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5.5 Participation of the poor
and women in community
decision-making
Even if a community decides to act on a
water-related issue, the decision to act is not
always made collectively or democratically.
The participatory assessments explored this issue
and the results are summarised in Figures 42 and
43. Figure 42 shows that in 91% of the villages
in Kalyandurg, the poor participate in meetings
and in 67% of the villages the poor both
participate and influence decisions affecting
them. Figure 43 shows that the situation in
Dhone is not so encouraging, in that the poor
participate in only 50% of the villages, and the
poor both participate and influence decisions
affecting them in just 16% of the villages.
The relatively high figures for Kalyandurg can be
attributed to the fact that an NGO, namely the
Rural Development Trust, has been working in
Kalyandurg for more than 25 years. One of
the main thrusts of their work has been
empowerment of the poor.
Waiting to fill water pots, Kocheruvu, Dhone
No. of habitations
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 25 50 75 100
QPA ordinal scores (details in accompanying table)
Figure 41. SHG influence on community decision-making, Dhone, 2001
QPA Ordinal Scoring Options QPA Scores Number of
Habitations
Groups do not play a role, it is left to individual members 0 10
Groups represent, but do not pursue, even to get assurances 25 8
of future action
Groups represent pursue and get assurance of action, 50 18
but no effective action occurs
Groups represent, pursue, and get effective action 75 3
Groups listen, act, and get quick and effective results 100 3
65