This book offers insights into ways countries and individual organisations can move towards a service delivery approach and is a valuable resource for professionals in who are interested in improving the design and implementation of rural water supply programmes. Published in association with IRC.

This book presents a multidimensional perspective on the interlinkage between human development, community characteristics and public service delivery with special reference to India. The chapters in the book analyze the influence of public service delivery on human development from neo-classical as well as Marxian point of view. Thus, the expositions in the book provides a balanced mix of macro and micro approaches in the study of development. The analytical discussions are supplemented by case studies and empirical estimates so as to demonstrate the applicability of the theory and the theoretical discourse about human development, community network and the success and failures of critical public services in the Indian context. The methodology followed in the chapters involves critical survey of existing literature, case studies, field survey and use of econometric techniques as well as statistical tools of index construction. While contributors are primarily scholars from neo-classical economics discipline, some are intellectuals from the field of political economy and development studies. Given the wide array of development perspectives, this book is of interest not only to students and researcher of development economics, social science and management, but also a valuable reading for development practitioners and policy makers, who would be interested in understanding how community and public institutions interact to determine access to health, education and social security services that shapes the wellbeing of disadvantaged populations. The lessons and implications are extremely pertinent to other emerging economies, in particular those in South Asia.

The most acute water crises occur in everyday contexts in impoverished rural and urban areas across the Global South. While they rarely make headlines, these crises, characterized by inequitable access to sufficient and clean water, affect over one billion people globally. What is less known, though, is that millions of these same global citizens are at the forefront of responding to the challenges of water privatization, climate change, deforestation, mega-hydraulic projects, and other threats to accessing water as a critical resource. In Transforming Rural Water Governance Sarah T. Romano explains the bottom-up development and political impact of community-based water and sanitation committees (CAPS) in Nicaragua. Romano traces the evolution of CAPS from rural resource management associations into a national political force through grassroots organizing and strategic alliances. Resource management and service provision is inherently political: charging residents fees for service, determining rules for household water shutoffs and reconnections, and negotiating access to water sources with local property owners constitute just a few of the highly political endeavors resource management associations like CAPS undertake as part of their day-to-day work in their communities. Yet, for decades in Nicaragua, this local work did not reflect political activism. In the mid-2000s CAPS’ collective push for social change propelled them onto a national stage and into new roles as they demanded recognition from the government. Romano argues that the transformation of Nicaragua’s CAPS into political actors is a promising example of the pursuit of sustainable and equitable water governance, particularly in Latin America. Transforming Rural Water Governance demonstrates that when activism informs public policy processes, the outcome is more inclusive governance and the potential for greater social and environmental justice.

The supply of reliable and safe water is a key challenge for developing countries, particularly India. Community management has long been the declared model for rural water supply and is recognised to be critical for its implementation and success. Based on 20 detailed successful case studies from across India, this book outlines future rural water supply approaches for all lower-income countries as they start to follow India on the economic growth (and subsequent service levels) transition. The case studies cover state-level wealth varying from US$2,600 to US$10,000 GDP per person and a mix of gravity flow, single village and multi-village groundwater and surface water schemes. The research reported covers 17 states and surveys of 2,400 households. Together, they provide a spread of cases directly relevant to policy-makers in lower-income economies planning to upgrade the quality and sustainability of rural water supply to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the context of economic growth.

India has been very successful on a number of fronts: the country has maintained electoral democracy, reduced absolute poverty by more than half, dramatically reduced illiteracy and vastly improved health conditions. However achievements create new challe