GENDER CONCERN IN WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Rethinking gender initiatives in India

Gender concern in water resources management is globally seen as instrumental in achieving greater efficiency, effectiveness and equity in the sector. Working within the global framework, in recent years, the state in India has drafted and designed gender-based initiatives in the sector at policy as well as program levels. Most of these concern the water users in local communities, primarily the women. Beginning with a concern for women as ‘beneficiaries’, the state’s initiatives have been expanded to enhance the scope of their participation in the sector as ‘actors’. This is reflected in the initial designing of water supply programs aiming at unburdening women in the task of water procurement, to be succeeded by formulation of new interventions promoting their participation in decision-making within domestic as well as irrigation water management arenas. The paper seeks to analyse the effectiveness of these gender-based initiatives in India, looking for the situational factors influencing the achievement of the underlying goals. It argues that the localised social and cultural context interplay in the process of effective implementation of the interventions. The conceptualisation of the gender, gender needs, gender roles and relationships with respect to water resources management within the local context may not necessarily match the constructions underlying the gender initiatives designed and promoted by the state. Consequently, the paper argues for the need to rethink the content and strategy of these initiatives so that the aspirations of the local community and its members are fulfilled in a way that buffers the state’s interests and efforts