Perspectives on Governance in the India
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector
Hemant Khosla, Aidan Cronin
June 2012
India
MDG target (85%)
has been reached!
227
367
646
857
Population (million)
874
1225
Investment in rural drinking water supply
(State + Centre)
88,490
Investment (in Rs. crore)
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
31,357
30,000
20,000
19,228
9,224
10,000
0
3
3
48
242
505
2,426
4,377
Source: Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Govt. of India
The policy environment - NRDWP
 Shift from ground water sources to conjunctive use of
different sources.
 Emphasis on community-based drinking water management.
 Strengthening Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance.
 Linkages to other programmes particularly Sanitation &
Health.
 Convergence of resources and investments with other
Government programmes and schemes.
Strategic Plan for Drinking Water and Sanitation for 2010-22
finalised - Stress is placed on drinking water at household level
through piped water supply, metering and service agreements
O&M of RWS: allocations and incentives
 10% allocation under NRDWP
 Finance Commission grants
for PRIs to partly meet O&M
costs
 Incentive to States based on
Management Devolution
Index
 One-time incentive to GPs/
VWSCs
 State allocations for O&M of
point sources / hand pumps
Challenges in rural drinking water sector
Household
Stand
posts
Connections
Tubewells /
Handpumps
Wells /
protected
Springs
Unprotected
sources
 Coverage
 Moving up the Drinking Water
Ladder
 O&M is essential to keep moving
up the ladder and reflect good
governance
Challenges..
Effective groundwater legislation and
enforcement.
Strengthening Water Quality Management
Decentralisation/ community involvement
Equity, as per NRDWP guidelines
Good governance
Factors affecting O&M of Rural Water Supply
 Technical design of the water supply scheme.
 Leakages / water losses.
 Agency carrying out the O&M and its competency.
 Establishment and recurring costs; life cycle costs
including preventative maintenance and reactive
maintenance.
 Cost recovery.
 Preparedness for emergency breakdown.
 SOP – Emergency: Water and Sanitation.
Interventions for improved O&M
 Segregation of schemes into categories:
 Multi-village schemes; Individual village level schemes; Point
sources/ handpumps
 Working out operational mechanisms and life cycle
costs.
 Identification of competent organisation/ agencies for
carrying out O&M - Specialised agencies/ contractors.
 Capacity building at various levels.
 Empowerment and Devolution
Structured approaches help……
3 3 5
14
20
12
1
10
24
1
Projects range from 2.5 yrs to 5 yrs
Assessment
Preparatory
Community based
Safe water
of baseline phase: planning &
water quality
implementation
support activities
monitoring
O&M
phase
Source: Arghyam Presentation at the India WATER Quality workshop & Exhibition, Nov 2011.
Life cycle cost of rural water supply scheme
Technology
Deep Tube Well (DTW)
DTW Tara-Dev (DTW-T)
Rain Water Harvesting
(RWH)
Pond Sand Filter (PSF)
Dug Well (DW)
Pond Sand Filter (30 HH)
DTW-Multiple Connection
(DTW-MC)
Mini Piped Deep Well (GOB)
Piped Deep Well (DPHE)
Piped River Abstraction
Piped Impoundment
# of
people
served
Capital
costs
($)
Annual
Cost/ 10
10 yrs
O&M
yrs @ 10% capital
costs ($)
d.r. ($)
cost ($)
50
50
50
744.6
893.1
855.3
10
14
25.5
806.0
979.1
1,012.0
16.12
19.58
20.24
50
50
150
200
558.8
772.6
558.8
1,344
80
80
80
40
1,050.4
1,264.2
1,050.4
1,589.6
21.01
25.28
7.00
7.95
500
2500
2500
2500
9,000
43,285
44,533
48,244
1,350
6,780
6,780
7,627
17,295.2
84,945.2
86,193.2
95,108.6
34.59
33.98
34.48
38.04
Source: Comparison of ten year life cycle costing or rural water supply options in Bangladesh, Dr. Yang
Zheng, UNICEF-Dhaka
Improved Governance
 Good governance triggers Demand responsive
approach.
 Community involvement ensures quality, impact,
sustainability & equity.
 Gender issues – how to strengthen?
 Social capital building is key to sustainability –
successful evidences from WASMO-Gujarat, Gram VikasOdisha.
Management Devolution Index
 Devolution of powers – ownership of water
management by the user groups/ community.
 Empowerment resulting in decision-making,
implementation and management.
 Cost - effective implementation, willingness-topay
 Ensuring monitoring, social audit, transparent
mechanisms – high level of satisfaction.
 Efficient & sustainable O&M.
Summing Up
To improve RWS service delivery:
 Financial assessment and viability of O&M systems.
 Regular monitoring & quality assurance measures for
smooth O&M
 Addressing leakages of funds / corruption - Audits:
Financial, Technical and Social audits.
 Community involvement in planning and O&M of
different types of schemes – especially point sources &
individual village schemes
 What is the role of private sector for O&M? can it lead
to better service delivery, recovery costs, consumer
redressal & satisfaction.
 Improved Governance can be achieved via
participation, monitoring, empowerment, review.
Thank you