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Suggested Recommendations
to the Draft :
Farmer Managed Irrigations Systems Act (2002)
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Government of Maharashtra
has developed a draft act on ‘Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems’
in 2002. This act would essentially cover all the Surface Irrigation
Systems in Maharashtra. With the introduction of this act formation
of Water Users Associations (WUAs) or decentralized bodies for the
management of surface irrigation water becomes mandatory. The act
is a description of how these WUAs would be formed, who would be
the members, what would be their functions, the different punitive
actions in case of breach of rules and regulations etc. However
the act needs to be welcomed on grounds of the space it provides
for communities to participate in the management of the local resource.
Without going into various aspects of this act, this particular
note of recommendations focuses on the equity issues in the context
of membership to the decentralised water users associations, representation
of women, and other caste and ethnic groups and entitlements over
water to different groups particularly women.
SOPPECOM had organised a meeting in association with Woman and Law,
ILS Law College on the 10th of February 2005 to put forth specific
recommendations before the Select Committee of the Legislature constituted
for this purpose. The organisations that participated in the meeting
were SOPPECOM, Pune; ILS law College, Pune; Alochana -- a documentation
centre for women and working on Panchayati Raj Institutions in Maharashtra,
Pune; Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan, Pune; Tata Institute of Social
Sciences, Mumbai; Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Pune; Masum, Pune;
Pani Panchayat, Pune; Academy for Political and Social Sciences,
Pune; Council for Equitable Rights, Pune; Navnirman Nyas, Pargao
(Pune); Karve Institute of Social Sciences, Pune; AFARM, Pune; Shramik
Mahila Morcha, Pune. About 30 people from across the above mentioned
organisations participated in the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Lt. Shri Satyaranjan Sathe ex Principal
ILS Law College, Pune.
Many recommendations and suggestions came up during the deliberations
and they can be grouped into the following three broad areas:
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Membership to the Water Users
Associations |
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Representation of different communities
to the managing committee of the water users associations |
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Entitlements to water for different
social sections particularly women |
The consensus that emerged from the meeting was as follows:
A. Membership to Water Users Association
The group felt that there is a need to redefine some of the terms
if women and other water-deprived groups are to be included in the
realm of the act.
Area of operation would not remain restricted to the area delineated
on a hydraulic basis or administrative convenience but should include
all the habitats/villages/hamlets through which the different canals
of the Irrigation system flow.
Member therefore in this newly defined ‘area of operation’
would be all adult members residing in those habitats, which are
part of this area of operation.
This definition then permits the inclusion of women from different
class and caste groups and other water deprived groups to become
part of the water users association. All these sections have until
now been excluded from the benefits of the irrigation system on
the grounds that they do not technically fall in the command area
of the various canals on the irrigation system. However the group
felt that as direct or indirect users they should have rights over
the decision making related to this resource. This is also important
in the context of the negotiations the GoM has had with some of
the initiatives like the South Maharashtra Movement, Chikotra proposal
for equitable water distribution, etc. in which the government has
shown favourable inclination to allocate water quota to the village
on the basis of population. Thus it is important that all adult
members in that village/hamlet become members of the WUAs.
B. Composition of the Managing Committee
Representation to the Managing Committee should be as per the provisions
in the Constitution, i.e., in proportion to the population of the
social sections like women, SC, ST, OBCs, Denotified Tribes and
Nomadic tribes. Also representation should be ensured for the landless
labourers and also for elected Gram Panchayat. This will essentially
ensure participation from different sections i.e. women and other
caste and ethnic groups, landless and elected members of the Gram
Panchayat on the Managing Committee of the Water Users Associations.
C. Entitlements to water
Negotiations have been going on with the State Government on the
question of equitable access to water. As part of these negotiations
as a general principle it has been agreed that water entitlements
would be done on a per capita basis and not as per landholding.
In keeping with this context, the group recommended that:
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Allocation of water should be
done on a per capita basis. The per capita allocation norms
would be based on the principle of the minimum water required
for livelihoods. |
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However the group recommended that
to ensure water security for women there is a need to allocate
a separate water quota for women which would be not less than
five per cent of the total Sanctioned Water Entitlement to
a particular WUA.
A sub-committee of all the women members representing the
Managing Committee shall decide the use of this water quota.
The objective being to increase women's participation in irrigation
and agriculture and to utilise the canal water as well as
the local water resources to provide independent livelihood
support for the women, especially women from disadvantaged
sections in the area of operation. The functions of the subcommittee
and the process whereby it will arrive at decisions would
have to be elaborated in the rules and regulations of the
Act. |
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