KCCI / 2011 02

Good practices in promoting social

inclusion through community
management of rural water supplies:
A case study of WASMO, Gujarat
Aasheerwad Dwivedi
Sukanya Purkayastha
Katja Siling

In collaboration with
Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO)
Gandhinagar

Disclaimer

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

Contents

Lists of Figures

Acknowledgements

Acronyms

Foreword

Executive Summary

Issue

Background

Strategy and Implementation

10

Implementation Constraints and Challenges

12

Insufficient trust

12

Community mobilisation

12

Womens representation and participation in decision-making structures

12

Making the PRA process more participative

13

Community contribution

13

Capacity building

14

Project sustainability

14

Review of Progress

15

Outcomes

15

Changed lives

15

Promoting womens voice

15

Resource Requirements

18

A visionary team

18

Demand from the community

18

Social mobiliser

18

Operating guidelines

18

Human resources

19

Networking

19

Finance

19

Sustainability

20

Good Practices

21

Potential Application

24

Project implementation in cooperation with the government

24

Partnerships with ISAs

24

Decentralised approach

24

Needs assessment before the projects implementation

24

Community participation

25

Capacity building

25

Next Steps

26

Recruit and train more female social mobilisers

26

Female and male social mobilisers should work together in pairs

26

Hold refresher trainings for Pani Samiti members

26

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

26

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

27

ommittee
Mobilise men

27

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

27

Create an external pool of social mobilisers

27

References

28

Annexure I: Methodology and Questionnaires

29

Annexure II: Womens Representation in Pani Samitis (Ps) in 14 Villages Visited

33

During Fieldwork

List of Figures

Figure 1: Implementation Process

10

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

23

Acknowledgments

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

Acronyms

GR

Government Resolution

GWSSB

Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board

ISA

Implementation Support Agency

NGO

Non-Governmental Organisation

PRA

Participatory Rural Appraisal

SCs

Scheduled Castes

STs

Scheduled Tribes

UNICEF

United Nations Childrens Fund

VAP

Village Action Plan

WASMO Water and Sanitation Management Organisation

Foreword

The Knowledge Community on Children in India (KCCI)is a partnership between the

Government of India and UNICEF, the aim of which is to fill knowledge gaps and promote
informationsharing on policies and programmes related to children in India. In 2011, under the
aegis of this initiative, 40 graduate students from India and across the world undertook fieldwork
and documented initiatives focused on child rights and development. Their vibrant perspectives,
commitment and hard work are reflected in these studies, published by UNICEF.
The nine initiatives were documented in 2011 The teams looked at a range of initiatives at
different levels of intervention from community radio in tribal areas of Shivpuri in Madhya
Pradesh to a complaints handling mechanism of the National Commission for the Protection of
Child Rights at the national level. The lens applied to these studies is to identify the essential
elements that go into making a model intervention successful and sustainable.
UNICEF recognises the potential and power of young people as drivers of change and future
leaders across the globe. The KCCI Summer Internship Programme aims to support the
development of a cadre of young research and development professionals with an interest,
commitment and skills in promoting and protecting childrens rights. UNICEF will continue
this collaboration with young researchers, the Government of India and academia, so as to
bring fresh perspectives and energy to development research and showcase examples of how it
is possible to ensure that the rights of every child in India are fulfilled.

Karin Hulshof
Representative
UNICEF India

Executive Summary

In the State of Gujarat as elsewhere in India, access to water is inhibited by power-relations

based on gender, caste, tribe religion etcetera and access to safe drinking water, particularly in
rural areas, is difficult due to inadequate infrastructure and public spending.
Women and girls traditionally are responsible for fetching water, because of which they have
less time to devote to other chores or to pursue other interests. Children, particularly girls, are
also less likely to go to school as they have to walk long distances to fetch water for the
household. Discrimination based on caste further hinders equity in access to water. Although
Gujarati women as the main water fetchers have been responsible for gathering, storing and
protecting water resources, they lack decision-making power and knowledge of safe water
management.
The Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) was established in 2002 as a
special purpose vehicle of the Government of Gujarat to facilitate the development of water
supply that is owned and managed by the community. WASMO aims additionally to increase
the participation of women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes through capacity building
and engagement in decision making.
In partnership with civil society organisations, UNICEF and others, WASMO has brought about
a change in the lives of villagers, particularly women and children. Because they no longer
have to fetch water, women now have more time not only to do other household work but also
to enjoy some degree of rest and leisure. Children too, can go to school on time and spend more
time studying or playing.
The present study was conducted to assess the progress and performance of WASMOs water
development projects which aim to promote social inclusion through community management
of rural water supplies. (See Annex 1 for research methodology) In all, 14 WASMO projects in
three districts of Gujarat (Kachchh, Narmada and Panchmahal) were visited (during the period
June to July 2011) based on which several conclusions and lessons were drawn.
The following are good practices observed in WASMOs approach to community-managed
water systems that are note-worthy and can be applied to any context/issues:
!

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

Use of decentralised approach is indispensable, as it is difficult for the Central or State

Governments to reach every household. Strengthening local governance through the
formation of local committees or local governmental bodies in particular speeds up project
implementation.

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

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

Community participation creates a sense of ownership and is vital to the projects

sustainability.

Capacity building of the community is a prerequisite for project sustainability. Training

for capacity building should be given to people regardless of their gender and their socioeconomic or educational background.

To overcome the challenges that WASMO currently faces in the implementation of its projects,
it is recommended that the following steps are taken:
1. Recruit and train more female social mobilisers with whom women feel more
comfortable sharing their problems and voicing their opinions and hence are more likely
to participate in water management projects.
2. Female and male social mobilisers should work in pairs to increase outreach to remote
areas (to ensure greater security for women mobilisers).
3. Hold refresher trainings for Pani Samiti (Water Committee) members to ensure
everyone has the capacity to successfully manage water supply systems.
4. Organise Pani Samiti meetings at locations and times suitable for women in order
to encourage their attendance at the meetings.
5. Make womens induction as members in the Empowered Committee mandatory in
order to ensure their active participation in decision-making.
6. Mobilise men (as they traditionally have control over household resources) to collect
the community contribution so that the project implementation is not delayed.
7. Create a brand which people will associate with quality and good governance: This
will give WASMO more credibility in the community, enabling it to gain the trust of the
people, and make for faster implementation.
8. Create an external pool of social mobilisers to improve the quality of social mobilisation
and reduce the workload of WASMO staff.
6

Issue

Although access to clean water is a basic human right, 884 million people (13% of the world
population) still consume water from unsafe sources1. India is on track to reaching the Millennium
Development Goal of improving access to safe drinking water by 20152. Nevertheless, access
to safe drinking water is poor in many rural areas not only on account of inadequate infrastructure,
but also because of cultural practices that bring about social exclusion. This denial of equal
opportunities imposed by certain groups of society upon others prevents the individual from
participating in the basic political, economic and social functioning of the society.
The most economically developed state in India, Gujarat still lags behind several other Indian
states in the human development indices of child survival, nutrition and literacy rates3. Affected
by water scarcity (exploitation of ground water and increase in salinity affect almost two-thirds
of the state), and with a large tribal population that is not easily reached by development services,
access to water and the problem of social exclusion in accessing water in Gujarat has become
graver.

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

UNDP India (2010) Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. <http://www.undp.org.in/mdgs/

ensure_environmental_sustainability> Viewed on 8th July 2011.
3

UNDP (2004). Gujarat Human Development Report.

<http://undp.org.in/sites/default/files/reports_publication/Gujarat.pdf>Viewed on 5th July 2011.

Background

In the Indian context, social exclusion manifests itself in every aspect of life, and power-relations
based on gender, caste, and socio-economic status are primary barriers hindering peoples access
to water and other key amenities and gains of development.
Traditionally, women in India tend to neither control the resources, nor actively participate in
domestic or public decision-making. Their daily schedule is limited to taking care of the
household and/or working in the fields. Women and girls are also responsible for fetching
water, because of which they have less time to do other chores or enjoy any degree of leisure.
To fetch water, they often have to walk five to six kilometres4 and walking such long distances
in insecure conditions makes them vulnerable and exposed to abuse. Children, particularly
girls, are also less likely to go to school because they need to fetch water for the household.
In addition to gender, caste hinders equity in access to water. In the villages, women from a
socially rated lower caste are required or expected to fetch water from a different, and frequently
more distant, source than is earmarked for higher caste women, which forces them to walk
even further and allocate more time for fetching water5. Tribal communities or Scheduled Tribes
(STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) as well as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are discriminated
against resulting in unequal access to water. Coupled with the above limiting factors is the
economic situation which further impacts water distribution and leads to disparities in accessing
water, as it is the rich who have control over resources.
Exclusion in access to safe water consequently is a pervasive problem in India and ultimately
combines with exclusion in other domain such as education or health to create a cycle of
deprivation.
Findings elsewhere suggest that women involved in water projects achieve better results than
men6 and thus policies have been calling for a gender mainstreaming approach in water and
sanitation projects. Although Gujarati women as the main water carriers/users have been

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

5
Kulkarni, S., Ahmed, S., Datar, C., Bhat, S., Mathur, Y., Makhwana, D. (2008) Water Rights as Womens Rights?
Assessing the Scope for Womens Empowerment through Decentralised Water Governance in Maharashtra and
Gujarat. SOPPECOM, Utthan.
6

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

responsible for fetching, storing and protecting water resources, they lack decision-making
power and knowledge and skills to successfully manage water resources.
Traditionally the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) has been responsible
for the provision of water in rural Gujarat. However, its water supply development projects
were never handed over to the community which was one of the key factors undermining the
sustained provision and fair use of the services. In contrast, in Kachchh (chronically a water
scarce area) largely as a result of WASMOs efforts, communities are aware of the importance
of water and have developed their own systems for management of water resources leading to
improved access and sustainability.
The 2001 Gujarat earthquake which had a devastating impact on water resources in Kachchh
District aggravated the already urgent need for water. New infrastructure had to be rapidly
built. As a result, the State Government decided to shift its paradigm from providing to facilitating
the provision of water. The Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) was
established in 2002 as a special purpose vehicle of the Government with the vision:
To enable rural communities to have adequate, safe and sustainable drinking water supply
and improved habitat by ensuring empowerment and active community management of natural
resources, leading to an improvement in their living standard.7
In its approach to promoting water security, WASMO follows the principle underlying the 73rd
amendment of the Indian Constitution which encourages community participation8. In particular,
WASMO aims to increase the participation of women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled
Tribes (STs) through capacity building and their engagement in decision making.

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

Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008). Ibid.

Strategy and Implementation

The main objective of WASMO is to facilitate the development of water supply that is owned
and managed by the community. To achieve this objective, WASMO implements the following
strategies:
!

Encouraging community participation.

Empowering and strengthening village level institutions.

Setting up partnerships with likeminded and community-based organisations.

WASMOs water supply development project typically is implemented over a period of 18

months (see Figure 1), during which WASMO works closely with the Pani Samiti (Water
Committee) - a subcommittee of the Gram Panchayat9 - along with a village level organisation
responsible for management of water and sanitation with the help of the community. The project
has a provision requiring formation of an Empowered Committee of five to six members from
the Pani Samiti which can take decisions in case of emergency even when all the members are
not present10.
Figure 1: Implementation Process

Local self-governing elected bodies that function at the village or small town level in India. A Gram Panchayat
can be set up in a village with a population of at least 300.

10

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

10

To promote social inclusion, WASMO follows the guidelines from a Government Resolution,
which states that one third of members in Pani Samiti should be women, and STs/SCs should
be proportionately represented whenever applicable11. This provision enables women and STs/
SCs to actively participate in the official decision-making process.
As the Pani Samiti is required to take over the responsibility for maintenance and operation of
the water supply scheme, it is important for WASMO that the whole community is involved at
all stages of the project cycle, including planning and implementation. The project is introduced
and its execution process explained to the village at a Gram Sabha (Village Assembly) meeting
during which the Village Action Plan (VAP) is created, A Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
that involves the whole community in identifying the drinking water needs and in mapping
existing water resources is undertaken. By engaging the community as a whole in the projects
planning and implementation, WASMO tries to ensure that the community will assume ownership
and look after the projects fairness as well as sustainability. To build the communitys stake in
the project, the community is required to contribute 10 percent towards the total cost of the
project.
To foster community ownership WASMO forms partnerships with Implementation Support
Agencies (ISAs), which are generally civil society organisations skilled in community
mobilisation and in building capacity of the community through training. Their main
responsibility in a WASMO project is to encourage participation of women. For empowering
the community, WASMO follows the principles of good governance and disburses project
funds directly to the community to ensure transparency and equity.
One of the main reasons why villages have had problems with water supply is that the
communities lack skills necessary to manage water resources. Thus, WASMO builds confidence
and the capacity of Pani Samiti members by providing them with training on finance,
bookkeeping, construction monitoring and supervision, operation and maintenance, and water
quality monitoring. Through building capacity of the community to own and operate systems,
WASMO ensures that the community will be able to manage the water supply system efficiently.
Special attention is given to building capacity of women, for example by training them on how
to perform water quality testing. Importantly, upon the completion of the project, the Pani
Samiti members take an oath in a formal ceremony in the presence of the entire village to
operate, maintain and manage the schemes. Through the above measures, the whole community
becomes responsible for management of water supply.

11

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

11

Implementation Constraints and Challenges

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

Community mobilisation
In the early days of WASMO, their lack of skills in social mobilisation was a challenge. To
address this, WASMO partners with ISAs who are better in reaching and mobilising the
communities. The contracts are usually made for 18 months and ISAs performance is assessed
on the basis of physical milestones which are assigned to them to motivate and assess their
performance and increase their accountability. A challenge in working with ISAs has been
inadequate management of time and resources. The ISAs often work on several projects
simultaneously overstretching their human and other resources and causing divided or diluted
focus. This hinders the achievement of milestones within designated time periods. There have
been instances also where ISAs did not or could not work with the community, undermining
WASMOs ideology of building strong and stable partnerships with the community. This has
led to a slight shift in WASMOs approach which now relies first on using the skills and resources
of its own staff, and partnering with ISAs a secondary choice. Because social mobilisation is a
lengthy process, the workload of WASMO staff, especially social mobilisers, has increased
considerably adding to the challenge of social mobilisation.
Womens representation and participation in decision-making structures
Another big challenge concerns the formation of Pani Samitis and achieving the representation
of women and of SCs/STs. Social mobilisation prior to implementing a project is critical to its
success and ownership. very important. Social mobilisers are trained on how to recognize,
address and deal with social exclusion. To mobilise women to join Pani Samiti, social mobilisers
often hold meetings for women only. In addition to that, they also build the capacity of those
women who are actively participating in the Pani Samiti in the hope that women will take the
12

lead and motivate others in the village to join in making the project a success. The existing
laws governing Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) already mandate 33 percent representation
of women in the PRIs. Even so, and despite WASMOs focused efforts to encourage womens
participation, social exclusion remains a hindrance to womens participation. In some villages,
for example, in the Kuchchh and Panchmahal Districts, the requirement of one-third
representation of women in Pani Samiti is not enforced. Additionally, some District Coordinators
interpret the rule of proportionate representation of STs/SCs in Pani Samiti as optional thereby
distorting the mandated structure of the Pani Samiti.
Even after ensuring that women become members of the Pani Samiti, achieving their active
participation is not always automatic or easy. It is commonly observed that women members
rarely attend Pani Samiti meetings and instead often send their husbands to do so. Regrettably,
while they do appear to attend the Gram Sabha (village council) meetings where the water
issues are discussed, in these meetings as well, cultural tradition discourages women from
voicing their opinions in the presence of men. Women are also reluctant or often not allowed by
the family to travel long distances to attend the Pani Samiti meetings. In addition, as women
continue to be underrepresented in the Empowered Committees, they are less likely to take
part in or influence decision-making in this key forum.

Making the PRA process more participative

To involve the whole community, WASMO has sought to conducts PRAs so that the needs of
everyone can be aired and their voices heard. One of the challenges traditionally faced in
conducting PRAs is that only a section of the community may be involved in the process. This
implies that the village action plan (VAP) is able to reflect the ideas of only a few villagers and
not of the whole community. To address this constraint, WASMO has taken special care and
trained social mobilisers and ISAs on how to conduct PRAs. Even so, in some villages, as one
social mobiliser in Panchmahal District reported, owing to his increased workload, he felt
compelled to work only with the Panchayat and the Pani Samiti, entrusting the responsibility
for conducting the PRA to them.

Community contribution
Cost-sharing is a tested means of building a communitys stake in any project. To promote
ownership and fiscal discipline/responsibility for the project, WASMO accordingly asks for 10
percent contribution from the community. The main challenge here is peoples reluctance to
pay either because of past disappointments or because they feel the Government is responsible
for the provision of water and that water therefore should be free of charge. Also, some people
are less able to afford financial contribution. To address these difficulties WASMO works hard
to gain the communitys trust and ensure its willingness to take over full control over the
projects finance and execution. WASMO also tries to make the community understand the
13

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

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

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

14

Review of Progress

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

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

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

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

Outcomes
The WASMO projects have led to several positive outcomes:
Changed lives
Having assured access to drinking water, and with the communitys active involvement in
management of water systems, the lives of villagers, particularly women and children have
changed. Women save up to three hours per day as they no longer have to walk long distances
to fetch water. This allows them to do more household and farming work and even have some
leisure time. Children too, can go to school on time especially girls who used to help in fetching
water can now spend more time studying and doing their homework, or merely having more
time to play. Easier access to water has also led to improved hygiene with beneficial impact
particularly on the health of children and women.
We used to wear one piece of clothing for 2-3 days and now can wash them daily as needed.
Children previously were sent to school only with washed hands and now they can take a
shower. Men now fetch their own water to take a bath.
- Women from Sedavra village, Panchmahal District
Promoting womens voice
The Pani Samitis provide women with a platform to voice their opinions before the entire
community and to participate in decision-making. Women members of the Samitis indicate
they are happy to be doing something about the problems of women in the village and believe
they are more respected in the community.
15

Field research additionally shows that compared to men, women are more aware of the
importance of water and are more proactive in dealing with problems in water supply.
Importantly, a noticeable shift has occurred in the attitude of women in that they have become
more confident. This enhanced confidence is not limited to WASMOs projects, as women in
the project areas feel ready to tackle new challenges/issues and participate in decision-making
at other levels.
Despite best efforts and several positive outcomes in womens empowerment, some challenges
remain. Although in Pani Samitis one third of members by law are required to be women, not
all villages follow this guideline (Annexure 2) and there are still big differences among villages
and districts in the way in which women participate. Achieving active participation of women
in community management of water supply remains a big challenge for WASMO, especially in
tribal areas such as Panchmahal. In this district, for example, women members of Pani Samiti
rarely attend meetings and prefer to send their husbands. The practice of purda (veiling/seclusion
of women) in many tribal villages inhibits womens interactions with men. Moreover, Pani
Samiti meetings are often held far away and women are unable to attend the meetings (either
because the family forbids them to travel such a long distance or because they have too much
housework to take care of).
I went to every household and told women that every household
will get a tap connection. People used to tell me: Well give
the money and someone will eat it (misuse it) and well still
not get water. So I said, Ill be the president and asked
them to trust me. It took me 14 months to collect Rupees
100 from every household because some promised and didnt
keep the promise, while others didnt want to give. Now that
everybody gets water everyone praises me at meeting; also
those who said it wont work admit they were wrong.
- Woman President of Pani Samiti in Kupar Bossan, Narmada
District
On the positive side, field research for this study suggests that effective partnerships with ISAs
along with the presence of womens self-help groups (SHGs) enable more active participation
of women in Pani Samitis as well as in the management of water supply. Importantly, the SHGs
facilitate change not only in the attitude of women but also in the attitude towards women.
Both women and men report that whereas earlier, women never used to go out of the house,
after the formation of SHGs they go even to distant meetings held at the district level and have
more confidence talking in front of men. In Shinay village (Kuchchh District), for instance,
women actively participate in the Pani Samitis and look after the finances and water quality.
The SHGs also play a crucial role in informing and mobilising women. For example, in Hadani
16

Sarsan village (Panchmahal District), women collectively stepped forward and took control of
the Pani Samiti because the previous projects, where only men were involved, had failed
miserably. Also in other villages, women members of SHGs often took the initiative in mobilising
other women in the village, particularly when it came to collecting the community contributions.
In Panchpipri (Narmada District), a woman wrote to WASMO after learning that they brought
water to two nearby villages, requesting them to start a similar project in her village. In this
village and elsewhere, where the men did not take interest to contribute or collect contributions
from others, the more active women visited every household to collect the money and even
used loans from the SHGs to help pay the contributions.
A net result in many cases where the WASMO approach is working well is that women are
demanding services and more effective delivery of services (see citation in photo).
In villages where there are more
male members in the Pani Samiti
women are not allowed to speak.
There should be more women in
a Pani Samiti because we are the
ones who know the problems of
water. We are many women
members (in this villages Pani
Samiti), so we can freely talk and
do things with confidence.
To achieve anything, women have to come together! Also, patience is very important. Initially
we had to face a lot of rejection and listened to a lot of snide remarks and criticism, but one
has to be persistent.
In a neighbouring village when women complained that Pani Samiti is not working, we
advised them to call a Gram Saba meeting and voice their opinion there, request a new
selection of members, and become members themselves.
- Advice from women from Panchpipri, Narmada District, where there are seven female
and four male members in the Pani Samiti

17

Resource Requirements

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

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

Demand from the community

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

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

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

18

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

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

Finance
Funds are critical to the projects implementation and continuation and for sustaining a wellqualified team. Community contribution builds a sense of ownership in the community. Financial
support of the Government is required to promote good governance and help meet the high
material costs of project implementation.

19

Sustainability

WASMO ensures sustainability of a community managed water supply project through several
modalities as seen below:
!

Involvement of the community at every step of the project implementation process:

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

The community has to be enabled to operate and maintain the water supply. WASMO
accordingly works to build the capacity of Pani Samiti members through training so that
the community at the end of the training has the skills and knowledge needed to look after
the water supply system.

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

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

20

Good Practices

The creation of WASMO, a special purpose vehicle within the government, is a good practice.
Water is the basic requirement for survival and it is the responsibility of the government to
ensure that every citizen has access to safe drinking water. Community managed water supplies
are a result of successful partnerships between the government and the community. Through
facilitation of the development of water supplies with communitys engagement and
participation, WASMO provides and is able to sustain this bridge between the community and
the government.
Top-down approaches have consistently neglected the communities. WASMO is aware of that
limitation and recognises that for a successful partnership, the community first needs to be
aware of the need. Multidisciplinary teams that include social mobiliser and a technical person
work with the community from the beginning of the project. WASMO stresses the importance
of social mobilisation. Accordingly three months of the project cycle are allocated to social
mobilisation, but if additional work is needed, the programme is flexible to extend this process
to six months. Recognition that social mobilisation is a first step towards success is a good
practice because it sets a sound foundation for further cooperation and stakeholder ownership.
Another good practice is the use of female social mobilisers. This is important to be able to
access those women in villages who, particularly in tribal areas, are less able to leave the
household and where social norms inhibit their ability to interact with men outside their
family. Women find it easier to share their problems with a female social mobiliser and their
families are also less reluctant to allow them to attend those meetings. This provides a
favourable environment for the empowerment of women and encourages more active
participation by them.
Creation of a Pani Samiti, a village level institution, ensures community involvement at all
stages of project implementation along with ensuring that the community takes responsibility
for the project. Pani Samitis also provide an opportunity for women and STs/SCs to participate
in the decision-making process.
Before the systems are handed over to the community it is important to ensure that the community
has the capacity, knowledge and skills to look after and maintain the systems. WASMO
accordingly builds the capacity of Pani Samiti members. Through trainings the community is
empowered to manage its own water scheme. Everyone is involved in capacity building
regardless of educational level, gender or caste, which empowers people and builds their

21

confidence. The special strength of WASMOs approach is that it provides water for all regardless
of caste, gender or tribe.
At the operational level, several measures are taken by WASMO that constitute good practices.
Among others:
!

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

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

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

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

Further, by making the projects execution process transparent, WASMO helps to curb
corruption and enhances the trust of the community in the government. Transparency is a
good practice because it generates accountability and fiscal responsibility among the
members of the Pani Samiti. Through field visits, it is observed that in every project village
a wall painting displays financial details and describes the village action plan. Also, in
many villages Pani Samiti meetings are open to the public and everyone interested can
attend. In village Hadani Sarsan in Panchmahal District, villagers were also allowed to
create a sub-Pani Samiti empowered with all decision-making authority to avoid the potential
for manipulation by decision-makers at the Panchayat level. Civil society organisations
usually operate locally and are not only familiar with the challenges that women and other
marginalised groups face, but also have the required skills to address those issues. WASMOs
utilisation of these skills through partnerships with ISAs is especially important when it
comes to empowerment of women. Because women are reluctant to talk to strangers, ISAs
that are previously known to and trusted by the community can achieve better results in
mobilising women and other underprivileged groups.

22

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

Why is it a good practice

Creation of special purpose vehicle Bridge between community and the government.
within the government
Emphasis on social mobilization

It brings community together and prepares them for

collective action; makes sure that the project is
relevant to the community.

Female social mobiliser

Effective way to mobilise rural women.

Creation of a village level institution Makes village level institution more responsible
and accountable.
Capacity building through trainings Provides skills, knowledge and confidence required
for management of water supply.
Holding meetings at a time and

Encourages participation of women.

place suitable for women

Transparency(book- keeping by

Curbs mal-practices and corruption and builds trust

community, open meetings, public

of the community.

reports)
Partnerships with civil society

Two-way learning and sharing of responsibilities.

organisations

More effective community mobilisation and

empowerment of women.

Ten per cent peoples contribution

Creates a sense of ownership; includes everyone

in cash or kind

regardless of economic status.

Office for Pani Samiti

Better recognition and more regularity in activities.

Woman president of Pani Samiti

Mobilises more women, proactive approach to

problem solving.

23

Potential Application

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

Project implementation in cooperation with the government

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

Partnerships with ISAs

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

Decentralised approach
While the government is aware of the needs of the people, the delivery of services is often difficult
and in many countries as in India, the Central (federal) Government is unable to reach every
household. Water development and other development sector projects should therefore strengthen
local governance and follow the approach of decentralisation and local empowerment. The
formation of local committees and/or local governmental bodies speeds up the implementation of
projects at the ground level. As the local government representative bodies in India are elected
directly by the community, the decentralised approach therefore also contributes to making local
governments more responsible for and responsive to meeting their duties.

Needs assessment before the projects implementation

It is important that the project addresses a demand that comes from the community. In generating
and assessing demand, greater understanding is required of the ordering of needs along with
24

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

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

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

25

Next Steps

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

Recruit and train more female social mobilisers

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

Female and male social mobilisers should work together in pairs

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

Hold refresher trainings for Pani Samiti members

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

Organise Pani Samiti meetings at a time and place suitable for women
One of the reasons why women do not attend Pani Samiti meetings is that either the meetings
are held too far away or that the meetings are held at times when women have to attend to other
pressing work. To increase womens participation, meetings should be held at a time and place
convenient to them.

26

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

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

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

Create a brand which people will associate with quality and good governance
At the moment WASMOs main aim is to provide water to the households without focusing
necessarily on creating brand awareness. A strong brand will give WASMO more credibility in
the community and help them gain trust of the people sooner. Brand-building may also create a
demand in other villages by making them aware who will learn of WASMOs successfully
implemented schemes.

Create an external pool of social mobilisers

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

27

References

Fisher, J. (2006) For Her Its the Big Issue: Putting women at the centre of water supply,
sanitation and hygiene. WSSCC, Geneva.
Kulkarni, S., Ahmed, S., Datar, C., Bhat, S., Mathur, Y., Makhwana, D. (2008) Water Rights as
Womens Rights? Assesing the Scope for Womens Empowerment through Decentralised
Water Governance in Maharashtra and Gujarat. SOPPECOM, Utthan.
Sama, R.K., Chhabra, I.K., Purohit, M., Thaker, K. (2008) Five Years of Decentralised
Community Managed Water Supply Programme. WASMO, Gandhinagar.
UN Water. (2006) Gender, Water and Sanitation: A Policy Brief. <www.un.org/
waterforlifedecade/pdf/un_water_policy_brief_2_gender.pdf> Viewed on 7th July 2011.
UNDP (2004). Gujarat Human Development Report. <http://undp.org.in/sites/default/files/
reports_publication/Gujarat.pdf>Viewed on 5th July 2011.
UNDP India (2010) Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. <http://www.undp.org.in/
mdgs/ensure_environmental_sustainability>Viewed on 8th July 2011.
UNICEF. (2006) Children and water: global statistics. <http://www.unicef.org/wash/
index_31600.html> Viewed 7th July 2011.
Van Wijk-Sijbesma, C. (1998) Gender in Water Resource Management, Water Supply and
Sanitation: Roles and Realities Revisted. Delft: International Reference Centre on Water
and Sanitation, Technical Paper No. 33-E.
WASMO. (2006) From Policy to Practice: Users as Managers of Rural Drinking Water Supply
Systems. <http://www.wasmo.org/downloads/from_policy_to_practice.pdf> Viewed on
8th July 2011.
Wasmo. (2009) Pani Samiti Margdarshika, section 5.5, page 21. Gandhinagar.
WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. (2008)
Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation. UNICEF,
New York and WHO, Geneva.
28

Annexure I

Methodology and Questionnaires

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

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

Semi-structured interviews with the village head (sarpanch)

Semi-structured interviews with the WASMO representatives.

Primary data was supplemented with desk study and secondary information about the villages
including demographic and socio-economic.
Questions used to aid semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions.
Questions for women from the community
1.

What is your occupation? / What kind of work do you do?

2.

Who decides about the daily household purchases?

3.

Do you have a bank account?

4.

What is your education level?

5.

What is your husbands occupation?

6.

Who are the members in the household?

7.

How many children do you have? Sex? Age?

8.

Do they go to school?

9.

What is your daily routine?

10. How do you spend your free time?

11. Does your husband help with housework?
12. When you go out of the house, do you cover your head?
13. Do you need permission from your husband to go outside the house?
14. Do you get water every day?
15. Where do you get water from?
29

16. Is there any problem with the new water source?

a. If yes: How was the problem addressed? What happened?
17. What was the old water source? How far away was it?
18. Who was fetching the water?
a. (If she says it was her): Have you saved any time? What do you do with the time saved
fetching water?
19. Are you still using the old water source? For what purpose?
20. Why are you not a member of the Pani Samiti?
21. What is the role of Pani Samiti?
22. How efficient do you think has the work of the Pani Samiti been?
23. What do you think about women being part of the Pani Samiti?
24. How is the selection of women for inclusion in the Pani Samiti done?
25. Who are the women that were selected and included in Pani Samitis?
26. Have you ever gone to the Pani Samiti meeting?
27. Are women allowed to speak in these meetings?
28. Do any of your family members participate in Pani Samiti?
29. What was the role of WASMO? Have you heard of WASMO?
30. Are there any activities that women do together in the community? / Self-help groups?
Questions for female members of Pani Samiti
1.

When and how was the Pani Samiti formed?

2.

Why was it formed?

3.

How many members are there? (How many men / women)

4.

How often do you meet?

5.

When was the last meeting held?

6.

What are the topics discussed?

7.

How are the decisions taken? / Who takes the decisions?

8.

Do men consult women or vice versa?

9.

Who motivated you to become the member of the Pani Samiti?

10. What was the reaction of your family when you joined Pani Samiti?
a. Did you encounter any problems?
b. What were the problems?
c. How did you deal with them?
11. Is any family member of yours also involved in Pani Samiti?
12. What is it like being a Pani Samiti member?
13. Is there any added benefit of being a member of this Pani Samiti?
14. What were your expectations when you joined the Pani Samiti?
a. Were your expectations met?
15. Has it led to any changes? / If yes to what changes?
16. Is it good that women are members of Pani Samiti? Why?
30

17. Are there enough women in Pani Samiti?

18. Do you feel comfortable voicing your opinion at meetings?
19. Has there been any change in the lives of women in the community?
20. What process adopted by WASMO has changed the situation of women in the village?
21. Do other women in the community seek your opinion?
Questions for male members of Pani Samiti
1.

Why was Pani Samiti formed?

2.

How often do you meet?

3.

When was the last meeting held?

4.

What are the topics discussed?

5.

How are the decisions taken? Who takes the decisions?

6.

What was the reaction of your family when you joined Pani Samiti?

7.

Is any family member of yours also involved in Pani Samiti?

8.

Is there any added benefit of being a member of this samiti?

9.

What were your expectations when you joined Pani Samiti?

10. Were your expectations met?

11. Is it good that women are members of Pani Samiti? Why?
12. Is there any added benefit of including women in Pani Samiti?
13. Are there enough women in Pani Samiti?
14. How do you feel about working with women?
15. Are you aware that there are Pani Samitis where there are only women? What do you think
about that?
Questions for Men from the community
1.

Occupation? Education?

2.

What is the role of Pani Samiti?

3.

Were you involved in the selection of the Pani Samiti representatives?

4.

Do any of your family members participate in Pani Samiti?

5.

Have you heard of WASMO?

6.

Has there been any change in the status of women after WASMOs intervention?

7.

Have you ever attended a Pani Samiti meeting?

8.

Do you think women should be involved in Pani Samiti?

9.

Would you allow your wife to be member of a Pani Samiti?

10. Should women cover their head in the presence of other men?
11. Does your wife need your permission to go out of the house?
Questions for Village Chief (sarpanch)
1.

How long have you been a member of Pani Samiti?

2.

Do you participate in the Pani Samiti meetings?

31

3.

Do you think the Pani Samiti works efficiently?

4.

What was the role of WASMO in the village? What did they do?

5.

Have there been any changes in the status of women in the community?

6.

Do you think the work of WASMO has improved the situation of women in the community?
i.

If yes: How are these changes seen?

ii. How has this affected the children?

If a woman sarpanch:
1.

Do other women in the community seek your opinion?

2.

Before you, was there a male sarpanch?

If yes: Can you see any difference between your being in charge and the man being in charge?
Questions for WASMO Representative (e.g. district coordinator or social mobiliser)
1.

What is the social structure of the village (especially in relation to caste)?

2.

How long has WASMO been present in the village?3

How did it all start? / What was the process to bring people together?

4.

What is the experience of working in this village?

5.

What were the challenges?

6.

How did you overcome them?

7.

What is the situation now?

8.

What is the role of the social mobiliser?

9.

What do you think was WASMOs role in empowerment of women?

10. What was the process that achieved this?

11. What were the changes in womens status in the community?
12. How is this different to what it was like in the past?
13. How have these changes affected children?
14. Can you think of any ways that gender mainstreaming approach could be improved?

32

Annexure II

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

Village

Date PS

Frequency

No. of

Women

formed

meetings

members

(as % of total)

13

31

Panchmahal district
Sadvara

2008

Brahma ni muvadi

2008

Every month

12

25

Mowasa

2007

Every month

14

21

Hadani sarsan

2009

14

86

Narmada district
Kupar Bossan

2007

Every month

11

36

Kanjai

2006

Every month

11

36

Paanchpipri

2008

Every month

11

64

Kherpada

2009

11

64

Kirasasa roha

2009

09

33

Jiapar

2005

Every month

13

23

Shinay

2009

Every month

13

31

Rapar

2003-04

21

24

Hudko

2004

11

27

Galpadar

2004

15

33

Kuchchh district

Every month

33

Background Note on Internship Programme

Knowledge Community on Children in India (KCCI) initiative aims to enhance knowledge

management and sharing on policies and programmes related to children in India. Conceived
as part of KCCI, the objectives of the 2011 Summer Internship Programme were to give young
graduate students from across the world the opportunity to gain field-level experience of and
exposure to the challenges and issues facing development work in India today.
UNICEF India hosted 40 young interns from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Greece,
India, Korea, United Kingdom, and United States of America to participate in the 2011 Summer
Internship Programme. Interns were grouped into teams of four or five and placed in 10 different
research institutions across 8 states (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, and Orissa) studying field-level interventions for children
from 25 May to 3 August 2011.
Under the supervision of partner research institutions, the interns conducted a combination of
desk research and fieldwork, the end result of which were 11 documentations around best
practices and lessons learnt aimed at promoting the rights of children and their development.
The case studies cover key sectors linked to children and development in India, and address
important policy issues for children in the country few being primary education, reproductive
child health, empowerment of adolescent girls and water and sanitation.
Another unique feature of this programme was the composition of the research teams comprising
interns with mutlidisciplinary academic skills and multicultural backgrounds. Teams were
encouraged to pool their skills and knowledge prior to the fieldwork period and devise a workplan that allowed each team member an equal role in developing the case study. Group work
and cooperation were key elements in the production of outputs, and all of this is evident in the
interesting and mutlifaceted narratives presented by these case studies on development in India.
The 2011 KCCI Summer Internship Programme culminated in a final workshop, at which all
teams of interns presented their case studies for a discussion on broader issues relating to
improvements in service delivery for every child in the country. This series of documentations
aims to disseminate this research to a wider audience and to provide valuable contributions to
KCCIs overall knowledge base.