Swajaldhara Components - Rural Water Supply, India

Department of Drinking Water

Programmes

Information, Education & Communication (IEC)
Sensitizing and awareness creation among implementers (Government functionaries/ political representatives / PRIs / NGOs etc.) at all levels through various communication channels about the programme. Assessment and analysis of the existing water supply and sanitation systems (village-wise) through primary data collection. Analysis and identification of the Gram Panchayats/villages to be taken up in the various phases depending on demand from them and the available resources. (a) for Water Supply – each phase may comprise of construction of new schemes, augmentation and/ rejuvenation of the existing system and taking over of the complete (acceptable) system by Panchayats. (b) For Sanitation – The phase may comprise of setting up of RSM/Production Centre (PC) as an alternate delivery mechanism. Habitations where implementation is to commence immediately should be identified (preferably NC/PC and quality affected habitations and those where the success rate is likely to be fast, higher and sure). Agencies for communication campaign should be identified and action taken to develop and execute the capacity development and communication strategy. Communication campaign for awareness creation and demand generation should clearly give the following messages. (1)The beneficiaries will own the assets created; (2)The government will not maintain the assets created; (3) This is the one time investment in the district/ Gram Panchayat ; (4) On completion of the project, the district/Gram Panchayat will be considered fully covered.(5)Two or more alternative technologies suitable to a particular area along with information regarding its capital cost, the beneficiary share, the O&M cost, the replacement cost etc. in respect of each technology;(6) Full O&M and replacement cost and part capital cost is to be borne by the beneficiaries; (7)Importance of water quality monitoring and surveillance;(8)Importance and benefits of water recharging activities and possible technologies for water recharging activities in the area; and (9)Any other local issues pertaining to the area. Various communication modules should be prepared in the local language giving the above information. Agencies for preparation of the above modules and carrying out communication activities should be identified. Preparation of Manuals/modules for the above training including in the local languages. Getting the schemes of their choice identified by the villagers (decision making process). Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) a Committee of Gram Panchayat to be empowered and operationalised ---VWSC to have accounts under Panchayat Act.
Community Participation The minimum share of community contribution for 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd ) service level will be 10 percent (5% in case of SC and ST Gram Panchayats / villages where 50% of the population is SC / and ST as per 2001 Census) of the estimated capital cost of the project and funding by Government of India would be restricted to 90% of the capital cost. In case of all habitations fully covered in the States, with 40 lpcd drinking water facility, the service level can be improved to 55 lpcd with 20 per cent of the capital cost to be borne by the community. In such States, in case of water supply schemes providing more than 55 lpcd, the additional incremental cost would have to be borne by the community / Panchayati Raj Institutions/ State Government. Funding by Government of India would be restricted to 80 per cent of the capital cost of 55 lpcd schemes only. The community contribution towards the capital cost of schemes could be in the form of cash / kind/ labour / land or combination of these. However, at least 50% of the community contribution will have to be in cash. In case community contribution is more than 10% of the scheme cost, the excess amount shall be taken into operation and maintenance fund. Contribution from the community based institutions / organisations like Youth Club, Self-Help Groups, local Institutions and Gram Panchayats may also supplement the community contribution. However, such contribution will be over and above the community contribution and will not be included as part of the community contribution. Further, contribution from Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) or Member of Legislative Assembly Constituency Development Scheme (MLACDS), which are Government Programmes, is specifically prohibited.
Technological Options The technology option should be acceptable, adaptable and affordable for the community. The selection of water supply technology for a given locality could be determined by a number of factors, such as technical feasibility, users preferences and requirements combined with willingness to contribute towards capital cost and O&M. Site specific conditions such as availability and reliability of electricity supply, quality of ground water etc. must also be factored in by the community while making choice of technology. The service level shall be as per the users preference. Priority should be given to rehabilitation and / extension of existing schemes. A Manual consisting of type-designs and indicative capital and O&M costs for each of the technology options may be prepared by the SWSM/DWSC and circulated to the Gram Panchayats willing to take up projects under the Swajaldhara. However, care should be taken that there is adequate room for local level innovations and greater community participation.
Operation & Maintenance Operation, maintenance and management cost of the water supply schemes will have to be fully borne by the concerned Community/User Group/ Village Water and Sanitation Committee/Panchayati Raj Institution. This would include recurring costs like salary of operators, electricity charges as well as cost of periodic repair and renewal. It would be imperative on the part of the Panchayati Raj Institution /community to have a full understanding and appreciation of the likely O&M costs of various technology options before they select the technology for their water supply scheme. The Gram Panchayat which has opted for a new scheme and/ augmenting the existing scheme, should take over the O&M of the existing schemes in the respective area. Towards this end, the Gram Panchayat /User group will contribute to an Operation & Maintenance (O&M) Fund. The size of the corpus should be sufficient to meet the O&M cost of the scheme for at least six months. This corpus should remain intact and may be made use of to meet renewal/replacement/ major repairs cost Gram Panchayats would require to mobilise funds through levy and collection of user charges for the operation and maintenance of the schemes taken over. Further, upon completion of Swajaldhara schemes under both the streams and their successful operation for at least 12 months from the date of completion, Government of India may provide up to 10% of the capital cost as a one-time incentive to the O&M Fund created by the Panchayati Raj Institution/ User Group and the State Government should also make an equal matching contribution to the O&M Fund. The District Panchayat / DWSC shall take steps to provide training to persons selected by the Gram Panchayat / community to operate and maintain the drinking water schemes. Funding for the capacity development of Panchayat and Users Group functionaries will be met from the Swajaladhara. It is difficult to have all Gram Panchayats in a District under Swajaldhara simultaneously. They are taken up batch by batch. Under Swajaldhara-I, ARWSP funds for O&M will be available for non-Swajaldhara Gram Panchayats. Since funding for operation and maintenance will not be available under ARWSP for all the villages in a Swajaldhara project district under Swajaldhara -II, the State Governments may continue to provide funds, if necessary, for O&M for non-Swajaldhara Project Gram Panchayats from their own funds to the Gram Panchayat till the Gram Panchayat is covered under the Project.