Jal Jeevan Mission: Tap water to all households not successful, women still fetch water from long distance

By Bharat Dogra 

It has been seen time and again that when women get a more significant role in development initiatives and when they have more say in deciding priorities, then development initiatives are strengthened in significant ways. Women have higher commitment to sustainability and to meeting the most basic needs of their families and decide their priorities on this basis.

This has also been observed in an ongoing development initiative by a leading voluntary organization Srijan in Karauli district of Rajasthan. This initiative made a midway correction to accord more significance to the mobilization and involvement of rural women, and the results of this change have been seen in the further strengthening and improvements achieved in villages like Jagdharpura where women groups are very active now.

Even women faced in very difficult circumstances are coming forward to contribute to development initiatives. Bilasi of Rawatpura village lost her husband at an early age. She has to bring up six children including five daughters. However she is facing the situation bravely and with quiet determination. She remains very active in various development initiatives in her village, inspiring and motivating other women too.

However both here and in some other villages, drinking water remains a problem particularly in the acute summer months. As women in Rawatpura stated, weather conditions in May and June can be intolerably hot here but still they have to go to fetch water from a long distance, sometimes leaving as early as 4 in the morning to ensure that they can get at least a part of the scarce water left in wells.

Such problems remain despite the fact that taking tap water to all households is a very important priority of the government’s Jal Jeevan Mission. This has not been much of a success here probably because solutions that are more suited to the needs of villages are needed with a highly decentralized approach. Villages facing difficult conditions like Rawatpura and Jagdharpura need solutions for drinking water that can tackle the special problems existing here. As Srijan with its close community links and involvement is in a position to work out such solutions in participative ways and the government is also looking for such solutions to achieve the stated goals of Jal Jeevan Mission and meet drinking water needs of people, there can be considerable room for cooperation to find and implement the most workable solutions on the basis of cooperation of villagers, social activists and government authorities.

Women are also keen to prioritize checking all forms of violence against women and to promote other social reform work such as checking the rapid spread of consumption of guthka and smokeless tobacco. There are several issues which are important for improving health and nutrition which get more emphasis from women. Conversations with women revealed that they value the spread of natural farming even if does not increase yield because of the health and nutrition benefits it brings at family level.

In villages where migrant workers go to distant places frequently—including southern states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu—the close involvement of women in development initiatives is even more important to maintain continuity.

Hence while the decision to give special importance to increasing involvement of women in these initiatives in Karauli has been clearly helpful in strengthening these efforts, there should be adequate care to take this forward as old habits tend to continue and sometimes communities can neglect to give adequate attention to the priorities and cautions voiced by women.

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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include 'Man over Machine' and 'India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food'