World Bank2014-03-252014-03-252013-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17376Taking an integrated approach to the country's rural water supply issues, Government of India's (GoI's) National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP) focusses on the key aspects of source and system sustainability. System sustainability is inextricably linked to both technical and financial aspects of operations of rural water supply schemes. A key plank of NRDWP's approach as well as that of the sector reform project that preceded it is the devolution of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) functions, particularly related to distribution at the village level, to Gram Panchayats (GPs), or local government entities, through the formation of Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs). However, the lack of substantive community engagement in planning and implementation of schemes as well as capacity constraints in GPs has limited the spread and implementation of this approach. As reported in a recent study for the Planning Commission (PC, 2010), only a fourth of GPs surveyed reported VWSCs and less than one percent of the respondents were aware of the VWSCs' existence.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADEQUATE WATERADEQUATE WATER SUPPLYAFFLUENTAPPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGYAUGMENTATIONBULK WATERCAPACITY BUILDINGCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCENTRAL GOVERNMENTSCERTIFICATIONCOLLECTION EFFICIENCYCOLLECTION OF WATERCOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTCOMMUNITY GROUPSCOMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTCOMMUNITY MANAGEMENTCOMMUNITY OWNERSHIPCOMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONCONJUNCTIVE USECONNECTION CHARGECONNECTION CHARGESCONNECTION FEESCONSERVATIONCONSTRUCTIONCONTRACT PERIODCOST RECOVERYCOST SAVINGSCOVERINGDISTRIBUTION SYSTEMDOMESTIC WATERDRINKING WATERDRINKING WATER SECTORDRINKING WATER SUPPLYELEVATED STORAGEENGINEERINGENVIRONMENTAL SANITATIONGROUND WATERGROUNDWATERGROUNDWATER RESOURCESGROUNDWATER SOURCESGROUNDWATER USEHAND PUMPHAND PUMPSHOUSE CONNECTIONSHOUSEHOLD CONNECTIONSHOUSEHOLDSINDIVIDUAL CONNECTIONSIRRIGATIONLEAKAGELOCAL OPERATORSMETERINGOPEN WELLSOPERATIONAL EXPENDITUREOPERATIONAL EXPENSESPERMITSPIPED WATERPIPELINEPIPELINESPLUMBINGPOWER CONSUMPTIONPRESSUREPRIVATE OPERATORPROVIDING WATER SUPPLYPROVISION OF SERVICESPUBLIC HEALTHPUMPINGPUMPING MACHINERYRAINRAINWATERRAINWATER HARVESTINGRECHARGERESERVOIRSRURAL COMMUNITYRURAL DRINKING WATERRURAL WATERRURAL WATER SUPPLYRURAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMSSAFE WATERSAFE WATER SUPPLYSANDSANITATION COMMITTEESANITATION INFRASTRUCTURESERVICE AREASERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE IMPROVEMENTSSERVICE PROVIDERSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE QUALITYSERVICE STANDARDSSLOW SAND FILTRATIONSMALL TOWNSSUPPLY OF WATERSURFACE WATERTAPSTARIFF RATESTARIFF REVISIONSTRANSPARENCYTUBE WELLSUSE OF WATERVALVESWATER AVAILABILITYWATER BOARDWATER CHARGESWATER CONNECTIONSWATER CONSUMPTIONWATER DISTRIBUTIONWATER INFRASTRUCTUREWATER POTSWATER QUALITYWATER QUALITY MONITORINGWATER QUALITY TESTINGWATER RESOURCEWATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENTWATER RESOURCESWATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENTWATER SCHEMESWATER SHORTAGESWATER SOURCESWATER STORAGEWATER SUPPLY ASSETSWATER SUPPLY MANAGEMENTWATER SUPPLY SCHEMEWATER SUPPLY SERVICEWATER SUPPLY SERVICESWATER SUPPLY SYSTEMWATER SUPPLY SYSTEMSWATER TARIFFWATER TRANSFERWATER TREATMENTWATER TREATMENT PLANTWATER USEWELL YIELDSWELLS10.1596/17376