This document discusses water and sanitation in rural India. It notes that while access to improved water supply increased to 84% by 2008, access to improved sanitation was only 21%. Responsibility for water and sanitation lies with state governments, while the central government regulates policy. Approaches to rural sanitation and water supply focus on decentralization, community participation, and cost recovery. However, low tariffs and subsidies continue to hamper full cost recovery and financial sustainability.

1. WATER AND SANITATION

2. SCENARIO
• Water supply and sanitation in India, especially in rural india
continue to be inadequate
• The level of investment in water and sanitation is low
• Also, the local government institutions in charge of operating
and maintaining the infrastructure are seen as weak and lack
the financial resources to carry out their functions
In 2008,
 Access to improved water supply-84%
 Access to Improved sanitation-21% which was only 1% in the
year 1980

3. Responsibility for water supply and
sanitation
• Water supply and sanitation is a State responsibility under the
Indian Constitution. States may give the responsibility to the
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in rural areas.
• At present, states generally plan, design and execute water
supply schemes (and often operate them) through their State
Departments of Rural Development Engineering)
• The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is responsible
for the regulation and the policy framework for rural water
supply and sanitation.

4. SERVICE PROVISION
• About a 100,000 rural water supply systems in India
• In some states responsibility for service provision is in the
process of being partially transferred from State Water Boards
and district governments to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) at
the block or village level
• Service provision more advanced for single-village water
schemes than for more complex multi-village water schemes

5. APPROACHES IN RURAL SANITATION
• Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) or Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan
(NBA) initiated by Government of India in 1999
• It is a demand-driven and people-centered sanitation
program
• The main goal of Total Sanitation Campaign is to eradicate
the practice of open defecation by 2017.
• Community-led total sanitation is not focused on building
infrastructure, but on preventing open defecation through
peer pressure and shame.
• In Maharashtra where the program started more than 2000
Gram Panchayats have achieved "open defecation free"
status
• Villages that achieve this status receive monetary rewards

6. APPROACHES IN RURAL WATER SUPPLY
• Most rural water supply schemes in India use a centralised
approach, i.e. a government institution designs a project with
little community consultation and no capacity building for the
community, no water fees to be paid for its subsequent
operation.
• In 2002 , Government of India came up with a national level a
program to change the way in which water supply services are
supported in rural areas.
• Swajaldhara decentralizes service delivery responsibility to
rural local governments and user groups. Communities are
being consulted and trained, and users agree to pay a tariff
that is set at a level sufficiently high to cover operation and
maintenance costs. It also includes measures to promote
sanitation and to improve hygiene behaviour.

7. COST ANALYSIS:SWAJALDHARA
• According to a 2008 World Bank study in lower capital costs,
lower administrative costs and better service quality compared to
the centralised approach.
• The average full cost of supply-driven schemes is Rs. 38 per cubic
meter, while it is only 26 per cubic meter for demand-driven
schemes.
• As of 2008 only about 10% of rural water schemes built in India
used a demand-driven approach. Since water users have to pay
lower or no tariffs under the supply-driven approach, this
discourages them to opt for a demand-driven approach, even if
the likelihood of the systems operating on a sustainable basis is
higher under a demand-driven approach.

8. TARIFF AND COST RECOVERY
• Low Water and sewer tariffs in India and low cost recovery
• Some state governments subsidise rural water systems, but
funds are scarce and insufficient.
• On one hand, expenditures are high due to high salary levels,
high power tariff and a high number of operating staff. On the
other hand, revenue is paid only by the 10% of the
households who have private connections.
• Those drawing water from public stand posts do not pay any
water charges at all, although the official tariff for public stand
post users is 15 per month per household

9. World Bank Financing
• The World Bank finances a number of projects in rural areas
fully or partly dedicated to water supply and sanitation.
• The Andhra Pradesh Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
(US$150 million loan, approved in 2009)
• The Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project
(approved in 2001, US$151.6 million loan)
• The Uttaranchal Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project
(approved in 2006, US$120 million loan)
• The Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project
(approved in 2006, US$154 million loan)