#29. Financially Sustainable GPWSC in Village Demru Kalan of Block Baghapurana in Moga District
Introduction:
The case study is on Demru Kalan village in Baghapuranablock of Moga district in Punjab, where the water supply scheme in village is maintained by GPWSC successfully and with financial stability. In the village, there are 185 households, which include 35 SC category and 150 General category households. About 70% of the households depend on Agriculture and 30% of households are daily wages labor.
Interventions under Jal Jeevan Mission:
In the Demru Kalan village, a water supply scheme was completed in 2011 under World Bank Assisted Project and an amount of Rs. 175000/- was deposited by villagers as beneficiary share. There are 185 water connections in the village and the target of 100% connections has been achieved here. No house is deprived of water connection. Villagers are satisfied with the quality of water supplied.
In the village, GPWSC is involved in the billing process in a very transparent way with the help of pump operator and collecting user charges. As a technical member of GPWSC, Junior Engineer of DWSS is giving suggestions regarding technical aspects of the scheme. The GPWSC of the village has addressed all technical faults such as leakages, burning of motor, etc. It is also providing continuous water supply and resolving issues related to operation and maintenance. GPWSC is collecting water charges from users to meet the Operation & Maintenance expenses of water supply. In the village, monthly water charge of Rs.100/is collected from each household. More than 90% of the house holds regularly pay their monthly tariff to the GPWSC. An operation & maintenance (O&M) bank account has been opened on the name of GPWSC chairman and secretary of the committee. The current surplus fund available with the GPWSC is Rs. 70000. All records of the water supply scheme are maintained regularly by the GPWSC committee. Records like Logbook, Complaint Register. Ledger Book, Cash Book, Sub Cash Book etc. are being updated every month.
To operate the water supply scheme, Mr. Jagseer Singh was selected as pump operator by the GPWSC. Trainings have been given by the Block Resource Coordinator to pump operator about collection of monthly revenue, water testing with H2S vials and FTK. Training was also given for maintaining records. Now, the pump operator is doing his duty in efficient manner. Water collection from the villagers and chlorination of drinking water are also being done by pump operator on regular basis.
Pump Operator Jagsir Singh
Meeting of Key Persons of Village Community and DWSS Officials
Social and IEC Interventions:
A well-planned Information Education and Communication (IEC) campaign plays a critical role. Keeping this in view, IEC campaign was started to enable of the PRI and rural Community to take over the responsibility of water supply scheme. As social and IEC interventions in the village, many door-to-door visits and ward wise public meetings were conducted by department staff to motivate the consumers to prevent wastage and other aspects of clean drinking water. Meetings were conducted with women to discuss issues on health, hygiene, water, sanitation facilities, etc. With the help of social staff of DWSS, people of the village were made aware of the water borne diseases and ill-effects of contaminated water. The social staff tested water samples from the village water supply scheme and explained them about permissible limits of parameters in drinking water. Social staff generated awareness amongst people by conducting Muniyadi with Publicity Van, Religious Appeals from Gurudwara, distribution of IEC Materials like Fliers, Pamphlets. They created awareness among school students by organizing school awareness program in schools from time to time. At present, the village Demru Kalan is attached with Daudhar Surface water Project (Moga), which supply canal water after treatment to 85 villages of Baghapurana & Nihal Singh Wala blocks.
Issues and Challenges Faced
In the village, some community members do not agree for installation of consumer water meters on household connections. Wastage of water by consumers is a big challenge. However, social Staff of DWSSare playing an important role in behavioral changes of people. Regular contacts motivated people to take interest in the water supply Scheme. Social staff assisted in strengthening the GPWSC Committee and as a result the villagers of Demru Kalan village are enjoying a good life by consuming clean and pure drinking water.
Improvement in Lives of People
There is improvement in lives of people in the villages due to regular water supply. There is sufficient drinking water supply to schools and Anganwadis. Numbers of students in the schools have increased during past few months. Due to supply of drinking water on specified time, female members of the families are able to invest their time on other works. Thus, due to supply safe drinking water of adequate quantity and quality, the villagers are living happily and leading healthy life.
Lessons Learnt
During implementation of project and IEC campaign, it was learnt that regular interactions between villagers, GPWSC committee members and DWSS Social staff were useful to change mindset of villagers towards role of GPWSC in regular O & M of the water supply scheme.
Water Works Site
Meeting with GPWSC Members
Paani di Kahaani (ਪਾਣੀ ਦੀ ਕਹਾਣੀ) 