i tati on teams by regul ar
meetings at village, block and district
levels. Good governance has been the
key in this regard. For this purpose,
W ASM O w as created as a non-
112
conventional type of organization for

facilitation of communities to take up
de-centralised community managed
program m e. A pr ocess dr i ven
approach was followed wherein, first
3-6 months have been earmarked for
engagi ng the communi ty through
software works at village level.
For this purpose, NGOs have also been
roped in as Implementation Support
Agencies. In the organisation itself, focus
has also been kept to include professionals
with social welfare background. These
professionals, along with teams of NGOs
acted as a glue for cohesion in the
community and for providing an enabling
environment at village level. It is also
debated that support must not be divided
into before and after handing over. Support
must be a continuous process, starting from
the design phase and long after completion
of the system. This theme has been
maintained by WASMO and intermittent
follow-ups as well as follow-up after exit
are conducted and wherever support is
essential, it is provided. Technical or social
help is required in most cases. In certain
cases tie up for funds for major repairs was
also needed for making the system
functional again.
7. Training/Capacity Building
Need based and effective training and
capacity building is certainly needed for
committee members and community as
a whole. For this purpose, a continuous
exhausti ve
capaci ty
bui l di ng
programme has been taken up by
WASMO and ISAs.
113
Training modules and manuals have

been devel oped for thi s purpose.
Trainings are provided to the members
of vi l l age Pani Sami ti s for preconstruction, construction, operation

and mai ntenance, sani tati on and
hygiene, financial management, water
quality issues etc. Detailed manuals in
vernacular language are also provided
to the Pani Samitis.
8. Community management and

Scaling Up
a) Ownership
Lack of sense of ownership causes
problems in community management and
it is debated that community should know
their system as early as possible; not only
after handing over but also from the
beginning i.e. in the design phase itself.
In thi s regard l ack of cl ear l egal
framework, allowing for transfer of assets
and responsibility for these assets is seen
as a problem in scaling up community
management and it is stated that legal
ownership must be clear, otherwise
people will not pay for the service.
In Gujarat State, a clear legal status was
conferred on village Pani Samitis by
bringing out a Government Resolution
for maki ng i t a part of l ocal sel f
government i.e. village panchayat. The
community was involved right from the
beginning with the project, from prepl anni ng phase through aw areness
generation and the entire planning,
designing and implementation is entirely
done through village Pani Samitis. As
recommended i n the E-Conference
proceedi ngs about ow nershi p,
involvement should be present from the
beginning Something of a golden rule
has been suggested: In community
management there is no handing over.
Commissioning of the projects at village

level is done through an Atmarpan
ceremony at village level, where village
assembly meeting is held and all aspects
of the programme, including finances
and components are discussed before
every one in the Gram Sabha and an oath
is taken by the members of the Pani Samiti
for proper operation and maintenance of
the assets created. It is to mention that
there i s no handi ng over but sel f
commissioning of the project in front of
Gram Sabha at village level for further
operation and maintenance.
Achieving Sustainability
One of the most far-reaching and
important impacts of the programme
has been the acceptance among rural
communities that water can no longer
be had for free. This acceptance has
led to the creation of cost-sharing
arrangements at the village level for
the routine O&M requirements. Tariff
structures have been defined by the
Pani Sami ti s and are bei ng
implemented in all villages. Over half
the project villages have as many as
70-100% of the households making
regular annual tariff contributions.
There has also been evidence of
villages such as Gundi, Kobadi, Kolyak
and Ghogha where enough fundshave
been raised to last for the next 3-4
years. Kobadi and Gundi have both
collected more than four times their
estimated O&M expenditure.
b) Financial issues
Management of finances at community
level posed certain issues of concern
such as lack of financial skills such as
book keeping, limited knowledge about

bank procedures, lack of accountability
and transparency, lack of financial
resources and even theft/malpractices.
Financial management at community level
was internalised by continuous training
on financial aspects as also by providing
a ready manual for reference.
Accounting was also assisted by finance
personnel from the ISAs and various
di stri ct uni ts of W ASM O , D ue to
continuous capacity building, financial
efficiency has been displayed by the
community in addition to accountability
and a hi gh l evel of transparency.
Wherever some over-invoicing was
observed during audits, corresponding
recoveries have been made without any
obstacles or delay.
O nce the accounti ng system w as
expl ai ned to them properl y w i th
physi cal measurement, the Sami ti
agreed for recoveries, wherever such
i nstances occurred (w hi ch w as
negligible).Another issue of concern for
success of the programme is timely fund
transfer and transparency in financial
issues.
Although this issue did not find much
mention, the enthusiasm of community
could only be maintained because in
most of the programme villages fund
transfer was smooth, timely, without
any hassles and even provisions were
made for payment of advances to the
Samitis. A few cases of non-submission
of ti mel y accounts w ere al so
encountered but persistence resulted in
making the Pani Samitis feel responsible
and accountable.
114
c) Choice of Technology
All the issues like lack of spare parts for
technology constructed, faults in design,
poor construction quality, inappropriate
location, lack of technical knowledge,
complex technology etc., were foreseen
as well as encountered during and after
programme implementation. A choice of
technology from the detailed list was
offered to the community for selection
and even other i nnovati ons w ere
encouraged. After discussions, cost
effective efficient technologies could
emerge in several villages. Even gravity
based systems could be foreseen and
implemented by a few villages, wherein
hardly any power consuming technology
was used. A few tools along with some
spares were provided to the village Pani
Samitis during exit so that they can
manage, mai ntai n and sustai n the
programme. Tie-ups for major repairs
were also done in certain cases. Training
for operation and maintenance was done
at village level, along with an O&M
manual so that community can take care
of systems developed in their villages.
d) Water Resources
115
Water is being realised as an economic

good and water tariff for operation and
maintenance ensures the continuous
involvement of people for efficient service
delivery. Paying water tariff willingly is
possi bl e through di scussi ons and a
consensus decision in Gram Sabha.
Community has decided innovative tariff
in the villages wherein they have fixed
tariff even for used water for cattle, for
constructi on, for commerci al and
industrial purposes and even for festivals
and marriages. Innovative tariff structure
and rules to enforce the tariff collection

have been decided by the community
themsel ves. At vi l l age l evel , water
resource is seen as an integral part for
sustainability. Uncontrolled extraction
from drinking water sources for use,
sometimes wasteful, is now looked at
very cautiously by the community. The
community has come up with novel
methods for dual water supply systems
and for enforci ng regul ati on for
controlling exploitation of ground water
or exploitation of village ponds, dams etc.,
for agriculture purposes.
9. Scaling up mechanisms and

models
Scaling up community management is a
challenge, as each community is different.
It needscoordination at intermediate levels,
change of attitude of government staff,
inclusion of local government in project
implementation, and acknowledging that
the decentralised processes and structures
are new and insecure and need
handholding. All relevant actors need to be
included in dialogue and implementation
and learnings have to be sensitively
internalised and converted into processes
and systems.
All the above parameters hold good
during implementation of de-centralised
community-managed programme by
W ASM O .
Seei ng i s bel i evi ng
experience by showcasing successful
villages through exposure visits for
sharing the experiences is an impressive
tool for confidence building. Continuous
coordi nati on w i th ISAs, CBO s,
government organisations lead to a
change of attitude of government staff.
Village panchayats active involvement
further empowers Pani Samiti. Sharing

of experiences for replication by the
communities, continuous training of
fi el d staff, capaci ty bui l di ng of
community, proactive facilitation and
recognition of community through the
organisation, felicitation of actors and
invisible leaders at village have played
a significant role in scaling up the
programme.
10. Going to scale

It w as noted that sustai nabi l i ty
requires long term support, even if at
a low level of intervention. It was tried
through building learning models and
the enti re programme has gai ned
strength from such learning models
based on which actions are planned
by the support staff.
Based on these experi ences the
programme was scaled up to certain
regions and then to all the districts of
the State. D ue to regi onal ,
geographi cal , soci al and cul tural
differences, specific solutions have
been found by discussing the issue
with the community. Every village has
been a specific unit in this regard.
Systems serving more than one village
or habitations are now being tried to
be handed over to the community for
management.
Group vi l l age
panchayats are being encouraged to
operate and mai ntai n the systems
developed, hitherto maintained by
government agency i.e. GWSSB. For
this purpose, community is coming
forward to take up the challenge and
operate these systems for effi ci ent
service delivery.
Obstacless to scaling up
There have been several initial road blocks
for scaling up as well as there are several
obstacles that can hinder sustainability of
the institution as well as systems created
in the rural areas. During the journey of
5 years, there have been several road
blocks and obstacles in initiating the
community participation as well as
scaling up programme of decentralised
community-managed drinking water
supply in rural areas. In addition to the
obstacles mentioned in the report of EConference, several other issues also
need to be highlighted in this context.
The following obstacles have been
mentioned hereafter, although taken care
in processes and systems build need
conti nued attenti on and sui tabl e
intervention:
Social Issues
Pampered Societal Mentality
A strong centralised system of water
supply for several years has caused a
sense of complacency in the villages and
over dependence on the supplier. In such
a scenari o, a system w here the
community needs to pay towards the
capital expenditure is hardly acceptable
in the first go and it is even more difficult
to convince the community to take over
operation and maintenance of the entire
system by paying tariff.
Complex socio-economic milieu in rural
areas
Bringing every one on common platform
for the cause of water supply through
116
communi ty
parti ci pati on
and
management is a very challenging task in
India where the rural dynamics are very
complex due to caste structure, economic
and social status and age old beliefs of
inequality. The powerful may try to hijack
the entire system for their benefits, the
poorer sections may be excluded on the
simple excuse for not being able to pay
towards community contribution or
exclusion may even result even due to
their not being called in the village
meetings, thus forcing their exclusion in
participation and thereby in decision
making.
Gender and exclusion issues
In the traditional patriarchal system, most
decisions are taken by men, without
consulting women. In Gujarat, women
from certain castes and regions are not
even allowed to step out of their houses.
However, the water issues mainly affect
women and many time seven young girls
as fetching water has been the primary
responsibility of women and children.
Exclusion of women is due to various
reasons, from caste to low levels of
literacy and knowledge to a general
lower status in the society and hence
thei r parti ci pati on i n pl anni ng and
developing water supply systems is very
difficult.
Indifferent elements in the society
117
At the societal level, indifference is

observed in certain groups and castes,
who generally wait in the wings to disrupt
the process or even take advantage at the
mi dw ay of the programme. Such
indifference is difficult to anticipate and
tackle and call for strong social process
in the village by placing the entire

programme in the public domain to
develop a counter force.
Management Aspects
Poor management and maintenance
culture
In the villages, water supply management
has not been efficient, maintenance being
extremely poor. The community being
over dependent on the government has
in general been apathetic about it. The
infrastructure was poorly managed,
service delivery generally inefficient and
community could rely on other alternate
private sources in case of failures as
grievance redressal was tedious and time
consuming.
Lack of confidence in community and its
abilities
The general belief has been that at
governance level that community may not
be able to handle the management of
water supply systems as it involves
engineering aspects, financial issues and
quality issues. Consequently, they were
not speci fi cal l y charged w i th the
responsibility of systematically planning,
developing and taking care of the invillage systems. Ad hoc development of
sources and their upkeep was being
practiced.
Governance Aspects
Government as provider
The WATSAN sector, has for years been
basically engineering and supply driven,
and had resulted in a great deal of
complacency of the service provider.

Bringing in a paradigm shift from provider
to facilitator is a tedious job in itself
wherein both at government level and
local levels resistance is natural. On the
one hand it is extremely difficult to mould
the engineering bureaucrats towards the
social processes necessary for community
participation, while on the other hand
they feel threatened if new human
resources for social mobilization are hired
and consider it to be encroachment on
their field.
Problem in maintenance of transparency
and openness
The traditional bureaucratic approach is
often criticized for being closed, slow and
supply driven. In contrast, some of the
key elements of the community managed
approach can be said to be open and
transparent mechanisms, speedy process
and demand driven development of
systems. Yet, ensuring transparency is
easier said than done. Dealing with a
huge system of government organization,
contractors, villagers and the systems and
perceptions developed in other sectors
of development are hard to overcome and
internalize at different levels. There are
always forces that would try to derail the
process. The bureaucrati c system
developed over years is also extremely
hard to believe that transparency will be
maintained by the village leaders in
addition to its own interests.
charged or insisted? Politically also, at

some quarters the i ssue has been
haunting WASMOs efforts. The other
matter of concern has been the
assumption that poor section may be
devoid of these services at societal level.
Awareness raising and capacity building
of human resources
Awareness raising to the needed extent
and development of social capital for such
a task is a time taking process, with more
chances of failure than success.
Constant communication, clarity with
every village and capacity building of
stakeholders in each village require
sustained efforts. Every village is a unique
case and w hen the communi ty
involvement eludes the programme in
spite of consistent efforts of the project
staff, it can cause a great deal of frustration
and bring morale down.
O ver est i mat i ng t he capabi l i t y of
community
Not judging the community capacity
properly may also cause issues at the start
or mid-way of the programme.
Over estimating the capability may result
in less efforts in capacity building or
consensus building, plan development or
implementation and may need different
approach.
Pricing remains a political issue and it

may reflect community inequality
Field staff working with communities

often lack proper facilitation skills
This issue is of prime significance and

question remains as to why should one
pay for the service when it is still seldom
The field staff has to work very closely

with community in such community
managed programme and hence needs
118
constant ski l l upgradati on and reorientation. Communication in such a

programme has to be short and clear so
that messages are not twisted at every
level and there is a uniformity in delivery
of a message and its understanding.
Technological aspects
Selecting appropriate technology options
Timely release of funds

It is the most important aspect for keeping
the interest of the community in the
programme. A continuous flow of fund
to the villages where work has already
started is required in order establish the
integrity of the facilitating agency.
Community is not much aware of the

technological aspects. Technological
opti ons are to be put to them for
selection. Demonstrations are also
required. Constant hand holding and
support on demand is required in this
regard.
Garneri ng fi nanci al resources from

various agencies is also a difficult task in
order to scal e up the process of
decnetralisation and work on a mission
mode.
Scant availability of spare parts
Financial sustainability of the village level

institutions is very important for which
cost recovery for operati on and
maintenance is extremely essential. In
villages for years where the systems have
been managed by the government,
willingness to pay is hard to achieve.
If the community is expected to take on

the responsibility of operation and
maintenance, apart from training, it has
to be ensured that spare parts are easily
available and repairing can be done in
the shortest time period.
119
Financial Aspects
Lack of cost recovery to sustain systems
Legal aspects
Geographical diversity, remoteness and

lack of infrastructure
Lack of framework for legal recognition

of community management
Technol ogi cal

i ssues,
soci etal
complexities, solutions to the delivery
mechanisms and structures, IEC strategy
etc., all change from one area to another.
For instance, a totally different approach
is needed for hilly areas as opposed to
plains or coastal areas. These issues call
for flexibility in approach, technology
option and scope for innovation in
management and technology, which in
turn means that the staff has to be open
to thinking out of the box.
The
commi ttees
created
for
decentralsiation need to have a legal
status, which accords them legitimacy in
ownership without which they will not
be interested in maintaining this system
on a l ong term basi s. In Guj arat,
community-managed systems have been
provided a legal back up by making the
committees a part of Panchayati Raj
Institutions which is a constitutional
entity.
Transparency of institutions created at

village level
The ever present problem of corruption
is very difficult to address and by ignoring
it we may risk creating institutions that
have no basis. An institution may work
for implementation of the project and
subsequently the project cannot be
taken care of by the committees so
created. People get interested in several
programmes due to prevalent corrupt
practices, out of which they seek personal
benefits.
Policy and Planning aspects

Lack of appropriate support system after
withdrawal
The community-managed programmes
need appropriate support systems even
after w i thdraw al . The capaci ty of
community may not develop to the
desirable extent during implementation
of the programme. After withdrawal,

symptoms of inefficiency may start
creeping in, which will ultimately lead
to non-functioning of the systems created.
Thus, further handhol di ng may be
required for not only addressing the
technical issues of maintenance but also
the social issues to ensure sustainability.
Gender and poverty are not addressed
in policies
Gender and exclusion are the issues that
are not generally addressed (explicitly or
implicitly) in policies, as a result of which
these issues are not taken care of.
Partnership with NGOs
The partnership with NGOs tend to move
in a direction that the organizations start
promoting own interests and policies
which may not be in sync with the overall
interest of the programme.
120
Recognitions
Recipient of Prime Ministers

Award for Excellence in Public
Administration 2006-07
On the 3rd Civil Service Day organised at
New Delhi on 21st April, 2008, The Prime
Ministers Award for Excellence in Public
Admi ni st r at i on w as presented to
W ASM O for the State s i ni ti ati ve,
I nnovat i ve Par t i ci pat or y Dr i nki ng
Water Delivery Approach in Rural Areas
of Gujarat - WASMOs Experiment for
Efficient Local Self Governance.
The awards are presented for the three
categories of i.) individual, ii.) team and
iii.) organisation. WASMO received the
1st r anki ng under t he or gani sat i on
category due to the innovativeness and
replicability of its approach. The award
consisted of a citation, a medal and a
cheque of Rs. 5,00,000/-.
This award is instituted by the Ministry
of Personnel , Publ i c Gri evances &
Pensions Department of Administrative
Reforms & Publ i c Gri evances,
Government of India. In July 2006
WASMO filed its nomination for this

award under the category of Bringing
percepti bl e systemi c changes and
building up institutions. In January 2008
after being short listed for this award, a
high level committee consisting of the
Director, Department of Administrative
Reforms & Publ i c Gri evances,
Government of India, Subject expert,
Administrative Staff College of India,
H yderabad and U nder Secretary,
Government of India visited WASMO to
study the nomination proposal. During
their visit they had discussions with
officials of WASMO and also visited a
few vi l l ages w here W ASM O has
facilitated development of in-village water
supply systems.
About the award

Started in 2006
To acknowledge the outstanding and exemplary
performance by Civil Servants
Comprises a Medal, a Scroll and cash amount of
-
Rupees 1 lakh for individuals

Upto Rupees 5 lakh for a group
Rupees 5 lakh for an Organisation
121
W ASM O i n t he Pl anni ng
Commission, Government of
I ndi a - U N D P pr oj ect
Strengthening State Plans for
Human Development
The good practices from Water and
Sanitation Management Organization
have been selected for the proposed
Good Pr act i ces Resour ce Book
initiated by the Planning Commission UNDP project Strengthening State
Plans for Human Development.The draft
case study of the community-managed
Ghogha regi onal water suppl y and
sani tati on proj ect of W ASM O w as
discussed in the Peer Review Workshop
organised at New Delhi and it is being
finalized.
In the draft case study titled Water and
Sanitation Management Organization
Guj arat, Government N on
Governmental Organization, GO-NGO
Collaboration, Mr. Atul Pandya of Centre
for Environment Education (CEE) says,
WASMO was successful as a facilitator.
political issue, but WASMO managed

to keep the politicians aside especially
district level political leadership was
kept away.
Working with WASMO was better than
working with Gujarat Water Supply and
Sewerage Board (GWSSB). There was
more meani ngful partnershi p w i th
WASMO, GWSSB was bureaucratic.
Recognition by Department of
Drinking Water Supply, Ministry
of Rur al D evel opment ,
Government of India
The w orks of W ASM O have been
recognized by Department of Drinking
W ater Suppl y, M i ni stry of Rural
Development, Government of India. A
High-Powered Technical Expert Group
(TEG) headed by Dr. Gauri Sankar Ghosh
and other eminent persons also visited
Gujarat to study the WASMO model and
the approach was appreciated. The first
report of TEG is expected by the end of
January, 2008.
It balanced the dynamic relationship

very well. Water in Gujarat is a very
At the outset, I would like to compliment the State Government for various initiatives taken to
ensure drinking water security to the rural people of the State. I also appreciate the zeal with
which Swajaldhara has been implemented in the State in mission mode by creating WASMO.
The efforts made by the Gujarat Government have led to creation of thousands of Pani Samities,
as an institutional mechanism to involve village communities at the grassroots level in planning,
implementation, operation and maintenance of the water supply systems. I am sure that these
institutions will be further strengthened and contribute immensely to ensure sustainable and
quality water supply to the rural masses.
Excerpt from the letter received from Joint Secretary, Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry
of Rural Development, Government of India after his visit to Gujarat:
122
The revised guidelines for National Rural

W ater Suppl y Programme has
incorporated many of the learnings from
WASMO regarding sustainability, IEC,
empowerment of local self governance,
tariff mechanisms as well as water quality
monitoring and surveillance by the user
community.
Feedback from external persons

invited for Evaluation of the
ERR project
WES-Net
Evaluation Team:
i.)
Mr. S.C. Jain (Deputy Programme

Director), AFPRO
ii.) Ms. Shipra Saxena (Programme
Officer), Water Aid India.
iii.) Mr. S. Ramesh Sakthivel (National
coordinator), WES- Net, India
iv.) Mr. Arumugam Kalimuthu, Technical
Advisor, Plan International &
Chairperson for WES-Net, India.
The team from WES-Net has given
W ASM O i ts feedback on the
implementation process and suggested
areas for i mprovement i n the
programme.
Hemant Pinjan, Assistant Manager,

W at er shed O r gani sat i on Tr ust
(WOTR), Ahmednagar
Observations
All the PS have performed their role
ofexecuti ng and i mpl ementi ng
thedrinking water program during
themobilisation and implementation
phase. The Village Action Plan (VAP)
w as devi sed w i th the hel p of
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
and it is displayed in every village.
The interest level among the villagers
was high all through the planning,
i mpl ementati on
and
post
commissioning stage.
In all the villages, there was a ready
acceptance for giving community
contribution, which was 10% of the
total program cost for that particular
village.
The program, to an extent, has
brought some positive changes in
womens lives.
The villagers have overwhelmingly
accepted and appreciated WASMO
& ISA working in the villages.
WASMO, the Gujarat Government agency responsible for providing drinking water and sanitation
in rural areas, invited members of WES-Net to take part in the evaluation of its interventions as
external observers. Members from Water Aid, AFRPO, UNICEF and Plan, representing WES-Net,
took part in the exercise carried out in Bhuj District. A report based on the observations was
prepared and shared with WASMO. The programme has successfully addressed some very positive
aspects such as taking effective steps to involve communities in the whole process, reaching some
of the remotest villages, involvement of NGOs, introducing effective organizational systems and
good practices through the project, etc.
Excerpt from the E-Newsletter of WES-Net, India
123
Suprabha Agarwal, Consultant, BAIF

Development Research Foundation
Exposure visits to WASMO by other

organizations in the sector
Observations
Water Aid (India) has started utilising the

W ASM O programme as Capaci ty
Bui l di ng for thei r team and thei r
associates. Already one study-cumexposure visit was organised for a team
of more than 30 people (which included
personnel from about 10 NGOs who
partner with WaterAid) in July 2007.
In all the villages the community has

come together and di fferent
habi tati ons have been abl e to
influence the development of the
scheme.
In Kharwa village where the Pani
Samiti is exclusively of women, they
have taken interest and played a lead
role in planning and implementation
of the scheme.
Except for Mavnugaam the proposed
water supply and distribution is
equi t abl e
acr oss
di f f er ent
habitations/faliyas of the village.
Perception of PSregarding the role of
CMSU/ESC/WASMO is good.
More than 80% households were
keen for individual HH connection
and were prepared to pay extra.
W ASM O as a Lear ni ng
Resource Centre
WASMO has in the last few years been
recognized as a resource centre in the
fi el d of communi ty engagement,
participatory development initiatives,
partnerships etc.
124
As a result it has been called upon by

various other players in the sector for
exposure visits, been pooled in as a
resource by the State government and
often been invited at various fora to
address groups of students, trainees
etc. on related issues.
Feedback from Rajan Gautam, Project

Coor di nat or , Bhar t i ya Jan U t t han
Parishad, Bihar
Observations and learning:In the entire village we observed that the
villages were empowered and were self
sufficient. They were aware about the
Health and Hygiene issue. WASMO has
helped the villagers in the process of
water management and sanitation issues
were also covered along with this. Some
of the villages which we visited were
declared Nirmal Gram and some were
in process to get this award.
It was observed that the villages had
developed their own internal water
supply management system under the
guidance of ISAs and technical support
from W ASM O . For operati on and
mai ntenance Paani Sami ti w as
responsible. Paani Samiti collected the
tari ff for thi s purpose from each
household. It was also remarkable that
the Stand post was constructed at a
common place for the community.
We also observed that the decision on
tariff laid upon the household was revised
each year depending upon the O & M
cost. So we can say that every year review
of the work done by Paani Samiti is being

done by the Gram Sabha. Contribution
of the WASMO & villagers is being
displayed at the public place so we can
say that transparency is being maintained.
Participation in the Gram Sabha was very
good and the pl an of Acti on w as
discussed in the Gram Sabha. Financial
and Physical budget was presented in the
Gram Sabha. All the records related to
the O & M of the water supply were
maintained by the Paani Samiti.
What are learnt was that the WASMO
believes in process oriented work rather
then target oriented. Basically WASMO
believes in participation approach, so
Role and responsibility of the Paani Samiti
and Panchayat was clear.
Si mi l arl y, i n D ecember 2007 a
programme was organised for about 10
people from Watershed Organisation
Trust, Ahmednagar Maharashtra.
In March 2008, a similar exercise was
carried out for about 20 Public Health
Engineering Department officials from
Rajasthan.
In December 2008, WSP, South Asia took
interest and sent a representative to
document the reforms in the sector in
Gujarat. Following is an excerpt from the
draft report Institutional Reforms in
Rural Water Supply Sector Case Study
of Gujarat State.
Evolution of a Governance Reforms in
Gujarat: In Gujarat the RWS governance
reforms did not happen with big policy
decision. This was an organic evolution
shaped by different events within the state
and the country. The major events that

shaped the process are:
73rd amendment to Constitution of
India which mandated transfer of
certai n functi ons, i ncl udi ng
management of water and sanitation
services, to local governments, in the
year 1993. This was adopted by
Government of Gujarat and the
revised Gujarat Panchayats Act was
enacted in 1993. As per this act, Gram
Panchayats (GP-village level elected
counci l s) are responsi bl e for
management of water supply services
within the village. The GPs can
constitute a sub-committee called as
Pani Samiti (water committee) to
assist them in this process. However,
this provision was not seriously
practiced until, 2002.
Creation of the Water and Sanitation
Management Organization (WASMO)
in the year 2002. In the year 1995
Government of Guj arat started
i mpl ementi ng a N etherl ands
government supported RWS project
coveri ng about 82 water-defi ci t
villages in Ghoga region in Bhavnagar
district. This was the first project
wherein community participation
was formally built-in. The review
mission of this project recommended
a government supported institution
that would promote, support and
monitor the community participation
and community based management
in water and sanitation projects in an
equitable, sustainable and transparent
manner. This recommendation and
the commi tment of Guj arat
Government led to the creation of
W ASM O , as an autonomous
i nsti tuti on for the obj ecti ves
125
mentioned above. WASMO was

entrusted with the responsibility of
eliciting community participation,
capaci ty bui l di ng of l ocal
governments and coordination with
other government agencies and
NGOs. This was the beginning of a
paradigm shift in the governments
approach from provider to facilitator.
The Impacts so Far: The impacts observed
so far due to the reforms initiated in RWS
sector in Gujarat are as follows;
Enhanced service delivery for the rural
citizens in about 3,000 odd villages
where WASMO is working with the local
governments. The service standards have
been redefined to include, 100% tap
connections at household level and 24
hour water supply. This was unthinkable
till now in rural India and now has been
incorporated in the new draft guidelines
issued by Government of India for the
National Rural Water Supply Programme
(NRWSP)
The processes adopted by WASMO and
also the fact the local governments playing
a big role, hitherto not played by them,
led to empowerment of local governments
in the state.
W ASM O has i ni ti ated a few good
practices that are worth replicating in
other states also. These are related to
(i) MoUs with villages to make the
process clear and transparent, (ii) the
process of involving NGOs as support
agencies, (iii) enabling private sector
parti ci pati on for technol ogy and
effectiveness in areas where there is a
need (especi al l y i n w ater qual i ty
affected areas) (i v) performance
incentives.
126
W ASM O has emerged as a good

facilitating organization that facilitated a
wide range of reforms explained above.
Besides the political support for such an
initiative, another major factor for the
success of WASMO is the professional
nature of its operations. This model is
worth replicating in other states also, as
needed. The Government of India has
advocated for a WASMO type facilitating
organization in its guidelines (draft) for
the NRWSP.
WASMO as a resource for other

Government initiatives
Within the Government of Gujarat too,
W ASM O i s seen as a successful
Insti tuti onal Innovati on w orthy of
replication (with required modifications
and changes), to facilitate administrative
reforms in other sectors. It has gained
recognition from the highest authority in
the Government, the Chief Minister of
Gujarat, who has expressed the need for
mechanisms such as those developed
through W ASM O , i n the sector of
Participatory Irrigation Management
(PIM ). In fact, three of W ASM O s
personnel have been deputed to the
Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited
to carry out the necessary field exercises
and do the groundwork for establishing
an SPV on the lines of WASMO.
The Forest Department of Gujarat too has
sought help from WASMO in developing
the manual s on i .) Joi nt Forest
Management Committee (JFMC), ii.)
Social Forestry Development Committee
(SFDC), iii.) Eco-Development Committee
(EDC) and iv.) Micro Plan for JFMC, EDC
and SFD C for the Joi nt Forest
Management Project supported by the
OECD of Japan.
WASMO as a resource organization

for other institutes
The Lal Bahadur Shastri N ati onal
Academy of Administration, Mussoorie
is the apex training institution in the
country for senior members of the Civil
Services in India. In December 2008,
WASMO was invited to address freshly
recruited Officer trainees during their
Foundation Course, and orient them on
the subject of Community Participation.
The batch comprised 239 participants
belonging to the All India Services and
the Indian Foreign Services.
Within the State too several academic
i nsti tuti ons l i ke Entrepreneurshi p
Development Institute, Sardar Patel
Institute of Public Administration, M. S.
University, Baroda and others look upon
WASMO as a source of learning and want
their students/faculty to be exposed to
WASMOs experience in the social
development sector.
W or kshop
on Ensur i ng
drinking water and sanitation in
t r i bal ar eas: Appr oaches,
options and alternatives
WASMO in partnership with WaterAid
Indi a and Aga Khan Rural Support
Programme (India) organised a workshop
Ensuring drinking water and sanitation
in tribal areas: Approaches, options and
alternatives during 28-30 January, 2009.
The workshop was organised at the Anil
Shah Tribal Livelihood Resource Centre
of AKRSP(I) at Netrang.
The problems faced by tribal communities
in the drinking water and sanitation sector
may be same as that of numerous other
disadvantaged communities. But the very

distinct socio-economic and ecological
situations of the tribal habitations need a
targeted approach. The current approach
to water and sanitation issue faces the
crisis of sustainability in three counts:
source, system and fi nanci al . The
challenge is to look for policy change that
fixes these problems. The workshop, thus
deliberated on:
Special challenges in drinking water
and sanitation sector in tribal areas
Effectiveness and feasibility of current
development programme approach in
tribal areas vis--vis drinking water and
sanitation
Alternative models of reaching basic
facilities to such areas through experience sharing
Policy and programme changes we
need to achieve total drinking water and
sanitation coverage for tribal population.
The workshop was attended by about 50
rural water and sanitation practitioners
from the States of Jharkhand, Orissa,
M adhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Gujarat. Their experiences
in the context of the current approaches,
options and alternatives to ensure water
and sanitation security for tribal areas
were shared and discussed to come out
with specific indicators and suggestions
to influence policy.
As a part of the workshop field visits to a
few tribal villages spread over six tribal
districts of South Gujarat were organised
where community managed systems have
been or are being developed.
127
Acknowledgement of WASMO
on w ebsi t es of i mpor t ant
sector players
UNICEF India
WASMO Gujarat awarded by Prime
M i ni ster for Excel l ence i n Publ i c
Administration Gurinder Gulati
Gandhinagar, 5 May 2008: Water and
Sanitation Management Organisation,
Gujarat, popularly known as WASMO,
was awarded by the Prime Minister of
Indi a for Excel l ence i n Publ i c
Administration for the year 2006-07.
The award was given for implementing
the State s i ni ti ati ve of Innovati ve
Participatory Drinking Water Delivery
Approach in Rural Areas of Gujarat WASMOs Experiment for Efficient Local
Self-Governance.
The Prime Ministers award to WASMO
is a matter of pride for UNICEF as well,
as we have been closely associated with
WASMO in promoting community based
w ater suppl y and w ater qual i ty
monitoring programme by equipping
WATSAN committees with Office-in-aBag and fi el d test ki ts, devel opi ng
appropriate training tools for building
capacity of partners on techniques of
rai nw ater harvesti ng, i mprovi ng
sustainability of water sources, equitable
water distribution and effective O&M of

village schemes.
The Prime Minister presented the award
to Dr Jaipal Singh, CEO, WASMO on the
3rd Civil Service Day, an occasion for the
civil servants to rededicate themselves to
the cause of the citizens and renew their
commi tment to publ i c servi ce and
excellence in work.
W ASM O recei ved the aw ard for
facilitation of decentralized rural drinking
water supply by following appropriate
social processes and setting up systems
and procedures for implementation and
management of the in-village water
supply systems by the community. All
the works are carried out by the village
level Pani Samitis (water committees of
the Gram Panchyat), w i th formal
consensus of the Gram Sabha.
The institutional arrangements and the
i nnovati ons i n management and
i mpl ementati on practi ces have
contributed to creation of a strong social
capital, where the communities are able
to undertake their responsibilities in a
democratic, equitable and transparent
manner, in the true spirit of decentralized
governance.
UNICEF has also collaborated with
WASMO in setting up water quality
monitoring and surveillance systems by
The Prime Ministers award to WASMO is a matter of pride for UNICEF as well, as we have been
closely associated with WASMO in promoting community based water supply and water quality
monitoring programme by equipping WATSAN committees with Office-in-a-Bag and field test kits,
developing appropriate training tools for building capacity of partners on techniques of rainwater
harvesting, improving sustainability of water sources, equitable water distribution and effective O&M
of village schemes.
128
imparting training to their staff and

partners in Multi District Assessment of
Water Safety (M-DAWS). This is helping
the agency to develop appropriate
response plans for combating the threat
of faecal contamination of water.
(Source: http://www.unicef.org/india/
wes_4466.htm)
IRC Netherlands
India: WASMO wins Prime Ministers
Award for Excellence in Public
Administration
Updated - Wednesday 20 August 2008
W ASM O (W ater and Sani tati on
Management Organisation), set up by the
state government of Gujarat, India, to
improve livelihoods by providing safe
drinking water, has been awarded the

Indi an Pri me M i ni ster s Aw ard for
Excellence in Public Administration for
2006-2007.
The Prime Minister presented the award
to WASMO director Dr. Jaipal Singh on
21 April 2008, Civil Service Day. This
annual event is intended to give civil
servants the opportunity to renew their
commitment to public service. WASMO
was given the award for its efforts in
facilitating decentralised rural drinking
water supply.
Contact: WASMO, wasmo@wasmo.org
Source: WASMO, Apr 2008
(Source: http://www.irc.nl/page/43137)
129
Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO)

From Policy To Practice

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From Policy To Practice

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From Policy to Practice:

Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO)

Gujarat: A Water Scarce State

Systemic Innovations for Community Engagement

Information Education Communication

Social Processes for Community Engagement

Operation and Maintenance

Strategy for Drinking Water Security: Water Resource Management

Evaluation Reflections and Social Audit

Gujarat: A Water Scarce State

Guj arat has di verse geol ogi cal ,

Fresh Water Availability

Drinking Water Scenario

the countrys per capita renewable

fresh survey is carried out in spite of

In the past 75 years, 26 years were

The detailed analysis of the habitation

The water quality problem in terms of

Fully covered habitation (FC)

Not covered habitation (NC)

Partially covered habitations (PC)

In addition to this 7675 habitations were

rehabilitation and reconstruction of water

Peoples participation the need of the

Vision and Mission of WASMO

Excerpts from Institutional Development Mission Report

Attaining drinking water security

water resource management, water

support unit. Out of these units the

Strategy and Approach

WASMOs approach is to be a facilitator

How does WASMO Function?

1. The Community-managed water supply

WASMOs outreach At a glance

No. of Village Water and Sanitation committees

13963 (75% of total

No. of projects under implementation

No. of villages having institutionalized tariff

Total fund allocated to Villages

Community contribution towards capital cost

Total number of women in VWSCs

No. of NGOs as partner Implementation Support

No. of districts covered

B) User level Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance

Villages where awareness generation campaigns

Water quality kits distribution to villages

Water quality kits distribution to Municipalities

No. of persons trained for

No. of bacteriological testing vials distributed

No. of villages from where Water Quality

Sanitary surveys conducted

Mapping of drinking water sources

Multi-districts assessment of water safety done with

All 18600 villages

All 284 Municipalities

Systemic Innovations for Community

W hen I attended the operators

I earn my living from block printing, so

feels for the work taken up in the village

engage the citizens in the programme.

Community engagement is easier said

Due to the above scenario, it was decided