Why some village water and sanitation committees are better than others : a study of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh (India)

Field Note 2 23772 January 2001 Water and Sanitation Why Some Village Water Program and Sanitation Committees An international partnership to help are Better than Others: the poor gain sustained access to improved A Study of Karnataka and water supply and sanitationservices Uttar Pradesh (India) South Asia Region Summary In order to understand the dynamics of good governance at the village level, the Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia (WSP-SA) commissioned a study of village water and sanitation committee in iIJr two World Bank-assisted rural water supply and sanitation projects in the states of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, India. The study concludes that transparency, participation, inclusion and ownership are important committee features. When Polkot village in the hills of Uttar Pradesh _ committees have higher scores for these features, the projects are more Introduction effective in terms of both financial The water and sanitation sector is continuously developing and testing new strategies to performance and consumer identify the factors that promote sustainable rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) projects satisfaction. throughout the world. A key lesson from global research over the past decade is the strong relationship between a demand-responsive approach and overall project effectiveness (Narayan 1995; Sara and Katz 1998). As a result, external support agencies and governments in India and 9 . z<^ -Ew around the world are relying upon community-level organizations to respond to community - - g r demand and assist in the planning, construction and maintenance of water projects. Based upon ML _evidence that these cornmunity-level organizations can lead to more effective projects, the Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh RWSS projects were designed to have committees that functioned at the village level. I m p Implementing a water scheme at the village level in India raises the question of whether gram panchayats (local government bodies) are ideal for implementing a participatory, community-driven approach. There are several reasons to be concerned about the potential | @ '4.; efficacy of gram panchayats. | J ; b They often administer an area larger than the village of interest. |*X b There is concern about their inclusion of marginalized groups. L There is potential for political interference and rent-seeking. C Due to their many other responsibilities, they cannot focus solely on water and sanitation problems within the village. For these reasons, plans for separate Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) were incorporated into the project design in both states.  Conceptual common property resources, such as evidence shows that successful Framework irrigation schemes and forests (Watson development projects, including et al. 1997). A careful reading of the water supply schemes, must hove a The global emphasis on literature suggests that four key participatory component. Moreover, establishing community-level committee features are associated with people's participation contributes organizations to manage village water project success-transparency, to the achievement of the five projects has evolved for many reasons. participation, inclusion and ownership. main objectives of water supply One of the key factors is sector Studies of common property projects: effectiveness, efficiency, experience with demand-based resources have noted the importance empowerment, equity and coverage approaches. Studies suggest that if of transparency for the effective (Naroyan 1995; Water and Sanitation beneficiaries are able to express their management of a resource (McKean for Health Project 1993). In addition views and set up water projects that 1 992; Ostrom 1990). If individuals to overall community participation, meet their needs, they are more likely within a community do not understand who participates and who benefits is to work and pay to sustain the system how decisions are made or are not also important. Projects should be (Sara and Katz 1 998). Village aware of whether other people are inclusive in terms of conflict committees can enhance demand- adhering to the rules, they have little r based approaches by bringing incentive to work together as a benefits and the opportunity to decision-making down to the village group. Committees can increase influence decision-making (White level where users can decide, among transparency by holding open and Runge 1995). It is also important other things, the type of technology, meetings, sharing the minutes of for the community to feel a sense of location of the facility, level and hours meetings with the community and of service, tariff charges and how they publicly penalizing people who fail that nth as a whole should believe should be used. to follow the rules or pay tariff. resposibheor keeping and they are Theoretically, the establishment of Participation is important because a responsible or keeping It operational village committees should lead to critical mass of community members (Water and Sanitation for Health improved results. However, these must understand the potential benefits Project 1 993). organizations are not guaranteed of the schemne and participate in The larger village environment success as they face the same problems setting project rules (Ostrom 1990; also impacts project effectiveness. As as organizations that manage similar White and Runge 1995). Available cooperation is key to the successful management of a common property resource, community features that hinder or encourage cooperation must be understood. Social capital is a good example of a village feature that impacts -< $ Z i the functioning of a village committee. Examining Social capital has been defined as 'the r ~~~~~~~~~~vwsc -'V- records in norms and social relations embedded .7 , _ -. Kamataka in the social structures of societies that r =- = w enable people to coordinate action to t - s--- achieve desired goals' (The World Bank, Social s_ _ , Capital for Development Social mapping _ in a Karnataka 2 WVSCs:A Study of Kornotoka and utior Pradesh village  research questionswere developed for Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were this study: selected for this study. While the main 1. VWSCs were established to help objective of these projects is to ensure transparency, participa- provide sustained water services to tion, inclusion and ownership. the rural poor for the design life of t, / ~ / B af Have VWSCs achieved these ob- the project, both are integrated water . J nf jectives? and sanitation projects: along with A 1 st _.k._^5 water, they also promote latrines, .-, - - S F 2. What is the connection between wtr- i' ' ] ' sr ~~~~~~~provide health and hygiene 9_ > }~ ; 1 institutional effectiveness and education, and build drainage in - ' 9 > - t overall project effectiveness/ certain locations. Both projects t \; =. . S - . sustainability? required the establishment of village 4 e - . ~-~< 3. Of the four features of VWSCs, committees to assist or which isthesingle mostimportant fully undertake planning and in water supply projects? implementation of schemes, and to This map has been prepared by the staff of The World bonk exclusively for the coenemeeie of reoder. The denominrations used -nd the bhendones shown on ,.. - . *,,i, . 0, - - ,., -;, . Graup .i Note: The state boundaries hcve recert'y beer redrawn The bo-dersres shosvn | or this m-p are pior to Novennber 2000. web page 2000). Village features that positively influence social capital are small population size, physical - , isolation, previous community cooperative efforts, successful intervention by an NGO and homogeneity in terms of caste, income, religion and beliefs. Research Questions A woman in Ram Nagar Danda village washes utensils at a private water connection 4. What causes some VWSCs to be entirely responsible for operation Apartfrom participation, noneof perform better than others? and maintenance. Each state the committee features (transparency, (Which external factors or inputs is governed by different project inclusion and ownership) have been determine why the fourfeatures in rules, details of which are presented rigorously examined in relation to the Question 1 exist to a greater or in Table 1 - water supply sector. It is not clear lesserdegree?) There are fundamental social whether all these features are impor- and cultural differences within each tant or which are more important. How- . state. The three main regions where ever, it is believed that the presence of Project the project operates in Karnataka are these fourfeatures will lead to sustain- Information the north, the south and the coastal able water schemes, and that VWSCs area. In the south and along the can achieve these objectives. Based on Villages from two World Bank- coast, women's status is relatively this reasoning, the following four assisted projects in the states of high. Girls and boys receive almost VWSCs:A Study of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh 3  Table 1: A Comparison of the Projects in Karnataka and Uttar:Pradesh Date of initiation 1994 1996 Number of villages to be covered 1,200 1,000 Process of village selection Selected by the government (zilla panchayats) Selected by NGOs on the basis of on the basis of water shortage and need, demand and technical water-related health problems. feasibility. Technology choice The community does not make a choice. The community is given options, Technology options are based on village size, such as gravity schemes, rainwater and include piped water supplied from an tanks, handpumps and piped schemes overhead tank or open well, a mini water supply from overhead tanks. Options scheme or handpumps. depend on feasibility and cost. Possible voice for the community Decisions on location of facilities, who should Decisions on technology choice, during the planning stage be a committee member and habitat location of facilities, who should be improvement (type, number, location). a committee member and habitat improvement. Role of the VWSC During the planning and implementotion stages: During the planning and Collect capitol cost contribution and facilitate implementation stages: Collect discussion regarding the location ond number of capital cost contribution and different types of facilities. facilitate discussion regarding During operation and maintenance: the location and number of Fix and collect tariff and ensure the different types of facilities, including maintenance and operation of the system. water supply. Oversee construction, including purchasing materials and ensuring labor contribution by the community. During operation and maintenance: Fix and collect tariff and ensure the maintenance and operation of the system. Requirements for women's The committee should hove 33 percent The committee should have participation women members. 33 percent women members. A component of this project also encourages women's development through income generation projects and self-help groups. Formol relationship between the The VWSC is a subcommittee of the gram The VWSC is a subcommittee VWSC and gram panchayat panchoyat. The gram prodhon is Chair of the of the gram panchoyat. However, VWSC (unless the prodhan is based in another in practice it usually operates in village). Every member of the panchoyat (from isolation. It is not necessary for the project village) is automatically a member gram panchoyat members to be of the VWSC. In addition, some non-gram on the committee, and usually very panchoyat community members are selected few members of the gram panchoyat for the committee. are on the committee. The VWSC Chair is selected by the community. Rules for community contribution Villages contribute 30 percent of the cost of Villages contribute approximately towards capital cost drainage schemes; however, 50 percent of the 10 percent of the capital cost of contribution is required upfront to start both water and sanitation construction of water supply schemes. components in cash and/or labor. Role of NGOs NGOs facilitate participation, and operate as NGOs are involved in the hardware a link between the community and the and software components of the government. NGOs are not officially involved in scheme. NGOs select proiect villages, the project once it is handed over to the facilitate participation, help the community.** community procure goods and organize construction. NGOs act as mediators between the community and the Project Management Unit. NGOs are not officially involved in the project once it is honded over to the community.** Role of the government Public Health Engineering Departments (PHEDs) The Project Management Unit, are responsible for the design and construction along with its district level offices, of water systems. The Project Planning and oversees the project, subcontracts district level Monitoring Unit, along with its service delivery responsibilities to Rural Development offices, is responsible for NGOs and communities, ensures procurement monitoring, planning support, that NGOs and schemes meet technical guidance and independent monitoring eligibility criteria, provides funding of project implementation. and monitors performance. Average size of villages in study sample 750 households 96 households *There have been significant changes between different phases of the Uttar Prodesh project. The rules presented here pertain to the first two phases, which al the surveyed villages are from. **ln both projects, NGOs end their contract shortly after the project is officially taken up by the community. In some cases, NGOs continue to conduct follow-up visits. 4 VWSCs:A Study af Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh  equal levels of education, and However, only one village in the througheachstageoftheproject,from women are relatively mobile and Bundelkhand region met the original the perspective of the committee and confident. In the north, in contrast, sampling frame, so the frame was the larger community. To ensure valid girls' education levels fall well below modified to include villages that data, information was collected from a boys', and women are less mobile. had been in the operation and variety of sources in each village, Social capital, in general, is lower in maintenance stage for only including individual committee the north where there are greater four months. members, households, focus groups, inequities and caste conflicts. In all, 45 project villages were project records and system operators. Thetwo regionswhere the project selected for the study-25 in In each state, the data collection team functions in Uttar Pradesh are the hills Karnataka (25 percent of the 97 consisted of two research associates and Bundelkhand. The hills consist of eligible villages) and 20 in Uttar and seven household interviewers. The small, homogeneous, isolated villages. Pradesh, (36 percent of the 56 eligible surveys were pre-tested in four villages Social capital is generally high in this villages). Since the villages were prior to data collection. Data were area and women enjoy high status. randomly selected by drawing lots, it collected from December 1999 to Villages in Bundelkhand are largerand is assumed that the villages are February2000. manydifferentcastesarepresentinthe representative of the larger same village. Unlike the hills, many population. While individual cases Findings upper-caste households practice a form may vary, the findings of the study of purdahwherewomenarediscouraged are applicable to all the villages in Although the findings from from interacting with men in public. the sampling frame. In addition to Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are provject villges, villages with presented together, since the contexts Mnethodology government schemes were also are notthe same, it is unfairto compare Meth d gy studied in order to compare the the findings from the two states and performance of VWSCs with schemes In oderto ases proect adopting the more traditional top- - effectiveness, the sampling frame for adotng a h. Four trionl vlae ' ~~~~~~down approach. Four control villages-- the study was limited to villages that were selected in Karnataka and six -- had been in the operation and in Uttar Pradesh. maintenance stage for at least six The objective of the study _ - f months. (A limitation of this study is - -. that most of the schemes are relatively w t t new and their sustainability in the operation of VWSCs long term cannot be assessed.) In t ' - * - Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, _ I7 - ' respectively, 97 and 56 villages met i these criteria. To ensure that the data ; i - was geographically representative, ,i, "4 villages from different regions in each state were randomly selected L ,-.-x proportionate to the number of eligible villages in the region. Women collecting water in a Bundelkhand village, Uttar Pradesh , Z, VWSCs:A Study of Karnataka and Uttor Pradesh 5  conclude that VWSCs in Uttar Pradesh P Villages in Uttar Pradesh are much are more effective than those in smaller and more homogeneous Karnataka. The project in Uttar Pradesh than in Karnataka and, corre- Transparency Participc is a 'new generation,' demand- spondingly, have higher levels of responsive scheme, where every social capital. South Karnataka decision is made at the community level. decsin i mde t he omuniy eve. In Uttar Pradesh, VWSCs have Huskur 45.5 22.7 The Uttar Pradesh project was built DInahailli 54.7 29.4 upon lessons learned from the bypassed gram panchayats and Yelawala 32.2 14.4 operate in isolation. Hebbal 55.6 26.3 Karnataka project. Community Vittalopura 60.1 33.7 involvement was emphasized from the P Partial capital cost contribution by Hirremaralli 58.8 47.2 very beginning of the project, and a lot the community for water supply is Banagatti 38.9 39.1 of time was spent selecting committee required in Uttar Pradesh. Sulukunte 61.8 47.6 members and technology type in each In Uttar Pradesh, project villages ylanararas 51.1 31.6 In Utsr radeh, polec vilogesHadripura 61.0 45.5 village in Uttar Pradesh. In Karnataka, were selected by NGOs and not by Savanakan (C) NA 15.6 the level of community involvement in h Benvenahali (C) NA 13.4 the planning and implementation t government. North Kamataka phases was much less than P The water supply technology HB Halli 49.4 27.7 in Uttar Pradesh. used in Uttar Pradesh is, by and Shridaragod 57.4 35.2 in Uttar Pradesh.larg , simpler to operatKN Halli 56.7 35.2 There are design-based reasons large, simplerto operate and main- Sovenahalli 44.2 25.8 to expect VWSCs to perform better in tain than the technology used Moka 46.8 26.0 to expect VWSCs to pedorm better in Saidapur 47.5 28.2 Uttar Pradesh than Karnataka. in Karnataka. Adaki Huda 41.3 42.9 Dupat M. 56.9 43.7 a In Uttar Pradesh, NGOs provide Bailur 60.1 46.3 support to the project villages for Have VWSCs achieved the Madlur 63.4 49.6 both community development and objectives of transparency, Kukkadolli (C) NA 16.6 participation, inclusion and Amaropura (C) NA 21.4 the engineering component. In ownership? Coastal Kamataka Karnataka, in contrast, NGOs are Kepu Cosa 38.8 only responsible for community It was found that VWSCs were, Kelpma 48.2 3084 development; the Public Health by and large, successful in Puruvoi 47.3 32.8 Engineering Department is achieving the goals of transpar- Panaje 46.7 19.3 responsible for providing ency, participation, inclusion and UPhills engineering support. ownership Palkot 60.7 78.9 engineering Ramnagar D 78.6 60.4 Figure 2: Relationship Between Overall Project Effectiveness and Gokulwdla 85.2 70.1 VWSC Effectiveness in Karnatoka and Uttor Pradesh Sada 88.5 78.1 Kunia Grant 53.2 60.8 -r Chamini 76.4 71.0 Densli 53.5 37.9 9. Mayal 94.2 87.9 V)300 X 0Godigad 90.5 81.3 Ci 70 X X Saimli 88.2 79.4 50 70 Dharimkhol 44.2 41.9 60 0 SDadal 75.9 79.9 so. N.5o4h K-m=o.k | DBanna 82.8 76.5 1U 50 C- * LIIIII ,,, 5so.0x * E CooOoI UP h'lls Matela 60.3 42.9 Tarikhet 98.6 88.9 0 Karala Mahar (C) NA 3.0 o Ogla (C) NA 7.8 0 Navarathuw (C) NA 4.0 Palos (C) NA 9.8 o. UP- Bundelkhand 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Magarahi 60.1 59.6 Score of Consumer Satisfaction Rewadi 56.8 70.4 Baniatala 57.7 62.7 Birhat 48.9 55.8 Alkachuwa 32.6 34.6 Borha (C) NA 5.8 6 Vwscs:A Study of Karnataka and uttar Pradesh Dhanori (C) NA 4.6 High scores indicate better performance. (C) denotes  [a1s s-xi <-|Sel-slr-s.lul.Ess.l For each parameter, a series of measures were identified and an zn Inclusion Ownership Overall Overall Project aggregate score wos calculated for vwsc Effectiveness Effectiveness every village. Specific findings for each parameter are presented below: 49.1 61.7 44.8 46.0 P Are VWSCs transparent? 35.8 42.0 40.5 55.1 43.0 36.9 31.6 31.4 Transparency has been 41.8 46.8 42.6 45.2 operctionalized in the study to mean 42.0 66.8 50.6 82.0 oeatio n ity to mn 46.9 50.5 50.9 65.6 that community members know 39.9 70.7 53.2 63.3 about the project in terms of 62.7 58.1 47.1 37.2 37.8 42.9 47.5 63.8 finances, committee functioning and 37.2 43.7 40.9 53.6 fhe selection of commiftee members. 41.5 70.0 54.5 55.0 NA 27.0 10.7 41.4 It was found that households in NA 36.0 12.4 34.5 VWSC villages are more aware of the project and its operation than 63.7 56.0 49.2 62.2 households in the control villages. 51.1 40.0 45.9 63.7 53.1 79.5 56.1 70.9 P Do VWSCs increase 43.9 62.3 44.0 48.9 participation? The study assessed 48.4 68.6 47.5 56.1 69.2 35.4 45.1 54.1 measures such as attendance at 47.6 53.0 46.2 32.9 committee meetings and community 80.8 74.5 64.0 97.6 44.4 89.6 60.1 63.8 involvement in decision-making 39.4 82.4 58.7 97.6 NA 28.0 11.2 50.8 and the supervision of construction. NA 31.0 13.1 41.6 The villages with VWSCs clearly followed a participatory process, with 57.7 48.3 50.1 54.9 villages in Uttar Pradesh being more 41.5 36.9 39.2 65.8 participatory than villages in 32.6 42.2 38.7 26.5 25.6 32.0 30.9 32.3 Karnataka. One reason for the marked difference in scores between 60.5 76.0 69.0 51.4 Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh lies 73.2 83.1 73.8 96.9 79.5 71.9 76.7 85.9 95.8 72.7 83.8 95.9 71.6 41.2 56.7 40.8 66.5 70.0 71.0 94.2 - 36.7 49.2 44.3 27.4 72.4 90.5 86.2 94.9 83.6 100 88.9 84.9 72.5 66.7 76.7 100 58.0 5.0 37.3 20.0 54.9 85.0 73.9 88.8 78.0 85.6 80.7 70.0 61.9 40.0 51.3 69.9 _ " 79.2 91.4 89.5 100 NA 0.0 0.8 7.0 NA 0.0 2.0 33.5 ' :_- NA 0.0 1.0 49.0 fGW NA 22.0 8.0 45.5 - 47.1 62.9 57.4 47.9 -i 61.8 61.8 62.7 45.5 58.7 74.8 63.5 38.6 Women's focus groups in the hills of Uttar Prodesh 73.2 40.0 54.5 28.8 45.9 35.9 37.3 29.4 NA 0.0 1.5 11.0 NA 22.0 6.7 22.0 VWSCs:A Study of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh 7 trol villages. I  Box 1 A Village in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh The Impact of Low Social Capital on VWSC Effectiveness and Project Effectiveness Alkochuwa village has a low score for both VWSC effectiveness and project effectiveness. The committee has not met since the implementation stage and has made no attempt to collect tariff. Only 59 percent of the households said they were satisfied with the new water system. The performance of the VWSC is marked by lack of participation, inclusion and transparency, and a low sense of ownership. Participation: The village has 242 households, of which only 81 have contributed towards the initial capital cost. None of the surveyed households recalled attending a meeting during the planning stage and only 20 percent of the households participated in decisions regarding the location of handpumps. Inclusion: Three women are ostensibly on the village committee. However, one woman is a landless laborer who infrequently attends meetings due to her need to work. The second woman is always represented by her son and the third woman is usually represented by her husband. This is typical of the culture in Bundelkhand, where women frequently practice purdah and politics is considered to be a male domain. Water is not equitably distributed in the village. Although a total of 12 handpumps have been constructed, all of them are not considered 'public' handpumps. During the planning and implementation stages of the project, a few households contributed the entire capital cost for one handpump (Rs 4,000) on the understanding that neighboring households would pay them back after the handpumps were operational. However, this has not happened and the villagers consider the handpumps to be the property of individual households. Some households even go so far as to remove the chain when they are not using the pump to ensure that other villagers do not use the facility. Transparency: The overall score for transparency in Alkachuwa is 32.6 (the highest possible score is 100). This is the second lowest score for transparency for the study villages of both states (N =45). The village community is generally unaware of the project; only 29 percent of the households in the village said that they were told during the plonning stage of the community's responsibility for operation and maintenance, and 26 percent of the villagers knew how committee members were selected. Sense of ownership: When asked, VWSC members in Alkochuwa said that they were not responsible for operation and maintenance of the project. It is not surprising that only 26 percent of the villagers feel that the community can sustain the handpumps over the next ten years. This VWSC scored the fourth lowest out of all the 45 study villages on this parameter. Influence of social capital: The village has experienced a number of caste and class conflicts. Drainage has not been completed as households are unwilling to give up any part of their land. Similarly, one handpump was never installed due to disputes about its location. J ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ c 4 ~~~~~~~~~ -~~~~~