Policy Dialogue Series 02

Community Engagement in Local Management and Ownership of Rural Drinking Water Supply System

Sequence awareness building and education activities before construction

• Awareness building activities about JJM should be the first step, even before the village survey is carried out

• Evidence suggests that villages where awareness building was done prior to construction have higher community involvement versus villages where it was done post construction

Involve community during planning and construction phase

• User consultation and local bodies involvement during planning phase ensures most concerns of communities are taken into account 

• Gram Panchayat’s approval of village action plan and detailed project report is non-negotiable

Invest continuously in water literacy and community education

• Awareness building and education are continuous activities

• Regular efforts in awareness building and education is required to ensure there is no slippage of villages

• For continuous engagement and to support local bodies, independent organizations like WASMO (in Gujarat) need to be instituted to outlast the mission

Institute a robust grievance redressal

• Mechanism for citizens direct grievance redressal brings in accountability on the VWSC 

• Allows for quick resolutions of breakdowns and receiving feedback from the community 

• States should work to popularize the grievance redressal helpline number in the community

Install water meters and charge households as per consumption

• Metering will encourage judicious use of water and ensure potable piped water is not exploited for other uses 

• Metering imperative as communities want to move to 24/7 water supply 

• This will promote fairness as households will pay as per use

Continue capability building activities even after mission deadline

• VWSC members need to be skilled at negotiation, basic financial management and operations management 

• As VWSC members keep changing, the state needs to train new members on these skills to ensure proper discharge of duties