Water Programme - Bihphed.bih.nic.in/Docs/NRDWP.pdf · provide basic drinking water supply facilities to the rural population. iii Foreword ... Components of the NRDW Programme .....8

Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water MissionDepartment of Drinking Water Supply

Ministry of Rural DevelopmentGovernment of India

www.ddws.gov.in

National Rural DrinkingWater ProgrammeMovement towards Ensuring People’s Drinking Water Securityin Rural India

Framework for Implementation

Department of Drinking Water SupplyMinistry of Rural Development, Government of India

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL DRINKING WATER MISSION

Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission

National Rural Drinking Water Programme Movement towards Ensuring People’s Drinking Water Security in Rural India

Framework for Implementation

Department of Drinking Water Supply Ministry of Rural Development

Government of India

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The first government-installed rural water supply schemes were implemented in the 1950s as part of the Government policy to provide basic drinking water supply facilities to the rural population.

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Foreword

Historically, drinking water supply in the rural areas in India has been outside the government's sphere of influence. Community-managed open wells, private wells, ponds and small-scale irrigation reservoirs have often been the main traditional sources of rural drinking water. The Government of India’s effective role in the rural drinking water supply sector started in 1972-73 with the launch of Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP).

During the period 1972-1986, the major thrust of the ARWSP was to ensure provision of adequate drinking water supply to the rural community through the Public Health Engineering System. The second generation programme started with the launching of Technology Mission in 1986-87, renamed in 1991-92 as Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission . Stress on water quality, appropriate technology intervention, human resource development support and other related activities were introduced in the Rural Water Supply sector. The third generation programme started in 1999-2000 when Sector Reform Projects evolved to involve community in planning, implementation and management of drinking water related schemes, later scaled up as Swajaldhara in 2002.

The Rural Water Supply (RWS) sector has now entered the fourth phase with major emphasis on ensuring sustainability of water availability in terms of potability, adequacy, convenience, affordability and equity while also adopting decentralized approach involving PRIs and community organizations. Adequate flexibility is afforded to the States/UTs to incorporate the principles of decentralized, demand driven, area specific strategy taking into account all aspects of the sustainability of the source, system, finance and management of the drinking water supply infrastructure. Adoption of appropriate technology, revival of traditional systems, conjunctive use of surface and ground water, conservation, rain water harvesting and recharging of drinking water sources have been emphasised in the new approach.

In the RWS sector sustainability of drinking water sources and systems are a major issue. As a consequence, ensuring availability of drinking water both in terms of adequacy and quality, on a sustainable basis, is the major challenge. Water quality is impacted due to ground water table falling due to excessive drawals. The levels of natural contaminants such as fluoride and arsenic and man-made chemical pollutants such as pesticides and insecticides are high in many areas. The biological contamination of large number of drinking water sources is a serious problem, primarily due to prevalent open defecation and insanitary conditions around the drinking water sources in rural India. With the basic sanitation programme being implemented in the villages, the prevalence of water borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, etc. is seen to have decreased, but the incidence is still relatively high in some parts of the country. Rural water supply

lqJh jktoat laèkw Ms. RAJWANT SANDHU

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Secretary Government of India

Ministry of Rural Development Department of Drinking Water Supply

247, ‘A’ Wing, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi-110 018 Tel.: 23061207, 23061245 Fax : 23062715

E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]

April 23, 2010

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programme must be integrated with sanitation and coordinated with primary health care and other related programmes. The new guidelines seek to promote this by formulating a coordinating mechanism that must also ensure convergence of related programmes such as NRHM, ICDS, SSA and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

From an institutional perspective, the modified policy recommends supporting the transfer of management and financial responsibility to the lowest level to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and, in particular the Village Water Supply and Sanitation Committees formed as Standing Committees of the Gram Panchayat. The transfer of responsibility would require provision of management and financial autonomy to the PRIs, VWSC, community organizations, as adequate and appropriate for their roles. This would enable the community to obtain a higher quality of services and minimize capital and maintenance cost, through competitive selection of service providers among existing public and private agencies and other organizations.

In order to safeguard the availability and quality of rural drinking water in India, this sector must have effective priority over other uses. Therefore, protection of ground water sources from excessive abstraction must be addressed, otherwise the costs of providing safe drinking water will continue to escalate. These issues can only be addressed with a multi-sectoral approach and a broad resource management perspective. Formulation of District Water Security Plans is an imperative. This will require development of institutional capabilities at the District Planning Board/ZP and GP/village level for preparing holistic plans for which provision must be made through allocation of funds as well as defining the institutional mechanism for capacity building and management of the RWS sector.

In rural India the spatial and social organization is such that the concept of a community can be interpreted synonymously with the concept of habitations. The rural habitation is often a unit of differentiation used to define a community based on caste and creed and also by members who by and large share common language and cultural characteristics. Often, people from the socially backward classes living in a cluster are not able to access water from the common water supply schemes located in the main village. To ensure availability of potable drinking water on sustainable basis in SC/ST dominant habitations, the States and UTs are required to commit adequate funds for these habitations.

Women generally manage domestic water needs. They are the pivot around whom the entire sustainability paradigm is evolved. It is, therefore, of critical importance that women are involved at all the stages of planning, implementation and management of rural water supply schemes. Moreover, women's associations can provide a strong framework for community participation.

The RWS norms and guidelines need to be flexible and broad-based for facilitating the community/VWSC for planning RWS projects based on the principle of demand responsive planning rather than adoption of universal norms and standards.

Based on these considerations the ARWSP has been modified as National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) for the Eleventh Plan period. It is sincerely hoped that the new regime will help in providing adequate and potable drinking water on a sustainable basis to all persons living in the rural areas of our country.

(RAJWANT SANDHU)

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Contents

Foreword .................................................................................................................................................... iii

Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... viii

Units of Measure .................................................................................................................................... ix

National Policy Framework ..............................................................................................................1 1. National Goal ................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Basic Principles .............................................................................................................................. 1 3. Vision and Objectives ................................................................................................................. 1

3.1. Vision .................................................................................................................................... 1 3.2. Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 1

4. Paradigm Shift ............................................................................................................................... 2 5. Steps to Ensure Source Security .............................................................................................. 3 6. Long Term Sustainability ........................................................................................................... 4 7. Critical Issues ................................................................................................................................. 4 8. Norms ............................................................................................................................................... 5

The Programme ....................................................................................................................................... 7 9. Modified Programme ................................................................................................................. 7

9.1. Modification ...................................................................................................................... 7 9.2. Components of the NRDW Programme ................................................................. 8 9.3. Flexible Policy ................................................................................................................... 9 9.4. Criteria for Allocation of Funds under NRDWP .................................................. 10 9.5. Incentive Funds ............................................................................................................. 11 9.6. O&M Fund ....................................................................................................................... 11 9.7. Provision of Drinking Water in Rural Schools & Anganwadis ........................ 12 9.8. Public Facilities for Drinking Water ......................................................................... 12 9.9. Earmarking of Funds for SCs and STs/SCP and TSP Component .................. 12 9.10. Gender Empowerment and Budgeting ................................................................ 13

10. Support Activities ..................................................................................................................... 13 10.1. Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance (WQM&S) ........................................ 14 10.2. Communication and Capacity Development ..................................................... 15 10.3. Management Information System .......................................................................... 15 10.4. Research and Development ...................................................................................... 15 10.5. Programme and Project Monitoring and Evaluation ....................................... 16

11. Other Support Activities ......................................................................................................... 17 11.1. Rigs and Hydro Fracturing Units ............................................................................. 17 11.2. Monitoring and Investigation Units ....................................................................... 17 11.3. External Support Agencies ........................................................................................ 17

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Delivery Mechanism .......................................................................................................................... 19 12. Institutional Set Up ................................................................................................................... 19

12.1. National Level ................................................................................................................ 19 12.2. National Technical Support Agencies .................................................................... 19 12.3. Role of National Informatics Centre ....................................................................... 19 12.4 State Level ....................................................................................................................... 20 12.5. District Level ................................................................................................................... 20 12.6 Village / Gram Panchayat Level ................................................................................ 20 12.7. Role of NGOs and CSOs .............................................................................................. 21

Planning, Fund Release And Monitoring ............................................................................. 23 13. Village and District Water Security Plan ............................................................................ 23 14. Comprehensive Water Security Action Plan (CWSAP) .................................................. 23 15. Planning ....................................................................................................................................... 25 16. Flow of Funds ............................................................................................................................. 25 17. Release of Funds ........................................................................................................................ 27 18. Audit ............................................................................................................................................. 29 19. Monitoring .................................................................................................................................. 30

19.1. Online Monitoring ........................................................................................................ 30 19.2. State Level ....................................................................................................................... 31 19.3. Community Monitoring and Social Audit ............................................................ 32

20. Regulation & Pricing ............................................................................................................... 32

Exit Policy ....................................................................................................................................... 35

Annexures ....................................................................................................................................... 37 Annexure I ....................................................................................................................................... 37

A. Norms for Providing Potable Drinking Water in Rural Areas .............. 37 B. Norms for Coverage .......................................................................................... 37 C. Definitions of Joint Monitoring Programme for MDG .......................... 37 D. Parameters of Potability - Safe Drinking Water ....................................... 39

Annexure II Guideline for Implementation of Sustainability – Swajaldhara Project ......................................................................................................................... 40

Annexure III Framework for Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance (WQM&S) .... 44 Annexure IV Communication and Capacity Development Unit (CCDU) ...................... 51 Annexure IV-A IEC Guidelines for Rural Drinking Water Supply .......................................... 54 Annexure IV-B Strategy for Implementation of HRD Campaign ......................................... 62 Annexure IV -C Guidelines for Engaging Technical Experts in Rural Water Supply

and Sanitation Sector ............................................................................................ 63 Annexure V Guideline on Computerisation and Management

Information System (MIS) .................................................................................... 66 Annexure VI Policy Guidelines on Research and Development for Rural Water

Supply and Sanitation Sector ............................................................................. 70

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Annexure VII Institutional Set Up at State, District and Village Levels ............................ 74 Annexure VIII Memorandum of Understanding between State Government

of ________ and the Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India .............................. 82

Annexure IX Proforma for Release of Funds Under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) ............................................................................................ 85

Annexure X Utilization Certificate for the Year 20__-20__ ............................................... 89

CONTENTS

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Abbreviations

AMC Annual Maintenance Contract ASHA Accredited Social Health Activist BIS Bureau of Indian Standards CAG Comptroller and Auditor General of India CBO community-based organisation CCDU Communication and Capacity Development Unit CEE Centre for Environment and Education CGWB Central Ground Water Board CSE Centre for Science and Environment CSIR Council of Scientific and Industrial Research CWC Central Water Commission CWSAP Comprehensive Water Security Action Plan DA Dearness Allowance DDP Desert Development Programme DPAP Drought Prone Areas Programme DPR Detail Project Report DWSM District Water and Sanitation Mission GIS Geographical Information System GoI Government of India GP Gram Panchayat GPS Global Positioning System GSI Geological Survey of India HADP Hill Areas Development Programme HRD human resource development ICT Information and Communication Technologies IEC information, education and communication IMIS Integrated Management Information System IT Information Technology IIH&PH Indian Institute of Hygiene and Public Health IIRS Indian Institute for Remote Sensing IIT Indian Institutes of Technology M&I Monitoring and Investigation MIS Management Information System MoU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-governmental organisation NGRI National Geophysical Research Institute NIC National Informatics Centre NICSI National Informatics Centre Services Inc. NICD National Institute of Communicable Diseases NIRD National Institute of Rural Development NPC National Project Committee

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MGNREGS Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme NRDWQM&S National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance NRHM National Rural Health Mission NRSC National Remote Sensing Centre NRDWP National Rural Drinking Water Programme O&M operation and maintenance OBC Other Backward Classes PHC Primary Health Centre PHED Public Health Engineering Department PRI Panchayati Raj Institution R&D Research and Development RDBMS Relational Data Base Management System RGNDWM Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission SC Scheduled Caste SHG self help group SLSSC State Level Schemes Sanctioning Committee ST Scheduled Tribe STA State Technical Agency SWOT Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats SWSM State Water and Sanitation Mission TA travelling allowance TSC Total Sanitation Campaign UT Union Territory VAP Village Action Plan VWSC Village Water and Sanitation Committee WSSO Water and Sanitation Support Organisation WHO World Health Organisation WQM&S Water Quality Monitoring & Surveillance

Units of Measure

lpcd litres per capita per day m metre

ABBREVIATIONS

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To increase economic productivity and improve public health, there is an urgent need to immediately enhance access to safe and adequate drinking water

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1. National Goal

To provide every rural person with adequatesafe water for drinking, cooking and otherdomestic basic needs on a sustainable basis.This basic requirement should meet minimumwater quality standards and be readily andconveniently accessible at all times and in allsituations.

2. Basic Principles

Water is a public good and every personhas the right to demand drinking water.It is the lifeline activity of the Governmentto ensure that this basic need of the peopleis met.To increase economic productivity andimprove public health, there is an urgentneed to immediately enhance access tosafe and adequate drinking water andGovernment should give highest priority tothe meeting of this basic need for the mostvulnerable and deprived sections ofsociety.The ethic of fulfillment of drinking waterneeds to all should not be commercializedand denied to those who cannot afford topay for such service.Drinking water supply cannot be left to themarket forces alone. The importance ofproviding livelihood supply to all and itsvital linkage with the health of the peoplemust be recognized.As such, the emphasis is more on Public-Public Partnership (such as between GramPanchayat and PHED for in-village

National Policy Framework

distribution of drinking water) rather thancommercialization of drinking water supplyby private agencies.User charges of the water supply systemshould have an in-built component ofcross-subsidy to ensure that theeconomically backward groups are notdeprived of this basic minimum need.

3. Vision and Objectives

3.1. Vision

Safe drinking water for all, at all times,in rural India.

3.2. Objectives

To ensure permanent drinking watersecurity in rural India.To ensure drinking water security throughmeasures to improve/augment existingdrinking water sources and conjunctive useof groundwater, surface-water and rainwater harvesting based on village waterbudgeting and security plan prepared bythe community/local government.Delivery of services by the system for itsentire design period of quality of water inconformity with the prescribed standardsat both the supply and consumptionpoints.Issue of potability, reliability, sustainability,convenience, equity and consumerspreference to be the guiding principleswhile planning for a community basedwater supply system

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To enable communities to monitor andmaintain surveillance on their drinkingwater sources;To ensure that all schools and anganwadishave access to safe drinking water;To provide enabling environment forPanchayat Raj Institutions and localcommunities to manage their owndrinking water sources and systems;To provide access to information throughonline reporting mechanism withinformation placed in public domain tobring in transparency, accountability andinformed decision making;

4. Paradigm Shift

It is observed that water supply schemesdesigned to provide 40 lpcd for the entirepopulation in a habitation are often notproviding educate drinking water topeople living at the tail end of the schemesor throughout the year.As such there is a need to move ahead fromthe conventional norms of litres per capitaper day (lpcd) norms to ensure drinkingwater security for all in the community.While initiating this move from lpcd todrinking water security at the State, Districtand Village levels, it is important to ensurethat the basic minimum requirement at thehousehold level for drinking and cookingneeds and also for other household needsand cattle are met.Water supply for drinking and cookingshould maintain quality as per theprescribed as per BIS standards and forother household and animal needs, thewater should be of acceptable standard.To prevent contamination of drinkingwater in the conveyance system, it isadvisable to adopt 24 x 7 supply whereever possible. The cost of water supplyprovision beyond the basic minimum needmust be borne by the consumers.

To ensure this, it is important to maintainpotability and reliability of drinking waterquality standards both at the production(water treatment plant) as well as at theconsumption points (household level).Focus on personal hygiene, and properstorage at the house hold level i.e. at thefamily level will ensure reduction of diseaseburden leading to improved quality of lifeand well being of the community.For ensuring quality of water, Bureau ofIndian Standard (BIS) IS: 10500 wasformulated in 1990. World HealthOrganization has also issued modifiedGuidelines for Drinking Water Quality(2004) and Guidelines for safe use ofwastewater and grey water (2006). Both theguidelines adopted health based targetsetting approach.Health based target is based on the totalexposure of an individual to contaminationand moves from reliance on end producttesting of water quality to risk assessmentand risk management of water suppliescommonly known as 'water safety plan'.Water safety plan links the identification ofa water quality problem with a water safetysolution. It includes both water qualitytesting and also sanitary inspection todetermine appropriate control measures. Itis a quality assurance tool that ensuresprotection of the water quality from thecatchment to the consumer and from thetap to the toilet.Health based target needs to beestablished for using groundwater, surfacewater, rainwater and reused/recycled water.For each, the use rather than the sourceshould determine the quality of the watersupplied.This therefore emphasizes the need toestablish quality assurance programmes forwater supplies to reduce the potential riskof contamination of water supply. This hasbeen indicated under 'Water QualityMonitoring & Surveillance Programme’(Annexure III).

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Installation of a water supply system in ahabitation does not confer on thehabitation the status of a fully coveredhabitation unless every house hold in thehabitation has been fully covered withpotable water in sufficient quantity.To enable the community to plan,implement and manage their own watersupply systems, the State should transferthe program to the PRIs particularly to theGram Panchayats for management withinthe village.Based on the above, the "Accelerated RuralWater Supply Programme" has beenrenamed as "National Rural Drinking WaterProgramme (NRDWP)".

5. Steps to Ensure SourceSecurity

Because of its vulnerability under differentcircumstances, in order to achieve watersecurity at the individual household level,the water supply system should notdepend on a single source.During natural calamity or pollution ofdifferent sources, the single drinking watersource may either become non-potable orinaccessible resulting in acute shortage ofdrinking water availability to many,especially to the marginalised people andcattle.Water security involves conservation andstorage of water by utilising differentsources for different use viz. properlycollected and stored rainwater, treatedsurface water/ground water for drinkingand cooking, untreated water for bathingand washing and grey water/spent waterfor flushing of toilets.To ensure risk and vulnerability reductionon such occasions and to ensure reliabilityand sustainability, a good frame workshould consider different drinking water

sources accessible in different situationsand different points of time.Adopt 'Wise Management of Water' for theequitable use, management and allocationof water for domestic purpose whichinvolves optimizing the use of bothconventional and non-conventional waterresources and focuses on both 'waterquality and water quantity' by providingsolutions from the catchment to theconsumer.Adopting integrated approach by revival oftraditional systems, conjunctive use ofsurface and ground water, storage of rainwater harvesting both at the communitylevel and at the household level will ensurerisk and vulnerability reductionHarvesting and storage of rain water fordrinking both at the community level andat the household level will ensure drinkingwater security even in adverse conditionsfor a few months. With sufficient storagecapacity this may even be sufficient for thewhole year.For all ground water based water supplyschemes, whether old or new, groundwater recharging mechanism shouldconstitute an integral part of the systemdesign.For ground and surface drinking watersources, it is of utmost importance toprotect the catchment to prevent itspollution from human and animal excretaand other sources of bacteriologicalcontamination. Well designed bunds,channels, bed protection, and convergencewith Total Sanitation Campaign andMahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme for lowcost waste water management throughstabilization ponds, are a pre-requisite forground and surface drinking water sourceprotection.Convergence with the MGNREGS programfor construction of new ponds and

NATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK

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rejuvenation of the old ponds, includingde-silting, should be built into the systemdesign and execution.Excess rain water at the household andcommunity level should be recharged intothe ground aquifer wherever feasiblewhich will not only improve ground waterquality but will also ensure its adequacy.To ensure household level drinking watersecurity and potability, community stand-alone water purification systems could alsobe promoted.A suitable blend of all the aboveapproaches will lead to wise watermanagement of drinking water atcommunity level.

6. Long Term Sustainability

To ensure lifeline drinking water securityunder all circumstance and at all times, itmay be required to have an alternate subdistrict, district and or state level watersupply system in the form of a gridsupplying metered bulk water to GPs/village by adopting an appropriate systemof pricing. But this does not undermine thephilosophy of importance of multiplesources and conjunctive use of water.State or district or sub district level gridcould be in the form of major pipelines,canals or any other appropriate systemconnecting major water bodies/sources.Treatment could be at the delivery point orat the source.

7. Critical Issues

The major sector issues that need to betackled during the Eleventh Plan period canbe summarized as follows:

Despite the impressive coverage ofprovision of safe drinking water facilities inthe rural areas, there is considerable gap

between the designed service level forwhich the infrastructure has been createdand the service available at the householdlevel.The issue of sustainability of source andsystem for ensuring supply of potablewater are cited as the two majorconstraints in achieving the national goalof providing drinking water to all.Further, the programme has so far mainlybeen managed by the Government (exceptSwajaldhara projects), without activeparticipation of the stakeholders. This hasposed a hindrance to the development ofmore efficient and lower cost options forservice delivery and also denied anopportunity to users to exercise theiroptions as consumers to demand betterservice delivery.In the years to come, the rural water supplyprogramme will face serious challenges byway of meeting the expanding needs of afast growing population, increasingdemand for higher service levelsaccompanied by rapid depletion of freshwater availability due to climate change.Factors which have contributed to therapid deterioration of the water supplyfacilities resulting in non availability of thedesigned service are: over dependence onground water and depletion of groundwater levels which also increases theincidence of quality problems; sourcesgoing dry leading to systems becomingdefunct due to competing demands ofground water from other sectors, poorrecharge, large scale deforestation and lackof protection of catchment areas, heavyemphasis on creation of new infrastructurebut poor attention to the maintenance ofexisting systems; poor ownership of watersupply systems and sources by the ruralcommunity and poor operation andmaintenance; neglect of traditional watersources, systems and management practices.

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Agriculture uses nearly four-fifths of thefresh water and various studies indicatethat current farming practices waste atleast 60 percent of this water. In waterscarce areas foods/grain products that aresent to other parts of the country ascommercial commodity takes away largequantity of water (about 3,000 litres ofwater required to grow 1 kg. of rice) fromthat area through these products, by whatis known as 'virtual water' transfers. There isenormous scope for improvement byadopting community ground watermonitoring, crop water budgeting andsocial regulation of water for ensuring freshwater availability for drinking on asustainable basis in water scarce areas.In the context of resource constraints andcompeting demands on resources andinter se priorities, it is unlikely that theGovernment alone would be able to meetthe challenge. The cost sharingarrangements should encourageinvolvement of the Central Government,State Government, PRIs, beneficiaries andother stakeholders. The PRIs need to ownand manage the drinking water supplysystems created.

8. Norms

To make norms and guidelines broad-based and allow flexibility to thecommunity to plan water supply schemesbased on their needs and to suit the localrequirement, it is recommended thatdesirable service level should be decided inconsultation with the community.Level of service should be linked to theissue of demand, commonly expressedthrough user's basic need for a particularlevel of service and satisfaction athousehold level on sustainable basis.The goal should be to move up the WaterLadder of service delivery so that

ultimately all rural households are providedwith adequate piped safe drinking watersupply within the household premises. Thisis necessary to relieve women and girlsespecially, from the drudgery of fetchingwater, address malnutrition issues, andincrease the time available for educationand leisure, while also preventingcontamination likely while fetching waterfrom a distant source.The basic minimum level of potabledrinking water supply in rural areas thathas been adhered to since the inception ofARWSP is given at Annexure I.A habitation in which all the households donot have the basic minimum drinkingwater facility of potable quality at aconvenient location on a sustainable basisis to be considered as uncovered.There is no distinction between habitationsnot covered due to quality or quantityaspects since in either case the same stepsare to be taken to provide alternatepotable and adequate water to thehousehold.Coverage of a particular habitation shouldbe indicated based on these criteria.The issue of equity and basic minimumneeds is to be considered while designingthe schemes and planning investment.

NATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK

UnprotectedSource, shallowhandpumps, canals

WellsProtectedSprings

TubewellsHandpumps

Standposts

HouseholdConnectionIndividual &Multiple

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The fundamental basis on which drinking water security can beensured is the decentralized approach through Panchayati RajInstitutions (PRIs) and community involvement.

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9. Modified Programme

9.1. Modification

Household level drinking water security

Starting with the Eleventh Plan, theendeavor is to achieve drinking watersecurity at the household level. Averageper capita availability may not necessarilymean assured access to potable drinkingwater to all sections of the population inthe habitation.Under the plan, all the remaining habitationswith population coverage from 0%population coverage to below 100%population coverage and existing and newlyidentified quality affected habitations are tobe covered, sustainability of water supplyschemes has to be ensured and “slip backs”are to be contained. Priority has to be givento coverage of 0% and 0-25% populationcoverage habitations and quality affectedhabitations in planning.The maintenance of water supply systems,ensuring water quality, reliability andconvenience of availability to every ruralhousehold in an equitable manner hasbeen given priority.

Conjunctive use of water

To move from over-dependence on onesource of drinking water to the conjunctiveuse from several sources, viz., ground,surface water and rainwater harvestingincluding recharge/roof water collectionand bulk transfer through pipelines.

The Programme

Decentralised approach

The fundamental basis on which drinkingwater security can be ensured is thedecentralized approach throughPanchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) andcommunity involvement.This needs to be achieved in Mission modeby involving the community and at thesame time enriching their knowledge andskills in a way that rural households andcommunities are truly empowered tomanage and maintain their drinking watersources and systems.It is necessary to build a warehouse ofinformation and knowledge at the Stateand district levels which can regularlycontribute to bringing the “hardware” oftechnologies–conventional/unconventional/innovative systems ofwater supply and link the same to the“software” of skills, knowledge,enthusiasm and desire for ownership ofthe water supply projects by thecommunities and Panchayati RajInstitutions themselves.The in-village water supply schemes to beplanned, approved, implemented,managed, operated and maintained by thePRIs and local community;The State Government and/ or its agencies/public utilities may shoulder theresponsibility of bulk metered transfer ofwater, its treatment and distribution up tothe village, whereas inside the village, it isthe PRI or its sub-committee i.e. VillageWater and Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/Pani Samiti that is to take over the

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responsibility for in-village drinking watermanagement and distribution;Government to play the role of facilitatorand with the help of NGOs/CBOs and civilsociety build the capacity of localcommunity/PRIs to manage the in-villagewater supply systems and sources;Transfer existing drinking water supplysystems to communities and PRIs formanagement, operation and maintenance,Reward good performance andachievement of sustainabilityActivity mapping should be carried outindicating the process, time frame andincremental improvement towards transferof “funds, functions and functionaries” tothe three tiers of Panchayati Raj in such away as to enable them to plan, implementand manage the rural water supplyprogramme.Local planning involves preparing thecommunity and even household levelsupply plan taking into consideration theavailable natural resources, skill andpotentialities. Training of PRI functionariesand Village Water and SanitationCommittee (VWSC) members is veryessential for local planning and should beadequately provided for.

9.2. Components of the NRDWP

To meet the emerging challenges in the ruraldrinking water sector relating to availability,sustainability and quality, the componentsunder the programme will be as follows:

i) COVERAGE for providing safe and adequatedrinking water supply to unserved, partiallyserved and slipped back habitations,

ii) SUSTAINABILITY to encourage States toachieve drinking water security at the locallevel,

iii) Provide potable drinking water to waterQUALITY affected habitations

iv) DESERT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME(DDP) areas to tackle the extremeconditions of low rainfall and poor wateravailability,

v) Mitigate drinking water problems in ruralareas in the wake of NATURAL CALAMITIES,

vi) OPERATION & MAINTENANCE (O&M) forexpenditure on running, repair andreplacement costs of drinking water supplyprojects, and

vii)SUPPORT activities.

(i) At the Central Level

NRDWP (Coverage): 30% of the annualNRDWP funds will be allocated forCoverage, which will be allocated amongstStates/UTs on the basis of prescribed inter-state allocation criteria. The fundingpattern for this component will be on 50:50basis except for the North–East States andJammu & Kashmir for which the fundingpattern will be on 90:10 basis between theCentre and the States.NRDWP (Water Quality): 20% of the annualNRDWP funds will be allocated for tacklingwater quality problems to enable ruralcommunities to have access to potabledrinking water. The funding pattern for thiscomponent will be on 50:50 basis exceptfor the North–East States and Jammu &Kashmir for which, funding pattern will beon 90:10 basis between the Centre and theStates.Operation and Maintenance: 10% NRDWPfunds will be allocated to be used by theStates/UTs on O&M of rural drinking watersupply schemes. The funding pattern forthis component will be on 50:50 basisexcept for the North–East States andJammu & Kashmir for which, fundingpattern will be on 90:10 basis between theCentre and the States.NRDWP (Sustainability) – 20% of theNRDWP funds will be earmarked for this

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component on a 100% Central sharebasis to be allocated among States/UTs,which will be used to encourage States/UTs to achieve drinking water securitythrough sustainability of sources andsystems. This component will beimplemented in the form ofdecentralized, community-managed,demand-driven programme on broadSwajaldhara principles whereininnovations will be encouraged. Capitalcost sharing by the community is left tothe state to decide. The component willbe funded fully by the Center (Stateshare not required for the component).States will be required to prepare district-wise Drinking Water Security Plan andfunds under NRDWP will be used to fundthe gap in the plan.NRDWP (DDP Areas): 10% of the annualNRDWP allocation will be assignedamongst States having DDP blocks/districts. This will be funded on 100%Central share basis.NRDWP (Support): 5% of NRDWP fundson a 100% Central share basis will beused for different support activitieswhich will be required to be carried outin order to enable the rural communitiesto have access to assured availability ofpotable drinking water, use of advancedtechnology, viz. satellite data/ imagery;GIS mapping; MIS and computerization;etc. and other sector support activities,viz. water quality monitoring &surveillance programme; IEC; watertesting laboratories; HRD in the sector;training, conferences, seminar, R&Dactivities, CCDU, etc.NRDWP (Natural calamity): 5% of theNRDWP funds will be retained by DDWSand used for providing assistance to States/UTs to mitigate drinking water problems inthe rural areas in the wake of naturalcalamities.

(ii) At the State Level

At the State level the programme fundsavailable for different components will be asfollows:

10% for O&M with 50:50 cost sharingbetween Centre & State except for theNorth–East States and Jammu & Kashmirfor which, funding pattern will be on 90:10basis between the Centre and the States.20% for sustainability and 5% for supportactivities as 100% grant in aid from Centre.45% for coverage and 20% for waterquality on 50:50 cost sharing except for theNorth–East States and Jammu & Kashmirfor which the funding pattern will be on90:10 basis between the Centre and theStates.Funds released to the State for the year inwake of natural calamity, if any, as 100%grant in aid from Centre.

9.3. Flexible Policy

There will be incentives for States todecentralize and hand over water supplysystems for management, operation andmaintenance to Gram Panchayat. Sincethere is a wide variation among States inthe number of habitations having waterquality problems and left over uncoveredhabitations, funds under differentcomponents of NRDWP, viz. Coverage andWater Quality will be allocated to States/UTs with the flexibility to choose thecomponent(s) under which, they would likethe funding to be provided. As such up to65% of the funds available at State levelcan be used for tackling coverage orwater quality.The allocation for Sustainabilitycomponent is limited to 20% on a 100%grant–in aid basis. States that propose toutilize less than 20% against the

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Sustainability component will have tofurnish justification to DDWS for decision inthe matter.The allocation for Sustainability will beused exclusively to achieve drinking watersecurity by adopting conjunctive use ofsurface water, rain water and ground waterand construction of water rechargingstructures with major emphasis on waterquality affected areas, overexploited,critical and semi-critical areas as specifiedby CGWB, and any other area that the StateGovernment has identified as waterstressed area. Basic Swajaldhara principlesof community and PRI based planning,implementation and management of theschemes are to be adopted. Under thiscomponent preparation of Village WaterSecurity Plan will be necessary. Guidelinesfor planning and implementation ofSustainability projects are at Annexure II.For taking up sustainability projects it is tobe ensured that the existing and proposedrural drinking water sources are directlyrecharged and for that the detailed manualon “Mobilising Technology forSustainability” issued by the Department ofDrinking Water Supply, Government ofIndia may be referred for planning, designand implementation of such projects .There are many fields where technicalsupport would be required by the States to

achieve the long term goal of the sector.Thus, support for water quality monitoring& surveillance, water testing laboratory,information, education andcommunication, human resourcedevelopment, engaging State TechnicalAgency for preparation of projects,technical scrutiny and evaluation of ruralwater supply schemes can be accessedunder NRDWP. Hydro-geo-morphologicalmaps, satellite-data imagery, GIS mappingsystems, use of GPS system for uniqueidentification of habitations and watersources and delivery points, support forsuccessfully deploying the central onlinemonitoring system (IMIS) and such otheractivities will also be supported.Expenditure will be met within the 5%Support Fund assigned to the States.

9.4. Criteria for Allocation of Fundsunder NRDWP

Criteria for allocation of funds to the Statesunder the NRDWP w.e.f. 25.2.2010 will be asunder:

In case of NRDWP (DDP Areas), the criteriafor allocation of funds would be the sameas that for the other components exceptthat the relevant information pertaining torural areas of DDP blocks would be

S. No. Criteria Weightage (in %)

i.) Rural population 40ii) Rural SC and ST population 10ii) States under DDP, DPAP, HADP and special category

Hill States in terms of rural areas 40iv) Rural population managing rural drinking water 10

supply schemes

Total 100

* Within the DDP areas, considering the ratio of the population supported in these two areas, Hot Desert Areas would be givenweightage of 90% and Cold Desert areas would be given weightage of 10%.

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considered. The Desert DevelopmentProgramme was in operation in 131 blocksof 21 districts in 5 States up to 1994-95. Onthe recommendations of the HanumanthaRao Committee, 32 new blocks werebrought within the purview of theprogramme and 64 blocks were transferredfrom DPAP. Consequently, coverage of theprogramme was extended to 227 blocks ofthe country w.e.f. 1.4.1995. With thereorganization of districts and blocks, theprogramme is under implementation in235 blocks of 40 districts in 7 States. TheStates Government Agency in charge ofRural Water Supply Programme shouldensure that funds released for DDP blocksare released to the respective districtwithin which the DDP blocks falls, fortaking up rural water supply projects inthese blocks only. The States where DDP isunder implementation along with thenumber of blocks and area are indicated inthe table below:The allocation of Central assistance underthe NRDWP for a financial year would becommunicated to the States/UTs at thebeginning of the financial year.

9.5. Incentive Funds

In the criteria for allocation of funds toStates/UTs, 10% weightage has been given

for “rural population managing ruraldrinking water supply schemes”.This criterion for allocation will be used asincentive to States for decentralization andreforms in the sector.To encourage the States to bring inreforms and decentralize the ruraldrinking water supply sector, the States/UTswould provide the detailed informationregarding “rural population managing ruraldrinking water supply schemes” before 31stMarch every year to enable the Departmentto finalize the allocation in the beginning ofthe next financial year.To achieve this ‘Activity mapping’ should becarried out clearly indicating the process,time frame and incremental improvementtowards transfer of “funds, functions andfunctionaries” to the three tiers ofPanchayati Raj Institutions.From this Incentive fund, States/UTs maytake up innovative projects to further theongoing decentralization process.

9.6. O&M Fund

The 13th Central Finance Commission hasrecommended separate grants to PRIs,which could be used to partly meet theoperation and maintenance expenditureincurred by the PRIs on ensuring potabledrinking water supply.

S. State Number of Number Area inNo. Districts of Blocks sq. kms.

1. Andhra Pradesh 1 16 191362. Gujarat 6 52 554243. Haryana 7 45 205424. Himachal Pradesh 2 3 351075. Jammu & Kashmir 2 12 967016. Karnataka 6 22 322957. Rajasthan 16 85 198744

Total 40 235 457949

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10% NRDWP fund will be allocated amongStates/UTs for O&M and States/UTs willmake matching contribution, which alongwith funds provided under the FinanceCommission’s recommendations as grantsto PRIs will be used to meet the O&Mexpenditure on drinking water supply. Itwould be desirable to deposit such O&Mcontributions in a corpus fund linked to theproject operated by PRI itself.All water supply schemes within the GPshall be maintained by the GramPanchayat. For multi –village or bulk watersupply schemes the source, treatmentplants, rising mains etc., shall bemaintained by PHED or the concernedagency while the distribution and othercomponents within the village are to bemaintained by the GP. State Governmentsshall endeavor to develop sustainablesources of funding for maintenance of ruralwater supply schemes and shall ensure thatthe Central and State Finance Commissionand O&M funds release by DDWS isproperly utilized.

9.7. Provision of Drinking Water inRural Schools & Anganwadis

All the States are required to compile datafrom the State Education Department andWomen and Child DevelopmentDepartment regarding the rural schools &anganwadis in existence and the numberof them having drinking water facilities andfeed this data online in the IMIS.The remaining Government rural schoolsand Anganwadis (located in Government /community buildings) are to beprovided with drinking water facilities byend 2010-11.A part of this work will be accomplishedthrough the funds provided by CentralFinance Commission and the rest wouldhave to be covered under the NRDWP, in

addition to the work of covering uncoveredhabitations.Expenditure for this purpose would also beshared by the Central and StateGovernment on 50:50 basis from the fundsallocated for NRDWP (Coverage).States would be required to fix targets forcoverage of rural schools and reportachievements online to the DDWS on amonthly basis.This activity is to be carried out incoordination with SSA, ICDS, NRHM andDepartment of Social Welfare.

9.8. Public Facilities for DrinkingWater

In the rural context, drinking water is to beprovided under NRDWP to every publicplace, including school, anganwadi, publicbuilding, PRI office, community halls,markets, temples, religious institutions,market places, mela ground, cremationground etc,.Provision of drinking water facilities willalso address the needs of floatingpopulation by installing street stand postsat convenient locations.

9.9. Earmarking of Funds for SCs andSTs/SCP and TSP Component

To accelerate the assured availability ofpotable drinking water on a sustainablebasis in SC and ST dominant habitations,the States/UTs are required to earmark atleast 25% of the NRDWP funds for drinkingwater supply to the SC dominatedhabitations and a minimum of 10% for theST dominated habitations. Habitations inwhich more than 40% of the populationbelongs to SCs are considered as SCdominated and with more than 40% STsare considered as ST dominated.States that have achieved full coverage of

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SC/ ST households with adequate safedrinking water as per the State norms mayincur lower level of expenditure on SC/STbut not in any case below the percentageof SC and ST population in the State.Where the percentage of SC or STpopulation in a particular State is high andwarrants earmarking/utilization of morethan the stipulated provisions, additionalfunds may be utilized.The State Governments/UT Administrationmay separately monitor the status ofassured availability of potable drinkingwater in SC/ST habitations.

9.10. Gender Empowerment andBudgeting

Women generally manage domestic water,and an essential ingredient of communityparticipation is to improve women’sinvolvement in the democratic decision-making process.Since women are the principal beneficiariesof this programme and are the pivotaround whom sustainability revolves, it isof critical importance that women areinvolved at all the stages of planning,implementation and management of ruralwater supply schemes.Women’s associations could provide astrong framework for communityparticipation.Handpump mistries under various skilldevelopment programmes and othertraining schemes should also include womenof the local areas/habitations as they can takebetter care of the operation andmaintenance of the handpumps than others.There should be women caretakers forhandpumps in the habitations.Certificate about satisfactory completion ofthe schemes may be obtained from womengroups in the habitations.Women, especially those belonging to SCs,

STs and OBCs, should constitute at least50% of the members of the Village Waterand Sanitation Committees (VWSC).VWSC is the Standing Committee of theGram Panchayat except for 6th ScheduleAreas. Provision for participation ofrepresentatives of SCs, STs and otherbackward classes in VWSC should be apriority.

10. Support Activities

NRDWP (Support): 5% of NRDWP funds willreleased to States every year for undertakingsoftware support activities. No additional fundwill be provided by GoI for these activitiesbeyond the allocated amount. All the Supportactivities indicated below are likely to

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continue for the 12th Five Year Plan also. Forthis, each State should set up a properlystaffed Water and Sanitation SupportOrganisation (WSSO) under the State Waterand Sanitation Mission. WSSOs have to bestaffed by experts in social development,human resource development, communicationand IT skills and other areas as required bythem in addition to engineering and technicalstaff that they may already be having; Thesefunds will be utilised, inter alia, for

i) Providing support for awareness creationand training activities taken up by theCommunication and CapacityDevelopment Units (CCDU) under theWSSO;

ii) Setting up district and sub divisional waterquality testing labs and supply of field testkits and training to grass root level workersfor simple water quality tests;

iii) Providing hardware and software supportfor MIS at the district and sub divisionallevel to bring in more accountability,effective monitoring and transparency indelivery of services.

Activities to be under taken by the Statesunder this fund are mentioned below:

10.1. Water Quality Monitoring &Surveillance (WQM&S)

Under the National Rural Drinking WaterProgramme the issue of Water QualityMonitoring & Surveillance has been given dueemphasis. The monitoring and surveillanceresults from the habitations are also to be puton the database of the Department andmonitored to ensure drinking water security atthe household level.

The National Rural Water Quality Monitoring &Surveillance Programme launched in February2005 has now been merged with NRDWP.

Detailed WQM&S Guideline is at Annexure III.Broadly, the programme is as follows:

– The approach, strategy and mode ofimplementation of the WQM&Sprogramme as detailed in the“Implementation Manual on National RuralWater Quality Monitoring & SurveillanceProgramme” issued by RGNDWM,Department of Drinking Water Supply,Ministry of Rural Development,Government of India (November 2004)needs to be adopted.

– All drinking water sources should be testedat least twice a year for bacteriologicalcontamination and once a year forchemical contamination.

– Under NRDWP, States may establish WaterTesting Laboratories at the Sub- Divisionlevel with a provision of testing fewselected chemical parameters (need based)and biological parameters. Under NRHMthere is a provision of testing water quality(biological parameters) at the PrimaryHealth Centers. Such facilities, along withany other labs like college/school labs, inthe area, may be used for the programme.

– The existing Field Testing Kits (FTK) maycontinue to be used for primary detectionof chemical and biological contaminationof all the drinking water sources in thevillages. Fund provided for procurement ofFTKs under National Rural Water QualityMonitoring & Surveillance Programmelaunched in February 2005 should be fullyutilized.

– IEC and HRD for WQM&S are to be taken upas part of the CCDU activities.

– The services of five GP level persons whohave been trained under National RuralDrinking Water Quality Monitoring &Surveillance programme since February2006 i.e. ASHA, Anganwadi Workers, SchoolTeachers, GP members, Social Workers etc.will continue to be utilized for thesurveillance programme.

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– Monitoring is to be done by entering thetest results of all sources tested by thedesignated labs on the IMIS of DDWS. Thehabitation and household data must becollected by two village level members (i)VWSC member selected in the Gram Sabhaand fully accountable to the Panchayat and(ii) ASHA of NRHM. They will alsoauthenticate the test results of Field TestKits used in the village.

10.2. Communication and CapacityDevelopment

The HRD and IEC programmes under the ruralwater supply programme have been mergedin 2004-05 and GoI provides 100% grant-in aidto establish Communication and CapacityDevelopment Unit (CCDU) in all States/UTs.Before taking up piped water supply projectsin a village, VWSC should be formed, theirmembers trained and they should be involvedin selection of source and system, estimatingdemand quantity, planning, monitoring,construction and in operation andmaintenance. This requires targeted IEC andHRD activities in such villages. The aim is tocreate awareness among rural people on allaspects of rural water supply and its relatedissues and to enhance the capacity of thePanchayati Raj Institutions/Local Bodies/VWSCwith the objective of enabling them to take upplanning, implementation and operation andmaintenance activities related to rural watersupply systems. NRDWP (Support) funds willbe provided for activities under the CCDU, asper the guidelines given in Annexure IV.

10.3. Management InformationSystem

For effective planning, monitoring andimplementation of NRDWP, InformationTechnology (IT) based Management InformationSystem provides the following support:-

Maintenance of habitation -level status ofwater supply data to ensure planning andmonitoring at micro and macro level.Assistance for computer facilities up to sub-division level, in phases, to ensure latesttechnology for processing and storing datain an RDBMS and its communication fromone office to another through Internet.Assistance for development of villagebased GIS maps and its storage andprocessing, including procurement ofdigital maps from Survey of India andprocurement of GPS instruments foridentification and capture of the location ofdrinking water sources.Development and maintenance ofcustomized software for enabling Statesand UTs to fully utilise the computingpower for planning, monitoring andimplementation of various activities in thesector and making the relevant dataavailable at the central server through theIMIS application.NRDWP (Support) funds will be providedfor MIS activities. Guideline on MIS andComputerization project is given inAnnexure IV.

10.4. Research and Development

With the new issues and challengesemerging in the rural drinking water andsanitation sector, a Research &Development Advisory Committee (RDAC)has been set up under the Chairpersonshipof Secretary, Department of Drinking WaterSupply, Ministry of Rural Development,Government of India. The functions of theResearch & Development AdvisoryCommittee (RDAC) on rural drinking waterand sanitation sector will be, interalia:i) Identify field problems from the user

departments and communityorganizations, viz. Non GovernmentalOrganizations (NGOs) Community-

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based organization (CBOs), voluntaryagencies, etc.

ii) Generate new ideas for research,development and innovation, and fixpriority for such projects and decidethrust areas.

iii) Identify institutions and scientists forspecific research, development,innovation and pilot projects, and invitethem to submit proposals.

iv) Help the identified scientists/organizations to formulate inter-sectoraland multi-disciplinary research projectsrelevant to the sector.

v) Help the Department to prepare specializedand emerging science and technologyrelated documents of current interest.

vi) Advise the Department on all suchmatters which will be helpful inpromoting and adopting usefultechnology as well as research anddevelopmental activities with specificreference to rural water supply andsanitation sectors.

vii)Promote convergence with otheragencies involved in similar activitiesand dovetail the same for the benefit ofthe WATSAN sector.

In order to consider/ approve the Researchand Development projects on RuralDrinking Water and Sanitation, it has beendecided to constitute a Project SanctioningCommittee under the Chairpersonship ofSecretary, Department of Drinking WaterSupply, Ministry of Rural Development,Government of India. The Committee willconsider the recommendations of theResearch and Development AdvisoryCommittee (RDAC) while approving theprojects.To strengthen the R&D facilities in theconcerned Departments in various States,

State Governments are encouraged toestablish R&D cells with adequatemanpower and infrastructure. R&D Cells arerequired to remain in touch with thepremier State Technical Agency.The network of technical institutions mayfollow the guidelines issued by theDepartment from time to time for effectiveimplementation of the rural water supplyprogramme. R&D Cells are also required tobe in link with the Monitoring andInvestigation Unit and study theMonitoring and Evaluation Study Reportsfor initiating appropriate follow up action.The R&D Cell should keep in touch with thedocumentation and information centre ofthe DDWS.Guideline indicating the thrust areas ofR&D is at Annexure VI.

10.5. Programme and ProjectMonitoring and Evaluation

Central Government takes up monitoring andevaluation studies through reputedorganizations / institutions from time to time.

The State Governments may also take upsimilar monitoring and evaluation studieson the implementation of the rural watersupply programme. Such proposal needsto be approved in the SLSSC meeting.100% financial assistance will be providedby the Centre to the States for taking upsuch evaluation studies under Supportactivities fund.The reports of these studies should bemade available to the Department andimmediate corrective action should beinitiated as a follow up to improve thequality of programme implementation.

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11. Other Support Activities

11.1. Rigs and Hydro FracturingUnits

The expenditure for purchase of Rigs/Hydro fracturing units would be made bythe Central Government and StateGovernment on 50:50 basis from thenormal NRDWP fund.A rig monitoring plan for the State shouldbe drawn up at the beginning of the yearto effect optimum utilisation of thesemachines and the crew.

11.2. Monitoring and InvestigationUnits

A special monitoring cell and investigationunit at the State headquarters should beset up and headed by a well qualified andsenior officer with necessary supportingstaff.The Monitoring unit shall be responsiblefor collecting information either online orthrough hard copies from the executingagencies through prescribed reports andreturns (Progress Monitoring System),maintenance of the data and timelysubmission of the prescribed data onlineto the Central Government by due dates.The unit shall also be responsible formonitoring aspects of quality of water,adequacy of service and other relatedqualitative aspects of the programme atthe field level.The Unit shall also maintain water qualitydata in coordination with the concernedDepartment, Central/State Ground WaterBoard. Details of different technologiesdeveloped by institutions for tacklingdifferent problems should be provided bythe Unit to the field level executing agencies.The Monitoring and Investigation Unitsshould also have technical posts of

hydrologists, geophysicist, computerspecialists with data entry operators, etc.A Quality Control Unit should be anintegral part of M&I Units and should workin coordination with the R&D Cell. This unitwill be responsible for controlling/regulating the quality of constructionworks in water supply schemes and willensure practical application of latesttechnologies in the field.The expenditure will be borne .by theCentral Government and the StateGovernments on 50:50 sharing basis. TheCentral share will be met from the NRDWP(Support) funds.

11.3. External Support Agencies

Various external support agencies like WorldBank, Japan Bank for InternationalCooperation, KFW etc. are willing to supportprojects in the rural water supply sector. Statesthat desire to avail such assistance mayprepare project proposals as explained below:

Projects submitted for external fundingshould include a strong component forinstitutionalizing community-baseddemand driven Rural Water SupplyProgramme with cost sharing by thecommunities, gradually replacing thecurrent government supply driven centrallymonitored non- participating programme.These projects should address softwareactivity needs, drinking water supply,sustainability measures, enabling targetcommunities to become open-defecationfree, environmental sanitation, healtheducation, income generating activities, etc.Approval of State Finance and PlanningDepartments should be obtained to ensurethat the proposal has been scrutinized forits viability.The progress should be monitored at thelevel of Secretary in the State to ensure thecompletion of projects on time to avoidcost overrun and to take appropriateremedial measures.

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The Department of Drinking Water Supply is to conduct regularMonitoring and Evaluation of the implementation and impact ofthe rural water supply programme in the States.

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12. Institutional Set Up

12.1. National Level

The Department of Drinking Water Supply to

– Provide policy guidance and financial andtechnical support to the States.

– Conduct regular Monitoring and Evaluationof the implementation and impact of therural water supply programme in theStates.

– Support the States in setting up WSSO asper the NRDWP guidelines.

– Assist the States in case of naturaldisaster for restoration of damaged watersupply systems.

12.2. National Technical SupportAgencies

To assist the DDWS and State RWS&SDepartment(s) prepare and advise onspecialized and emerging science andtechnology issues as well as research anddevelopment activities with specific referenceto the rural water and sanitation sector thefollowing National Agencies have beenidentified:

– All Central Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) Laboratories andOrganizations viz., CSMCRI (Bhavnagar),ITRC (Lucknow), CMERI (Durgapur), NCL(Pune), NEERI (Nagpur) etc.

– Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)– Geological Survey of India (GSI)

Delivery Mechanism

– Department of Science and Technology(GoI)

– Department of Space Technology (GoI)– Central Water Commission (CWC)– National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)– National Institute of Communicable

Diseases (NICD)– National Institute of Rural Development

(NIRD)– National Arid Zone Research Institute

(Jodhpur)– Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)– Centre for Environment and Education

(CEE)– Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)– Indian Institute of Science (IISc)– Regional Engineering Colleges (REC)– India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health

(IIH&PH)– Any other Central Agency dealing with

RWS&S sector development.

12.3. Role of National InformaticsCentre

National Informatics Centre (NIC), at NewDelhi would act as technical consultant for theDDWS at the center and State NIC would actas technical adviser to the State Governmentand would primarily be responsible forextending support to the states in terms of e-governance requirements.

– NIC will also maintain the central databasesand will be responsible for maintainingthe National Rural Habitation Directory ofthe country.

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– The role of NIC will also encompass theactivity of standardisation of location andother codes thereby enabling building oftwo way linkages with the state databaseon the basis of standard codes.

– The states governments must strictly followthis coding pattern for achieving this goalof interoperability between the state andcentral MIS.

– The State level NIC Officer is the member ofthe SLSSC Committee for MIS andComputerization projects only and cansupport the State Government as e-governance/ICT consultant for IT relatedactivities.

– At the State level, NIC state unit will extendtechnical support to the MIS programme ofthe state, including development ofsoftware applications and training as permutually agreed proposals.

12.4. State Level

Public Health Engineering Departments/RuralWater Supply and Sanitation Departments/Boards are the primary executing agencies forcommissioning rural water supply schemes atthe state level. The changed water resourcesituation and need to adopt decentralizedstrategy emphasizing a user-driven demand-oriented approach necessitates theseEngineering Departments to have a greaterunderstanding about communicationmethodologies, PRA techniques and shiftingtheir role to one of facilitator rather than just aservice provider. For this, it will be necessary tostrengthen and restructure the existing PHEDs/Boards by making them responsive to the needsof the community and the evolving scenario bystudying their strengths and weaknesses.

Each State is to have the following Institutions:

State Water and Sanitation Mission (SWSM).State Level Scheme SanctioningCommittee (SLSSC).

State Technical Agency (STA).Water and Sanitation Support Organization(WSSO).

The composition and functions of each ofthese bodies is indicated at Annexure VII.

12.5. District Level

A District Water and Sanitation Mission(DWSM) shall be constituted at the districtlevel and should function under thesupervision, control and guidance of ZillaPanchayat/Parishad. States which do not havea proper PRI set up in place, as in case of 6th

Schedule Area and desire to supervise theworking of the DWSM through alternativemechanism, may put in place a suitable bodythrough which the District Water Security Planwill be prepared and implemented. The villagewater security plans should be analyzed andconsolidated at the district level by DWSM. Itshould prepare a district based water securityplan for implementation. At the district level,convergence of all the other relatedprogrammes and funding should be ensured.Some of the major related programmes areMGNREGS, Integrated WatershedManagement projects of Department of LandResources, Ministry of Rural Development,Central and State Finance Commission funds,NRHM, various Watershed and Irrigationschemes of the Ministry of Agriculture, variousschemes of the Ministry of Water Resourcesetc. The composition and functions of DWSMare indicated at Annexure VII.

12.6. Village/Gram Panchayat Level

A Village Water and Sanitation Committee(VWSC) is to be set up as a standingcommittee in each Gram Panchayat forplanning, monitoring, implementation andoperation and maintenance of their WaterSupply Scheme to ensure active participation

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of the villagers. This Committee may bemerged with the Village Health Committee setup under NRHM, so that water, sanitation andhealth issues are tackled together at thevillage level. The membership of a VWSC mayconsist of about 6 to 12 persons, comprisingelected members of the Panchayat, womenwith due representation to SCs, STs andpoorer sections of the village. This Committeeshall function as a Standing Committee onWater and Sanitation of the Gram Panchayatand should be an integral part of the VillagePanchayat. The composition and functions ofthe VWSCs can be regulated by a set ofby-laws under the State Panchayati Raj Act.

12.7. Role of NGOs and CSOs

The experience gained under the Swajaldharaand externally supported projects in ruralwater supply sector revealed that NGOs andCivil Society Organisations have played amajor role in community mobilisation andassisting the community in planning andmanagement of the water supply schemes.They can also play a role in the followingactivities:

Information Dissemination: NGOs andCSOs can inform communities throughdiverse, effective and multiplecommunication methods about theguidelines and their roles, powers andresponsibility in participating andcontributing to the programme.Institutional building: CSOs can play animportant role in building up institutionson the planning, managerial, technical,maintenance and social engineeringaspects from the Gram Sabha and GramPanchayat, right up to the institutions setup at the district and state level. Grass rootorganisations can provide tremendoussupport to the Gram Sabha for collective

action and to the PRIs so that they areenabled to effectively implement theprovisions of the guidelines.Engagement at state level: CSOs can beinvolved in developing state mechanismsand plans for operationalising theprogramme in its true spirit. This will helpin an objective analysis of the bottlenecksas well as identification of appropriatesolutions.Planning and technical support: SeveralCSOs have considerable technicalexperience gained from working on waterresources, watershed and other relatedprogrammes. Wherever, possible, thisexperience should be utilised, especially formaking the village water security plans.Monitoring: The community through theGram Sabha and SHGs must beempowered to monitor the programme.This empowerment process can befacilitated by CSOs and NGOs.

Institutionalisation of engagement: Thefacilitative capacities of NGOs in the abovementioned areas need to be institutionalisedin the entire process and effort. For this, thereneeds to be space for civil societyorganisations, who are partners in theprocess, with clarity on their roles andresponsibilities.

Selection of CSOs: The CSOs must be selectedby a transparent and fair process and based onability and capacity. The state may define theeligibility or qualifying criteria for selection ofCSOs keeping in view the state specificsituation. The CSO selected should be active inthe proposed area of operation.

Capacity building of CSOs: Adequate resourcesneed to be allocated so that the capacities ofCSOs are built, so that they are facilitated andempowered to carry out their responsibilities.

DELIVERY MECHANISM

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A water safety plan, performance improvement plan whenaugmenting existing infrastructure and an operational plan foroperating the scheme will be part of the VWSP.

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13. Village and District WaterSecurity Plan

In many States, Gram Panchayats or theirSub-committee i.e. Village Water andSanitation Committee have become fullyresponsible for planning, implementation,management, operation and maintenanceof the rural water supply systems.Village level planning including waterbudgeting is the key factor in ensuringoptimum utilization of water.Appropriate institutional support isrequired to facilitate the process ofpreparation of Village Water Security Plan(VWSP), which is to be prepared by thevillage community with the help of NGOs.Village Water Security Plan will be prepared,which inter alia, will include thedemographic, physical features, watersources, and other details of the village;available drinking water infrastructure andgaps; proposed work to augment theexisting infrastructure and water sources;funding by dovetailing various fundsavailable at village level and requirement offunds from rural water supply programmes.The VWSP will also have details ofmanagement, operation and maintenanceof the systems and sources. A water safetyplan, performance improvement planwhen augmenting existing infrastructureand an operational plan for operating thescheme will be part of the VWSP.Based on all the VWSPs of the districts, theDistrict Water Security Plan will be prepared.

Planning, Fund Release andMonitoring

Under the District Water Security Plan, allin-village work should be carried out by theGram Panchayat or its sub-committee i.e.VWSC, whereas bulk water transfer andmetering, inter-village distribution,maintenance of water grid, etc. will behandled by the State Government and orits agencies/public utilities.The District Water Security Plan will beimplemented and funds from differentsources/rural water supply programmeswill be dovetailed and NRDWP funds willalso be utilized.The funds available under NRDWP(Sustainability) – Swajaldhara componentwill be used for funding of Village WaterSecurity Action Plans for in-villageinfrastructure.Other NRDWP funds viz. coverage,water quality, DDP Areas, etc. can beused for bulk water transfer, treatmentplants, distribution network in additionto in-village water supply infrastructureand augmentation of drinking watersources.

14. Comprehensive WaterSecurity Action Plan (CWSAP)

The main objective of the ComprehensiveWater Security Action Plan is to provide adefinite direction to the programme, and alsoto ensure regular monitoring of the progressmade by the respective State towards the goalof achieving drinking water security to everyrural household.

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Under the broad goal set by each State, a fiveyear rolling plan is to be prepared and duringeach financial year the sub-goal and thepriorities would be fixed based on mutualconsultation by the Centre and the Statewhich includes the following:

Every year, the States/UTs shall prepare theAnnual Comprehensive Water SecurityAction Plans and which will inter- aliainclude broad directions/thrust andtangible targets planned to be achieved inthe financial year.Taking into consideration the fundsavailable from different sources andworking out the Central fund based on thepresent allocation plus 10% increase everyyear CWSAP will have to be prepared byeach State.Each State will have to submit to DDWS theAnnual CWSAP by Feb every year, throughonline IMIS.After consultation with each State duringFeb and March of the current financial yearfunds are to be released in April to Statesfor the next financial year.The ACWSAP will be prepared in aparticipatory manner and after carrying outdetailed SWOT analysis.Under the ACWSAP, detailing will be donebased on the Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) signed between theDDWS and the State.The progress made and achievements inthe previous year will be basis of theACWSAP and it will incorporate schemes tobe taken up, allocation of funds under theState Sector, Central Sector as well ascarried over funds, if any.,While preparing the CWSAP, completion ofthe incomplete works shall be givenpriority over new works.It should be ensured that the works takenup are completed as per schedule and thatthere should not be any delay in execution

which would result in cost escalation, non-utilisation of assets created, etc.The Action Plans should indicate thefollowing aspects also:

a) Target for the year of coverage ofhabitations with 0% populationcovered, 0-25% population covered,25-50% population covered, 50-75%population covered and 75-100%population covered and quality affectedhabitations, SC, ST and minoritydominated habitations, with theirnames, block, district, etc. withreference to census village code fromthe appropriate survey list in thewebsite. Higher priority should be givento coverage of 0% population covered,0-25% population covered, qualityaffected, SC, ST and minority dominatedhabitations in planning. The names ofhabitations targeted should be markedon line;

b) The projects to be taken up to cover thetargeted habitations, ongoing and new,piped or others, with their location,coverage, estimated cost, estimatedexpenditure etc.,

c) Population to be benefited indicatingseparately the SC/ST, other backwardclasses and minority population; and,

d) Sustainability structures to be taken up,their type, location and estimated cost.Larger number of sustainabilitystructures should be taken up in over-exploited and critical blocks and qualityaffected habitations.

e) Plan for coverage of schools andanganwadis with water supply

f ) Plan for Community involvement, IECand other Support activities

g) Plan for Water quality monitoring,training, sample testing etc.

h) Detail of the Village, District and StateLevel monitoring and evaluation

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mechanism with special emphasis onbeneficiaries satisfaction of the service;

i) Plan for clean environment arounddrinking water sources including handpumps, proper O&M and involvement ofthe Panchayati Raj Institutions;

15. Planning

15.1. Based on the ‘National PolicyFramework’ each State should prepareState specific Sector Policy framework.Subsequently State Level Planning fortaking up water supply schemes for the11th Plan Period is to be prepared basedon the State Policy framework.

15.2. State will have to plan for each yeartaking in to consideration the ‘ongoingschemes, new schemes as well asschemes which will requireaugmentation and link to thehabitations which are proposed to becovered under these schemes adheringto the prioritisation in targetinghabitations as described above.

15.3. Proposals received from Members ofParliament for installation of handpumps in habitations within theirconstituencies should be given prioritywhile planning for water supplyschemes. Such proposal received fromthe Member of Parliament should beforwarded to the State Rural WaterSupply Department for inclusion in theState annual shelf of projects.

15.4. Members of Parliament should beinformed of the inclusion/non-inclusionof their proposals along with thereasons in each case in the event of non-inclusion. It would be preferable if thecommunication is issued from the StateNodal Department at a senior level.

15.5. While planning all habitations are to belinked to census village and cumulativepopulation of the main village and

other villages will be as recorded in theCensus 2001. The National populationgrowth factor indicated in Census 2001may be adopted to arrive at thepresent population.

15.6. Detail Project Report (DPR) of watersupply schemes/projects are to beprepared by the State Rural WaterSupply Department for which servicesof the State Technical Agency (STA) maybe sought. While commencing with thepreparation of the DPRs the Rural WaterSupply Department will holdconsultation with the local communitythrough the mechanism of the GramPanchayat in order to ensurecommunity participation and also toensure that the choice of technology/system is appropriate and easy tooperate and maintain. These DPRs are tobe scrutinized and vetted by the StateTechnical Agency.

15.7. Once the annual shelf of projects (DPRs)is finalized it is to be placed in the StateLevel Scheme Sanctioning Committee(SLSSC) meeting for approval. The SLSSCwould scrutinize the proposal to seethat they are in accordance with theGuidelines and the proposals of theMembers of Parliament have been givenfull consideration.

15.8. The approved annual shelf of projects(DPRs) approved by SLSSC are to beentered on line (IMIS) as per theprescribed proforma. The projects areto be linked to the habitations to becovered during the particularfinancial year.

16. Flow of Funds

16.1 The State Water and Sanitation Mission(SWSM) shall select a Bank branch of anyPublic Sector Bank with internetconnectivity at the State Headquarters,

PLANNING, FUND RELEASE AND MONITORING

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for maintaining the two accountsnamely Programme Account, andSupport Activities Account under theNational Rural Drinking WaterProgramme. These shall be savingaccounts and once selected, theAccounts shall not be changed to anyother Branch or Bank withoutconcurrence of DDWS.

16.2 There will be a written undertaking fromthe Bank that it will follow theGuidelines of Government of India forpayments from the DDWS Funds. Theconcerned branch will maintain Internetconnectivity and enter the data into therelevant module of the OnlineIntegrated Management InformationSystem (IMIS).

16.3 The SWSM will communicate to theDDWS, Ministry of Rural Developmentthe details of the Bank branch IFSC codeand the Account numbers. The DDWS,Ministry of Rural Development shallrelease the programme funds andsupport funds respectively into theprogramme and support accounts.

16.4 The SWSM shall credit the SupportAccount with funds for carrying outsoftware activities as indicated in para10 of the guideline and for properfunctioning of the Water and SanitationSupport Organization. Such funds shallbe credited to the Support Account ofthe SWSM.

16.5 The State Government shall match theProgramme Account with funds as perthe funding pattern indicated in para9.3 of the guideline in order to meetworks related expenses forimplementing rural water supplyprojects and sustainability projects andalso to meet expenses which are notfound eligible to be funded under theNational Rural Drinking WaterProgramme, such as to meet cost

escalation, tender premium and otherprogramme expenses which are theresponsibility of the State Government.

16.6 The mode of the Programme andSupport activities expenditure will beregulated as follows:

i) Expenditure account for programmefund and support fund needs to beseparated. For programme fundexpenditure should have linkage withphysical progress of the projects/schemes being implemented.Expenditure under support fund shouldbe made strictly as per the items ofactivities and hardware specified in therespective support activities guidelines.

ii) NRDW programme fund needs to bematched by the State matching fund asper the pattern of funding indicated inpara 9.3 of the guidelines and

iii) The Bank will render monthly account,in respect of NRDWP Funds, to thePHED/Board, the SWSM and wheneverrequested, to the DDWS.

16.7 A tripartite Memorandum ofUnderstanding will be entered intobetween the Bank, SWSM and theDDWS wherein the parties would agreeto abide by the provisions of theGuidelines. In particular, the Bank willagree to abide by the instructionsissued, from time to time, by the DDWS,regarding the operation of theAccounts.

16.8 The DDWS may, from time to time, issuesuch directives as necessary for smoothflow of funds and effectiveness of theProgramme.

16.9 The Accounting System, to beprescribed by the DDWS, would bebased on the well-established PublicWorks Accounting system, with its ownChart of Accounts and Balance Sheet.The Integrated (Online) ManagementInformation System (IMIS) software

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would support the Accounting Systemand would be enabled so that PHED,SWSM and Bank branch concerned canmake data entry on line for theirrespective transaction.

16.10 Money accruing as Interest credited inthe Programme Account will be creditedto the same account and reflected in theUtilization Certificate of the year. Theexpenditure out of this interest amountwill be made on items of work allowedin these Guidelines. Any deviation ofexpenditure will be guided by theinstructions/guidelines to be issued bythe DDWS, Ministry of RuralDevelopment from time to time. TheBank shall intimate to the State levelAgency the interest amount credited byit to the Account on quarterly basis.

17. Release of Funds

Every year, in the beginning of the financialyear, allocation of funds under different

components of NRDWP will becommunicated to the States. The States/UTs will be required to indicate thecomponent under which and to whatextent, they would like to avail the funds.However, once allocation is made, the 1stinstallment amounting to 50% of theallocation under Programme Fund will bereleased to States/UTs without anyproposal from the State/UT, if theconcerned State/UT has drawn the 2ndinstallment in the previous year. SupportFund which is 100% grant in aid, will alsobe released in two installments based oncertain criteria.In case, due to any reason, allocation underProgramme Fund could not be decided inthe beginning of the financial year and/orParliament has not passed the full budgetof the financial year, release will be made inApril on ad-hoc basis based on theavailable funds as part of the 1stinstallment against programme fund.Once the allocation under ProgrammeFund is decided and adequate funds


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become available, the remaining part ofthe 1st installment will be released makingit 50% of the allocation.The 2nd installment under ProgrammeFund to cover the balance of the annualallocation will be released on fulfillment ofthe following conditions:a) Receipt of a specific proposal under

Programme Fund from the State/UT inthe prescribed proforma (Annexure X)with progress reports generated fromthe IMIS and returns; progress reportsthat are not generated from IMIS willnot be accepted.

b) Utilization of 60% of the availableresources under Programme Fund andcorresponding expenditure under theState sector funds available till date(unutilised opening balance, if any, fromthe previous years plus funds releasedas the first installment).

c) Receipt of certificate of actualexpenditure under the State sector andthe NRDWP from the AccountantGeneral upto the year preceding theprevious financial year; However, ifreport from Account General is notreceived due to any unforeseen reasons,the release will not be withheld, if StateGovernment/UT Administration is ableto provide specific reasons for delay andgives undertaking for furnishing thesame after the receipt of the same fromthe office of the Accountant General. Incase, in the AG’s report, somediscrepancies/deficiencies are reported,the same will be adjusted in thesubsequent releases.

d) Receipt of Utilization Certificategenerated from the online IMIS (in theprescribed Proforma as at AnnexureXI) under the State sector and theNRDWP signed by the Head of thefund recipient Department/Board/Authority/Corporation/Body andcountersigned by the Principal

Secretary/Secretary of the concernedDepartment.

e) Certificate that the unfinished works aregiven priority for completion.

f ) Certificate that all the schemesapproved by the State level SchemeSanctioning Committee six months agohave been taken up for implementation.

g) Proposal for release of the secondinstallment of funds under theProgramme Fund, complete in allrespects as indicated above, shouldreach to the RGNDWM by the 31stDecember of the financial year.Proposals received after 31st Decemberwill be subjected to progressive cuts asindicated below:

Month of receipt of Cut on the totalproposal allocated amount

Up to December NilJanuary 10%February 20%March 30%

Any restoration of cut imposed onaccount of late submission of proposalwill be made by DDWS, in consultationwith its finance wing, on a case to casebasis. The primary reason forconsidering such restoration would be ifdelay was due to reasons not under thecontrol of the implementing agency.

h) Release of fund under Support Fund willbe done in two installments and therelease of 2nd installment will be basedon submission of activity-wise Physicaland Financial progress and UtilizationCertificate generated from the IMIS.Only those activities permissible underthe guidelines indicated under supportactivities will be permitted.

i) The expenditure on O&M should notexceed 10% of the total funds releasedin the previous year under NRDWP.

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j) Excess expenditure in the previous year,if any, will be deducted at the time ofrelease of the 2nd installment of funds;

k) States/UTs have to ensure that onlinereporting is done;

l) Details of the meeting of the StateVigilance and Monitoring Committeeheld during the previous year, whereinissues relating to NRDWP werediscussed.

m) A certificate that no centage chargeshave been made on NRDWP funds.

n) In other words, funds will be releasedbased on the specific proposals fromthe State Governments indicating theactual requirement during theremaining part of the year andutilization of prescribed percentage offunds already released.

o) While releasing the Central share, thequantum of unutilised funds availablewith the States/UTs in relation to thetotal allocation for the financial year willbe kept in view.

p) Carry over funds in the next financialyear will be allowed to the extent of10% of the total amount released.

q) However, if any amount has beenreleased in the month of March and oramount could not be transferred to theState/UT in the financial year, the samewill not be accounted as carry forwardamount.

r) While releasing the second installment,the excess amount over and above theprescribed limit, will be deducted.However, if the State/UT has utilizedmore than 75% of the total availablefund in the current financial year, theexcess carry over amount may not bededucted while releasing the 2ndinstallment.

s) The States/UTs shall release the entireamount of central allocation receivedalong with the matching State share to

the implementing agency (s) withoutany delay and in any case not later than15 days after its receipt.

t) The funds provided under NRDWP willbe used to meet the expenditure onapproved schemes and O&M asprescribed under the guidelines.

u) In case, any State/UT levies the centagecharges on NRDWP funds, double theamount charged will be deducted whilereleasing the last installment of funds.

v) In the States where the programmes areimplemented through Statutory Bodieslike Boards, Nigam and Authority etc,Central allocation will be releaseddirectly to such Bodies and not throughthe State Governments. In such cases,expenditure incurred under the NRDWPand matching State share will besubjected to the audit either by theAccountant General of the Stateconcerned or by the CharteredAccountants.

w) While releasing the State share and ortransferring the NRDWP funds to theimplementing agency (s), the StateGovernment will endorse the copies ofthe sanction orders releasing the fundsto the DDWS.

x) Amount released under the NRDWPcannot be utilized/ adjusted against anycost escalation of the schemes or excessexpenditure over and above theapproved cost of schemes in theprevious years.

18. Audit

18.1 The SWSM will ensure that the accountsare audited by a Chartered Accountantselected from a panel approved by theCAG, within six months of the close ofthe financial year. This account will besupported by a statement ofreconciliation with the accounts of


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PHED and a certificate of the CharteredAccountant on its accuracy.

18.2 In addition to the Audit by theChartered Accountant, the works underthis Programme would be subject toaudit by the Office of the Comptrollerand Auditor-General of India (C&AG).The Audit of the work done by theC&AG may cover aspects of quality, inaddition to financial audit.

18.3 Both the State level Agency and thePHED must provide all relevantinformation to the District levelVigilance and Monitoring Committees.

19. Monitoring

19.1. Online Monitoring

Before 1996 the Annual Action Plan wasprepared considering “census village” as thelowest unit. Since the census code providespopulation against the census village,

coverage of rural population was indicatedin term of “population covered”.It was found that large numbers of satellitehabitations were without adequatedrinking water facilities although the mainvillage was shown fully covered.As a consequence fresh survey was carriedout during 1994-96 and the lowest unit ofplanning, target fixing and coverage wasshifted from population covered to“habitation covered”, which may not reflectthe actual coverage.To iron out this deficiency, it has to beascertained that the population of thecensus village as per 2001 census shouldbe same as the cumulative population ofthe main village and allied habitations.Thus the present habitation names have tobe linked to a Census village. This exercisehas to be done online and is to be carriedout by all states, compulsorily.For integration of data with otherDepartments, like Health, Water Resources,Education, Panchayati Raj, Census etc it is

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important to have the common unit asCensus Village.For preparation of GIS maps, the availabledigital maps with Survey of India are basedon revenue village.All reporting viz. the annual action planand the physical and financial progressreports must be online.States are required to re-verify the list ofhabitations entered online on an annualbasis, and indicate the status of coverage interm of the population covered. If thestatus is changed from 100% populationcovered to lesser population covered,States should indicate the reason as listedon the IMIS.Water quality and quantity of everydelivery point to be tested by thecommunity periodically as per theNRWQM&S guideline.The test results are to be fed into thecentral IMIS database.Data along with action taken by theappropriate agency will be monitoredonline through the website.Release of funds w.e.f. 1.4.2010 will bebased on the data furnished online by theStates. This is non-negotiable.

19.2. State Level

Effective monitoring of the Programmebeing critical, the State Governments willensure that the officials are prompt insending the requisite reports/informationto the SWSM as well as the DDWS.The Integrated Information ManagementSystem (IMIS) will be the chief mechanismfor monitoring the Programme. To this end,the officials are required to furnish, ‘Online’,all the data and information, as may beprescribed by DDWS from time to time, inthe relevant module of the online IMIS.They shall be responsible for uninterruptedmaintenance of the computer hardware

and software as well as the internetconnectivity. The software for the IMIS shallbe supplied by DDWS and it shall not bemodified at any level in the States; anyrequirement or suggestion for change shallbe intimated to the DDWS.The State Government should providenecessary manpower, space and facilities toset up the Computer Hardware at the sub-division, district and state level. Since thedata would reside on the State Servers, theState level Agency must ensure that theState Server is functional all 24 hours andthe data is synchronized to the centralserver regularly.It shall be the responsibility of theExecutive Engineer, PHED to ensure that allMaster data including the District WaterSecurity Plan and RWS projects are enteredin the database and for the monthlyupdating and accuracy of data relating tothe progress of works, record of qualitycontrol tests. In case of failure to updatedata on the IMIS, further releases to theState concerned could be affected.Each State Government would identify oneofficer of sufficient seniority and havingadequate knowledge of InformationTechnology to function as State IT NodalOfficer. His function will be to oversee theregularity and accuracy of the data beingfurnished by the Districts. The IT NodalOfficer, who shall form part of the SWSM,shall also be responsible to oversee theupkeep of the Hardware and Software aswell as the computer training requirementsof the personnel dealing with the NRDWP.The District Vigilance and MonitoringCommittee set up by the Ministry will alsomonitor the progress and exercise vigilancein respect of NRDWP.Vigilance and Monitoring Committee atState, District and Village level may be setup in accordance with the orders No Q-13018/6/2009-A.I.V & MC (RD) dated 26th


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August, 2009 issued by the Ministry ofRural Development, Government of Indiaand regular meetings of the same shouldbe held.The State Government should carry outregular monitoring and evaluation throughSTA of all the activities viz., RWS projectswith major emphasis on Sustainabilityprojects (100% GoI funded), softwareactivities and submit the report to SWSM/SLSSC/PHED for carrying out mid-coursecorrections if required. This should be doneat least once in every year and preferablybiannually.

19.3. Community Monitoring andSocial Audit

The community and community-basedorganizations (VWSC/User Groups) shouldmonitor demand/need and coverage.Community Based Monitoring shouldpreferably fulfill the following objectives:

It should provide regular and systematicinformation about community needs,which would guide related planning;It should provide feedback according tothe locally developed yardsticks formonitoring as well as key indicators formeasuring the consumer’s satisfaction ofprovision of drinking water servicesavailable to them on a sustainable basis;Effective community monitoring especiallyby the VWSC members would change thestatus of community members from beingpassive to active partners in the planning,implementation and management of ruralwater supply services;A social audit is a way of measuring,understanding, reporting and ultimatelyimproving an organization’s socialresponsibility and ethical performance. Asocial audit helps to narrow the gapbetween the perception of the line

department’s definition of servicesprovided and the beneficiaries’ level ofsatisfaction of the service provided. Socialauditing also enhances the performance ofthe local self government, particularly forstrengthening accountability andtransparency in local bodies and it focuseson the neglected issues related tomarginalised/poor groups whose voicesare rarely heard;Every six months on a fixed date thereshould be a social audit by the communityorganization to ensure that the worksunder taken by the PHED/RelatedDepartment and PRIs are as per thespecification and funds utilised areappropriate to the works under taken;To begin with the State Government mayadopt the following parameters forevaluating the performance of the drinkingwater services:- Access and usage- Quality, quantity and reliability- Responsiveness of the service providers- User’s satisfactionBased on these parameters including anyadditional relevant local parameters, theState Government may start a benchmarking of service standards based on thefeedback of communities at the Block,district and state levels. This will be used todevelop a performance index of the ruralwater supply situation across all states andalso in providing incentives for States,Districts and Panchayats.

20. Regulation & Pricing

Many states now are encouraging NGOs,private foundations and the private sector toset up water quality treatment plants andsupply quality water at affordable prices.Pricing of water and wastewater (rejection)management in these systems is an issue to bedealt with.

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The National Policy Framework alsoencourages setting up of bulk water utilities atvarious levels and Gram Panchayat to beresponsible for distribution of water at thelocal level. The State Governments and LocalGovernments may or may not outsource thebulk water supply and local water supply tooutside agencies in the public privatepartnership mode respectively. Further insome states cost of electricity in running thescheme is subsidized while in others it is not,

which will have an impact on pricing. Pricingand continuous quality water supply from thebulk water utility to local water utility anddistribution within the Panchayat will beissues that will have to be dealt with.

Therefore, SWSM to look into the issue ofpricing, terms of engagement between thebulk water utility and PRIs, protecting thecatchments of local water supply throughcontrol of activities that could be performedin these catchments.

Poor cost recovery in the rural water supplysector is primarily due to negligible tarifflevels which do not reflect actual costs ofelectricity, spare parts, manpower andchemicals (based on type of water supplysystem) and are not routinely evaluated andcollected resulting in exacerbating an alreadycritical situation in terms of funds available foroperation and maintenance of rural watersupply schemes.

SWSM should decide the tariff structure ofrural water supply, taking into considerationthe differential connection charges and tariffstructure for house connection and supplythrough handpumps/ street stand post andalso lower/affordable tariff for SC, ST, OBC andBPL households. The recovery mechanismshould be in place and Gram Panchayat/VWSCshould be empowered/ authorized to collectuser charge for O&M as per therecommendation of 12th Finance Commission.


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The resource management objective of ensuring adequatequantity and quality of water resources for domestic needs mustalso be addressed.

Documents

Water Programme - Bihphed.bih.nic.in/Docs/NRDWP.pdf · provide basic drinking water supply facilities to the rural population. iii Foreword ... Components of the NRDW Programme .....8