Beneficiary Participation in Irrigation Water Management: The Kerala

were removed from the minds of engineers and the culture given a favourable twist, the
administrative apparatus of the Irrigation Department itself might become the separate agency
one is looking for.
Not all engineers underestimate the importance of beneficiary participation. There are a
few among them who recognise the cardinal role that beneficiaries could play in irrigation
water management. It should be the endeavour of the government to identify such engineers
through an appropriate agency (such as CWRDM) and give them training in the principles
and methods of orgnaising farmers’ groups. They may be given the performance criteria
and the time schedule within which to complete their job.
Where NGOS competent to spearhead the task of organising farmers do not exist, a team of
organisers may be given shape to on the line of community organisers (COs) of the Philippines
and Institutional Organisers (IOs) of Sri Lanka. The relevant considerations which ought to
be taken into account are qualifications, method of identifying them, the training scheme
and training materials, and a time frame to organise farmers. In Kerala, where literacy is
relatively high and unemployment levels of the educated are also high graduates (or even
postgraduates) may be recruited for the purpose. The recruitees should come from a rural
background and have basic understanding of rural problems. It would be ideal if they are (i)
persons looking for experience in mobilising farmers, (ii) desirous of getting social and
political recognition through community work, (iii) for improving the socio-economic status
of the rural community, and (iv) participating in the community effort.
Level of participation
There are varying levels of participation of beneficiaries in different countries today. In
some cases, beneficiaries participate at all the stages starting from planning the project to
the management of its operation and maintenance. In others, such as Pakistan and India,
beneficiary participation is the minimum. From a practical view point, the appropriate level
of participation may differ from country to country and project to project.
Beneficiary participation in Kerala may be contemplated in terms of contribution of unskilled
labour for canal maintenance. Here again, maintenance of reservoirs and lined main canals
and big branch canals which requires technical skills, may not be within the capability of
the farming community. Therefore, it must be left to engineers. The items of maintenance
going to be taken up by the farmers’ organisation, the consultative status assigned to it, etc.
must be made clear. It is true that the National Water Policy of 1985 and subsequent guidelines,
aspire much more than this. These additional responsibilities may be kept as the long-term
objectives of these organisations.
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