Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...
Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...
Water Users Association and Irrigation Management - Institute for ...
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•<br />
One o{the office bearers comments:<br />
"Managing the association becomes a major preoccupation since we assume responsible<br />
positions. Blit the 1I"0rk is exciting <strong>and</strong> gives us a feeling of community <strong>and</strong> a strong sense<br />
o{shared plllpose ".<br />
Providing leadership <strong>for</strong> WUA is a natural extension of the power base. Leaders would not<br />
like to lose control over important activities in the village, so they tend to provide strong<br />
leadership as they also benefit directly from the services of the WUA. While effective<br />
leadership goes a long way in creating an effective WUA, conversely ineffective leadership<br />
tends to paralyze the functioning of the WUA. For instance, in Anklav WUA of Gujarat<br />
serious differences between members <strong>and</strong> the chairman interfered with the functioning of<br />
the WUAs. And in Maharashtra's Hadashi WUA, the chairman created disgruntled<br />
members which had adverse impact on the functioning of the association (Brewer et al.<br />
1999).<br />
Leadership also comes from sources like the village accountant <strong>and</strong> people holding other<br />
leadership positions in the village. External support has also come from CADA staff who<br />
have helped in getting the WUA registered. A few high-level officials out of personal<br />
interest have assisted the <strong>Association</strong> in maintaining books <strong>and</strong> conducting meetings in the<br />
initial stages of the registration of the WUA. The major differences between the extornal<br />
<strong>and</strong> internal leader lies in the accountability of internal leaders to the members whereas the<br />
external leader is not accountable to anyone.<br />
In Hagedal, even an in<strong>for</strong>mal kind of WUA <strong>for</strong> water distribution or contlict resolution<br />
does not exist. However, there are few local leaders whom the farmers approach <strong>for</strong> help or<br />
adviee at the time of distress. Leadership is normally assumed by those who already wield<br />
considerable intluence in the communities. It is essentially economically <strong>and</strong> socially<br />
powerful persons from tamilies that traditionally had significant intluence in their<br />
communities who help in solving contlicts. They enjoy a fair degree of credibility <strong>and</strong> are<br />
more responsive to farmers' needs <strong>and</strong> help in balancing power vis-a-vis various caste<br />
groups within the village. They are driven by an ideology of community service <strong>and</strong> they<br />
take pride in serving their communities. There is a great deal of respect in being a leader<br />
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