Social regulation and water management

The interests of the poorest groups, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, especially women have been addressed through the social regulations of the water management . In each project village, a "livelihood support team" analyses the livelihood needs of the most vulnerable; initiates social organisation and capacity building; initiates non-land based activities for them and facilitate negotiation of resource rights for them within the watershed micro-plan. Appropriate measures have been taken into the planning process for ownership of the assets and infrastructure by the local level institutions with transfer of responsibility and capacity building. Enhancement of the leadership status of socio-economic weaker sections inside the community with special reference to women have brought about social cohesiveness thus ensuring the sustainability of socio-cultural life. In most of the committees the woman has become the chairperson or secretary. Bargaining power of the people especially the women has also increased through this process. Gender employment has integrated women into the mainstream production system, and consequently, women’s social status has gone up on a sustained basis. We are in a process for the capacity building of the community on crop-water budgeting, water supply and demand, water sharing based on equity and sustainability, and water balance assessments. Through series of training programs, PRIs, Watershed associations and water users committees have been strengthened for proper implementation of the rules, regulations and norms relating to the contribution of the users, water sharing practices, protection of the natural resources in the upper catchments, selection of the crops and cropping pattern and water use mechanisms. Convergence of the various institutions with in the watershed under PRIs has been possible through series of training programs to the PR members and watershed committee members. This has resulted in the convergence in planning process at the Panchayat Level as well as allocation of resources from the Panchayat Fund to supplement the watershed programs and institutionalization of the social norms and regulations of the water management at the Panchayat level. Improved systems of planning and preparedness for the natural calamity have been noticed at the Panchayat level.