Handing Over of Water Supply Schemes to Communities
Khan, Shahrukh Rafi et al. (1996).
Pakistan, Multi-Donor Support Unit, Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
In the Punjab, the provision of rural water supply and sanitation services has primarily been the responsibility of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) since the early 1960s. PHED's mandate originally was to construct water supply schemes, operate them for two years, and then transfer them over to area Union Councils. Due to the failure of this system along with a growing realization that users' involvement in the planning, implementation and operation of a scheme is vital to its sustainability, the government introduced the Social Action Programme (SAP) in 1993-4. The new programme calls for the involvement of user communities in the planning and implementation of schemes with total community responsibility for operation and maintenance. This study, observing untrained collective action when the alternative was for everyone in the community to fend for himself, assesses the sustainability of community self-management of water supply schemes.
An enormous raw potential for community collective action is evident in the sample of 50 schemes studied. Water committees (WCOMs) in villages could play an effective role in scheme management, even though often established spontaneously, or with no formal managerial training. In principle, the presence of WCOMs in villages should be positively associated with the financial viability of schemes, participation in and satisfaction with scheme management, and with scheme sustainability. However, only 14 out of the 50 schemes is truly sustainable. The transfer system could be improved by: (1) PHED field staff receiving basic training in social observation and social mobilization; (2) an understanding of the community's need for a water supply scheme, community politics and social dynamics; (3) assisting in the creation of representational WCOMs; and (4) training WCOMs in basic management and technical skills. The transfer process has been hasty and, in one case, community members were not even aware that it had occurred. Other major problems include devising methods to meet replacement capital costs, and dealing with default and malpractice.
Although it is accepted that community participation is critical to the successful management and sustainability of a water supply scheme, community involvement in scheme management is limited. Only about 1/3 of the male groups claimed involvement in the preparatory meeting for committee formation, 1/3 had input into major decisions, and only ¼ felt their views were represented at committee meetings or recognized that the community owned the scheme. Women's participation in committees is particularly poor. Since women play no part in scheme management, only their satisfaction with scheme management is assessed. The presence of a water committee increases the probability of being satisfied with scheme management. Compared to men's groups, less than ½ of the women's groups viewed the schemes as belonging to the community. None of the women's groups felt involved in the transfer in any way. Although only ½ of the women's groups reported that their views were communicated to the scheme management, 90% of them felt satisfied with this level of involvement. Women had no explicit role in all 50 schemes. In general, as the major water users, women wanted water to be available in an abundant quantity and of decent quality. Managing water schemes is viewed by both sexes to be men's work. Although now accepted that hygiene instruction should accompany water supply schemes, only ¼ of male groups and 1/10 of female groups had received such instruction. Water committees play a central role in making schemes sustainable, but training of field staff, technical enforcement and resource support to transferred schemes are needed for greater success.
