Multi-village schemes (MVSs) connecting hundreds of villages and small towns into a bulk water distribution network represent an emerging frontier for rural water supply in low- and middle-income countries. Conventional rural water supply approaches for such contexts often advocate community management but the scale and complexity of MVSs necessitates alternative approaches. This paper presents three case studies from India of MVSs that focus on the role of communities in their overall management. These illustrate different mechanisms in which community management can or cannot be nested within an overall management system as well as different approaches for promoting community participation. The discussion draws on political economy perspectives to suggest an explanation for the differences across these case studies, while from a public policy perspective, the paper discusses how and why MVSs may lead to the decline of community management in certain contexts.

AGUASAN (2008) Promising Management Models of Rural Water Supply Services [pdf], 24th AGUASAN Workshop, 13–17 October, Gwatt, Switzerland <http://skat.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Promisingmanagementmodels.pdf> [accessed 17 March 2020].

Arnstein, S.R. (1969) ‘A ladder of citizen participation’, Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35(4): 216–24 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225>.

Baby, K. and Reddy Ratna, V. (2014) ‘WASH sector in India: the policy context’, in Baby, K., Fonseca, C. and Batchelor, C. (eds), Sustainable Water and Sanitation Services: The Life-Cycle Cost Approach, pp. 22–32, London: Routledge.

Black, M. and Talbot, R. (2004) Water: A Matter of Life and Health, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Casini, P., Vandewalla, L. and Wahhaj, Z. (2015) Public Good Provision in Indian Rural Areas: The Returns to Collective Action by Microfinance Groups [online], World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7397, Washington, DC: World Bank <http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2647708> [accessed 7 September 2015].

Chary Vedala, S., Jasthi, S., Uddaraju, S. and Shiva, R. (2016) Community Involvement in a Multi-Village Scheme in Amravati District, Maharashtra, Community Water Plus Case Study Report 19, Hyderabad: Administrative Staff College of India.

Chowns, E.E. (2014) The Political Economy of Community Management: A Study of Factors Influencing Sustainability in Malawi’s Rural Water Supply Sector [pdf], PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham <http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/5014/2/Decl_IS_Chowns.pdf> [accessed 14 September 2015].

Chowns, E. (2015) ‘Is community management an efficient and effective model of public service delivery? Lessons from the rural water supply sector in Malawi’, Public Administration and Development 35(4): 263–76 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.1737>.

Cronin, A.A., Prakesh, A., Priya, S. and Coates, S. (2014) ‘Water in India: situation and prospects’, Water Policy 16(3): 425 <https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2014.132>.

Government of India (2013a) National Rural Drinking Water Programme, Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, Movement towards Ensuring People’s Drinking Water Security in Rural India, Framework for Implementation (updated 2013), New Delhi: Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Government of India (2013b) National Water Policy 2012, New Delhi: Ministry of Water Resources.

Harris, D., Kooy, M. and Jones, L. (2011) Analysing the Governance and Political Economy of Water and Sanitation Service Delivery, London: Overseas Development Institute.

Harvey, P.A. and Reed, R.A. (2006) ‘Community-managed water supplies in Africa: sustainable or dispensable?’ Community Development Journal 42(3): 365–78 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsl001>.

Hueso, A. and Bell, B. (2013) ‘An untold story of policy failure: the Total Sanitation Campaign in India’, Water Policy 15(6): 1001 <http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wp.2013.032>.

Hutchings, P. (2015) Supporting Community Management in Morappur, Tamil Nadu, Community Water Plus Case Study 18, Cranfield: Cranfield University Press.

Hutchings, P., Franceys, R., Mekala, S., Smits, S. and James, V. (2016) ‘Revisiting the history, concepts and typologies of community management for rural drinking water supply in India’, International Journal of Water Resources Development 33(1): 1–18 <https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2016.1145576>.

Hutchings, P., Franceys, R., Smits, S. and Mekala, S. (2017) Community Management of Rural Water Supply: Case Studies of Success from India, London: Routledge.

Jones, S.D. (2015) ‘Bridging political economy analysis and critical institutionalism: an approach to help analyse institutional change for rural water services’, International Journal of the Commons 9(1): 65–86 <http://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.520>.

Kohli, A. (2012) Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India, New York: Cambridge University Press.

McCommon, C., Warner, C. and Yohalem, D. (1990) Community Management of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Services, WASH Technical Report 67, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Moriarty, P., Butterworth, J., Franceys, R., Smits, S., Butterworth, J. and Franceys, R. (2013) ‘Trends in rural water supply: towards a service delivery approach’, Water Alternatives 6(3): 329–49.

Reserve Bank of India (2015) Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy, New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India.

Ruparelia, S., Reddy, S., Harriss, J. and Corbridge, S. (2011) Understanding India’s New Political Economy, London: Routledge.

Saraswathy, R. (2016a) Community Managed Gravity-Fed Piped Water Supply in Himalayan Sikkim, Community Water Plus Case Study Report 20, Chennai: Centre for Excellence in Change.

Saraswathy, R. (2016b) Nenmeni Sudha Jala Vitharana Society (NSJVS) Kerala: Professionalised Management of Water Supply by Community, Community Water Plus Case Study Report 13, Chennai: Centre for Excellence in Change.

Shan, M. (2015) ‘The new planning commission’, Economic and Political Weekly 50(23): 7–8 [online] <http://www.epw.in/journal/2014/35/web-exclusives/new-planning-commission.html> [accessed 7 April 2017].

Sharma, C.K. (2015) Re-imagining Federalism in India: Exploring the Frontiers of Collaborative Federal Architecture [online], Munich Personal RePEc Archive <https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/63160/> [accessed 7 April 2017].

Smits, S., Franceys, R., Mekala, S. and Hutchings, P. (2015) Understanding the Resource Implications of the ‘Plus’ in Community Management of Rural Water Supply Systems in India: Concepts and Research Methodology (No. 1), Community Water Plus Working Paper 1, IRC, The Hague.

UNICEF-WHO (2019) Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000–2017, New York: UNICEF-WHO.

Van Den Broek, M. and Brown, J. (2015) ‘Blueprint for breakdown? Community based management of rural groundwater in Uganda’, Geoforum 67: 51–63 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.10.009>.

Water and Sanitation Program (2001) Multi-Village Rural Water Supply Schemes: An Emerging Challenge, Water and Sanitation Program Working Paper 46579, Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2014) ‘Government of India and World Bank sign $500 million agreement to improve rural water supply and sanitation services in four Indian states’ [online], World Bank <http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/02/07/india-government-world-bank-agreement-improve-rural-water-sanitation> [accessed 7 April 2017].

World Bank (2016) ‘GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)’ [online], World Bank data <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD> [accessed 27 April 2016].

AGUASAN (2008) Promising Management Models of Rural Water Supply Services [pdf], 24th AGUASAN Workshop, 13–17 October, Gwatt, Switzerland <http://skat.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Promisingmanagementmodels.pdf> [accessed 17 March 2020].

Arnstein, S.R. (1969) ‘A ladder of citizen participation’, Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35(4): 216–24 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225>.

Baby, K. and Reddy Ratna, V. (2014) ‘WASH sector in India: the policy context’, in Baby, K., Fonseca, C. and Batchelor, C. (eds), Sustainable Water and Sanitation Services: The Life-Cycle Cost Approach, pp. 22–32, London: Routledge.

Black, M. and Talbot, R. (2004) Water: A Matter of Life and Health, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Casini, P., Vandewalla, L. and Wahhaj, Z. (2015) Public Good Provision in Indian Rural Areas: The Returns to Collective Action by Microfinance Groups [online], World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7397, Washington, DC: World Bank <http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2647708> [accessed 7 September 2015].

Chary Vedala, S., Jasthi, S., Uddaraju, S. and Shiva, R. (2016) Community Involvement in a Multi-Village Scheme in Amravati District, Maharashtra, Community Water Plus Case Study Report 19, Hyderabad: Administrative Staff College of India.

Chowns, E.E. (2014) The Political Economy of Community Management: A Study of Factors Influencing Sustainability in Malawi’s Rural Water Supply Sector [pdf], PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham <http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/5014/2/Decl_IS_Chowns.pdf> [accessed 14 September 2015].

Chowns, E. (2015) ‘Is community management an efficient and effective model of public service delivery? Lessons from the rural water supply sector in Malawi’, Public Administration and Development 35(4): 263–76 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pad.1737>.

Cronin, A.A., Prakesh, A., Priya, S. and Coates, S. (2014) ‘Water in India: situation and prospects’, Water Policy 16(3): 425 <https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2014.132>.

Government of India (2013a) National Rural Drinking Water Programme, Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, Movement towards Ensuring People’s Drinking Water Security in Rural India, Framework for Implementation (updated 2013), New Delhi: Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Government of India (2013b) National Water Policy 2012, New Delhi: Ministry of Water Resources.

Harris, D., Kooy, M. and Jones, L. (2011) Analysing the Governance and Political Economy of Water and Sanitation Service Delivery, London: Overseas Development Institute.

Harvey, P.A. and Reed, R.A. (2006) ‘Community-managed water supplies in Africa: sustainable or dispensable?’ Community Development Journal 42(3): 365–78 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsl001>.

Hueso, A. and Bell, B. (2013) ‘An untold story of policy failure: the Total Sanitation Campaign in India’, Water Policy 15(6): 1001 <http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wp.2013.032>.

Hutchings, P. (2015) Supporting Community Management in Morappur, Tamil Nadu, Community Water Plus Case Study 18, Cranfield: Cranfield University Press.

Hutchings, P., Franceys, R., Mekala, S., Smits, S. and James, V. (2016) ‘Revisiting the history, concepts and typologies of community management for rural drinking water supply in India’, International Journal of Water Resources Development 33(1): 1–18 <https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2016.1145576>.

Hutchings, P., Franceys, R., Smits, S. and Mekala, S. (2017) Community Management of Rural Water Supply: Case Studies of Success from India, London: Routledge.

Jones, S.D. (2015) ‘Bridging political economy analysis and critical institutionalism: an approach to help analyse institutional change for rural water services’, International Journal of the Commons 9(1): 65–86 <http://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.520>.

Kohli, A. (2012) Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India, New York: Cambridge University Press.

McCommon, C., Warner, C. and Yohalem, D. (1990) Community Management of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Services, WASH Technical Report 67, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Moriarty, P., Butterworth, J., Franceys, R., Smits, S., Butterworth, J. and Franceys, R. (2013) ‘Trends in rural water supply: towards a service delivery approach’, Water Alternatives 6(3): 329–49.

Reserve Bank of India (2015) Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy, New Delhi: Reserve Bank of India.

Ruparelia, S., Reddy, S., Harriss, J. and Corbridge, S. (2011) Understanding India’s New Political Economy, London: Routledge.

Saraswathy, R. (2016a) Community Managed Gravity-Fed Piped Water Supply in Himalayan Sikkim, Community Water Plus Case Study Report 20, Chennai: Centre for Excellence in Change.

Saraswathy, R. (2016b) Nenmeni Sudha Jala Vitharana Society (NSJVS) Kerala: Professionalised Management of Water Supply by Community, Community Water Plus Case Study Report 13, Chennai: Centre for Excellence in Change.

Shan, M. (2015) ‘The new planning commission’, Economic and Political Weekly 50(23): 7–8 [online] <http://www.epw.in/journal/2014/35/web-exclusives/new-planning-commission.html> [accessed 7 April 2017].

Sharma, C.K. (2015) Re-imagining Federalism in India: Exploring the Frontiers of Collaborative Federal Architecture [online], Munich Personal RePEc Archive <https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/63160/> [accessed 7 April 2017].

Smits, S., Franceys, R., Mekala, S. and Hutchings, P. (2015) Understanding the Resource Implications of the ‘Plus’ in Community Management of Rural Water Supply Systems in India: Concepts and Research Methodology (No. 1), Community Water Plus Working Paper 1, IRC, The Hague.

UNICEF-WHO (2019) Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000–2017, New York: UNICEF-WHO.

Van Den Broek, M. and Brown, J. (2015) ‘Blueprint for breakdown? Community based management of rural groundwater in Uganda’, Geoforum 67: 51–63 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.10.009>.

Water and Sanitation Program (2001) Multi-Village Rural Water Supply Schemes: An Emerging Challenge, Water and Sanitation Program Working Paper 46579, Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2014) ‘Government of India and World Bank sign $500 million agreement to improve rural water supply and sanitation services in four Indian states’ [online], World Bank <http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/02/07/india-government-world-bank-agreement-improve-rural-water-sanitation> [accessed 7 April 2017].

World Bank (2016) ‘GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)’ [online], World Bank data <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD> [accessed 27 April 2016].