Use of Community-Based Organizations to Improve Access to Drinking Water More than agricultural extension, drinking water lends itself to management by local government councils rather than specific community-based organizations, because every citizen needs access to safe drinking water. Yet it has been a major strategy in all three countries to promote specific communitybased organizations. In India, the rationale for this strategy is not immediately obvious, as, unlike in Ghana, each gram panchayat has a functioning local council, which is supported by a government employee (the gram panchayat secretary). In view of this situation, the considerations for agricultural extension apply to drinking water. It may be more promising to rely on elected representatives (the long route of accountability) than specific user groups, because the machinery of the state ensures that the panchayati raj institutions are socially inclusive and follow the reservation guidelines. As in the case of agricultural extension, households seem to prefer to approach their elected representatives rather than the user group functionaries. Among respondents who decided to approach someone to address problems regarding drinking water, 68 percent contacted either the gram panchayat president, a gram panchayat member, or an elected member at the block or district panchayat. The others approached the gram panchayat secretary or the waterman. No one in the sample approached a water and sanitation committee, casting some doubt on this strategy. One approach for harnessing the potential of water and sanitation committees despite these challenges is to link them to the gram panchayat council, as discussed in chapter 8. In Ghana, where district assembly members have more limited capacity than the panchayat councils, water and sanitation committees (WATSANs) have been promoted to manage drinking water facilities. It is not clear why forming WATSANs makes more sense than strengthening the unit committees to take over this task. The WATSANs do not function as a universal mechanism for managing rural drinking water supply, even though the Ghanaian water policy stipulates that this should be the case. About 14–27 percent of villages in Ghana have a WATSAN, depending on the agroecological zone. Of the 49 WATSAN chairs and secretaries interviewed, 20 percent were women. About a fifth of chairs were chosen in competitive elections; another fifth were appointed by the chief or administrative authority. WATSANs are in charge of maintenance; they rarely have a say in the provision of physical infrastructure. As in India, few citizens (about 10 percent) complain if they are dissatisfied with the provision of drinking water. Among male-headed households who complained, only 12 percent approached a WATSAN. Among female-headed households, the share was 6 percent. The others approached the district assembly or unit committee members, indicating that, as in the case of extension, citizens find this “long� route of accountability more accessible.
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GENDER AND GOVERNANCE IN RURAL SERVICES